The summer months always prove rewarding, and August is no exception:
Monday, 31 August 2026
Quote Of The Month
Fahrenheit 211 on the Nation Union of Journalists' capture by identity politics:
"Yes that’s where we are ladies and gentlemen. We are in a position where the nation’s lead union for journalists states that they no longer believe in a free press. How completely cooked is a union when it can’t stand up for basic principles or for journalists who follow these principles? At least the NUJ has given me the best reason I can think of for not wanting to be associated with them."
Post Of The Month
Longrider on the ridiculous Home Office pamplets that he's discovered are wrong on an aspect of the law relating to photogaphy into the bargain...
Handbags...
A trainee florist punched a fellow student then threw a drink at her in an argument over a Christmas wreath during a flower arranging class.Silly, immature girlies...
Housewife Lorraine Jae, 51, assaulted Tracey Musker after she had a meltdown in a college classroom and grabbed her coat due to criticism of her coursework by their tutor.Oh!
The court heard Jae, who is currently waiting for a hip operation, had no previous convictions.
Sounds like they are planning on operating on the wrong end of her!
Her lawyer Helen Clarke said in mitigation: 'The drink was in a carton - not a glass bottle or anything of that kind.
'The argument involving the course tutor related to a dispute about her course work which the defendant thought she had done to a satisfactory standard. Miss Musker then got involved.
'Clearly it was a short-lived matter and a heat of the moment reaction when the defendant felt extremely frustrated.
'She had been studying the course for some time, it had not been the best experience and she had some problems along the way.
'Nevertheless she persevered hoping to achieve a qualification as she was unable to continue other work she had been doing for many years.
One wonders what her 'other work' might have been.
'She thought this would be a new start but clearly it did not happen in that way.
'Clearly this happened out of character and she has learnt her lesson... I can say from speaking to her she is sorry for what happened. She is apologetic to Miss Musker.'
They all say that!
Sunday, 30 August 2026
Saturday, 29 August 2026
Priorities...
A mob of youths torched several cars and set off fireworks at a balloon release for one of the A66 crash gang last night.
At least five cars were set ablaze in a horse field near Haswell, County Durham, with the startled animals looking on from the far side.The site was around 15 miles from Middlesbrough, where a wave of violence believed to be linked to the crash and local organised crime has forced police to draft in hundreds of reinforcements.
The Daily Mail understands that the County Durham and Darlington Fire Service responded to the incident.
But not the police? Why did they not arrests these youth, who have kiiled two police officers with their antics? Surely they'd be given the support of the highest office in the land to do so....
Oh.
Andy Burnham labels cowboy builders 'crooks' who 'destroy lives' and vows to put them out of business.'They're crooks - and it's about time we treated them like it. So, today, we're putting the cowboys out of business.'
Maybe not, since our already-failing PM seems to think this should be a priority instead.
Hurrah, The Last Truly Useful British Police Officer Will Be On Duty!
...PC Rain, of course!
Notting Hill Carnival is almost here, with the streets of W10 just days away from being transformed for Europe’s largest street festival. However, forecasters are warning of a spate of rain showers that could dampen the festivities. BBC Weather is forecasting thundery showers from Friday, August 28, with rain expected in Notting Hill from 9am on Saturday.
Never has a threat of bad weather on a British bank holiday been so welcome!
Temperatures will hover around 20C - significantly cooler than the blistering temperatures of this summer so far - with thunderstorms forecast between 5pm and 6pm. The thundery showers are set to return when festivities ramp up on Sunday, with heavy rain and lightning forecast between 1pm and 5pm, and again between 7pm and 8pm.
Will it be enough to prevent the usual effects of this wretched event? We shall have hope so, since the weather doesn't answer to Sir Mark Rowley and won't therefore treat these people as untouchables.
Friday, 28 August 2026
'...And Then To Solve The Chicken Loss Issue, Mr Reynard Will Guard The Henhouse!'
So while new and deeply disturbing revelations of widespread and illicit ‘family voting’ in Birmingham during May’s local elections will leave many Britons appalled, they come as no shock to me. As revealed by the Daily Mail in a damning report yesterday, at recent elections Birmingham City Council staff witnessed attempts to get round the secret ballot at no fewer than 50 of its polling stations.
Beleaguered electoral officers had to repeatedly tell voters it was against the law to enter a booth with a relative and tell them how to vote. Others witnessed one man trying to influence voting through ‘Islamic gestures, blinking eyes, hand signals’, and another clutching ‘all the poll cards’ for his family and ‘advising’ each on how to vote.
Well, then why were these people not simply ejected from the polling station and refused a vote?
But, as I said at the time, what is going on is nothing less than an assault on, not just our democracy, but Britain itself. We are facing a major problem in this country, one which threatens to strike at the heart of everything we hold dear. It’s time to wake up and act. And I’m not alone in issuing this urgent clarion call. The official – and independent – election observer group Democracy Volunteers said it witnessed 291 potential breaches of the secret ballot across the UK at the May elections.
And what action was taken?
In February, Greater Manchester Police took no action after saying it found ‘no evidence’ of the law being broken.
They didn't find any, or they didn't look at what was found?
You can bet that if this is happening in Manchester and Birmingham then it will also be going on in Bradford, in Oldham, in Blackburn and in London, entire cities where elections are being rigged along sectarian lines.
But it seems that not only is the blatent disregard for voting law countrywide, so too is the police disinterest, at least until the pressure grows too strong to ignore...
We are never going to save Britain if we don’t first safeguard our precious democracy. To do that, I believe the Government urgently needs to take three steps. The first is to dramatically restrict postal voting.
It should never have been expanded further than the slim qualifications that once applid.
Secondly, we need to bring about an end to Commonwealth voting rights. Around 1.7million people from countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica and India – who, despite the fact that they are not even British citizens, have the right to vote at British elections – have, according to the Office for National Statistics, registered to do so. It is a practice which most right-minded people would regard as absurd.
Agreed, but you're up against the establishment that sees value in granting foreigners all the leeway they can, for purely virtuesignalling reasons...
Finally, we need to take steps to ensure that what I and others witnessed in Gorton and Denton, and what has now been uncovered in Birmingham, cannot happen in the future. It saddens me to say this but if, as a democracy, that means we have to have police in every polling station standing alongside independent observers then so be it.
What use is having them there, if they are not interested in invesigating because they are as captured as the establishment??
Not A Very Swedish Name?
Liam Nebel, 18, was charged on Sunday afternoon after an 'attacker with a sword' stormed Brinell School in Fagersta on Friday, just days after classes had started.
On Friday, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson described the attack as a 'serious incident,' and said 'we do not know what lies behind the act, but we know that police are working very intensively'.
It’s not love and goodwill, is it?
'The investigators are looking into various online communities which might have egged on the suspect to carry out the attack,' a police source told Reuters.
Hmm…
It took 10 minutes for police to arrive at the school after the alarm was raised. Police rushed into the school and shot at the attacker but did not hit him but managed to stop and detain him.
Time Sven and Bjorn went back for more range practice!
Thursday, 27 August 2026
It's Not Even November Yet...
..and the Poppy Wars have started:
A spokesman from Swale Borough Council said: "Our licencing team has been allowing the use of the oppy and the Royal British Legion sticker on iCars’ taxis.
"However, following a complaint, we checked the use against our policy, and it is not permitted under our Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy
"The policy was most recently updated and agreed in 2025 by our Licensing Committee and Policy and Resources Committee, following a public consultation which included feedback from the taxi industry.
“The issue is not about the poppy or the Royal British Legion, which the council supports, but the fact that we received a complaint that the vehicle was not complying with our policy.
The decision sparked so much fury that the council acknowleded the 'oops' moment and is trying to row back now that the possibility of telling the single complainant to fuck off has passed by...
“We are aware that iCars has removed the sticker and poppy and we are scheduling a Licensing Sub-Committee meeting to discuss iCars’ request for an exemption from policy.
“The next Licensing Committee meeting will look at the policy to make sure that there is clarity on this issue."
It should be pretty easy to allow an exemption for this sole issue without allowing all and sundry to customise their taxis, shouldn't it?
Just Euthanise The Dangerous Bitch...
...and put the owner in jail. Or vice versa, I'm sure the NHS will assist...
A dog owner will appear in court next week after her Staffie attacked a number of dogs at Withy Grove Park in Bamber Bridge. Kimberley Bond, 51, of Grove Street, Bamber Bridge, was arrested in July and charged with being in charge of ‘a dog dangerously out of control’.
And of course, instead of ending the wothless mutt then and there, it was seized alive to soak up taxpayer cash until the trial, as if it were a vital piece of evidence....
The silver female Staffie was seized by Lancashire Police and remains in kennels pending the outcome of its owner’s court case.
And as usual in these cases, the owner had been given a chance to retain her mauler, and didn't:
The 51-year-old is further charged with failing to comply with a community protection notice in relation to the dog.
Prior to her arrest, Bond was told she must comply with a number of conditions, including ensuring that her back garden was secure, that the dog was only walked by an adult and that it remained on a 1m lead at all times, whilst wearing a Baskerville muzzle. But according to local reports, the dog continued to escape and menace other dogs in Withy Grove Park - the largest green space in Bamber Bridge and a popular children’s play area.
And so it goes on and on...
Wednesday, 26 August 2026
An HGV Will Be Along One Day To Pass Sentence...
I plead guilty.
Oh good...
I have loved and used the streets of London all my life, as a cyclist, driver and pedestrian. Touch wood, I have done so without accident, blemish or insurance claim. Yet now I find myself perpetually on the wrong side of the law. Regulation has become bureaucratic and chaotic.
That's not unusual for a cyclist, is it? But they usually aren't so remorseful and just why do you feel you cannot obey the laws around driving?
When I try to drive at the authorised speed of 20mph on many through roads, I am hooted at and overtaken by vans, cars, coaches and buses. And when I sit dutifully on my bike at a traffic light, I am jostled by swarms of cyclists riding through on red, furious at being treated as if they were car drivers.
So? As my mum was wont to say 'If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it?' In fact, I bet it's something everyone's mum said, except apparently Simon's.
As for pedestrians, walking on many pavements is like taking a ride on the dodgems. Riders of ebikes and e-scooters ignore bans and expect everyone to move out of the way.
Bans which aren't enfoced might as well not exist, we all know this...
I normally approve of anarchy. There is too much regulation everywhere. The great Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman boldly advocated “shared space” in cities. He wanted kerbs, road markings and traffic signals minimised and replaced by “human discipline”. All road users should navigate urban space by watching out for each other all the time.
In a cohesive and monocultural society such a thing is possible, but we no longer have one of those, do we?
As a lifelong cyclist I admit to finding a certain exhilaration in riding a bike. I avoid main thoroughfares but like snaking through streets crammed with traffic, finding shortcuts through alleys and mews. But the essence of cycling is to keep moving. Hence I have to admit to sometimes doing what many London cyclists do at red lights. That is, look carefully, follow Monderman and “share” any unoccupied road space ahead by riding on.
And one day, you'll come a cropper. What a loss to journalism that will be!
Ebikes now come in all shapes and speeds. It is astonishing that the sleek Freesky Alaska, with its 250W engine, can be treated as if it was just another manual pedal bike. To my mind, it is blatantly a motorbike. When a delivery driver on one careers past me in Hyde Park, I wonder if I took a wrong turning. These machines must be put on the roadway where they belong.
Since we can't uninvent them, I suppose that's the next best thing.
Now, Now, You Know That's Not The Purpose Of These Investigations...
This month, the university announced it would open a fresh investigation after it said it received “new information” about Arday’s qualifications and career.Other elements of Arday’s life story were increasingly questioned, including claims of prodigious money-raising for charity and feats of long-distance running. He was also challenged about whether he was nonverbal until the age of 11, as well as being illiterate until 18. It is understood Cambridge has paused the investigation while Arday’s family are grieving, and will consider whether to reopen it in due course.
Is there much point now?
Prof Simon Baron-Cohen, Arday’s friend and former colleague, told Times Radio he thought the university should proceed with the investigation. “We should see what we learn from it. This is the whole purpose of investigations,” he said.
Oh Simon, how naive! The purpose of them is to exonerate the people who made the errors in the first place. The people who employed and lauded this liar and fantascist and published his every utterance when a moment's reflection should have had them scratching their head at the implausibility of it.
Andy Burnham, the prime minister, described Arday’s death as a “tragedy on so many levels” and urged a “moment of reflection”.
Yes, that's needed, a moment to reflect on the cancer of identity politics and the ruin they have made of all aspects of life, but particularly further education and the arts. But I doubt that's what he meant.
The vigil was organised by Arday's postdoctoral students and was held on Sunday afternoon. Kahn added: "Hold your friends close and know that we stand strong because we stand together. "Now, there is a time for anger, of justifiable anger, and that time will come - but today is not that day. "Today is about celebrating the life of a brilliant man, Professor Jason Arday. "Today we share the ways Jason made a difference in our lives and in the lives of those around us."
It seems it would suit some people to declare this man Britain's George Floyd, for racial reasons.
She said there would be a "promise to seek justice" for him. Another student told the crowd: "Racism did this."
Is there no one who will stand up to the racial grievance industry that's being incubated in our halls of learning?
Tuesday, 25 August 2026
More Accurate Headlone: The Definitions Of Each Have Been Stretched Too Far...
Racism and sexism have become normalised in Britain, the equalities minister has said, as she warned that young men were being sucked into violent misogyny by the “cesspit” of social media.
It takes extraordinady chutzpah to make a statement like this the day after the Home Office has had to publish pamphlets exhorting Third World invaders not to behave as if they were still in their foreign shitholes. Or just the typical lack of smarts that we can expect from this dead-on-its-feet Labour government under bodybags Burnham.
Bridget Phillipson said she was increasingly worried about how commonplace misogyny and racism had become, fuelled by online interactions and statements by politicians she said would not have been acceptable a few years ago.
Yes, obviously the real threat is in cyberspacee, not the real world, because you want to control it.
Speaking to the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast, she said: “I worry that we are at kind of a ground zero in terms of attitudes around violence against women and girls. Things that not very long ago felt totally unacceptable are becoming normal. I think we’re seeing that in terms of attitudes towards women, and I think we see that in terms of attitudes around racism.”
Well, you're certaainly right that some people's attitudes to women stink but they're not always men, are they? Proving this cartoon right:
She accused the shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, and Reform’s economic spokesperson, Robert Jenrick, of having made racist statements in recent years. Earlier this year, Timothy called Muslims praying in Trafalgar Square an “act of domination”, while Jenrick came under fire in October after the Guardian revealed he had complained he “didn’t see another white face” on a trip to an area of Birmingham.
“We had Nick Timothy, who said some appalling things about Muslim prayer. “Apparently I’m calling him names when I say that’s racist. I think it is fundamentally racist because I don’t think he would say that about any other group.”
Does any other group practise this arrogant seizure of public space for their religious devotions? No? Maybe thats why he doesn't say it.
The women and equalities minister also criticised the police for not taking violence against women and girls seriously enough.
Perhaps they are too busy with internal matters.
All The News That's Fit To Print....
...and some things that have to be left out:
Update:
A Newquay man has been charged after a woman was allegedly struck down by a van and grabbed by its driver. Police investigating reports of an attempted kidnap in Andover in Hampshire, almost 200 miles away from the Cornwall town, shared a public statement yesterday (Friday, March 6).
The statement said 28-year-old Sean Haverty has been charged in connection with the investigation. He has been remanded in custody and was due to appear before Basingstoke Magistrates' Court yesterday.
But not under the name 'Sean Haverty' though:
Isn't 'Safiya' a woman's name? Google confirms it. And 'Anna' leaves little doubt. So why is this not worthy of mention?
H/T: Jenn via TwitterUpdate:
When Haverty was first charged in March, police and local media explicitly identified him as a man and referred to him using his birth name. However, shortly after the trial began Judge Rufus Taylor informed jurors that Haverty had changed his name and was biologically male but that he was “presenting as a woman” in court. It is unclear when Haverty began identifying as a woman or formalized his new name, but it appears to have been following his arrest When Haverty was first charged in March, police and local media explicitly identified him as a man and referred to him using his birth name. However, shortly after the trial began Judge Rufus Taylor informed jurors that Haverty had changed his name and was biologically male but that he was “presenting as a woman” in court. It is unclear when Haverty began identifying as a woman or formalized his new name, but it appears to have been following his arrest
Monday, 24 August 2026
She Can't Stay In The Closet, It's Not Big Enough...
As you might know if you read my columns, see me a mile away, or talk to me for five seconds, I am a card-carrying lifelong member of the Fat Lesbian Club.
I wonder what sort of cards they carry…
However, ever since I first laid eyes on the television show Roseanne (very important to me) as a small child, the actor John Goodman has held a special place in my heart. It was confusing for me: did I want to be Dan Conner, or be with Dan Conner? I’m still not sure. He has always been so hot to me, from Dan on Roseanne to Fred Flintstone to Walter in The Big Lebowski. His body has now drawn attention in the last week or so, after a photo of him showing significant weight loss went viral.
He looked ill. Of course the media was rife with speculation.
It’s not Goodman’s 74-year-old body (his choice) I want to discuss, but instead the arguments that broke out about how he lost the weight. On one side there were many people congratulating him on his hard work. Then there were people claiming he had taken Ozempic so it wasn’t actually hard work, and then there were people defending that by saying he’d been losing weight for years, so he’d done it the “right way”, actually.
I don’t know the details and I don’t care, but none of this is good.
For someone who ‘doesn't care’ you’re rather dwelling on it.
I’m a fat person. We are constantly badgered and tortured by a society that tells us to lose weight, at all costs. If you’re fat, that’s a moral failing: you’re lazy and unhealthy.
Society has spent decades telling fat people that our value depends on our ability to control our weight. Now there is medicine that can make that control easier, and suddenly the problem is not the weight but whether the person has suffered sufficiently to “deserve” it. People resent us for being fat, and they resent us for getting thin.
My god, ‘Not The Nine O’clock News’ was spot on, wasn’t it?
🎵"Don't stick stickers on my paper knickers..."🎵
...especially not these sort!
The mystery deepens...
Two council cleansing workers were taken to hospital after falling ill while removing an “unauthorised sticker” from a lamppost on Morningside Road on Thursday, sparking a large-scale response by emergency services.A 30-year-old has been arrested and charged after a substance was found on a lamppost in the Morningside area.
What substance? No-one's saying! And these stickers seem not to be 'hazardous' at all, or so the police woulld like us to believe, which makes you wonder what the 30 year old has been charged with. And 30 yrar old what? Man ? Woman? The police say woman. Social media says different.
Police Scotland later confirmed the substance had been deemed safe following testing, reassuring residents it posed “no threat” to the public. However, emergency services were called out for a second time late on Thursday night following “additional reports of a potential hazardous material" near Hermitage Terrace.
The colours are significant, I feel...
Police have arrested and charged a 30-year-old woman after an ‘unknown substance’ was discovered on a lamppost in Morningside. She is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date.
Sunday, 23 August 2026
Sunday Funnies...
Just in time for the release of 'Planet Zoo 2', I can only hope it doesn't have this level of realism...
Saturday, 22 August 2026
Well, We Can Rule Out A Polar Bear...
..but does Paddington have an alibi?
In a rare kind of attack, a bear killed a man in Crystal, New Mexico, on Thursday, local police said. Authorities shot the bear, and the creature fled into woods near the scene of the attack. They said they ultimately found the bear and “neutralized” the animal.They neither identified the victim nor said what type of bear had killed him.
The only known species in the area is the black bear, Ursus americanus.
North America generally has only a handful of fatal bear attacks annually.
That's not a lot of comfort for the deceased's family in this case, it it?
As The UK Heatwave Dissipates, The Forces Are Marshalling for Next Year..
The El Niño event that is developing over the Pacific Ocean is likely to be the strongest in living memory, the Met Office has warned. The powerful natural climate phenomenon pushes up global temperatures and can increase the risks of extreme weather. Added to the effects of human-induced climate change, the Met Office is warning that it is "very likely" to mean 2027 is the hottest year on record.
I'd be worried, if I didn;t remember all the forecasts the Met Office made that didn't materialise....
There is growing evidence that weather patterns around the world are already being affected, with below-average monsoon rains in India and suppressed hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean. El Niño could put the UK at greater risk of a wet, stormy autumn.
Given monsoons and hurricanes kill people, isn't that rather a good thing? And a wet stormy Autumn is a typical season in the UK, isnt it?
"We should be clear that this is an unprecedented event", said Prof Adam Scaife, head of long-range forecasting at the UK Met Office. "I have never seen an El Niño signal this intense in our forecasts."
Well, we'll see.
Friday, 21 August 2026
Well, They Would Say That, Wouldn't They?
The programme, titled The Great ADHD Myth?, was broadcast on Tuesday and its host, NHS psychiatrist Dr Max Pemberton, concluded it was "a social construct, not a disorder of the brain". ADHD UK filed a complaint, saying: "ADHD is not a myth. It is not a social construct."
The Royal College of Psychiatrists also warned against "invalidating the condition".
Understandably, they have a business to protect.
Channel 4 defended the show, saying there is "considerable public debate on various aspects of ADHD" and it "is legitimate for that debate to be explored and for conventional understandings to be challenged".
Once it would have been, but in 2026 that can be a risky business, as one professor has since found out.
Another charity, ADHD Embrace, raised concerns with Channel 4 in advance, warning the programme risked "perpetuating misinformation about ADHD as a condition and discrimination against those families whose lives have been severely impacted by the condition".
But Channel 4 was not to be cowed...
Channel 4 said: "Whilst the film does not seek to provide answers from one family's experience, their experiences have opened up discussion around whether today's world is equipped to accommodate ADHD behaviours and the ethics of medicating these, particularly in children and particularly when the long-term effects remain unknown."
Meicating children with little thought to the long term conseqequrances seem to be the way forward these day, that door has been well and truly opened.
Diagnosis rates of ADHD and autism have soared, and waiting lists for assessments on the NHS in England are at record levels, with lists even closing in some areas due to the huge demand. Research from University College London suggests nearly a 20-fold increase in the number of UK adults diagnosed with ADHD between 2000 and 2018.
Reduce the benefits and allowances associated with it if you want to see rates fall.
Bodybags Sure Can Pick 'em!
The new farming minister fainted while visiting a refrigerated storage unit full of beef, it has been revealed.Od dear. What was her name?
Stephen Morgan has been on a tour of farms and suppliers since being appointed.
Oops!
...he felt ill when stepping into the room filled with shelves of meat from slaughtered cattle at a food processing plant in the Lake District. One local farmer, who knew about the incident, said: “He’d been shown large chunks of beef as well as some steaks but then he felt faint.
“He said something like, ‘I don’t feel too well — I need a moment.’”
But it's OK, he may know sod all about farming, but his background in sociology and politics has made him a master of implausible excuses:
The Portsmouth South MP explained of his wobble: “I felt unwell moving between the extreme heat and cold storage, and I’m grateful to all the staff at Lake District Farmers.
“Hats off to the brilliant people working in these conditions and temperatures to keep the nation fed.”
When's that election? There was someone more incompetent that Starmer after all!
Thursday, 20 August 2026
All Part And Parcel Of Life In Our Capital City, Eh, Mayor Khan?
A man has been arrested after a woman was fatally stabbed on a street in London, and another rushed to hospital. The Metropolitan Police have launched a murder probe following the alleged attack in Shepherd's Bush, west London, on Tuesday. Officers responded to reports of a stabbing at around 8.19am on Askew Road, where two women, aged 52 and 32, were found with stab wounds.The 52-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, despite the best efforts of medical staff.
Just another example of imported savagery on the capital's streets? We'll know as soon as the names are revealed.
A man, 48, was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder at the scene of the incident.
Detective Inspector Richard MacKenzie, who is leading the investigation, said: 'Our enquiries continue at pace as we work to establish the full circumstances of this deeply tragic incident.
'Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the victim and injured woman.
'We believe this to be an isolated incident within a residential address, but we know it will cause concern locally. Our officers will remain in the area throughout today.'
So a domestic? And probably not a surprise to the neighbours either...
Wednesday, 19 August 2026
Should You Be Breeding If This Is Your Attitude To Your Babies Health?
Twenty-week-old Grayson easily could have become one of the tens of thousands of British babies left unvaccinated against polio. His mother, Lily, agrees with the principle of immunisation. But overwhelmed by the early weeks of motherhood, and suffering from post-partum depression after a traumatic birth, she was daunted by the prospect of a long journey to a doctor's surgery.
"I've been through the trenches, awake all night. You don't want to leave the house, or go to a different town."
Not even to protest your newborn against fatal disease? I know better than to wonder why the father couldn’t have taken the kid!
Weeks ticked by, and eventually Grayson missed the polio and diphtheria jabs he was supposed to get at eight weeks old. By that point he was officially classed by the NHS as "overdue" for vaccination; effectively, he was on his GP's naughty list.
Then Lily realised there was a clinic practically on her doorstep - at a location she hadn't expected.That clinic - in Keighley, west Yorkshire - runs from a vacant retail unit at the Airedale shopping centre, a 1960s-era precinct that locals say has fallen on hard times in recent years, with plenty of empty, boarded-up units. The staff who created the clinic thought: why not use one of those vacant units to administer vaccines?
Well, marginally better than a self-immolating vape shop or Turkish barber VAT fraud outlet, I guess....
It's an imaginative solution to a national problem. Over the last 15 years, childhood vaccination rates have fallen across Britain. The share of five-year-olds in England who have received a four-in-one jab (which protects against viruses like polio and tetanus) is now 81%, down from 89% in 2014. About 84% have received both of their recommended MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) jabs, down from 88% a decade ago.
And no, the culprit isn't what you'd expect, either:
Beccy Baird, a senior fellow at the King's Fund think tank, says that despite colourful media reporting around "anti-vaxxers", most parents who turn down vaccination are not ideologically opposed to it. Convenience plays a big role, she says; vaccination rates are highest when parents regularly interact with medics, who can remind them to get their children jabbed and tell them exactly where to do it.
Then make sure the GP service is there for them to do it, and not ring-fenced by barbed wire and dragon-like receptionists that make it impossible to get an appointment!
There's Lily, the 18-year-old who finally gets her son Grayson his polio and diphtheria jabs. And there's Keeley, an assistant in a ceramics shop, who arrives with her baby Luca, and is impressed by the clinic's convenience, with no need for an 08:00 phone call or complicated online form.
See? Why aren't the GPs run like this?
Most of the young mothers have come across online anti-vax posts. "I see these things on Facebook where it's like, don't give your child vaccines because it's got ADHD in them," says Lily. Indeed, Hussain says she still hears parents asking if the MMR jab causes autism, a full 28 years after a link was suggested in a now-discredited paper by the former doctor Andrew Wakefield.
And you'll no doubt hear it until a more convincing arguement for the cause of the rise in the disorder is discoverered.
The clinic - which serves a relatively poor community - has vaccinated hundreds of infants since 2023, helping to boost coverage in an area that's historically had a low rate of immunisations. As of March this year, 88% of the children registered with Modality AWC (the GP practice that runs the clinic) now receive their first MMR dose by the age of 18 months, up from 78% three years ago.
Is it a 'poor' area in monetary terms, or educational ones?
Oh, Wales...
A 102-year-old great-grandfather with dementia died days after he was allegedly pushed off stage in his local pub after making a noise complaint.
A 56-year-old man from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, was arrested on suspicion of inflicting grievous bodily harm, and remains under investigation.
Another act of midless savagery from the Land of the Dragon Bully Dog...
Philip is understood to have been visiting the pub for a drink when he went onto a stage in the venue to complain about the volume of the music.
Robert said: "He just asked them to turn the music down." He said his father turned around to come back down off the stage when he was pushed, and that resulted in a broken hip."[That's] the most upsetting part. He wasn't going to live forever but it's not a nice way, obviously in pain," he said. "We want to see justice, of course. "They must have known he was an old man. It makes you wonder what the world is coming to."
Frequently, yes...
Det Ch Insp Shelley Comley, senior investigating officer for Gwent Police, said: "We understand the public interest in this incident but want to remind people that, not only is this an active criminal investigation, but there is a family at the heart of it processing the loss of a loved one." She urged people to "consider the impact that inaccurate or speculative comments" including "online commentary" could have.
This boilerplate has to be stuck onto every police statement now, doesn't it?
Tuesday, 18 August 2026
The First Burnham Victim Goes Under The Bus....
Step forward, victim:
Ms Haigh serves as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and First Secretary of State, effectively making her Andy Burnham's deputy. The Prime Minister appointed the convicted fraudster to her powerful role, as well as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, after she masterminded his victory in the Makerfield by-election in June. Her position in the higher echelon of Mr Burnham's administration comes less than two years after she was forced to resign from former PM Keir Starmer's Cabinet.
And now we know why he took such a step, so he'd have someone to blame when things went tits up.
Louise Haigh signed off on a nationwide emergency wildfire alert that startled millions of people across the country. Ms Haigh, who is head of the Cabinet Office, is understood to have approved the alert, which led to panicked Britons jamming 999 lines and startled drivers swerving across motorways.
Bullshit! Don't tell me a decision like this never crossed the PM's desk. 'Meet the new boss, same as the old boss', as the song goes...
The Conservatives, who devised the system more than a decade ago, said the alert was only intended to be used in cases where there was an imminent, direct and mainly localised threat to life.A Cabinet Office report explicitly warned against its use for 'lower level' incidents for fear of creating a 'cry wolf' effect, in which phone users either disabled or ignored the alert in cases of genuine emergency.
Indeed, I first heard this fot real as I headed out to a restaurant in Edinburgh for a birthday meal, because extremely high winds were predicted - and materialised! - the next day.
The Government had initially considered sending a targeted alert to the areas which were most affected or at risk of wildfires. However, by the afternoon, Ms Haigh's department decided to release the alert across the country following calls from the Fire and Rescue Service, The Telegraph reported.
A request they soon had cause to regret.
But the plea from fire chiefs soon came back to haunt them as emergency switchboards became overloaded by members of the public accusing their neighbours of having a barbecue.
But every cloud has a silver lining for someone:
One unlikely benefit of the disruptive alerts was that dozens of prisoners had their hidden mobile phones seized after the loud noises blared out from inside their cells on Friday evening.
Oh. well.
Is This Unusual?
Well, It IS Ireland, maybe they dom't bother over there if the cause of death is so blindingly obvious...
A seven-year-old boy is among four seriously injured people in hospital after a crash in County Kildare in which five teenagers were killed while driving the wrong way down a motorway. Two women are in a critical condition, while another woman and the boy are in a serious condition after the head-on crash. It's believed the injured family - two women aged in their 30s and one in her 20s, and the young boy - were travelling to the airport to go on holiday.
And this wasn't a case of teenagers driving like that because they got confused as some elderly drivers do, or were being cgased by police - it was deliberate.
The five teenagers have been named locally as Joe Carthy from Athy, County Kildare, Alex McCarthy from Carlow, Kamil Pustkowski from Limerick, Jeremy O'Brien and Jack Kennedy, according to Irish broadcaster RTÉ News.
Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin said his thoughts and prayers were with the injured and the death of the five teenage boys brought untold grief.
Social media immediatly gave the lie to that, wirh many people quite happy that these hooligans had deleted themselves from the world, being notorious as thorough nuisances in their town, and the sympathy went to the innocent victims who were just trying to get away on holiday.
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly described it as a "horrific incident" and "irresponsible and dangerous driving". "What makes this reckless behaviour even more appalling is that in some cases it is being done for social media likes regardless of the potentially devastating impact it might have on innocent people and themselves."
Ireland's Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said on Monday that he condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the "reckless criminal behaviour". "I also want to emphasise that anyone who makes the decision to drive a vehicle deliberately the wrong way down a motorway is engaged in lethally dangerous behaviour and it must stop," O'Callaghan said.
But why would they stop, whrn the police are powerless - or unwilling - to stop them, and they lack the brainpower to realise the consequences of a crash ayyspeed?
Monday, 17 August 2026
And This Is A Progressive National Newspaper?
...It reads more like some girls magazine like 'Jackie' (Ask your mum):
Having hope in your heart is all well and good, but you also need to know when to give up. At a certain point it’s time to accept cold, hard reality: we’re never going to see pictures of Taylor Swift in her wedding dress, are we?
*shrugs*
There are many reasons this matters...
There's none, actually.
...and the first, admittedly, is plain old nosiness, with a side order of entitlement.
Those are reasons, yes, but none of them matter.
Obviously she is allowed to keep her wedding private, but being denied a glimpse of the dress feels – insert foot stamp here – unfair.
Are you an adult woman? or a 15 year old girl?
Seeing Swift in her wedding dress would have divulged more about the human being underneath than her most undefended lyric, exposed truths that carefully crafted interview replies have distracted from so far. Seems like the oversharing era was her maiden game.
Polly Hudson is a freelance writer
Makes sense, even the 'Guardian' hasn't sunk so low as to enploy someone to write like this full time!
'Ms Carty is a complex person...'
Francesca Kolar, mitigating for Carty, said: 'The pre-sentence report highlights that Ms Carty is a complex person. She is grappling with several issues, with alcohol and mental health at the forefront. 'She has a real sense of shame about what happened. She does take accountability for her actions. 'It is plain that alcohol was the disinhibiting factor in this offence.'
Whar did she do? Only climbed over seats at Emirates stadium to grope a teenage girl during an Arsenal Women's match! So less a complex person, more a run of the mill sex offender.
Carty was found guilty of one count of sexual assault against the older girl but cleared of a second charge by a jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court. She was also cleared of two counts of sexual assault relating to the victim's cousin. Carty avoided jail but was given an 18-month community order.
So, multiple teenage girls in fact, even if the jury didn’t think so. Think there might have been more than alcohol circulating in her bloodstream.
Judge Leslie Cuthbert said: 'Instead of immediately admitting to your drunk and unpleasant behaviour you chose to suggest that the girls were lying, meaning that the victim and her cousin had to give evidence. 'You sought to shift the blame onto others.'
So Ms Kolar has lied to the court, shouldn’t she face consequences for that?
She was given a restraining order which means she will be prevented from contacting the victim for three years and will have to pay £500 in prosecution costs.
£500 is a fraction of the true cost.
Sunday, 16 August 2026
Saturday, 15 August 2026
And Then They Will Predict The Winning Lotto Numbers Too
Primary schools in England should be required to identify children at risk of leaving education at 16 without finding a job, a government review is to recommend.
How on earth are they supposed to do that?!
Alan Milburn, who is leading a review into Britain’s crisis in youth worklessness, said he would call for sweeping changes in education policy alongside a shake-up of the benefits system to address the problem. Speaking to the Guardian, he said ministers needed to “make somebody responsible” for identifying and supporting the children who risked becoming Neet (not in employment, education or training) after their GCSE year up to the age of 24.
I suppose you can't make the parents responsible for breeding the hopeless little shits in the first place, not if you want their votes, anyway,
“The warning signs are there from a very early, early age. You know, frankly from preschool,” he said.
Apart from obvious chavnames and ghetto monikers, I can’t see what else would be a predictor of future uselessness…
In an interview during a visit to Dublin this week, the former Labour health secretary said the recommendation would form part of his final report into Britain’s youth worklessness crisis, which is expected this autumn.Britain’s young adults are bearing the brunt of a rise in unemployment, with the number of 16 to 24-year-olds who are Neet surpassing a million earlier this year for the first time in more than a decade.
No shortage of unskilled jobs, but it seems they are all being filled by those imported to work for next to nothing by this and past governments!
Ironically, The Only Thing About Him That Isn't Suspicious....
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: 'Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at 3.12pm on Friday, August 14, following a report that a man had been found unresponsive inside a property.
'Sadly, a 41-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. His next-of-kin have been informed and are being supported by officers. 'At this time his death is being treated as unexpected, but is not believed to be suspicious.'
After days of questions from all quarters, he said: 'There comes a point when the personal cost becomes too great. I have a family. I want to be present for them.'Guess he lied about that too.
The message that the usual suspects want to get out is not that he was a DEI hire from the get-go and that the questions asked were relevant, but that the 'racist' white establishment is responsible for his death.
Arday’s family said in a statement: “Jason was subjected to a campaign of sustained abuse for more than three years since he accepted the role of professor at Cambridge University by those who would leave no stone unturned in their quest to undermine him.
“We are in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son.
“We won’t comment further at this point beyond asking the press to leave us alone now, and to stop the campaign of harassment which has been waged against Jason and his family for too long.”
Every inveterate race hustler is coming forward now to (literally) flog their dead horse before the spavined nag's body is even cold:
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m devastated for the family and friends of Jason Arday. He faced an unacceptable public hounding and campaign of abuse. I know many Londoners will be angry and upset this evening. “Jason Arday was the victim of a pernicious public shaming that other people in his position simply wouldn’t have faced. His death was a tragedy, but once again it should be a wake-up call for all of us.”
What are we supposed to 'wake up to', Khan? The practice of tokenism and identity politics that led to this?
Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Professor of Black Studies Kehinde Andrews and friend of Arday described him as "very down" after resigning from Cambridge. "He was very upset. He felt that there was no way out. He effectively wasn't leaving the house. He had lost a lost of weight," Andrews said. "There should be a wakeup call to just how bad black academics actually have it in academia," he added.
Yes, very bad, I'm sure. And the undeserved lionisation of this inadequate fantasist and liar will have made things much more difficult for them, as Longrider points out.
Friday, 14 August 2026
'We are perfectly reasonable people...'
Says who? A spokesman for owners at High Penderleath, a caravan site with a strict policy that campers cannot leave the site after 11.30pm unless it's for an emergency.
And yet the 'Mail' would clearly like us to believe that the people who chose to leave when they wanted to leave are in the wrong, are indeed 'entitled' people for doing so, who should be 'ashamed' for failing to comply with the prison's camp's demands.
This is the moment an 'entitled' married couple break a Cornish campsite's barrier at night so they can pick their children up from a music festival. The husband and wife were captured on CCTV spending more than an hour trying to lift the electronic barricade at family-run High Penderleath campsite in St Ives, which had been closed for security reasons.
Security reasons? It’s a bloody campsite, not a nuclear research facility!
Appearing triumphant after causing £4,600 worth of damage, she puts her face up to the camera again and sneers, 'I hope your barrier never works again, you k*******s' before What A Fool Believes by The Doobie Brothers begins to play over the footage.
I don’t blame her, but ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ by The Who might be more appropriate. But back to the commandant of Stalag Penderleath:
'What we don’t find reasonable is being left with a substantial repair bill because someone decided to disregard a security restriction rather than make arrangements with us beforehand.'
Just repeating the term isn’t going to give it any more gravitas, you know…
Why Should This Be A Surprise?
A manhunt is underway for a child rapist who escaped from prison staff while on escorted leave. Restricted patient, Cliff Lyons Dobbie, fled from officers in Perth city centre on Thursday.
He wasn't at large for long, thankfully. But why was he allowed out in the first place?
Dobbie has been held in secure facilities since 1990 after he raped a 10-year-old girl in Glasgow and sexually abused a 12-year-old boy in a field. He was admitted to State Hospital in Carstairs where he has remained since the depraved attacks.
Persuing hobbies like whinging about the rules. No doubt with taxpayer cash.
Police have warned the public not to approach Dobbie and to report his whereabouts to the police if he is spotted. He is currently being treated as a missing person and the investigation to locate him is ongoing.
He's not a 'missing person' - he's an escaped offender. But should we expect anything more from the land where they aren't even sure if prisoners are men or women?
Thursday, 13 August 2026
You Mean Progressive Issues, Don't You?
Of course they do, reader, it's the 'Guardian' after all:
A lack of clear vision, low morale, dwindling popularity and financial shortfalls – this may sound like a description of the previous Labour government, but these are also criticisms levelled at the UK’s most powerful arts institution, Tate. Maria Balshaw’s tenure as the first female director of Tate – comprising Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives – lasted nine years and saw as many culture secretaries. One of Sir Keir Starmer’s last acts as prime minister was to approve the appointment of her successor, Jessica Morgan, a former curator at Tate and head of the Dia Art Foundation in New York.
With record-breaking Frida Kahlo and Tracey Emin shows currently at Tate Modern, suggestions that Ms Morgan is inheriting an institution in a state of “existential crisis” seem exaggerated.
But, there's this:
Last year’s redundancies and staff strikes across the galleries showed an institution under pressure. It is a far cry from when Nicholas Serota spearheaded Tate Modern just over 25 years ago on the crest of Cool Britannia and the rise of the Young British Artists.
Looming external challenges include the National Gallery’s recent announcement of plans to ditch its 1900 cut-off, thereby encroaching on Tate Modern’s territory, and the possibility of an end to free museum access in the UK.
Oh, no. How will nuseums cope if people stop coming? Are their other funding avenues they could tap?
Then there is the increasingly problematic issue of funding. Ms Balshaw was right to take a stand against arts donations from fossil fuel companies.
Really?
Like the new prime minister, Ms Morgan has been hailed as “an agent of change”. How to make lasting change, without alienating core supporters, while inspiring confidence at home and abroad – all when budgets are tight – is the momentous task facing both.
I think there are more momentous tasks facing people in Btitain today.
'So We're Sending It To People Who Do Have The Sentencing Powers (That They Seldom Use)....
The chairman of a bench of magistrates told the defendants: 'Look, we can't deal with this today. 'It's called indictable only, it's so serious that it's beyond our sentencing powers if you were to be found guilty.'
Another case of ‘driving while diverse’ so get it off your plate as quickly as possible!
Sedor Olmez and Roderick Mirzakhanian allegedly caused the death of Laura Sone-Demetrious, 28, by driving dangerously on the A10 Great Cambridge Road in Enfield. Ms Sone-Demetrious was using a pedestrian crossing over the busy dual carriageway on her evening dog walk.
They mowed down her dogs too…
Olmez wore a white shirt, patterned tie, and black jacket in the dock while Mirzakhanian wore a white shirt, and both spoke only to confirm their personal details in the short hearing. They were not asked to enter pleas. Olmez was also charged with driving a BMW that was uninsured at the time of the incident on January 9 2024.
Not an Audi? Well, nice to see someone still reveres the classics.
He Actually Did The Meme!
You know the joke: what do you call a black man in a suit and tie? The defendant!
A black barrister has said a security guard told him he could not park in a court’s car park in London because “it’s not for defendants”.
Stephen Akinsanya, who in June was awarded an OBE for raising awareness of youth knife crime and its prevention, said the incident, at an east London court about four weeks ago, illustrated the lack of progress on racism within the criminal justice system.
Because of course he did…
He said: “It was a sort of reflection of what happened when I first qualified back in 1993, going into the same court, being asked by a security guard which case I was on trial in. And as a junior lawyer thinking: well, why does it have to be that I’m the one on trial? Why can it not be that I’m the lawyer?
I’ve been assumed to be a shop worker many times in a supermarket despite not wearing a uniform, did I complain or be offended? No I just shrugged and got on with life!
“And then 33 years later, pulling up in my car to park in the same court building, a security guard saying: ‘You can’t park here.’ And when I said why, he said: ‘Defendants can’t park in the car park.’”
When he challenged the guard, “he was completely embarrassed” and raised the barrier to allow him to park, said Akinsanya.
He never seems to think that it’s because the court staff sees an overwhelmingly black criminal intake that of course they will assume that he’s another one.
Akinsanya said: “I’m privy to seeing how the bar has changed with a lot more people from diverse backgrounds entering the profession but there is still a perception that, if you’re black, you’re more likely not to be the lawyer, you’re more likely to be a defendant who’s attending court because you’re on trial. “I just think: why are we still in this position in the 21st century? Which makes one think about the wider conversation we were having [on the podcast] about the lack of black judges.”
He believes there should be targets to increase representation and a body that is held accountable if they are missed.
If you want more Professor Ardays, that’s exactly how you should go about it. So tell me, has the case of Professor Arday made things better for educated black people, or worse?
Wednesday, 12 August 2026
Never Forget Who They Really Protect...
Chief Constable Paul Sanford warned this morning that those who ‘crossed the line’ could ‘expect the full force of the law’ and refuted claims his officers had been too aggressive.
Eyewitnesses say different and long gone are the days anyone takes a Chief Con’s word for anything:
Police pepper-sprayed a woman in a wheelchair during the violent anti-migrant protests in Thetford, locals have claimed. The woman is said to have been among a largely ‘peaceful’ protest when the crowd became ‘rowdy’ and officers used the device.
But she was no doubt white, so they will feel empowered to do it and safe from recriminations or career stunting action.
Mr Sanford told the BBC’s Today programme this morning: ‘We have people who are exercising their right to protest and, of course, we will support that. ‘There are people who live in Thetford who are concerned, understandably concerned, about some of the things that are happening in their town.
‘However, across three consecutive nights, a group of people have crossed the line as to what is acceptable. We have been appropriately policing those behaviours. ‘I’ve seen the reports of heavy-handedness. We’ve been firm. We’ve been firm with people who have broken the law.’
You know full well that the perception of a two-tier system of justice is inflamed by such statements, because people can point to similar scenes where you’ve done nothing, because it was politically safer to do nothing.
On ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Home Office minister Anna Turley described the events in Thetford as ‘horrendous’.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting also criticised the ugly scenes, saying: ‘There is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for violence and thuggery to be directed to anyone in our society, whether that’s people seeking sanctuary in Britain or indeed the police that are trying to maintain public order.’
Seeking sanctuary Wes? Or seeking an easier life here?
Police had to escort terrified migrants from one property in the Norfolk market town on Tuesday night after an angry mob gathered outside three residential addresses.
So, it worked. So why wouldn’t they do it again?
Tensions were already high in the area following weeks of protests three miles away at RAF Barnham in Suffolk, after the former military barracks was earmarked by the government to take 1,250 male migrants.
Stop calling them 'migrants' - if they came over on a boat after destroying all ID documents they are illegals, so call them what they are - criminals.
A Government spokesperson said: 'The right to protest is fundamental to our democracy and the concerns of communities are central to our immigration reforms. 'However, violence and disorder are never acceptable, and we absolutely condemn the behaviour seen in Thetford, including attacks against frontline police officers.
'We thank policing partners who we continue to work with to ensure the safety of the wider community. Anyone taking part in this criminal activity will face the full force of the law.'
We expect those who engage in tthe criminal activity of breaking into the country to face the full force of the law, and until they do, the protests wuill continue. And there are more people willing to protest than there are police to stop them.
Vital Affairs Being Handled By The New PM
No 10 has vowed to confiscate powers from local councils which try to restrict customers from standing up while drinking in pubs or ordering at the bar.
Wow. Really getting his teeth into the crucial affairs of state there, isn’t he?
It comes after the Guardian revealed on Thursday that Westminster council in central London recommended not allowing “vertical drinking” or ordering at the bar in its new draft licensing policy. The draft document, now out for consultation, recommends that pubs applying for new licences allow only table service rather than bar ordering. It also suggests new pubs in popular nightlife areas including Soho call last orders at 10pm, to reduce noise and disturbance.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “Busy pubs full of people talking to each other is not a public nuisance, it is British life, and it is thousands of jobs.
It's a relief to have a PM who recognises there is such a thing as British life, and not as something to immediately discard in the face of woke desires, but isn't there far more important things he should be getting to grips with?
And why is he considering handing more powers to the Poison Dwarf of London?
“The government is devolving new licensing powers to the mayor [of London] to help support pubs and nightlife. Soho did not become world famous by taking last orders early, switching the lights off at 10 o’clock.
“The prime minister encourages local leaders to work with the industry so that pubs can continue to thrive.”
Good luck with that!
The government is due to grant new powers to the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, allowing him to “call in” local council decisions he opposes.
A spokesperson for the mayor previously said he was against “restrictive and anti-growth policies” and said he hoped to use new powers to be granted to him by the government to stop councils from overreaching. The draft policy says pubs should “discourage excessive drunkenness and encourage the provision of more seating in premises that serve alcohol for people to sit and enjoy a drink and order food by table service in place of open bar space that caters for high-volume vertical drinking”. It goes on to recommend that sales of alcohol and food should be “by waiter or waitress service only”.
Who wouldn't believe that wasn't a threat to traditional pub habits? You'd have to be a moron. wouldn't you?
Oh.
Paul Swaddle, the Conservative leader of Westminster council, denied the plans amounted to a ban on “vertical drinking”. He told the Press Association that newspapers had carried “confusing stories” about the document and added: “I want to be straight with people. There is no plan, and never has been, to ban drinking while standing up in a Westminster pub.”
We can read, you know. And we know you aren't being 'straight with people'.
Tuesday, 11 August 2026
Why Our Police Farces Are Doomed...
No, not because they lost a tribunal they were bound to lose, but because they hired someone like this in the fisrt place:
A judge said it was 'unusual' that she had a pair at home but did not raise it, but added it did not 'undermine her case' as 'the duty to make reasonable adjustments is on the employer not the employee'. The judge ordered that Ms Vale's bosses should pay her £19,141 in compensation, including £15,124 for injury to her feelings.
That was the correct decision but questions need to be asked how this woman was ever employed.
Ms Vale began her employment as a victim and witness care officer at the force in a temporary role to cover a long-term absence in September 2023. She was new to policing as she 'had a background in creative arts' and had owned her own creative arts business.
You couldn’t make it up and in the UK in 2026, you never have to…
She said she was previously a self-employed artist because her ADHD made her not want to work with others. Ms Vale had only been diagnosed with ADHD via an online consultation with ADHD360 in May 2023 after her GP had refused to diagnose her because they thought it was simply 'low self-esteem'.
Upon beginning work at the police force, Ms Vale requested that she be supplied with noise cancelling headphones and informed them of her ADHD.
The ADHD that she didn’t officially have…
She requested noise cancelling headphones again after a four-week probation review in October. Ms Vale's line manager Jennie Clarke asked: 'These are noise cancelling ones not the routine ones - is that correct?
'I will be asked can I confirm why you need those as opposed to a normal headset. Let me know.'
The manager is clueless, and obviously can’t use Google!
Shortly after, in November 2023, Ms Vale had a health scare at work in which she believed she was suffering a heart attack.Ms Vale confided in a colleague who had worked as nurse during this episode that 'her GP has no awareness of what she is taking' because her health was being handled solely by ADHD360.
Ms Vale had a meeting with Miss Clarke shortly after where she disclosed her own 'doubts' about ADHD360.
Aha, the manager has learned how to use Google in the interim!
Ms Vale went on sick leave in December 2023, but when Miss Clarke wrote to the support officer to check on her, Ms Vale raised a grievance and asked not to be contacted again.
Not a serious issue, simply a delaying tactic.
She did not attend any grievance meetings and her employment ended in March 2024, although this had been the plan as the previous member of staff returned from their absence at this time.
And no doubt everyone reathed a HUGE sigh of relief.
Ms Vale then took the police force to an employment tribunal in Bristol, alleging that the staff had spread cruel rumours about her and made dismissive remarks. The tribunal concluded that the staff had actually been supportive of her throughout her employment and dismissed some of Ms Vale's claims.
And why did she lie so blatently? Why not? There are, after all, no reasons not to. There are no sanctions for frivolous claims, just as there are no sanctions for the police HR department when they hire unsuitable flakes fot temporary roles.
15 Elephants? Think Of The Trophy Fees They Would Have Brought In...
Not to mention the meat they wouls have provided local villages.But white Western liberal squamishness over hunting condemned them to a lingering death instead.
But Duncan Juma, communications director of Kenya's wildlife service, ruled out human-wildlife conflict in the death of the elephants, saying 'the community loves these animals.'
Really? Even the ones who risk being trampled by them when they go to harvest what crops the marauding herds have left to them? Of course, Juma lives and works in air-conditioned comfort in a city, so he would say that, wouldn’t he?
The International Fund for Animal Welfare, or IFAW, said the recent suspected cyanide poisoning highlights the urgent need to tackle the underlying causes of human-wildlife conflict. 'As people and elephants increasingly share space, protecting wildlife and safeguarding communities' livelihoods must go hand in hand,' IFAW wrote in a statement.
They are incompatible. The elephant has no value to the rural African, if he cannot benefit from the trophy fees or the meat from a licensed hunt.
Last season alone, Muchai said elephants destroyed about half an acre of his tomato crop, costing him an estimated 500,000 Kenya shillings (£2,867). 'We have lived with these animals for years. They eat our crops, and many of us have never received compensation,' he said.
Surprising? Not at all.
Another farmer, Rymondy Mrosso, also questioned whether pesticides used by local farmers could explain the deaths and wondered why only elephants appeared to have been affected.
They have to eat a huge quantity of food per day. That would account for it.
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