Conservative MP Chris Heaton-Harris asked the PM to contact Facebook requesting that the RIP Raoul Moat group page, which has attracted more than 30,000 members, be taken down. He described it as carrying a "whole host of anti-police statements." Cameron responded by saying that:
It is absolutely clear that Raoul Moat was a callous murderer, full stop, end of story. I cannot understand any wave, however small, of public sympathy for this man. There should be sympathy for his victims and the havoc he wreaked in that community. There should be no sympathy for him.
But a spokeswoman for Facebook later said the page would not be removed on the grounds the site encourages public debate about issues in the media.
Facebook is a place where people can express their views and discuss things in an open way as they can and do in many other places, and as such we sometimes find people discussing topics others may find distasteful, however that is not a reason in itself to stop a debate from happening. The site has measures in place which allow people to report any material they find offensive and each complaint would be investigated on an individual basis.
I have do not have sympathy for Moat, but I think that when 30,000 people join a group, it must say something that politicians can not ignore.
One of the things I think it says, is that parts of the community feel detached from the rest of society, and are so far detached they wholly decry all government institutions including the police. I conclude if you tracked where most of these 30,000 people are, then they would also live in places with high unemployment, low education, high drug intake, and where even the ambulance and fire brigade get attacked. In other words, the sort of place where Raoul Thomas Moat was born and grew up. No wonder they have sympathy for him.
In the new politics, based on coalition and proportional representation, all can get their voice heard. There is great fear from all mainstream sides of politics of the extreme right wing organisations like the National Front resultantly gaining a platform. Well if we don't listen to 30,000 people on Facebook who don't really think Raoul Thomas Moat is a hero, just one of the isolated them, then we might as well give up and take up the baton permanently.
These people don't admire Moat, they know right from wrong. They just sympathise with his isolated "what choice did I have" situation, tragic as it was for all - Moat included.
Good Luck!
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