So, It’s Not Just The Crime Figures That They Fiddle…

Foreign workers on the site of the London 2012 Olympic Games are being classified as locals by the body charged with overseeing the project.

This surely isn’t going to come as a surprise to anyone, is it…?

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) boasts that 23 per cent of workers on the huge building site in Stratford, east London, are from the five Olympic boroughs – Waltham Forest, Hackney, Greenwich, Tower Hamlets and Newham.

Yet it has emerged that workers can qualify as local even if they are not in fact British nationals. So long as the address they give is in one of the five boroughs, workers qualify for the ODA's "local" category.

And no-one in our MSM decided to look into just how they were defining ‘local’, and how they’d be assuring it, back when the announcement was made?

No distinction is made between long-term residents and transitory labourers who have only been in the UK for a short period. Though the ODA checks on addresses, no checks are conducted on the length of time workers have been resident at that address.

. Thus making the claim utterly worthless. Guess recognition of that got lost in all the ‘We won the Games! Hurrah!’ hoopla.

It seems they were playing fast and loose with other definitions, too:

It has also emerged that no checks are made on workers' claims to have been previously unemployed, or to find out how long alleged unemployment has lasted. Employees are asked on a form: "Before coming to work on the Olympic Park were you: employed, unemployed, or prefer not to say? "

So, those targets they set themselves, and which looked so promising (as long as you didn’t, you know, actually look…)?

A fraud, a con worthy of ‘Hustle’:

The body set ambitious targets on the employment of both local people and previously unemployed workers when it started construction on the site. It wanted between 10 and 15 per cent of workers to have a permanent address in one of the five Olympic boroughs, and 7 per cent to be out of work at the time they applied for a job.

And to make sure it met those targets, it arranged its own definition. Nice work!

A spokesman for the ODA insists the body has never claimed that its definition of local people had stipulated British nationality.

They just let everyone read into it what they wanted to hear, naturally. Who was going to question it?

Tensions over the prominence of migrant labour on one of Britain's biggest infrastructure projects are being closely watched by Sir Robin Wales, the Labour mayor of Newham. A spokesman for the borough said: "Newham Council has always been clear that Olympic developments should provide work for local residents. We are working closely with the ODA and their contractors to ensure that jobs are secured for as many local residents as possible and that local residents are equipped with skills to benefit from jobs created. Employment and the creation of wider employment skills for residents are two of the key benefits of the Games."

But at a meeting later this month council leaders will ask for clarification on the make-up of local residents being employed on the project. The number of workers on site is set to peak at about 10,000 later this year

That’s going to be an interesting meeting…

The Cracks Are Showing….

NuLab sleaze merchant ‘Lord’ Mandelsnake got on his high horse yesterday when an American businessman committed a cardinal sin – telling the truth:

Mr Schultz, chief executive of troubled coffee store giant Starbucks, had earlier told television business network CNBC, that "the concern for us is Western Europe and specifically the UK. The UK is in a spiral".

It certainly is. But to the well-paid liars in the government, such dissent from the official outlook cannot be brooked:

Asked later about the comments, a clearly furious Lord Mandelson responded to the Telegraph: "Why should I have that guy running down the country? Who the ---- is he?"

He’s the CEO of a major multinational company, Mandelsnake. He should be asking who the ---- you are….

In fact, we should all be asking that. As well as ‘Who the hell put you there, and why…?’

In his address to the CFR, he insisted that governments must keep their nerve in the face of public pressure for quick solutions to the economic crisis, But the Telegraph has learned that a priority for the visit by one of Labour's most combative political operators was to battle what British officials believe are overly negative perceptions of the UK economy in the US media.

And obviously, the way to do that is by getting in a public hissy fit about hearing the truth.

He’s losing it, isn’t he…?

“So this is how freedom dies, to thunderous applause...”

The government is considering plans that would lead to thousands more British Muslims being branded as extremists, the Guardian has learned. The proposals are in a counterterrorism strategy which ministers and security officials are drawing up that is due to be unveiled next month.

Not before time, you say?

Some say the plans would see views held by most Muslims in Britain being classed by the government as extreme.

This will please a lot of people, no doubt.

Until you look at what is actually being proposed:

According to a draft of the strategy, Contest 2 as it is known in Whitehall, people would be considered as extremists if:

• They advocate a caliphate, a pan-Islamic state encompassing many countries.
• They promote Sharia law.
• They believe in jihad, or armed resistance, anywhere in the world. This would include armed resistance by Palestinians against the Israeli military.
• They argue that Islam bans homosexuality and that it is a sin against Allah.
• They fail to condemn the killing of British soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Well, they’re going to have problems with the second one, for a start! When are they going to round up and intern the Archbishop of Canterbury?

But joking aside, all of those things are just beliefs. I don’t care what devout Muslims, Jews, Christians of Hindus believe. I only care what they do, when what they do breaks the law.

And if someone ‘fails to condemn the killing of British soldiers’, well, so what…? I might think them scum as a result, but we can’t lock people up for being scum. Or we’d need far, far more prisons…

Contest 2 would widen the definition of extremists to those who hold views that clash with what the government defines as shared British values.

Those who advocate the wider definition say hardline Islamist interpretation of the Qur'an leads to views that are the root cause of the terrorism threat Britain faces. But opponents say the strategy would brand the vast majority of British Muslims as extremists and alienate them even further.

I’ve a big, big problem with having the government define ‘shared British values’. And in particular, with them considering those who don’t hold those values as ‘extremist’.

There’s a nasty element of ‘show trial’ here, especially in conjunction with all the other recent moves by government to hold selected individuals to account for complex issues and restrict rights and freedoms…

The Guardian has also learned of a separate secret Whitehall counterterrorism report advocating widening the definition of who is considered extremist. Not all in Whitehall agree with the proposals and one official source said plans to widen the definition were "incendiary" and could alienate Muslims, whose support in the counterterrorism effort is needed. There were also fears it could aid the far right.

Well, indeed.

In fact, if by ‘far right’ they mean the BNP (who are more socialist than the current incarnation of Labour), then by ‘aid them’, I suspect they mean ‘put them out of business’.

After all, they can hardly compete with this, can they…?

Contest 2 is still being finalised by officials and ministers. Those considered extreme would not be targeted by the criminal law, but would be sidelined and denied public funds. Ed Husain, of the Quilliam Foundation thinktank, said the root causes of terrorism were extremist views, even if those advocating the views did not call for violence.

Sorry, Ed, but I think you’ve failed to grasp some shared British values yourself; views are just that – legal so long as they don’t translate to action, no matter how offensive someone else may find them.

Inayat Bunglawala, a former spokesman for the Muslim Council of Great Britain, said such plans would affect many British Muslims. Bunglawala, who now runs Engage, which tries to get Muslims to participate in politics and civic society, said: "That would alienate the majority of the British Muslim public. It would be counterproductive and class most Muslims as extremists."

Frankly, Bunglawallah, it should alienate the majority of the British public. Muslim or not.

I fear it won’t. I fear a lot of people will champion these plans. Because recognition of the way some extremists have infiltrated government departments, quangos and organisations is long overdue. Because those extremists wield an influence out of all proportion to their importance. And most of all, because they think they will be used against ‘them’. They won’t stop to consider that one day, they will be used against ‘us’.

But they will…

It’s Good To Talk. Texting Is Another Matter…

A drug dealer was caught after he unwittingly texted police to demand the return of £1,400 worth of cocaine and heroin he had dumped.

Oh, dear. Guess it’s not just Lee Hurst cursing the development of the mobile phone, then…?

Andrew Law, 23, was being chased by police in Gloucester last August when he threw his jacket containing the drugs and his mobile phone into a residential garden.

The next day he started sending increasingly threatening text messages to his mobile, thinking that the garden’s owner had found it. Infact, the phone was in the hands of the police.

Who presumably had their easiest case clear-up ever…

The first message said: “Who’s got my jacket? I want the stuff back.” Four minutes later there was another message, “If you have got this phone, ring me”, followed by two more: “I want my stuff” and “Listen, we want the stuff from that jacket” they said.

When that didn’t get the desired response, he plainly felt free to up the level of threats:

Law’s increasing anxiety at the lack of response showed in the next flurry of messages: “Listen, I want those f***ing drugs. I know which f****ng garden it was in so f***ing answer the phone”; “I will burn your house down. Do you know who I am? Just answer the phone and we will do the deal”; and “Why won’t you answer the phone? The chances are you don’t know what you’ve got. You can make some money if you get in touch. Otherwise you’ll get f*** all apart from a gun in your mouth.”

Mr Ryder said: “Little did he know that the police had got hold of the phone and they saw the texts, made the link to who he was and went and arrested him.

Job done, you’d think.

Err, no:

Law’s arrest did not deter him. When he was freed on bail he started dealing drugs again. He was caught this time by CCTV cameras at Gloucester police station.

Law was jailed for six years after he admitted five offences of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply and four of supplying drugs.

And the threats to kill….? They did charge him with those, didn’t they?

Because as TDK points out (in the comments here), a man fed up with a drug dealers’ antics was given two months for breaking into his house in a court in Scotland. The sheriff made particular note of his threat to kill the man.

So this should have been worth some extra time behind bars...

Judge Martin Picton told Law: “You deal Class A drugs. You persist in doing it. These offences are aggravated by the fact you had been released on licence from a 42 months sentence and you were dealing again.

“You got caught, bailed and recalled to prison and then released - and you started dealing again.”

Law had ticked every box when it came to aggravating features and there had to be a lengthy sentence to reflect his persistent offending, the judge said.

Not the sort of lengthy sentence I was hoping for….

Hissy Fit…

The comedian Lee Hurst is not alone in regarding the mobile phone as one of the great curses of the modern age. While most complain about the intrusive ringtones or incessant chatter, however, Hurst has a novel complaint — that it is being used increasingly for stealing comedians' jokes.

Yeah, yeah, I know – who’d want to, right…?

He demonstated his unconventional method of dealing with the problem in September at a pub in Guildford, Surrey — seizing a phone from a member of his audience whom he believed to be committing comedy piracy, throwing it to the floor and smashing it.

*badoom-tish* No..? Well, there’s more…

Defending the rights of comedians, Hurst called it. Criminal damage, Guildford magistrates called it, and fined him £60. Hurst, 46, who pleaded guilty, was also ordered to pay £80 compensation with a £15 surcharge and £87 costs.

Well, it made me laugh…

And the CPS showed some comic touches of their own:

Hurst, who conducted his own defence, originally pleaded not guilty on the ground that he was not there — a novel if somewhat shaky defence, one might have thought, given that there were about 300 witnesses. It turned out that he was right: the prosecution had got the date wrong — September 4 instead of September 3 — and, once it was amended, the comedian duly changed his plea to guilty.

*sigh* Frankly, I don’t find the CPS as funny as I used to – some of their ‘jokes’ are a little stale…

Hurst was rather truculent in his own defence:

He told the court that he believed a member of the audience standing at the back was filming his act. “This happens from time to time and there is nothing that you can do about it. Even if it's just for their own personal use, they could lend it to a friend or have it stolen and it could end up on YouTube. I'm talking on behalf of comedians in general.

Oh, the horror….!

Stop what you’re doing, people! Stolen material is circulating on the internets….!

“There are also writers who go to gigs and take material and it is sold to the BBC and ITV. You perform on stage and then you are accused of stealing your own material from a comic on national television.”

Oh, cheer up, Lee!

After all, that’s not half as bad as trying to force through a planning application in the teeth of local opposition is it?

Jon Curtis, the chairman of the bench, said: “While we have some sympathy with the situation you find yourself in it is clearly no excuse for causing criminal damage.”

Indeed…

But Hurst clearly sees himself the victim in this, as he couldn’t keep his mouth shut even after pleading guilty:

Outside the court, Mr Hurst said: “People should stop filming people at live gigs. When you go to watch a film you get adverts from the Federation Against Copyright Theft, but comedians aren't protected so they are taking the law into their own hands. I don't regret what I did. I have to defend myself. The public probably don't know that every time you send a joke text someone has written that, and they deserve credit.”

Oh, please!

What an unedifying sight, that of a ‘comedian’ who feels the world owes him a living.

Frankly, the news that he was considering running for the post of London Mayor was funnier than most of his jokes…

Bunking Off, And Bunking Up….

The mother of underage father Alfie Patten is due to appear in court next week for failing to ensure the 13-year-old attends school, it has emerged.

Nicola Patten, 43, is facing charges relating to a five-month period last year when he failed to attend regularly Willingdon Community School.

Hmmmm, I guess we know what he was doing instead…

Forward Planning FAIL!

A head teacher is being paid £60,000 a year to run a school that has not yet been built in a town with no pupils.

Whoops!

Susan Vint was hired last month to take charge of Lakeview Lower School in the new town development of The Wixams, three miles south of Bedford. Because of planning delays and the economic crisis, however, only a handful of houses have been built on the 750-acre site and only three people have moved in.

They’d better get breedin’ double-quick!

Matthew Sinclair, research director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It is absolutely outrageous. This headmistress should never have been hired when there wasn’t a school for her to run.”

Oh, that’s such an old fashioned way of looking at things! Haven’t we got away from all that hackneyed ‘supply/demand’ paradigm…?

Critics said that Bedfordshire council had yet to tender for a company to build the school, and it would not open until late 2010.

Reached for comment, a council spokesman said: “So what…? It’s not coming out of our own pockets, is it? The taxpayer’s buying…!”

No, actually, he didn’t, but it was certainly the subtext. The council are still denying reality:

However, the council insists that Mrs Vint would welcome new pupils in September.

Where…? In her living room?

Mankind Not As Evolved As Once Thought...

Monkeys and apes have a basic sense of right and wrong, a new study suggests.

Well, that puts them one up on some of our underclass....

Post Of The Month

Comes from Behind Blue Eyes, on the futility of setting targets for 'anti-racism'....

Quote Of The Month

Comes from Landed Underclass, on the chilling news of a man arrested because he rents server space to clients, one of which is Indymedia.

The SHAC bunch posted details of a judge's home address on the forum; Indymedia mods naturally zapped the posts, but Plod decided to raid the chaps house, seize his computers and harass him anyway:

"I am so old that I remember that we were once prepared at a few minutes notice to be instantly incinerated, or worse, in a thermonuclear war, the purpose of which being to ensure that we should not suffer a polity which behaved thus."

Quite...