Gang violence in cities has reached such high levels that councils are ferrying teenagers around in taxis – because they are too scared to walk through dangerous areas.Who knew your local council ran a free taxi service? Let me just ring up and...
One inner London authority spent nearly £400,000 of taxpayers’ money last year putting youths into cabs because of fears for their safety.
The local council in Hackney, which has one of the highest rates of shootings and stabbings in the country, ran up a total bill of £440,000. Of this, 88 per cent – an average of £1,060 per day – was accounted for by ‘vulnerable children’.Ah. Right.
Not just any children then?
A spokeswoman for Hackney Council said: ‘Hackney sometimes uses taxis to transport vulnerable children. The council will always encourage the use of public transport where appropriate.Riiiiiight...
‘However, the age and individual family/carer circumstances of a child can often mean that a taxi is the only option.
‘For example, if a young child is being looked after by a foster carer who also looks after a number of other children, the foster carer may be unable to take the child to have contact with his or her parents. So a taxi is used to ensure the child has a safe journey and is able to have this important family contact.
Enver Solomon, assistant director of policy at children’s charity Barnado’s, said: ‘It is really important that children in care are properly supported because that will ultimately save the local authority money in the future.Note that the council won't be in 'serious trouble' for squandering taxpayer money on this sort of thing...
‘The council is fulfilling its statutory duties with this, and if it were not, it would be in serious trouble.’
The last time things got so bad, many children living in big cities and towns were moved temporarily from their homes to places considered safer, usually out in the countryside.
ReplyDeleteCanada is another option.
My own plan is to leave MTG. One reason is the kind of madness Julai's prose reveals daily. On place I worked in the Middle East was so bent you could only laugh, but it was better out in the open than done more 'professionally' here.
ReplyDeleteMy experience with modern Germans makes me wonder how they ever lapsed so badly, a matter once described under the banality of evil. We have certainly become past-masters at the banal.
the only answer is to adopt a jaguar with the WWF and SKY for only £4/mnth
ReplyDelete"The last time things got so bad, many children living in big cities and towns were moved temporarily from their homes to places considered safer, usually out in the countryside."
ReplyDeleteThe Blitz didn't just affect a small subsection of society, though...
"My experience with modern Germans makes me wonder how they ever lapsed so badly, a matter once described under the banality of evil. We have certainly become past-masters at the banal."
I think any civilisation has it in them to go down that road. We always think ourselves superior, and say 'It would never happen here!'.
But I think we kid ourselves.
"the only answer is to adopt a jaguar with the WWF and SKY for only £4/mnth"
Will they let me walk it on a leash through the town centre then? Cool!