THAT’LL COST A PRITI PENNY
One reason the Government can’t pay more for nurses is it has to save money.
This is why it spends every penny wisely on essential items, such as a £340,000 employment tribunal claim against Priti Patel’s Home Office because she broke her government’s own code on bullying.
This is the excitement the country needs after lockdown. Because presumably we can all run up a £340,000 bill for breaking the rules of our own workplace, then carry on as normal.
If you’re a swimming pool attendant, you can chuck a shark in the pool, which will result in a few claims for damages but as long as it doesn’t go above £340,000, that’s fine. Bus drivers can take the 138 bus that normally goes through the Rotherham Interchange on to the M1, then park in the middle lane and drink a bottle of rum. The company might have to fork out £340,000, but everyone will see the funny side.
Florists can sell daffodils mixed with poison ivy, librarians can invite Metallica to play in the reference section, a tree surgeon can saw off the top of Big Ben by mistake, vicars can summon up the Devil for a laugh, and as long as the fine stays around £340,000, the company has to fork out and the culprit carries on without
a blemish.
EXCLUSIVE BY
A PROLIFIC burglar was caught when he nicked an iPad and used it to watch a movie on the owner’s Amazon Prime account.
Druggie David Leahy, 42, below, stole electronic gear and jewellery during one break-in.
When he got home he found the victim had left his tablet logged into Amazon’s £7.99-amonth streaming service.
So he watched two pay-perview flicks – with the charges going on the owner’s bank card.
Detectives traced the stolen iPad to the internet connection at Leahy’s home in Luton.
Leahy admitted six other break-ins in 2018 and 2019 and was jailed for two years, two months last month at the town’s crown court.
DC Jason Wheeler, of Bedfordshire Police, added: “Leahy is a prolific offender. He apologised for his actions and said that he committed these crimes to feed his drug habit. We hope that he will now reconsider his actions and turn away from life of crime.”
He is not the first crook caught by leaving an unusual trail.
A snack bar raider was nabbed after leaving his DNA on a halfeaten meat pie in Blackburn, Lancs, in 2016.
And in January, Staffordshire Police said it had snared the “world’s unluckiest” burglar when he accidentally sat on a mobile and ‘pocket dialled’ 999.
PANTO Dick Whittington is to play for a summer season at The King’s Theatre, Portsmouth, when it reopens on July 23.
LOCAL decisions may grind to a halt in May unless Robert Jenrick acts fast.
Emergency Covid rules letting councils and their committees meet online expire on May 7.
Mr Jenrick, the Local Government Secretary says a new law will have to go through Parliament to let councils continue over Zoom, but there is no time left to pass it before the May deadline.
This could disrupt planning applications, pub licensing and road improvements.
It could also mean no more entertainment from seeing council meetings spiral out of control like when Jackie Weaver became a web star after the video of her dealing with an unruly Zoom meeting of Cheshire’s Handforth Parish Council went viral.
Shadow Local Government minister Kate Hollern said the failure to extend remote participation was irresponsible and will stop virus-vulnerable councillors supporting their communities and giving the public a say decisions.
Lawyers in Local Government and the Association of Democratic
Services Officers are launching a High Court bid to keep the meetings going virtually.
The Local Government Association said: “We urge the Government to allow councils the flexibility to determine how they hold meetings.”
A Local Government Ministry spokesman said: “We are carefully considering next steps.”