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. 

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! 

“The thing just collapsed. We don’t know why.”

Rabon said authorities were investigating a “catastrophic failure” of an aluminum dock gangway that sent at least 20 people plunging into the water.

“It is a structural failure,” Rabon said at a news conference Sunday. “There should be very, very little maintenance to an aluminum gangway like that, but we’ll see what the investigation unfolds.”

A team of engineers and construction specialists planned to be on site early Sunday to begin investigating why the walkway – installed in 2021 – failed, Jones said.

I wonder.... 

Joe Biden said federal officials were ready to provide any assistance needed. “What should have been a joyous celebration of Gullah-Geechee culture and history instead turned into tragedy and devastation,” the president said in a statement. “Jill and I mourn those who lost their lives, and we pray for the injured and anyone still missing. We are also grateful to the first responders at the scene.”

Anyone wondering what 'Gullah-Geechee culture' means (who hasn't watched Kardea Brown's cookery show on the Food Channel), wonder no more: 

Small communities descended from enslaved island populations in the south – known as Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia – are scattered along the coast from North Carolina to Florida. Scholars say their separation from the mainland caused residents to retain much of their African heritage, from their unique dialect to skills and crafts such as cast-net fishing and weaving baskets.

Maybe their African heritage and skills at building bridges should have been sought?