How Dare You Tell Me I Have To Change My Behaviour!

'We would like to see more emphasis on suitable calming measures to alert cyclists of the need for a change in behaviour, to slow down and give way to pedestrians. 'There are points in the guidance where it almost seems that cyclists should not be inconvenienced by such measures.'

This is the revelation that the government tried to squash a review into 'floating' bus stops by their own disabled persons transport advisory committee (DPTAC).

The DPTAC's report from 2025, which was marked as 'official - sensitive', was the group's response to draft government guidance on floating bus stops. However, it was uncovered last month through a Freedom of Information request - and has been seen by the Daily Mail.

Last November, the Government ordered a pause on the installation of stops, where people getting off a bus have to step onto a live cycle lane. However, Sarah Gayton, of the National Federation of the Blind of the UK, which uncovered the report, has called for an immediate halt to all floating bus stops. 'This is supposed to be the Labour party but they treat disabled people with contempt.'

Oh Sarah, you're not special, they treat everone with contempt. 

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association has called for the roll-out of all forms of floating bus stop to be halted until they can be proven safe. It previously found through testing that trained guide dogs are naturally predisposed to avoid floating bus stops because they don't think they are safe for their handler.

The dogs figured it out, why can't the people with all the qualifications in government? 

Losing Their Long Time Allies...

Migrant workers and the UK’s largest union will carry out a mass leafleting campaign in Shabana Mahmood’s Birmingham constituency to protest against a planned change in immigration policy. The Labour-affiliated Unison union says the changes will adversely affect migrant care workers. About one-third of all care workers and one-fifth of all NHS workers are migrants.

Real migrants, I'd hope, not the modern use of that term. 

Union members hope to leaflet about one-third of the home secretary’s approximately 55,000 constituents in the Ladywood area of the city. Union sources say it is the first time such a large Labour-affiliated union is lobbying en masse against a key party policy.

When even the unions are fed up with you, you know it's all over... 

Although the earned settlement proposals, which have been outlined in a white paper, call for a doubling of settlement time to 10 years, in some cases migrants may have to wait longer than that if they entered the UK illegally or have claimed benefits here.

If they entered the coutry illegally, they should be deported!  

The union is also calling for a change to sponsorship rules for these visas. At the moment, these workers must be sponsored by their employer, which officials say can lead to exploitation. There are calls for this to be replaced with a sponsorship scheme managed by a public-sector body.

Ah, that's the union's real goal - jobs for the public sector boys. 

Strange, I Bet Uber And Deliveroo Don't Have Problems..

...despite mainly being black and Asian, I bet they just get on with earning a living, unlike the pampered, lazy public sector mob.

NHS staff who care for patients in their own homes fear some areas have become “no-go zones” for them because of the presence of St George’s flags, health leaders have said.Black and Asian staff have been left feeling “deliberately intimidated” as a result of the flags that were put up in many parts of England during the summer, according to the chief executive of one NHS trust in England, who asked to remain anonymous.

So would I, if I spouted such absolute bollocks in public. Others were happy to put their name to this nonsense.

The Royal College of Nursing said the fear created by the flags was part of an alarming wider picture. Prof Nicola Ranger, the union’s general secretary, said: “A sustained campaign of anti-migrant rhetoric is fuelling a growing cesspool of racism, including against international and ethnic minority nursing staff, without whom our health and care system would simply cease to function.

“Those working in the community feel especially vulnerable and employers have a duty to ensure they are protected.

“Following a summer of further racist disorder, it is little wonder a growing number of nursing staff report feeling unsafe, particularly when having to work on their own and often at night.”

Perhaps the NHS would like to review the hiring standards for their staff then. 

Do You Want People To Just Let Illegal Immigrants Go Free?

A couple who discovered a boy hidden on the back of their motorhome after their journey from France to Essex have been fined £1,500 by the Home Office.

Adrian and Joanne Fenton called the police when they found the person zipped inside the cover of a bike rack after pulling up on their drive at their home in Heybridge.

The couple had been travelling in France with friends and returned to the UK by ferry on 15 October.

Because if you really did, what would you do differently?  

Joanne Fenton, 55, said border officials in Calais and the UK had not inspected the bike rack or the cover before or after the crossing.

The Home Office said penalties were “designed to target negligence rather than criminality”.

Clearly, not the negligence of the BF staff, who have the duty to deter these people, not a duty that should ever be laid on the innocent holidaymaker. 

This is not the first such case, either:

In October, a retired ambulance driver and his wife were fined £6,000 after UK Border Agency staff found a man in a trailer attached to their mobile home in France. Peter Hughes and Anne Lawton, from Droylsden, Greater Manchester, told the BBC they had no idea a young Sudanese man had concealed himself.

The government has shifted the duty to deter illegals to you, the public.  

Clearly, They Did Have Something To Hide

The Department for Work and Pensions has been accused of blocking a whistleblower who repeatedly raised the alarm about carer’s allowance from giving evidence to an independent review of the scandal-hit benefit. The DWP staffer was told by a senior official it was inappropriate to share with the review their knowledge of the inner workings of a system that has become notorious for its often cruel treatment of unpaid carers.

Exactly the sort of thing a review would need to know in order to be effective, in other words. 

The review will examine how hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers ended up with huge debts and in some cases a criminal record for mostly minor and accidental breaches of carer’s allowance benefit earnings rules. Approached by the Guardian last month with evidence that officials had rejected requests from individual staff members to make submissions to the review, the DWP said there was “no blanket ban” and it wanted “everyone” to contribute.

Liars all… 

However, when the whistleblower, Enrico La Rocca, subsequently reapplied for permission he was told by the DWP’s personnel department that it would not be appropriate for him to give evidence.

And why?  

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) general secretary, Fran Heathcote, criticised the DWP for blocking frontline officials from testifying. She said: “It made no sense at all to stop our members at DWP giving evidence to the review. These are the very people the review should be hearing from.” She added: “They are the workers delivering the services and have the evidence the review needs to hear. Stifling their testimony looked like they had something to hide.”

They almost certainly do.  

But Those Cops And Social Workers Are Still In A Job, Gaby

And that's the real issue. They shouldn't be. 

"Sophie" was 12 years old when she walked into Oldham police station to report a sexual assault. For a vulnerable child, first befriended and then viciously exploited by much older men, that must have taken courage. But officers simply told her to come back when she wasn’t drunk. It was a terrible missed opportunity, as an independent review of so-called grooming gang allegations in Oldham commissioned by the Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham made clear in 2022. Sophie was picked up from the police station and driven to a house where she was raped by multiple men. Many years later, she learned that although a man eventually convicted of abusing her had given Greater Manchester police two other names, they had inexplicably failed to follow these leads.

Why is this - and the thousands of other instances where the authorities failed to do their job - not the main driver of the public's ire? Taxpayer money squandered on 'services' that failed miserably. 

There are thousands of Sophies out there, yet they are already slipping through the cracks of a debate that is supposedly about them: becoming pawns in an unedifying power struggle on the right of British politics, as the world’s richest man tests the limits of his influence over it.

At least he's keeping the pressure on, Gaby. I don't see anyone at the 'Guardian' stepping up to the plate.  

The BNP first tried to capitalise on rumours of Asian men exploiting white girls in Oldham a decade and a half ago, apparently distributing leaflets reading Our Children Are Not Halal Meat. Now Reform UK is demanding a new national inquiry into an already exhaustively examined scandal, the deportation of perpetrators with dual nationality – that many, not all, perpetrators were of Pakistani heritage is an awkwardly inescapable part of the story – and the jailing of anyone caught looking the other way, while Kemi Badenoch races to keep up and her rival Robert Jenrick races to outdo her.

Why is it 'awkward'? Usually, if crime is being committed by identifiable groups, that helps the police efforts, doesn't it? 

“I have a message for the legacy media,” announced the academic turned Reform cheerleader Prof Matt Goodwin. “If you’d been doing your job, we wouldn’t need Elon Musk.”

A message that should be resonating. But it isn't. 

My guess is Musk will lose this fight, because it’s Farage Reform members come to see: bounding onstage to denounce the “mass rape abomination” – his audience consider the phrase “grooming gangs” too soft – and accusing Starmer of failing to prosecute rapists, before arguing that the Conservatives were practically as bad.

The phrase IS too soft and yes, the Conservatives did fuck all for 13 years, but they are out and Labour are in! The buck stops where, Gaby? 

What may resonate, however, is the nagging sense that justice has still not entirely been done. With no police officer sacked or professional charged over arguably Britain’s worst child protection scandal, we are lacking a sense of catharsis.

So why aren't you using your pulpit to call for that, Gaby, instead of whining about Musk and Farage? 

Survivors need to know that in future such failure will have consequences, which is why Starmer is right to signal a new criminal offence of failing to report abuse, as recommended by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse set up under Theresa May.

What good will that do, when the people they were reporting it to covered it up and ignored it!  It's just yet more useless legislation! 

The Tools Necessary To Do The Council’s Job, You Mean…

Rejoice, Basildon!

New bin bags will be delivered to residents early next year as a controversial waste system is set to be scrapped.

Basildon Council approved returning to weekly collections and introducing new recycling bags earlier this month after a “huge majority” of residents “demanded” the change during a consultation. The current blue and white reusable recycling sacks will be replaced with single use disposable bags in early 2025, the council has revealed.

As the upcoming changes have sparked a flurry of questions from residents, Aidan McGurran, councillor for environment and leisure, has answered their top queries.

Take it away, Aiden!  

Quizzed on how the new recycling bags will work, the Basildon councillor, dubbed “king of the bins”, said: “The disposable blue and white bags will function similarly to the present system, facilitating the separation of waste.

“Clear bags are designated for plastic and cans and blue bags are for paper and cardboard.

”However, Mr McGurran explained: “You will not be able to use pink sacks for recycling, residents are asked to please use the new bags that will be provided.”

Clear as mud. One thing IS clear though - the council expects you to sort the rubbish for them.  

The borough is returning to weekly residual waste collections, with the change set to take place in spring 2025.

What have they had up to now? 

The proposal was approved at cabinet on Monday, December 9, following feedback from residents in the recent waste consultation. The meeting was told at the time that residents could be hit with “enforcement” for not disposing of waste correctly, as the council is now “going to equip people with the actual tools necessary to do the job”.

And how have the grateful residents taken the news? 

Sounds about right.

When Did 'Round Up The Usual Suspects'...

....become 'Just nick anyone who might be in charge so we can claim to be doing something and we'll sort it all out later'?

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Third, of the Major Crime Investigation Team, said: 'Our heartfelt thoughts and condolences are with the families and loved ones of those who tragically died and they are being supported by officers.

'As part of our investigation, we have made one arrest to enable us to establish whether there have been actions or omissions which are grossly negligent and gather as much information as we can about what has happened.

'It is important to note that the arrest process also provides certain legal protection to individuals and I would ask for the media and public to avoid speculating any further now that legal proceedings are active.'

If you think that means the actions of your team in arresting someone before you even know the cause of this incident won't face scrutiny, you're dead wrong. 

The suspect was arrested just hours after police said the deaths were being treated as 'unexplained' and possible carbon monoxide posioning is the 'primary line of inquiry.'

And if it turns out the cause is faulty equipment and she's not to blame? You'll just let this lady go with a 'Sorry about that!' knowing full well that if she sues, the taxpayer will pick up the tab, I suppose...

Reflections - the sequel...pt 2

As for cases, I was empanelled on the first day (April 8th) for a trial described by the judge as 'a punch up' (affray) and potentially going into the third week, as there were five defendants. As soon as being sworn in we were told to report the next day at 11:00, but when we did, we were told there was a delay. When we finally got into court at about 12:00, the judge explained there wouldn't be a trial after all. Aha, thought I, they've copped to it or to a lesser charge. And indeed, that was what transpired; each one stood up and had the charge read (the first one pleading guilty to it, prompting panicked gesticulation from his startled defence and the judge kindly suggesting he 'have another go at that, eh?', whereupon he pleaded 'not guilty, but guilty to section 4' as did the other four in turn). The judge then turned to us and said we deserved an explanation - it transpired the offence dated back to 2018, and one of the assaulted bouncers at the nightclub in question had turned out to be on false ID papers and had since disappeared so the CPS weren't going to proceed with the more serious charge. We were thanked for our service and then sent back to the pool. 

Then a potentially eight week trial came up straight away, and we were all given a form to indicate if we had any booked holiday or medical appointments, or any other reason we couldn't serve. Followed by another huge list of names of the defendants (another group of five, conspiracy to rob) and all the witnesses, addresses, etc to note if we recognised any names. We were then taken in to be selected, those who said they could and those who said they couldn't, as exusing someone is left up to the judge's discretion. The two teachers I'd been speaking to had both indicated their school couldn't lose them for that long. Those forms were passed to the judge, who then called up each person in turn to discuss the reason given. It would have helped if the usher had had the wit to seperate us out into two groups and placed the ones needing to explain in front, but no, that was clearly beyond them, so much shuffling about was needed in the cramped rows... 

After immediately excusing some, asking others to bring evidence (of medical appointment letters or holiday bookings) the next day, or - in the case of the two teachers, an email from their headteacher - we were sent home. The next day, back in court, again not arranged so that those needing to be excused were in front, they were questioned again, some excused, some not (one of the teachers wasn't because she taught very young classes unlike the other who was excused, but in the end she wasn't picked for this trial anyway) and then jury selection could finally begin. I was picked for this one. 

We were then told the trial wouldn't start until Monday (this was Thursday!) so we were sent home, and I could go into work the next day. 

Then came Monday and the trial start, and here at last some signs of modernisation - each set of twin desks in the jury box boasted a flat screen monitor as CCTV evidence was to be produced. 

Unfortunately, on Wednesday, half the similar units on the counsel benches failed, and we were sent home at 11:00 for the day, as they couldn't be fixed by the in-house staff and an offsite firm would have to be called. I began to see why it had been suggested this case would take eight weeks! Later, on the Thursday morning I think it was, our screens wouldn't come on, but we were only sent out for about 40 minutes and when back inside, the judge advised the court clerk had resolved the situation by turning the whole shebang off and on again! 

It was noticeable that through the long recounting of CCTV and cell site evidence, the security guards in the dock often closed their eyes and looked asleep. I'm sure that they'd have sprung into action if any of them had decided to kick off, though. 😏 

The trial dragged on and on, we went over the same video and glossy expensively-produced books of stills evidence (containing many spelling mistakes and inaccuracies!) at least three times, first introduced by the prosecution, then again with the police replying 'Yes that's right' to questions asked, and then with the cell site expert doing the same. Rarely did any of the defence butt in except to further drop one of the other defendants right in it! 

We were also sent home early several times, missing court days because of defence counsel and defendant illness. We were almost always told by the judge to return the next day for 10 (apart from one day when other court business meant we were asked to come in for 10:30) yet we usually weren't collected by the usher until 10:30, and then quite often waited in the jury retiring room for well over 20 minutes before finally going into court. 

Reflections - the sequel...Pt 1

Well, that's finally over. And how did my 2024 stint compare with my 2014 stint? Well, not so good...it was obvious from my first day there that, despite the ten year gap, the functioning of the court services had got worse, and not better. 

The building was much the same (in fact, I rather doubt it had seen so much as a lick of paint in the intervening years!) and the security had been beefed up considerably - I recall bag searches the last time (to be expected) but now the entrance boasted two detector arches and the hand-held 'wand' detector to be passed every day, occasionally causing long queues to get in. On the second Tuesday, despite being in my bag for the rest of the time and being passed unremarked, a set of metal eyebrow tweezers was noted in my handbag, removed and I was given a receipt to pick them up at the end of the day. What they thought I could do with them, heaven only knows! But I complied, rules are rules and left it out of my bag for the next day.

I had expected the passage of time to have provided a lot more IT and automation, but no - the admin staff were still shuffling cards and paper around, despite the presence of a large screen behind their desk units in the corner that remained tuned to BBC News when it could have relayed important information to the waiting jury pool. The staff seemed far less efficient than I recalled from last time when they kept things moving rapidly and were always super helpful when approached. On one day we were treated to the surreal sight of  them calling up 5 groups of ten people (for a long trial) by one lady laboriously reading out the wanted names from a sheet of paper to another lady with the microphone who then called them out, giving a 'Chinese whispers' air to any hard-to-pronounce name - either give the lady with the list the mic, or give the list to the lady with the mic, it doesn't take TWO of you! 

Frequently, as a result of getting there earlier than necessary (an earlier bus meant I avoided the school run) I'd be waiting in the jury pool room and witnessed jurors approaching the corner to request a form for expenses, or to sign in - which only first week jurors were required to do - and be told by the person manning the desk to 'come back in half an hour'. Despite being there and clearly on duty, they were reluctant to actually start work until some pre-determined time has passed. I never did figure out what time that was. 

The less said about the food in the jury canteen the better, I don't recall it being good the last time, but it was dire now - I ordered a sausage sandwich one morning on the first week, and it tasted of...nothing. I tried a so-called 'steak burger' at lunch and it was inedible. Steak? From what animal? Luckily, in the years since the last stint, Wanstead High Street had sprouted a M&S Simply Food and a Greggs!  

As this is a long post, I'm going to take a leaf out of Zach Snyder's book and publish it in installments. 

Well, There's Your Answer, Jon...

 

When I spoke to the head of Scotland Yard’s war crimes unit, Chief Supt Eddie Bathgate, shortly after he retired, he admitted: “Svikeris was a powerful case, and I would cheerfully have put him on the charge sheet. The interviews with him were videotaped and you could see he was guilty. One of my last remarks to the CPS was, ‘you are not going to be able NOT to prosecute Svikeris’.”

And the CPS said 'Challenge ACCEPTED!'. 

But ultimately, the CPS did not believe they could establish his guilt in court beyond reasonable doubt.

And if it's not a sure thing, they won't bet... 

And to make sure they don't have to, they rig the wheel!

In researching a book on this process, I and my co-author, Robert Sherwood discovered the CPS had insisted on a set of criteria that inevitably restricted the number of cases to reach court.

These included the insistence that a suspect had to have been in a command position – a criterion nowhere to be found in the War Crimes Act. To be considered a strong case, the victims had to have been Jews, notwithstanding the many thousands of non-Jews murdered by the police auxiliaries. And without credible eyewitnesses prepared to testify in open court that they had seen the defendant kill, after half a century, even the most compelling cases – like those of Gecas and Svikeris – failed to pass the threshold.

Isn't it about time the CPS was overhauled? Or scrapped, root and branch, and replaced by an organisation worth the name? 

Why Is There No Mention Of What Action Was Taken...?

“This is because I lost my wife 18 months ago tragically. My phone call got put through to Liverpool and they didn’t know where Moses Gate Country Park was, and they asked me to Google it.

“I was 80 years of age then and I couldn’t do it because you are in a state of shock, you just want somebody to help you and they didn’t help at all, and she put the phone down on me."

Oh, there's plenty of stuff about action to put up signs and recommend apps, but nothing to say what action was taken against that call handler. 

Is that because there wasn't any?

'Appalled', No Doubt, But Not Shocked...

...surely no-one could claim shock, could they?

A grieving mother last night said she was 'appalled' after two doctors who allowed her 12-year-old son's schizophrenic killer to roam the streets escaped disciplinary action.

Jo Wood lambasted the General Medical Council (GMC) for dropping cases against psychiatrists Dr Adnan Khan and Dr Manesh Rajendraprasad – despite being criticised by a damning inquest over their failure to detain Terence Glover in a secure hospital.

Proof that these reports aren't worth the time and effort it takes to compile them, much less the paper they are expensively printed on...

The GMC launched an investigation into both, but the MoS can reveal it has decided to take no further action against either of them.

It ruled Dr Khan's failures in accessing the nurse's notes and arranging a follow-up appointment with Glover were 'at the lower end of the seriousness spectrum'. Similarly, mistakes made by Dr Rajendraprasad 'were not serious enough to warrant action'.

What is, these days? 

"“You’d think there’d be a systems (sic) with the technology today that would have picked it up immediately.”"

Forget it, Dylan, it's the civil service...

On one day, 580 envelopes flooded in, as Chinese companies had used his Cardiff flat address to register themselves with HMRC to pay VAT. The overall debt came to £500,000, Davies told the BBC.

Even worse, the error was not picked up by HMRC’s internal systems.

Yeah, well, why would you expect it to? 

He informed police and HMRC, but the bills kept on coming and HMRC did not respond, the Times reported. Action Fraud said it was “unable to identify a line of inquiry”. Most of the firms were online businesses without any presence in the UK.

Finally, he got through to them. Partially, anyway.

HMRC’s permanent secretary, Jim Harra, said 2,356 of the 11,000 businesses registered at the address owed it money. Harra said systems had been put in place to stop Davies being sent more letters or businesses registered to his address.

However, he added investigators “so far have found no evidence of fraud or fraudulent intent”.

They couldn't find their own anuses with both hands and a hunting dog... 

The financial crime consultant Graham Barrow said he suspected it was fraudulent activity from the overseas companies. “It looks to all intents and purposes like VAT fraud,” he said. “There’s no other reason why you’d register for VAT at a complete stranger’s address, particularly for 11,000 companies to do that.”

Barrow believes the firms are collecting VAT from their buyers but not paying it to HMRC.

Davies said: “[They] need to tighten up completely. [It’s] easier to register a company for VAT than it is to go and get a bus pass.”

At least buses actually exist... 

In A Statement From Her Office Under A Rock..?

How can anyone possibly claim to be surprised by this? 

It's Not Just The Fraudsters Who Are Shameless, Is It?

Shameless fraudsters have been using Photoshop in a bid to claim benefits in Britain while living aboard - as part of a multi-million pound scam.

One man was asked to take a photograph of himself by his front door after the DWP became suspicious that he was claiming benefits in the UK while living abroad.

...it's the DWP 'workers' who consider a photo of someone standing by a front door as any sort of 'evidence'!

The DWP told MailOnline they saw a surge in Universal Credit claims when the pandemic hit with more people needing support.

However, this caused an increase in fraudulent claims - partly driven by gangs seeking to take 'advantage' of a relaxation of the rules on applications.

Another thing to blame on the Covid hysterics and the government's reaction to it... 

However, claims for applicants who were considered vulnerable were not blocked.

Of course!  

What's The Point Of The ASA..?

 On Wednesday, this appeared:

Tweeters were quick to point out this is utterly false - a six month extension was granted. 

So why is the Royal Mail's social media account propagating false information (it was still up Thursday morning)? And why is the Advertising Standards Authority not involved?

More Lying Lazy Cops? What A Surprise...

The traumatised woman said: "I saw a lady in a blue uniform which looked like she worked for the NHS with two dogs standing on the grass. It was some sort of bulldog... "

No surprises here... 

'When I told the police they did not want to take the report as they don't deal with this type of thing and said it was a matter for Preston City Council.'

Nor here... 

A spokesperson for Lancashire Police confirmed that it was a matter for the local dog warden. Preston Council have been approached for comment.

Preston Council should ask why the cops are passing it to them when it's their responsibility:

The incident was reported to Police but the attacking dog’s owners have not been investigated and the animal is still able to roam. At the time of the attack it had escaped without the owner’s knowledge, something it did the following day too. 

Perhaps the useless lazy bastards will take some action when a cop is bitten?

Speaking about the shocking incident, Zoe French, the granddaughter of the affected woman, has said: “Sandie has been my nan’s best friend and reason to get out of bed for the past 14 years. My nan has been left devastated, traumatised and alone, with a hefty vet bill. “We have not once been assisted or helped by a member of the police force as there is no law allowing them to assist.”

Wrong!  

“This has to change. We want some change in laws around dog-on-dog attacks. Not just for Sandie but for past and future dogs. Our animals deserve justice too.

“There should be something the law can do in prosecuting the owner of a dangerous dog, or so police can investigate dangerous dog reports more seriously and not waiting for it to be a dog-on-child attack”.

They can. It just happens that they don't seem to want to - not all farces, however, are so lazy: 

"It completely broke my heart, and it all made sense. He grabbed her from under the car and cartwheeled her around, smashing her on the ground. He takes the dog to her trying to get it to rip her to shreds but it's not interested. You can then see the police come around the corner and they instantly think it's the dog by the looks of it.

"A police officer wrapped her up and took her to the vets straight away. The dog didn't do anything wrong, looking at the CCTV I don't want it punished, I'm an animal lover.

"My nine-year-old asked for money and bought chocolates for the police officers that helped save Lola and wrote them a card. He's got more compassion in his little finger than this mad (sic) who attacked Lola."

I'd have preferred to see them arrest the scum, but they, at least, did what they could. Shame on the other farces.  

So, If Someone Needs To Visit A Loved One In Hospital...

Would you: 

a) Help them find it? By, maybe, giving them the postcode? or 

b) Take the opportunity to lecture them about sustainability?

*sighs* Envy of the world?

H/T: CJ Nerd via email

I Know We Have To Avoid Disability Discrimination In The Workplace...

...but surely we aren't hiring blind Border Force staff?

A migrant who came to the UK by boat....

Whoa, let me stop you there! 

'Migrants who arrive by boat' do so with passports and visas in hand, via Stena Lines or P&O. They don't come ashore in Kent via dinghy, having conveniently lost all their documentation. Start calling these what they are - illegal immigrants. 

....and claimed to be a child so he could stay is actually in his mid-20s, and even joined an over-30s dating group, before he was caught out by his grey hairs and stubble.

There is no way in hell anyone could claim to have thought this man was 16 years old. No way.  

Aria Ibrahimi, who is now believed to be 25, posed as a 16-year-old and got taken into care by Kent County Council as a minor before social workers' suspicions began to grow.

/facepalm