Meadows, fields, rivers, farmers tilling the soil and people playing cricket on the village green. It's the British countryside the Olympics opening ceremony will beam around the world. But is this rural idyll a realistic representation of the UK?
On 27 July the Olympic Stadium is to be transformed into country scenes as part of artistic director Danny Boyle's vision of a "Green and Pleasant" land.
He says the show was inspired by Shakespeare's play The Tempest and is about a land recovering from its industrial legacy. It will be a "reflection of part of our heritage" as well as a look to the future.
It is also meant to evoke William Blake's poem Jerusalem, which is seen as an emblem of Englishness.
But at a time when large-scale infrastructure projects such as HS2 and Heathrow's third runway are high on the political landscape, along with nuclear power stations and wind farms, and a rising population, is this rural idyll really recognisable?
For the Times' leader, the image of British life that instantly springs to mind is a somewhat different one.
"No! Not queues at Heathrow passport control and opportunistic entrepreneurs hawking 50p umbrellas for a fiver outside rainy Underground stations.
"It will be a portrait that brushes aside the workaday dust of daily life to reveal a country as recognisable to Caliban [from The Tempest] as his isle 'full of noises, sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not' as it is to John Major as his 'country of long shadows on cricket grounds, warm beer, invincible green suburbs, dog lovers and pools-fillers'," it says.
But it goes on to say Boyle has "rightly, interpreted his task as a celebration of what gives this country tang, a celebration that he aims to be idyllic, but not naive" - noting clouds, that can produce real rain, will hang over the stadium to bring the UK's signature summer weather to the proceedings.
The Daily Mail's Paul Harris is not so generous. He thinks people "could be forgiven for thinking it looked more like the land time forgot".
"Or for wondering, perhaps, if someone had unwittingly recreated Tinky Winky's Teletubbyland instead of Blake's Jerusalem," he goes on.
The Teletubby theme continues in the Daily Express, which thinks "the opening extravaganza is all a bit Laa-laa". "All it seems to need are Tinky Winky, Dipsy and Laa-Laa from the TV series," it says.
The Independent's Grace Dent is even less impressed. "Ducks force-fed shortbread, teens drunk on cider, petrol vigilantes... that's the real countryside, Danny Boyle," she says.
Dent also has a cautionary word about the nation's glee levels potentially dropping to "mild elation".
"You know that bit when the lights go out at the O2 and Kanye West emerges on a 50ft pink neon sugarcube? We want that. You know when Coldplay give out 40,000 LED Xylobands that pulsate right through Hurts Like Heaven when you're two drinks in? That, give us THAT," she says.
So is this vision of a green and pleasant land really the best way to show off the UK?
Rupert Uloth, the deputy editor of Country Life magazine, says it is "wonderful" that the UK is being celebrated through its countryside as it is "one of the most precious and valuable assets we have as a country".
"Lots of visitors come here to see it. For people who live in cities in Britain, it might be a bit of a dream or ideal, but people love getting out to the countryside, which is why we have national parks and a wonderful network of walkways and bridle paths.
"It is great that Danny Boyle is using it as a totem because everyone is aware of it," he says.
For Uloth, using the British countryside as a national emblem is "clever" because it is so unique.
"Because of its hedges, green grass, dairy cows and native trees, it couldn't be any other country in the world. And although cricket is played in other places, the context of a village green is very English," he says.
Uloth agrees projects such as HS2 and Heathrow's potential third runway are topical issues, but he says the fact they are so controversial only accentuates how special the countryside is, and "how worried people are about losing it".
Ellis Cashmore, professor of culture, media and sport at Staffordshire University, thinks Boyle is "a bit of a romantic" and takes an aspirational stance.
"I suppose we have to understand that this is not meant to be a graphic representation, but a satisfying vision of a perfect Britain - the place we'd all like to inhabit, not the actual place where we live out our daily lives," he says.
But he also makes the point that a more urban, or troubled, theme, might not be very picturesque.
"In fairness to Boyle, he wouldn't be expected to design a landscape where there are feral youths rioting in inner cities, or football fans spitting out racist abuse.
"His concession to youth is the moshpits. Are these still current? I thought they were very nineties," he says.
But what of Blake's "dark Satanic mills"?
"Well, it isn't quite William Blake, but it embodies many of the Chariots of Fire ideals," says Cashmore.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Essex: Firefighters vote to strike - East Anglian Daily Times
Essex fire chief David Johnson
By Amie Keeley
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
5:22 PM
FIREFIGHTERS in Essex have voted in favour of strike action over cuts to front line services.
A total of 532 members supported the move in a ballot held by the Essex Fire Brigade Union which was announced yesterday.
The number voting against a strike was 216 out of about 1,000 members.
The news comes following a long-running dispute between the FBU and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) over job cuts and changes which the FBU says have been forced through without consultation.
The FBU claims one in five firefighters will have been cut since 2008 if planned changes go ahead while back-room staffing has risen by 7.5%.
The FBU has to give seven days’ notice of any strikes and its leaders say there is still time to resolve the dispute.
FBU brigade secretary Mick Rogers said: “No-one in the fire service ever wants to take strike action and no-one will be happy if we are forced to do so.
“It is crucial the fire authority now wakes up and joins with us in genuine moves to resolve this dispute.”
But Chief Fire Officer David Johnson said the service had already agreed to the majority of the FBU’s demands and it was time for a compromise.
“This vote only represents half of the FBU members – we have 1,300 firefighters in Essex so it does not reflect the majority of our employees.
“We agree with 95% of their demands, now we need them to compromise on the remaining 5%.
“If they do go ahead with the strike, we have effective contingency systems in place, but I’d like to think that the leadership at the FBU are decent enough not to drag their members into strike action for the wrong reasons.”
Source: www.eadt.co.uk
London landlords squeeze cash from dead space - Reuters UK
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - London landlords are renting out everything from vacant stores to empty sports fields, rooftops and even an abandoned quarry to cash in on the tight supply of space in the UK capital during the Olympic Games this summer.
Eleven million fans, sponsors and athletes are expected to arrive in Europe's second-most crowded city from July, stoking huge demand for storage, temporary shops and vantage points for TV cameras, in turn allowing landlords to cash in on otherwise dead space.
"You'll see usable space created that doesn't currently exist," said Mark Hughes-Webb, managing director of Space-2 Consultancy, a specialist real estate firm that finds buildings for events and film shoots.
"It's been a long time since the Games were in such a densely populated city," Hughes-Webb said. "People are having to be more imaginative."
London, the European Union's most densely populated city after Paris according to EU statistics, will host the games between July 27 and August 12. Homeowners have already hiked rents by up to six times in anticipation of the influx and commercial landlords are getting in on the act.
Unlike the last two Olympic cities of Beijing and Athens, where neighbourhoods were demolished to create venues, or they were located in more sparsely populated outlying areas, most of the 34 London sites are at the heart of built-up areas.
The Games' epicentre at Stratford in the east of the city has benefited from a 7 billion pound injection of infrastructure, sporting venues and homes, revitalizing an area better known for its polluted waterways and industrial estates.
Sites for hire include a former limestone quarry near the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, southeast England, the owner of which is targeting contractors seeking temporary staff accommodation. Its proximity to a high-speed rail link means it is 30 minutes from the Olympic stadium in Stratford.
VACANT UNITS
Elsewhere the owners of a sports field in Chiswick, west London, are in talks with an overseas group of performers to rehearse for the handover ceremony to Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian city that will host the Games in 2016.
Sites like these can cost between 10,000 to 20,000 pounds a week, Hughes-Webb said.
Also in demand are empty shops, particularly those close to busy retail areas like Oxford Street and Covent Garden, which are being snapped up by the likes of high-end U.S. clothing brand Opening Ceremony to house temporary, pop-up stores.
"Enquiries from landlords looking to lease out their vacant units during the Olympics have risen by 50 percent," said Rosie Cann, director at consultancy Pop-up Space.
Rents can be between a few hundred pounds to 20,000 pounds depending on the location and size. Stores generally remain open for between a day and two weeks, agents said.
Vacant shops around train and subway stations or Olympic venues are being rented by smaller sporting and drinks brands in need of makeshift space to store merchandise, Hughes-Webb said.
Not all attempts to find space are successful. Nike Inc's plan to build a temporary two-storey building to host exercise classes in Regents Park was blocked by Westminster council on the grounds it would ruin the park's appearance.
Equally those with empty space near venues may not see a big pay day. The London Olympic organising committee (LOCOG) bans non-sponsors from advertising within 300 metres of venues, keeping demand in check, property experts say.
Official sponsors Cadbury, BMW and British Airways are among those companies expected to seek temporary space near Olympic venues, which include a man-made beach on the Greenwich peninsula on the Thames built specially for the Games.
PANORAMIC VIEWS
Australian developer Lend Lease owns large chunks of land around the O2 arena, also on the Greenwich peninsula and the venue of the gymnastics and basketball competitions. It will lease out land earmarked for redevelopment to Olympic sponsors to make a short-term return and in an attempt to lure permanent office tenants to the area.
"We are most definitely making money from this," Simon Donaldson, Lend Lease's head of retail operations said, declining to say how much but adding it would be substantially more without the LOCOG rules.
Elsewhere demand from film crews keen to capture panoramic views of the London skyline has pushed up prices for rooftop space. Fees are likely to double from their norm outside of the Games to 300 pounds per hour over the period, Hughes-Webb said.
Developers of the 95-storey Shard skyscraper next to London Bridge train station, about six kilometres from the Olympic park, have been approached by a string of broadcasters about filming from western Europe's tallest tower, a spokesman told Reuters, declining to give further details.
Cash-strapped local councils are also getting in on the act. Newham, home to the Olympic stadium, has rented out the upper floors of two largely empty apartment blocks next to the Olympic Park to broadcasters BBC and Al Jazeera, while Redbridge council in northeast London is leasing out a forest to a temporary hotel company to house 4,200 Olympic security staff for an undisclosed sum.
Yet many landlords are missing out as they are unaware of the strength of demand for storage space, or the value of being close to the Olympic park, Hughes-Webb said.
"People are fixated on what the space is, not what it could be. They're looking at it and saying 'it's just an empty field'," Hughes-Webb added. "Well, it's not to us."
(Editing by Tom Bill and David Holmes)
Source: uk.reuters.com
Paramedic 'deflated ambulance tyre at end of her shift to avoid overtime and answering 999 call' - Daily Mail
- Victoria Parker avoided helping an elderly lady who had suffered a fall in Essex
- Five former colleagues accused her of intimidating and bullying them
- She was suspended by East of England Ambulance Service and has since resigned
- Panel found her guilty of misconduct and dishonesty and banned her for five years
By Rob Preece
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A bullying paramedic who let down one of the tyres on her ambulance to dodge an emergency call-out has been struck off.
Victoria Parker admitted she had been a ‘stupid a**e’ for sticking a pen into the tyre to let out air so she could finish her shift on time.
She was guilty of misconduct and dishonesty by avoiding the call to help an elderly lady who had suffered a fall, a Health Professions Council panel ruled.
Accusation: Victoria Parker let out air from an ambulance tyre to avoid attending an emergency call-out, a hearing was told
Parker, who was a paramedic with the East of England Ambulance NHS Trust, was adjudged to have put patients at risk by deliberately putting the ambulance out of service.
Parker, who has since quit the service and moved to Australia, was also found to have bullied and intimidated junior colleagues.
She was banned from practising for at least five years.
Panel chairman Clare Reggiori said: ‘The registrant’s actions on more than one occasion of causing an otherwise sound ambulance to be taken off the road for entirely selfish reasons had the potential to put patients at risk.
‘There was very little evidence that the registrant had shown insight into the possible impact of her conduct on patients who might have suffered as a consequence of the ambulances being off the road.’
Parker, who did not attend the hearing at Whitefield House in London, admitted letting a tyre down 30 minutes before the end of her shift on May 19, 2009, to avoid treating the elderly woman in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex.
Allegation: Parker used a pen to deflate the nearside front tyre of the ambulance, the Health Professions Council heard
During the trust’s internal investigation, she admitted: ‘I untwiddled the valve cap and with my pen I let a little air out of the tyre.
‘I told control we had a slow flat. I didn’t tell anyone about this.
‘I am a stupid a**e.’
Parker had also confessed to repeating the trick on March 10, 2010, during an internal assessment day, but the panel said it could not be sure this was true after hearing ‘vague’ witness evidence.
Parker was responsible for supervising student paramedics at Rayleigh Ambulance Station.
Parker claimed to have got on with paramedics Clair Flynn, Gail Newman, and Samantha Watson, but they gave evidence contradicting this.
They described a ‘clear pattern of sustained intimidation and bullying’ during a deteriorating relationship with Parker.
Ms Reggiori said: ‘The registrant’s actions were serious, deliberate, wilful and reckless. As found by the panel, they were also dishonest.
‘They also involved student paramedics for whom the registrant was responsible while they were in her charge.
No-show: Parker, who has moved to Australia, did not attend the hearing at Whitefield House in London
‘She was a person to whom they should be able to look to for guidance on proper professional standards and behaviour.
‘Her conduct in bullying her colleagues demonstrated, in the panel’s view, a deep-seated attitudinal problem about which the registrant appeared to have virtually no insight.
‘We saw at first hand the very profound effect which her conduct still has on those of her colleagues who gave evidence at this hearing.’
Parker has shown little remorse for her actions, the panel ruled.
It also raised concerns about the training of student paramedics at the trust, and ordered for a copy of the ruling to be sent to the chief executive.
An allegation that Parker instructed a student paramedic to falsify paperwork following the tyre incident was not proven, the panel found.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
London 2012 Olympics will come in under budget, government says - The Guardian
The government has promised the Olympics will come in under budget – at a cost of less than £9bn to taxpayers – but will spend extra money within that on crowd control measures in light of a bigger-than-expected turnout for the jubilee celebrations and the torch relay.
The sports and Olympics minister, Hugh Robertson, admitted that organisers had underestimated by around a third the amount that would be required to pay for signage, stewarding and crowd control measures such as crush barriers and temporary bridges that will ease congestion in Greenwich and Hyde Park.
It is expected that larger than expected crowds could throng the capital in the three days before the opening ceremony as the torch enters central London and will turn out in huge numbers for the marathon and the cycling road race, which finish on the Mall.
"There is a certain amount of this that you assess as the thing develops and these costs emerge. As a government, you're caught here. The first responsibility of a government is the safety and security of its people," he said.
"We have to do everything we can reasonably do to ensure the safety and security of the very many people, judging by the jubilee, who will attend. There is an element of managing success here."
An extra £19m will be added to the budget for crowd-control measures and managing central London, taking it to £76m. Overall, there was an increase of £29m in the money released to Locog over the most recent quarter, including £8m for putting in concessions and toilets around the Olympic venues.
That will take the total that the London organising committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog) has received from the public funding package to £736m, including a security budget to cover guards within Olympic venues that almost doubled to £553m.
Robertson said that the crowds who lined the river during the jubliee river pageant despite the inclement weather, estimated at around 1.2 million, and the popularity of the torch relay showed that numbers attending might be even higher than expected.
"We knew this would be the moment when people suddenly got this. But we have been pleasantly surprised by the sheer scale of it. If you consider that the torch is coming down the Thames [on July 27] the capacity for lots and lots of people to come and see it is increased," he said.
The additional investment was an insurance policy to ensure that London could cope with the influx, he said.
"London is going to be the place this summer, if the rain holds off, to come and have a party. It is very difficult to estimate how many people will take the car, the train or the ferry and come here for a party with a rucksack on their back."
Transport for London is planning on the basis that there will be 1 million extra people in the capital, although that could be offset by a decline in non-Olympic tourists.
Critics have claimed that Locog, which has a privately raised budget of £2bn to stage the Games but has now received £736m in public money on top of that, should be subject to greater scrutiny. But the government argues that all the public money that has flowed to the organising committee is either for pre-agreed elements of the budget such as security or is for new tasks that it has taken over from the Olympic Delivery Authority.
With the project 98% complete, there is £476m of contingency funding remaining, and Robertson said he could now be confident that it would come in under £9bn.
The National Audit Office had warned there was a real risk that the budget would be bust, but the Department for Culture and Media and Sport and the Government Olympic Executive have continued to insist that they would come in below £9.3bn.
The original bid estimated the cost of the Games at £2.4bn but didn't include VAT or security costs.
The Labour government, chastened by the experience of the Millennium Dome and Wembley, built in a huge contingency fund of £2.7bn when the current funding package of £9.3bn was set in March 2007. The huge increase was justified on the back of the regeneration of east London and other claimed legacy benefits.
Robertson said that the large contingency was a wise move because it allowed the project to weather the economic downturn, bearing the cost of building the Olympic Village and the International Broadcast Centre from public funds before selling them back to the private sector.
Much of the credit for coming in on time and on budget will go to the Olympic Delivery Authority, which came in more than £500m below its baseline budget through savings made during the construction process. Delivering the venues on time, despite the ongoing debate about the future of the £428m stadium, meant that it avoided the prospect of escalating costs as contractors rushed to finish venues.
Robertson said the publicly funded budget had delivered value for money: "I have been a cheerleader for this process right from the beginning. There was a recognition right from the word go the original figure would have to change dramatically. Everybody's eyes were opened to the possibility that this gave us once we had won the bid."
Attention is now likely to turn to the use of a surplus of more than £400m. Despite lobbying from some sports organisations, Robertson said there was no chance that it would remain within sport and would instead flow back to the Treasury.
But campaigners said that would "verge on money laundering", because lottery money that was partly used to fund the Games was diverted from other causes.
"It will be an utter outrage – and verging on money laundering – if lottery revenues raided by the government to fund the Olympics go back to the Treasury," said Jay Kennedy, the head of policy at the Directory of Social Change.
"This money was taken away from supporting vulnerable people and communities across this country at a time when they needed it most. Government needs to keep its promises and do the right thing – any underspend must be used to refund the Lottery as soon as possible."
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Accused GP Richard Scott says GMC persecutes Christians - BBC News
A Kent GP has accused medical watchdogs of persecuting Christians after denying trying to convert a patient.
Dr Richard Scott told the General Medical Council (GMC) that "doing God is good for you".
He is before the GMC accused of breaching medical rules by refusing to give a patient medication at his Margate surgery, in August 2010.
Dr Scott denies overstepping the mark but said a doctor could not "just take off" his faith.
The GP claimed the GMC had pursued the case against him with "excessive zeal" and was "singling out Christianity" as part of a "wider trend to marginalise" the faith.
'Not a maverick'Dr Scott has worked with his wife, also a GP, at the "expressly Christian" Bethesda Medical Practice since 2003.
“Start Quote
End Quote Dr Richard ScottI'm offering something that could have changed his life”
He told the council scientific studies, mainly carried out in the United States, showed faith benefited patients.
"Spirituality and faith is now becoming a new angle with medicine," Dr Scott told the hearing.
"It's a new specialism. The fact that Christians are optimistic is very positive for health.
"I'm not just a maverick doctor reaching out to patients.
"You can't just take off your faith when you enter the consultation room, either as a patient or doctor."
'Non-threatening'Under cross-examination by Andrew Hurst, counsel for the GMC, Dr Scott denied telling his 24-year-old patient that he would "suffer eternally" if he did not convert to Christianity.
Dr Scott said the patient was happy to talk about religion, when he had raised the subject in a "gentle, non-threatening" way.
Mr Hurst said "the effect" of what he told the patient was to promote Christianity over the patient's own religion.
"He had walked away from his own religion," Dr Scott said.
"I'm offering something that could have changed his life."
Paul Diamond, counsel for Dr Scott, told the committee his client believed the GMC was singling out Christianity.
"He does believe Christianity has been singled out for adverse treatment and believes this to be a wider trend in our society to marginalise the Christian," he said.
The case continues.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
London 2012 Olympics: former-drug cheat David Millar selected in Team GB cycling squad for Games - Daily Telegraph
As Brailsford said: “I wouldn’t presume anything about Dave Millar’s selection. There is no ‘given’ in that back-up team to Cav and Brad.”
Sir Chris Hoy welcomed Millar back into the GB Olympic fold but also took the opportunity of reiterating his implacable opposition to doping in sport. “I’m comfortable with whoever is selected for the team because they are eligible,” said Hoy, who will be competing in his fourth Olympics. It’s never been about an individual. It’s about the future and having a meaningful deterrent against people taking drugs.”
Hoy, as expected, was named in the three-man sprint squad along with Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny, but Brailsford and his coaching team will leave it much closer to competition day before making a final call between Hoy and Kenny in the individual sprint. “If you pick now you might not actually be picking the fastest guy,” Brailsford said.
Track (Sprint):
Philip Hindes (age 19: born: Krefeld, Germany)
Chris Hoy (36, Edinburgh)
Jason Kenny (24, Bolton)
Victoria Pendleton (31, Hitchin)
Jessica Varnish (21, Birmingham)
Track (Endurance):
Steven Burke (24, Burnley)
Edward Clancy (27, Barnsley)
Wendy Houvenaghel (37, Magherafelt)
Peter Kennaugh (22, Isle of Man)
Danielle King (21 born: Southampton)
Joanna Rowsell (age: 23 born: Carshalton)
Andrew Tennant (age: 25 born: Wolverhampton)
Geraint Thomas (age: 26 born: Cardiff)
Laura Trott (age: 19 born: Harlow)
BMX:
Liam Phillips (age: 23 born: Taunton)
Shanaze Reade (age: 23 born: Crewe)
Cross Country Mountain Biking:
Liam Killeen (age: 30 born: London)
Annie Last (age: 21 born: Nottingham)
Men’s Road (five to be selected):
Mark Cavendish (age: 27 born: Isle of Man)
Steve Cummings (age: 31 born: The Wirral)
Chris Froome (age: 27 born:Nairobi)
Jeremy Hunt (age: 38 born: Canada)
David Millar (age: 35 born: Malta)
Ian Stannard (age: 25 born: Chelmsford)
Ben Swift (age: 24 born: Rotherham)
Bradley Wiggins (age: 32 born: Ghent)
Women’s Road (four to be selected):
Lizzie Armitstead (age:23 born: Otley)
Nicole Cooke (age: 29 born: Wick)
Katie Colclough (age: 22 born: Grantham)
Sharon Laws (age 37 born Kenya)
Lucy Martin (age: 22 born Merseyside)
Emma Pooley (age 29 born: Wandsworth)
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Occupy London - my protest - Daily Mail
By Anna Maxted
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Occupy London are determined to protest against the City of London Corporation, so today they set up camp on that ugly symbol of elitism and privilege, Hampstead Heath.
Sadly, in another victory for the overarching forces of international capitalism, the park's police escorted them off the premises just after teatime.
I've lived near the Heath all my life and it's one of the most serene and beautiful areas of the capital; one of the few that you don't need money to enjoy. When Karl Marx lived in London, he loved to visit with his family. Kenwood House - part of the estate bestowed to the nation by that privileged toff Lord Iveagh in 1927 - may look tatty on the outside, but if you nip inside (donations are voluntary) you can show your five-year old a Gainsborough.
A privilege to be there: When you're on Hampstead Heath, your status, your bank balance ceases to matter
I was there this morning, beaming at the exquisite views of the City, breathing in the delicious air, marvelling at the gorgeous profusion of green, along with various other capitalist pigs (an old lady on a Zimmer frame, an artist, a young photographer, an elderly man walking his dog, a young couple with a newborn...).
Eventually I spotted the Occupy London set, trudging along the sun-dappled paths, squinting at their maps - though they were hardly obvious: none of the people wandering around the Heath this morning were head-to-toe in Dior.
They set up camp in the Vale of Health (convenient for Hampstead High Street; Starbucks, Tesco Metro and The Gap). One doesn't have to eschew all trappings of commercialism to make a huffy point against capitalism - I don't expect them to scrape for nuts and berries and live on rainwater - but this exercise was little more than a hypocritical student jolly.
Trespassers in tents: Will we soon see scenes like this, outside St Paul's last year, on the Heath?
I feel aggrieved at the wretched difference between wealthy and poor - but I feel as aggrieved that these protestors were so witless as to think that they were doing the less privileged a favour by camping out - with their litter, and worse, judging from the mess they made of St Paul's - in the one place that is an oasis of peace, and serenity - and free to those who have everything and nothing alike.
When you're on Hampstead Heath, your status, your bank balance ceases to matter. You feel privileged to be there. You feel rich. Until you chance upon a massive bunch of trespassers in tents, and then the Heath loses its magic, and your carefree ramble becomes yet another irritating, slightly depressing exercise in trying to enjoy London despite it being stuffed full of sociopaths and egotists.
Truly, harassing a bunch of dog walkers is not a valid form of protest against bankers. It was facetious, brattish; bullying. If they wish to get their point across in a democratic manner, they have civilised options - from blogging to, hm, politics - but they made the laziest, most slovenly choice: to make a nuisance of themselves and inconvenience, oh, just everyone. A minority, imposing their selfish will on the majority, is nothing less than tyranny.
Exquisite views of the City: Misty view over London from Hampstead Heath
They claimed that they wanted to 'reach out to the community about shared concerns'... I can tell you what the community's main concern was today - that a bunch of pseudo-crusties had illegally pitched their luxury tents in a public beauty spot. (Hampstead Heath's by-laws forbid 'the training of whippets,' 'the beating of carpets,' and 'Persons in an Offensive, Filthy Condition.' And no camping, either.)
One of OL's excuses was that fans of the Heath ponds were 'up in arms' about the recent outrageous decision by the City of London to charge a couple of quid for a swim. My husband has swum there for years, occasionally with our 10-year old son, and says that most who use the pond have no objection - if they want a lifeguard, and basic maintenance, they see it makes sense to contribute a little.
As far as I can tell, this protest was a feeble excuse for a spot of glamping. If they are genuinely serious about protesting against capitalism, I suggest they occupy Legoland: nearly 200 on the gate, for a family of five. However, if they prefer to occupy a green space owned by the City of London, why not try West Ham Park? It has all the traditional trappings of privilege (children's playground and so on.) Or are the views not spectacular enough?
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
You wouldn't want to Occupy this! The squalid conditions of protesters' London camp are revealed - Daily Mail
By Ian Garland
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A mountain of discarded roadsigns and shopping trolleys protects a makeshift camps of tattered tents.
Eight months after they first occupied Finsbury Square, in the heart of the City of London, the anti-capitalist protesters who have set up home there show no sign of waning.
As another eviction threat looms this week, the 20 to 30 protesters - London's last remaining Occupy outpost - have barricaded themselves into their squalid camp ready to defend themselves against the police.
Occupy protesters have barricaded themselves into their camp on Finsbury Square in the City of London
Before protesters were evicted from the neighbouring camp at St. Paul's Cathedral in February, Finsbury Square was used as an overspill.
It later became an 'eco village' where sustainable technologies were showcased.
But there was no sign of that today. The once pleasant park is now a barren, litter-strewn dump.
20-30 'protestors' remain at the Finsbury Square camp - eight months after it was first 'occupied'
Residents of the square are bracing themselves for an eviction attempt on Friday and have barricaded themselves in
Islington Borough Council moved in March to start eviction proceedings against the 'residents' of Finsbury Square.
The most recent stay of execution expires on Friday after Justice Hickinbottom ruled at the High Court last week that Islington Council has the right to repossess the public space.
Islington councillor Paul Convery insists the time has come to move the camp on - claiming many legitimate protesters have been replaced by vulnerable homeless people.
He told the Guardian: 'The council has said from the outset that we support the right to peaceful protest, and we have tolerated Occupy's presence at Finsbury Square since October.
'However, it is now apparent that the character of the protest has changed and Occupy's presence is significantly diminished. In the protesters' place, we now see a group of vulnerable and homeless people who would be better cared for elsewhere.'
At one time protesters used the square to showcase sustainable technology, but it is now a litter strewn dump
But Tom McCarthy, a resident at Finsbury Square, insists the camp serves an important purpose.
He wrote on the Occupy Finsbury Square blog: 'This camp makes a political statement about our society.
'Since Occupy opened the camp on 21 October, it has become a home and community for many homeless people, for whom the system has failed.
'In evicting this community, Islington Council – who have helped to re-home some people that have ticked certain boxes – are potentially leaving some people in a much worse position than they are already in.
'We ask Islington Council to not go down the same route at the City of London Corporation – cleansing the City of homeless people is not the way forward. Helping to find real solutions is.'
Islington Council claims the camp is now just occupied by vulnerable and homeless people
Banners erected on the camp still preach anti-capitalist slogans, despite claims by councillors the square has become a haven for the homeless
Islington Borough Council are keen to repossess the square so they can start fixing the damage caused by protesters
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Councils sending vulnerable children to Kent - Kent Online
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by political editor Paul Francis
Vulnerable children are being placed in Kent from councils
hundreds of
miles away - including authorities in Scotland, Wales and the north
of
England, it has emerged.
Kent County Council has renewed its call on councils to do more to keep looked-after children closer to where they are from, rather than using the county to place them in care - often because it is cheaper.
A list of councils that have placed looked-after children in
Kent shows
they include Aberdeen, Guernsey, Neath Port Talbot and Blaenau
Gwent in Wales.
Others are Newcastle, Middlesborough, Lancashire and Northamptonshire - all several hundred miles from Kent.
However, by far the largest number of placements of children at risk is still coming from London councils. The London borough of Greenwich tops the table with 134 placements - twice as many as neighbouring councils like Newham and Lewisham.
KCC leader Cllr Paul Carter said it was vital councils were persuaded to do more to find placements closer to home.
He warned too many vulnerable youngsters were placed too far away, increasing the risk of being exploited. He also questioned whether councils could properly look after their own vulnerable children when they were.
"It is extremely difficult to be an effective 'corporate parent' and look after children placed so far away from home.
Following
the recent conviction of nine members of a sex-grooming network in
Rochdale, all councils must make sure they can properly safeguard
teenagers placed in residential children's homes, particularly
those placed many miles from home, which increases their sense of
vulnerability."
He added: "These are young people at particular risk of being
exploited
by sex-grooming networks and it is extremely difficult for
London
boroughs, as the corporate parents, to properly safeguard these
young
people when they are placed so many miles away. "
He has urged Mayor Boris Johnson to hold a summit to discuss how
London
councils could work to find foster carers and children's homes in
the
capital instead.
The issue of looked after children being placed in Kent has long
been a
source of frustration for social services chiefs.
They say the large numbers adds to the strains and pressures of
caring
for Kent's own vulnerable young children - about 1,800 - and
believe
many London councils use Kent because it is cheaper.
KCC wants the government to force councils to place children at
risk no
further than 15 miles from their home, except in situations where
that
could be unsafe.
There are 63 privately registered children's homes and 32
independent
fostering providers in the county, catering for 803 children placed
by
London councils and other authorities.
Wednesday, June 13 2012
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Source: www.kentonline.co.uk
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