Troubled Bournemouth nightspot V Club has had its licence revoked, following a serious stabbing there last month. Licensing chiefs voted to take the drastic measure after a day spent hearing evidence from police, who claimed the premises was associated with serious crime. ‘Associated with’ it in the sense their customers cause it. But should we blame a business for what its customers do? The police have set a precedent with…
Imagine prohibiting cigarette sales to people born after 2000. Phasing out tobacco will stop the next generation taking up smoking. Actually I’d be surprised if this is really new and hasn’t been bandied around nannying and anti-tobacco circles previously, but this is the first time I’ve seen something like it being seriously mooted in the pages of a major newspaper. And I have to say that not only is it…
Pupils from four Black Country schools have shown their crime-fighting credentials after becoming junior police community support officers. Ahhhh, look at the little future agents of the state! Don’t they look cute! Ten pupils, aged nine to 11, from each school have signed up to help police their schools and streets along with regular PCSOs from their local police stations. The children spend an hour each week with officers, going…
Back in February I wrote a very angry sweary blog post about airport scannersand about how the Australian federal government had decided that they’d be installed at all Australian international airports, and I explained, not for the first time, how that would influence my travelling decisions in the future. PASSENGERS at airports across Australia will be forced to undergo full-body scans or be banned from flying under new laws to…
It is a surprise to no one in the US that Barack Obama supports gay marriage. The only thing that has raised eyebrows is how long it took the President to stumble towards a clear public affirmation of his position. What’s surprising? Any US president saying this kind of thing is going to piss of the Christian right, and since they’re going to vote Republican that’s no loss to a…
Police kept watch at a town centre kebab shop… For their own officers sneaking a verboten kebab, perhaps? Are they taking their responsibilities to ensure svelte whippets in blue a little too seriously? Well, no: … after customers were spotted walking away with bags of takeaway food after closing time. I… I just…. This is a crime now? What, have they finally closed all the available ‘people being mean to…
Official secrecy about schools’ exam results; official secrecy about climate data; official secrecy about the European Union; official secrecy about the ethnicity of malefactors; official secrecy about the true teachings of Islam – who can be surprised if our masters want to censor the facts about the distribution of violent crime about the nation’s capital? If we knew all about important stuff we’d likely do something our owners in…
Children are still exposed to the same level of junk food advertising despite tighter regulations, research suggests. Eh? Are companies breaching the regulations, then? Newcastle University academics said 6.1% of adverts seen by children were about junk food before the ban – the figure was 7% after the ban. It’s gone up! Albeit in a statistically insignificant rise. So, they must be, surely? Well, no. Of course they aren’t. The…
A man seriously hurt in a car accident involving a driver with poor eyesight is urging compulsory eye tests for all motorists. Oh? When? Gareth Gault, 42, of the Grove, Southend, is backing a national campaign to force drivers to be tested before they are allowed a licence. Right. OK, well, we already (sort of) do that. You have to read a number plate at the prescribed distance, and –…
Sixth-form union members are to meet with one of Peterborough’s top education chiefs after expressing concern over the suspension of two students for comments made on Twitter. Oh? And what sort of comments? Stanground College punished two of its pupils in December after they posted comments on the social networking site.One of the students, Chloe Fuller (15) sent a Tweet about an altercation between a Year 7 pupil and a…
Yes, drinkers, they’re coming for you now. You really should be aware of this by now, but then you really should have been aware of it long ago when the intolerance was directed at tobacco and the sound of marching boots wasn’t something for you to fear. Ah, those were the days, eh? And you helped, didn’t you? Yes, you did. Yes, you did – you’re just kidding yourself. You…
I’ve occasionally had to defend Oz against charges that it’s turned into a nightmare bureaucracy cum fascist society where everything is either banned, compulsory or requires prior application in triplicate for the relevant licence. One day, maybe, but not yet. And mostly it’s just duplicate. Nor is it noticably worse than the UK (and lacking both the pernicious influence of the unelected EU as well as the UK’s various mini-enabling…
* Bad language warning: in this post I live up to my name and include a Penn & Teller clip – the F-bomb will be dropped * This weekend marks a date we’ll all be expected to remember. The papers will be full of it, it’ll be mentioned on every news and current affairs show, the blogosphere will no doubt add its contribution (and in a way this post is…
When I was a kid, and I’m not getting all Monty Python Yorkshireman here, we used to go to pubs as a family now and then. There was one about a ten minute walk up the road which had a nice beer garden with a few swings in it, a largish lounge bar and a smaller saloon bar and a sign on the door which said words to the effect…
In So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, the late Douglas Adams introduced us to a minor character by the name of John Watson or, as he preferred to be called, Wonko the Sane. Those who’ve read it will probably recall Wonko’s unusual house and the reason for it being that way, but for those who don’t know the story here is how the book puts it. His house…
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