Those Chickens Coming Home To Roost Look Like Vultures....

Scotland Yard failed to properly vet thousands of officers – allowing rapists, racist and violent offenders to join the force. Two serial rapists are among more than 130 officers and staff let in due to vetting failures who have gone on to commit crimes or misconduct, the Metropolitan Police admitted on Wednesday. In a scandal which will raise questions about criminals in uniform across the UK, the Met was one of at least six forces to secretly drop employment checks on new recruits in a rush for extra cash as part of an attempt to find 20,000 new officers.

And not just any old Tom Dick or Harry off the streets would do - HR had a Pantone colour chart of the shades of diversity they'd need to hire to suit the government. 

Details emerged in a bombshell Met recruitment audit which revealed the Home Office [and] National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) were aware that some other forces in England were not taking references' of new recruits despite the obvious risk to the public.

The Daily Mail has learnt that the Met was one of six forces to admit in a NPCC survey that it had 'deviated' from national police regulations during the £3billion Police Uplift Programme between July 2019 and March 2023. But sources said the true number may be higher as some forces failed to respond to the NPCC poll.

Probably because they already knew what those poll results would show.  Scary to think it could be worse than the Met, though:

David Carrick, one of the UK's worst sex offenders now serving 37 life sentences for attacks on 14 women, and Cliff Mitchell, a serial rapist who called himself 'the devil', were among Met officers not properly vetted in the scramble to meet recruitment targets. Mitchell kidnapped and raped a woman at knifepoint in 2023 after being welcomed into the Met in 2020 – despite being previously investigated for six counts of rape against a child. Although there had been concerns about his recruitment, a vetting panel aimed at boosting diversity overturned a decision to reject his application.

DEIhiring is a very very bad idea. It's bad enough when it happens in the Prison Service  

But You Can’t Have Been Ignorant Of The Possibility?

Oh, give me a break! No-one is that naive anymore, Rachel....

It was only after New York Magazine that Neil Gaiman issued his first public denial, called “Breaking the Silence” and repeated his position, one he had indirectly communicated to Tortoise, that he had “never engaged in unconsensual sex with anyone. Ever.”But that denial has not prevented Dark Horse Comics being the latest one of his publishers, streamers, or other platforms from dropping the author. In a post on X, Dark Horse Comics this week said: “Dark Horse takes seriously the allegations against Neil Gaiman and we are no longer publishing his works.”

The new Ten Minutes Hate - driven by social media pile-ons and requiring no 'evidence' beyond an accusation. And now the person responsible for bringing the accusation to light is all ‘not me, guv, my hands are clean!’

The point of me “breaking my silence” now here is to say that the blanket cancellation of Neil Gaiman was not my intention when I first heard Scarlett’s story, then the voices of four more females you hear in Master.

It might not have been, but you cannot possibly claim you weren't aware of the likely effect, can you? 

Our intention with Master was to probe the greyest of grey areas – allegations of sexual abuse within an otherwise consensual relationship.What the police call IPSV – or intimate partner sexual violence – is the most underreported crime. Women don’t report it (even though marital rape has been on the statue book since 1992) because they don’t think they will be believed; they don’t want to think they’ve been abused and themselves as victims, they don’t want their partner, often the father of their children, to go jail. They very often send their alleged abuser loving messages, afterwards, that can be used as the crux of any defence. It’s…complicated.

Then maybe it should be for those in the justice system to unravel? 

You Must Think We're The Mugs...

A fraudster who conned the taxpayer out of £195,000 in Covid loans by making fake applications purportedly on behalf of legitimate businesses including High Street bakers Greggs has walked free from court with a suspended jail term.

What..?! How? 

Rais Kayani, 31...

*sighs* 

...'dishonestly benefited' from the scheme, pocketing the cash and transferring it to accounts overseas, Southwark Crown Court was told. On Monday, the keen amateur cricketer pleaded guilty to a single count of entering into a money laundering arrangement and received a 16-month term, suspended for 18 months.

I would say 'you couldn't make it up', but I'm getting sick of saying that. 

And this is yet another consequence of the Tory Government's failure to get a grip on the covid response.. They are coming in thick and fast now, and they show no signs of stopping. 

Speaking after the case, Ben Reid, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'At a time of national emergency during the COVID-19 crisis, vast Government funds were released to support struggling businesses across the country.'

With little to no oversight and despite the warnings. A failure to be laid directly at the door of then-Chancellor Sunak. 

'We have already recovered £155,000 of taxpayer's money and will now seek a confiscation order for the remaining funds.'

What do you want, a cookie? It should never have been paid out in the first place... 

Speaking outside the Kayani family's £280,000 semi-detached home in Luton yesterday, Kayani's brother Anis, 34, said: 'He was a mug and he didn't make a penny out of it.'

Sure, sure, Anis, whatever you say... 

He implied that his brother was in a vulnerable state when he committed the offence saying it happened soon after their mother had died.

*yawns* 

Oh, Hi, Chickens!

...can I offer you a roost?

Referral units for children who have been excluded from mainstream schools are warning that they are full to bursting because of unprecedented levels of disruptive behaviour across the country.

Is the 'C' word getting a mention here, perchance? Well, Reader, only obliquely...

Providers that take children excluded from mainstream schools say that after a lull during the pandemic, the situation has deteriorated, and they have seen permanent exclusions rising across the country in the past year.

So the pandemic was a good thing...? And not in any way a potential cause of this increase..? 

Dave McPartlin, head of Flakefleet primary school in Lancashire, said: “The additional need we are seeing in schools is absolutely unprecedented and everyone is seeing more behaviour problems.”

He said complex needs were emerging much earlier too, with children in nursery and reception exhibiting emotional, social and communication issues.

Hmmm... 

I wonder what other treats we have in store from three years of covid shenanigans?

"Some Of It's Even From The Students..."

In the past couple of years, the insecurity in people’s lives has been getting worse and worse – and it’s affecting their behaviour. You see learners breaking down in tears because they are so overwhelmed, or they are venting their anger and frustration.

Since we came back on-site post-lockdown, behaviour is worse than it has ever been. Every staff member that I have spoken to agrees. There has been spitting, foul language, littering, disregard for shared spaces and teachers’ authority – it’s shocking.

What could possibly have given these students a lack of respect for, well, everything? 

It must be a hangover from covid restrictions, right? It couldn't be anything else...

Oh, How We All Laughed!

Former Vice President Mike Pence: 

Former Tesco chairman John Allan:

'It would be ironic if men ended up with male chaperones because they felt they couldn't have a conversation with a woman without having someone with them who could testify that nothing untoward had happened.'

Who's laughing now..? 

Maybe Not Everyone Regards Them As 'Heroes', Wes..?

A health service body called NHS Protect had collated and published data on the number of verbal and physical attacks on NHS staff in England for many years, but it did so for the last time in 2016, when it published the figures for 2015-16, and was scrapped in 2017.

Barclay restated his commitment to “a new data collection” in a further written parliamentary answer to the Conservative ex-health minister Dan Poulter in September 2018. However, the health minister Will Quince recently confirmed to the shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, that the plan had been dropped.

And Labour are, of course, up in arms. When aren't they? 

...Labour claimed that “ministers are burying their heads in the sand” on aggression against frontline staff, which has become more common since the Covid-19 pandemic began three years ago.

Gosh, what a shock. 

Now, is this the usual drunk, drugged up, mentally ill 'service users' launching these attacks? Or Mr & Mrs Let's All Clap For Them getting to hospital and finding out just how poor a service they've been lionising, perhaps? 

“The Conservatives’ approach to violence and abuse against paramedics and nurses is ‘ignorance is bliss’. What kind of protection is that for the heroes of the pandemic?” said Streeting.

What 'heroes', Wes? The ones who danced and sang on TikTok videos while elderly patients with covid were discharged into care homes? 

Long waiting times for care appear to be a particular source of frustration for some patients or their relatives.

Reality meets PR and it's not pretty...

Pointless Deploying The 'He's Just Being Friendly' Lie...

 ...when we've all seen the video. But then that's typical of the owners of these things. It's a toss up who has the higher IQ:

The owner of an out-of-control dog that attacked a police horse and left it with multiple injuries has insisted his pet is 'friendly' and was just 'intimidated' by the larger animal.

The chaotic scenes saw officers screaming for the dog to be put on a lead as members of the public intervened, with one man using a long stick to try to get the animal away from Urbane.

Which upset the owner. Yes, unbelievably. 

...owner Hakan Niyazi, who is in his twenties, said his pet Coco was intimidated and felt threatened, telling the Sun: 'She's so friendly. With any human she's so good. I don't know why it happened.' He also accused the have-a-go-hero witness who used a long stick to keep the dog at bay of being 'rude', adding: 'I was so angry at the time. He said I didn't do nothing. I tried.

'I reciprocate energy. If you're rude to me I will be rude back to you. He was angry. He was swearing, being rude. I was trying my hardest.'

Oh, please! Everyone who can see that video (and that's the whole connected world) can see you standing there doing nothing. Why do these people lie so incompetently? 

A sign in the window of the brother's ground floor flat, which backs on to the Hertford Union Canal, warns passers-by: 'Beware. Wild animal Inside.

Maybe it refers to the owner and his equally deadbeat brother?

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'On Wednesday 22 March a dog was seized in Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets, after it attacked a police horse.

'The horse required stitches and is expected to return to duty following its recovery.

'The dog remains in police kennels and officers are in contact with its owner.

'No arrests have been made. Enquiries continue.'

What more enquiries are needed? Maybe if you'd acted on previous reports about this animal, you wouldn't have an injured horse right now. But then, that's happened before, hasn't it?

H/T: DAD via email 

"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"

Well, not this chap, not any more...

In a statement, Suella Braverman said: “I have accepted Michael Lockwood’s resignation as director general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

“I took immediate action upon being made aware that Mr Lockwood was the subject of a police investigation into an historic allegation, and instructed my officials to ask him to resign or face immediate suspension from his role.

“Home Office staff are working at pace with the IOPC’s unitary board to put in place temporary arrangements for the organisation’s leadership.”

Nice to know they can move quickly when they want to, eh? 

Don't Say We Didn't Tell You: Pt 1795482

Electric car owners will have to pay road tax for the first time, as part of ‘eye-watering’ Budget plans designed to fill a £54 billion hole in the public finances.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will use Thursday’s budget to change Treasury rules which mean emission-free cars and vans currently pay no vehicle excise duty. The move is designed to plug a projected £7 billion shortfall in road tax as the switch to electric vehicles gathers pace.

And yes, covid is the excuse, but if you believe this wasn't always on the cards at some point, I've a bridge to sell you... 

The Bank of England warned last week that Britain could be entering a two-year recession, the longest on record.

If you shut down the country for two years, the bill is going to come due some time, isn't it?

What's The Swedish Equivalent Of Popcorn..?

Apparently, the 'far right' *pause for laughter* is taking over in Sweden. And Gina isn't taking it well:

It might be tempting to draw the conclusion that the progressive Pippi Longstockings are dying out in Sweden, while a new generation of aggressive conservatives is taking over. But rather than reflecting any drastic shift in the liberal ethos of Swedes, the election results reveal a more uncomfortable truth: that perhaps Sweden’s supposed liberalism was never that deep to begin with.

Well, of course. I mean, it couldn't possibly be that even the most liberal of them have woken up and smelled the coffee, could it? 

Since then, the main representatives of such “dreaded” difference – immigrants and their descendants – have come to constitute a quarter of the population. But many “native” Swedes do not typically mix with them – and flee their neighbourhoods if they move in.

It's hardly surprising; who wants to live in a neighbourhood where the sounds of gunfire and bombing fill the air? 

Then there is an unemployment rate among the foreign-born population of almost 20%. Sweden has also seen a surge in shootings and organised crime over the last year.

Feel the enrichment! 

The reasons behind the increase in crime are complex – class and social exclusion play an important role – but the result is a political and media debate that focuses on the supposed values or cultures of immigrants themselves.

These sort of values and cultures? When your own values and culture prevent you from resolving mistakes like others have started to, what else to do, but change the people at the top for ones that promise to do so? 

What we are seeing in Sweden might, then, not be a newly awakened belligerence, but the result of a longstanding desire for conformity. For what triggers the authoritarian mindset is exactly the narrative that “we” have somehow lost “our unity”. This popular myth in Sweden, together with a widespread fear of difference, is what was most likely to have contributed to the worrying election results in my country.

It's not a 'fear of difference', it's a realisation of that difference, and of the fact that - far from integrating into Swedish culture - a sizeable majority want to continue that culture they enjoyed in the homeland.  

Where Were You When Vaccines Were Mandated..?

Outside Thomas's Virginia home, a crowd of several dozen people waved placards, drummed and waved flags. 'My body, my choice!' they yelled, holding aloft posters labelling Thomas a 'treasonous turd' and proclaiming: 'Reproductive rights = human rights.'

Funny, I don't remember protests when covid vaccines were being mandated everywhere, and it was mooted that those who didn't get them should be ostracised from society, do you, Reader?

But let the 'right' to terminate a potential life on a whim be threatened, and suddenly the people who'd cheer that on, without a flicker of self-awareness, are marching outside a Supreme Court judges' house... 

Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, spoke from the steps of City Hall on Friday and proclaimed that his city was ready to welcome those women who needed an abortion, but were unable to get one in their home state.

He also revealed that, when he was 15, his then-girlfriend needed and got an abortion. He said he was just back from jail - he was arrested for trespassing because he entered a house to take possessions, feeling he hadn't been compensated for odd jobs - when his girlfriend told him.

What lovely people they elect to high office there... 

'Linda came to me and said, 'Eric, I'm pregnant and look at your life,' Adams said. 'She said Eric, you're arrested, you're not going to school, what future is this baby going to have.'

'She made the decision that was smart for both of us, she made the right call because she was empowered, she was in control.'

Said, once again without a flicker of self-awareness, that if being a convicted thief isn't a bar to success in the modern USA, why should a child be one?

They Were Here First...

'Local students have already experienced several years of disruption to their studies from the Covid pandemic and are now faced with further disruption to crucial examinations due to ongoing military aircraft activity.

'Teachers and students from Ysgol Botwnnog have voiced their concerns over the ongoing disruption, and it is disappointing that the Ministry of Defence has not been more receptive to their concerns.

'While the Minister for the Armed Forces maintains that the amount of training is limited to that which is essential, I fear this will provide little comfort to students experiencing disruption to all-important examinations, as well as their hard-working teachers.'

Tough. You've known about the training for years. Instead of whining and whinging about the effects of aircraft noise on your precious little flowers, why didn't you soundproof the exam rooms?

Unless of course you're simply shoring up a defence for a drop in the exam rate caused by 2 years of sitting on your arses in your back gardens on full pay while children struggled with remote learning? 

Let Those Who Are Without Sin...

The Church of England is under fire over the suicide of a priest who took his own life after being wrongly accused of child sexual abuse.

Father Alan Griffin, 76, hanged himself at home in November last year, after spending a year under investigation while denied knowledge of the source of the accusations.

Clearly, the CoE has studied the Spanish Inquisition... 

In a damning report following the inquest into his death, Coroner Mary Hassell exonerated Father Griffin and heavily criticised the Church of England for its handling of the investigation.

“Father Griffin did not abuse children. He did not have sex with young people under the age of 18. He did not visit prostitutes. He did not endanger the lives of others by having sex with people whilst an HIV risk. And there was no evidence that he did any of these things.”

Pshaw, Mary! What need for evidence these days? Even the court system doesn't require it... 

Ms Hassell said she had been driven to writing an unusually detailed report as the Church of England had failed to fully engage in the inquest process until June this year, and had not made “meaningful attempts” to learn the lessons from Father Griffin’s death.

Given 'learning lessons' usually means doing absolutely nothing, one wonders why she's so concerned at this bit. 

"...nobody who was at that party has come forward to give us a statement or any further information."

Gosh! I thought black lives mattered?

Ms Johnson's mother Ellet Dalling, appealed for more witnesses yesterday: 'What has happened to Sasha has left us devastated. She is currently fighting for her life in hospital with two children asking where their mummy is, what do I tell them? Someone must have information to what happened and to come forward.

'Sasha is passionate about standing up for others, please come forward and stand up for Sasha. Come forward to help us, I know it is not always easy but imagine if it was your daughter or the mother of your children. I believe there are people out there that can help.'

If she survives, maybe she'll reconsider her priorities...

Aren't there a lot of chickens coming home to roost lately, though?

"Can I Get A Vowel, Please, Carol?"

Vahideh Hojatoleslami, 28, allegedly struck Oluwakemi Tayo after he kicked her fiancé out of the VIP area of Loft Studio in Willesden, north-west London.

Are we not enriched? 

The trial ran out of time and resumes on August 20.

There's time limits now? When did the process of justice become 'Beat The Clock'..? 

Update: It resumed, and....guess what?

Why Is Anyone Professing Surprise?

 

A report by Hope Not Hate...

Ah. We can usually safely ignore anything produced by this bunch of charlatans, can't we? 

...seen exclusively by The Independent before its release, said that years of dominance by Tommy Robinson and other figures focused on Muslims was giving way to rising white nationalism.

When we've seen the rise of black nationalism with the BLM movement, and also observed the obsequiousness of the establishment, why wouldn't this happen?  

“There’s this move from people previously focused on other topics like Islam, and alongside that is a contingent of the young British far right who have been embracing more extreme and traditionally fascist, white nationalist and antisemitic ideas,”

Mr Murdoch said. He warned that the younger group are active in online networks that have greater reach than the “old guard” of National Front and British National Party (BNP) supporters.

In other words, the younger generation are smarter, more social-media savvy, then the old guard. 

So let's see what their message is, and whether it could really gain popular support with mainstreamers?  

On its website, Patriotic Alternative claims that “native British” people are being eradicated and proposes extreme measures to protect “the indigenous peoples of the United Kingdom”.

It says it would call a “complete halt” to immigration and pay people “of immigrant descent … to return to their ancestral homelands”.

Patriotic Alternative claims that children are being exposed to pro-LGBT and anti-white “propaganda” and advocates home-schooling using its own package of hateful material on “history and culture”.

Well, I leave you to your own conclusions. But if I was an establishment figure, I'd be very, very worried. 

Then You Failed As A Parent When He Was Younger...

"I'm worried about a lack of motivation - he's not getting up until one o'clock."

Many parents across the UK will empathise with mother-of three Louise, who is worried her teenage son is becoming disengaged from his studies, as schools remain closed due to Covid-19.

"It's hard enough motivating a lazy 17-year-old boy who doesn't really care much about school in normal times," says Louise.

Yes, being a parent is tough, I'm told.

I'm also told that if you indulge them in their every whim until the age of five, you can damn well forget getting them to become decent human beings past that age. Looks like you just learned that.

"They need the interaction with the teacher, a bit more more than, 'Here's a worksheet'.

"I'm worried my son's not going to bother doing any work now before his A-levels next year and frankly, he's having a nice time, he's exercising lots, playing video games, so why would he start working again?"

Why indeed, since you clearly intend feeding and clothing him regardless..?

"It's very difficult for parents to get their children to knuckle down sometimes," says Rebecca Poole, head teacher of Hampton High in south-west London.

"But it's important not to panic. I would say that if it's creating unbearable conflict at home, don't force it.

"As teachers, we will do our best to repair the damage to learning, the important thing is children's wellbeing and safety.

"Families should hear that, they shouldn't tie themselves in knots - we're in this for a long schlep."

Yes, we should let teachers repair the damage. What could go wrong?