How Long Should They Have Closed For, Then?

Police were called and the shop temporarily closed but it reopened the next day - a decision which was heavily criticised by locals as putting 'profit above everything'.

They are a business, after all!  

At the time of his death he wasn't considered 'high risk', so he was waiting for assessment with NHS talking therapies at his request. He had self-referred on March 1 and his appointment for June 3 (three months later) which is within the target wait times for the service.

If you want to criticise anything, maybe this is a better target for your ire. 

The Ticking Time Bomb You Could Be Adopting...

A police team set up to combat hare coursing in Lincolnshire has said its policy of seizing dogs is helping to reduce offences.

In December, there were 324 incidents of hare coursing, compared to 413 over the same period in 2016.

Since the season started in September, Lincolnshire Police has seized 49 dogs. Ch Supt Mark Housley said: "We have heard from other forces that hare coursers tell them they will not visit Lincolnshire because we seize dogs."

So they'll just go elsewhere. You do euthanise the dogs, right? They aren't pets, they are weapons. Unlikely ever to be trustworthy around smaller animals....

Ch Supt Housley said any seized dogs were cared for in kennels and could be put up for re-homing if ordered by the courts.

*speechless*

Two dogs which had been used in illegal hare coursing have been rehomed. The lurchers, Lucky and Spencer, were seized by police in Lincolnshire when their owners were arrested for hare coursing in Digby Fen last September.

John Langan, 31, of Great Ayton and Thomas Jaffray, 34, of Middlesbrough, were found guilty at Lincoln Magistrates' Court last Friday.

Police said it was the first time hare coursing dogs were rehomed rather than returned to their owners.

And when the inevitable happens, and they kill someone else's pet, I really, really hope that the owners take Lincolnshire Police to the cleaners.

We Have Finally Gone Mad...

LBC has learned that Transport for London and the Met Police are working to protect Grenfell Tower from selfie-takers, as two million people pass through Notting Hill for the carnival this weekend.

Wait, what?

Their work includes using barriers to block off streets around the site, with extra police officers in place to make sure only residents can access the area close to the tower, as well as preserving the many tributes which have been left out on railings and walls.

Locals tell us it’s to stop thousands of what they call ‘grief tourists’ from making detours during Carnival to get close to the building and take pictures and selfies.

Now, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to do so but...it's a free country. And it's also one supposedly in 'austerity measures' (Ed: *hollow laughter*) isn't it?

So why can we apparently spend money on this sort of mawkish twaddle?

TfL, meanwhile, are doing even more. LBC’s been shown an email that shows they’ve started putting up barriers along the railway line at Latimer Road station, and will be keeping tubes on the platform for longer to obscure the view of the tower.

So if your journey takes longer, you know why. Because we've lost all sense of proportion in this country.

There will also be automated messages at stations and on the trains between Hammersmith and Paddington, reminding people to move quickly when they get off at Latimer Road station, to be respectful and not take pictures of the ruins.

When does Teresa May make her horse a consul?

H/T: @MaraudingWinger via Twitter

"We hope that you will respect our privacy at this time..."

...say the useless parents of the four-year-old who crawled under barriers, got into the gorilla exhibit and cost the life of an endangered animal in captivity. Pity they didn't respect the gorilla's privacy...

"...said Zoo Director Thayne Maynard “The Zoo family is going through a painful time, and we appreciate your understanding and know that you care about our animals and the people who care for them.”

Hmmm, sounds familiar. Wait, where have I heard this sort of self-justifying bollocks before?

Alejandra Montalva, the zoo director, defended the actions of staff. “The alarms sounded and chemical control arrived [tranquiliser darts] and an independent shooter arrived. The shooter decided to save the life of the person and unfortunately we had to sacrifice two members of our family,” she said.

Funny. My first instinct, on seeing 'a member of my family' struggling with an intruder wouldn't be to help the intruder.

I don't know what's more nauseating, the thought that, this being the States, the neglectful parents will probably hire some ambulance chaser to sue the zoo, or the fact that they clearly teach this PR crap to all zoo 'directors'.

Would It Kill The Progressives To Listen To The People Who Work With The Homeless For Once?

Dawn Foster spouts a load of bollocks yet again:

It’s rare to walk more than a few minutes in London without someone asking for spare change.

No it isn’t. I went to London three times just last week without once being accosted by a beggar. There, that cancels out your anecdote. Doesn’t it?

Many charities warn against giving money to people begging and advise, instead, to give regularly to specified charities. That approach may make sense on a macro level but, as my friend pointed out, we’re human and, faced with an individual explaining they’re in need, it’s difficult not to give.

No it isn’t. It’s pretty easy. I never have trouble withholding money from the scabby druggies and alcoholics that I do see, usually (in good weather) in Southend.

It’s been a hell of a long time since I saw a beggar on the Tube, too, but I never had the slightest problem in staring them down until they moved on, with their snot-covered infant in tow.

It’s for this reason that Nottingham city council has come in for harsh criticism in the past few weeks. Around the city, adverts funded by the local authority have popped up on bins and bus stops warning people not to “give to fraud”; that homeless people are often alcoholics, drug users, or not as needy as they seem.

Boo! Hiss! Bad council, bad! We'll just skip over the fact that they are right, shall we?

Framework, a charity and housing association that works to prevent homelessness in Nottingham, described the campaign as “provocative but accurate”, pointing out that many people begging in Nottingham are known to them, lead chaotic lives, and often refuse accommodation because they can make more money begging.

But what do they know, eh?

But many residents point out that the campaign contributes to a growing stigma against homeless people and, coming at a time when homelessness services are being cut in Nottingham, is hypocritical and a poor use of funds.

Would that be 'many residents who read the 'Guardian', then?

Not everyone who begs is a drug addict, an alcoholic, or a fraud, and even if they are, we must not lose sight of our common humanity.

Wait, you've spent all that time trying to convince us that the campaign is wrong, and now you're hedging your bets, Dawn?

If I’ve had a gruelling day I’ll pour myself a glass of wine when I get back to my warm, stable home. If I were homeless, that small stab at release and happiness would be no less important, emotionally. Giving to homeless people is an act of empathy resisting the tide of opprobrium hitting them.

But, Dawn, I've earned that wine. Even you've earned that wine (by dint of the fact that someone's paid you for this pile of bollocks).

See the difference?

"Gosh, What A Surprise!", Said No One, Ever...

The number of children who disappear soon after arriving in the UK as asylum seekers has doubled over the past year...

I know, I know. Who could have anticipated this, eh?

Still, fear not, citizen! Your elected representative is on the case!

The Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron will present a bill in the Commons this week calling for...

An immediate ban on accepting child 'refugees'?

More detention centres to hold the ones we already have?

...better support for such children.

*sighs*

...data shows that Vietnamese, Albanian and Afghan children are disappearing in high numbers – a worry for charities that believe these are the nationalities particularly at risk from criminal gangs.

'They' are at risk from criminal gangs?

Funny. I thought we, the taxpayers, were the ones at risk.

What I Learned On Twitter...

Shoot a lion (with some dodgy legality involved) and there's outrage!

Strangle a Staffie bitch, and.... *crickets*

"The witnesses attended that night and found the freshly dug area. They confronted her the next day but were told it was just toys that had been buried. The next night they went back and discovered the body, and called us.

"A couple of weeks later, Cowan admitted she had killed Beau and buried her in the garden at the incident location."

Yet no anchormen weep at the thought of the dog's demise.

No artist will paint a mural on Hayley Cowan's front door.

No enraged mob will descend on her (no doubt taxpayer funded) house to drive her out.

Isn't it amazing what a chav can do, that a rich professional can't..? Who is the 'privileged' one, again?

Hyperbole, Shaming And Political Opportunism?

It must be another Open Borders article in CiF; and Emma Hunter ramps up the hyperbole:

I was quick to realise that the clients were often not even called by their names – they were instead called by the boat number displayed on their photo ID card, which had to remain on them at all times. "673/RYB/039!". The practice reminded me of stories from concentration camps in the second world war.

Really? You mean, apart from the planned result of those showers..?

One of the saddest places I worked at was referred to as "the induction shed". This is where asylum seekers are first led to after stepping onto the island's jetty. Once there they sit and wait, sometimes for hours, without any food or water.

They’ve supposedly braved hardship, terror and a long sea voyage in unsuitable transport to get here yet the fact that there’s no (free) sandwiches for a few hours is intolerable?

As a mental health nurse, I would ask a series of questions outlined for us by the immigration department. These forms often asked unnecessary questions and avoided vital ones – we were told to "stick to the script".

You're hired to do a job. They'll tell you how to do it. What's wrong with that?

It was there that I heard some of the most horrific and tragic of stories.

Yes, I'm sure you did. So what?

Since returning from Christmas Island, my friends from school often ask me about my experience while at the pub. "Are you still helping support those bomb throwers?" they ask, adding that refugees are " taking our jobs". I feel a strong burning inside each time, and want to scream at them for showing such ignorance. But instead I tell them the story about the guy from Somalia, or the boy from Afghanistan. And when they listen, they see what I see. I give them information and facts, and it makes them think. That’s all I ask of people when it comes to the asylum seeker issue: just think about it, read more about it. Don’t take for granted that the government is doing the best thing.

And if they think, and then still consider that open ended immigration isn't something they want to see?

I truly believe that most Australians would show much more compassion and understanding if they experienced what I have. I have never been ashamed to be Australian until I was thrown in this process.

Compassion and understanding is all very well, but cramming Australia full of refugees isn't the answer.