Bollox Britain

Police swooped on a pub landlord for organising an ugliest woman competition.

An uknown complainant reported the Glasgow pub for sexism and demanded the competition be cancelled and also that the owners of Islay Inn be prosecuted.

However, when police arrived at the Glasgow venue they gave manager George Hogg the go ahead after discovering it was, in fact, a competition for men dressed as women.

Landlord George Hogg said:

It was a totally over the top reaction by whoever went to the bother of reporting us - political correctness gone mad!

Liverpool Council are being urged to investigate whether the boom in weekend stag and hen parties in Liverpool is giving the city a bad name with ordinary tourists.

The Liberal Democrats claim there is a risk that more mild-mannered visitors will take away a negative impression of the city because of the volume and behaviour of groups enjoying celebrating upcoming marriages.

They said they believed Liverpool residents, particularly those with children, may also be unimpressed with rowdy crowds who are often already well-oiled by the early afternoons of Fridays and Saturdays.

A motion moved by Liberal Democrat Cllr Richard Oglethorpe states:

Whilst recognising their contribution to the local economy, this council believes that the current volume and behaviour of stag and hen parties may be in danger of deterring ordinary visitors and local residents from frequenting Liverpool city centre.

Oglethorpe added:

I was walking down Hanover Street one day and this group of girls came out of a pub really bladdered, shouting their heads off and swearing. It was quite frightening for young kids. It's not just at 4am, it's late afternoons this is happening. I think it will deter people coming to the city, and it doesn't give a great impression for those who live here either.

He said the motion had a lukewarm reception from members of the Labour group at the neighbourhoods committee last week, but is to get a second hearing at the community safety committee.

Twitter should take action as quickly as possible to deal with supposed abuse on its website, according to a senior police officer.

Stuart Hyde, chief constable of Cumbria police who speaks on e-crime for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said it was right for police to intervene in cases of bullying on twitter.

Asked if new laws were needed, Hyde told BBC Radio 4's Today programme:

No, I think we have got quite a lot of legislation, dating back to the Malicious Communications Acts of 1998 and 2003. There is a lot there that helps us and gives us the power to do stuff.

This is a new technology, a new way of communicating, it has grown exponentially. There hasn't been separate legislation, so we are using legislation that wasn't particularly created for this, but it works reasonably well most of the time.

We are learning from it, there are things that have sometimes gone wrong and I think sometimes it is important that we make sure we provide the service people need.

If people come to us and say 'I am really upset, I've been offended, my life has been made a misery and I want somebody to do something about it', then yes the police should, whenever possible, try to help.

I don't want police officers dragged off the streets to deal with frivolous complaints. Where these complaints are pretty serious, then it is quite right that we should intervene, and we do that.

It is important to look at the whole context. It is not just about one tweet, it is a whole range of tweets.

Look at what the individual has done -- is this a concerted attempt to have a go at one individual in a way that passes the threshold for offences against the law? If it is, then clearly we should intervene and do something to stop it.

But Hyde said that police have so far not received large numbers of complaints about abusive Twitter messages.

A complaint has been made to a PC watchdog about a councillor accused of suggesting on Twitter that a woman turn to prostitution to earn money.

According to the Western Mail, Carmarthenshire councillor John Jenkins responded to a female Twitter user who said she needed to earn money quickly by writing:

Prostitution? On a serious note, good money in being in an escort.

Jenkins, who represents Elli in Llanelli as an independent, said:

Someone has obviously gone to a lot of effort to trawl through an archive of my private communications to find something that they can take out of context to make me look bad. Continue reading the main story Start Quote

In no way can private banter between friends, none of which were offended by the obvious tongue-in-cheek banter, be considered offensive.

He said he had been the subject of a vexatious, politically-motivated complaint and looked forward to explaining it to the ombudsman if the watchdog thinks there is a case to answer.

A spokeswoman for the Public Services Ombudsman confirmed a complaint had been made. She said it would be considered before a decision is taken whether to launch a formal investigation.

A Welsh Premier League footballer has been suspended after a supposedly homophobic tweet was sent to Olympic diver Tom Daley.

Port Talbot Town FC said midfielder Daniel Thomas has been the victim of a misguided prank after leaving his phone unattended, but said they have suspended the player and are investigating. A club spokesman said:

Port Talbot Town Football Club can confirm Daniel Thomas has been suspended from all involvement with the club until we have carried out a full internal investigation.

We were made aware to an offensive comment appearing on the Twitter feed of one of our players.

Having spoken at length to the player in question, we believe he regrettably left his phone unattended and was the victim of a very misguided 'prank'.

The club said it and Thomas apologised unreservedly and in no way condoned the views made in the tweet.

The Naked Rambler Stephen Gough has been arrested three days after he was released from prison.

Gough, a former Royal Marine who hikes across the country naked, was arrested in Townhill, Dunfermline, by policemen from Fife Constabulary.

He was released from Perth Prison on Tuesday, having spent the past six years in the Scottish jail.

A spokesman for Fife Constabulary said he was arrested following complaints from members of the public and has been charged with a supposed breach of the peace.

The Naked Rambler's supporters on Facebook have made an official complaint to the Fife Constabulary

Re Arrest of Mr Stephen Gough on the afternoon of 20th July 2012 whilst in the course of peacefully eating his lunch unattired

I refer to the ruling on Breach of the Peace, in 2001 in the High Court of Justiciary, where Lord Coulsfield held that breach of the peace required conduct severe enough to cause alarm to ordinary people and threaten serious disturbance to the community and that mere annoyance or irritation were insufficient .

Misapplication of the legislation governed by this ruling would in itself constitute Breach of the Peace by any individual(s) conducting such misapplication. Fife Constabulary is hereby on notice to provide indisputable evidence, including a physical witness, of serious disturbance to the community .

In this regard, this message is being copied to Professional Standards and constitutes a formal complaint.

Update: Jailed for at least a month

24th July 2012. See  article from  bbc.co.uk

Stephen Gough, the man known as the naked rambler, has denied charges concerning nudity 'close' to a play park near Dunfermline.

Prosecutors said he refused to put on clothing or move away and supposedly committed a breach of the peace on 20 July.

Gough chose to represent himself and was naked during the court appearance.

He was jailed until 23 August. Gough did not ask for bail.

Stephen Gough, nicknamed the Naked Rambler, has vowed to continue walking around Britain with no clothes on after tasting his first day of freedom after being jailed by Scotland for 6 years.

Former marine Stephen Gough has spent the vast majority of the past decade behind bars because of Scottish intolerance and injustice.

He initially earned the title Naked Rambler by walking unclothed from Land's End to John O'Groats after quitting his job as a lorry driver.

He was spoken to by police immediately after his release, but was then allowed to go on his way in an apparent shift in Tayside Police force policy. On the last few occasions he has been immediately arrested by officers waiting for him at the gates, but yesterday he was given the go-ahead to walk off despite being naked.

Following his release he said: My opinion is that the police have thought 'the guy's not going to give up so let's have a think about it.

He revealed that he had spent the vast majority of his time in solitary confinement in maximum security Perth Prison - although he said life inside flew by.

Offsite: The naked truth

19th July 2012. See article from fleetstreetfox.com , thanks to David

A good article about Stephen Gough and Scottish injustice.

A commenter also makes the point that 6 years spent in jail is the equivalent of a 12 years sentence with 50% remission.

...Read the full article

Elf and Safety extremists pulled the plug on a concert by Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band and Paul Mccartney citing ludicrous bollox that they had run 8 minutes past their allotted time.

Fans were left angered after the Hard Rock Calling event ended prematurely after Paul Mccartney joined Bruce Springsteen on stage to perform Twist and Shout and I Saw Her Standing There. 

As 80,000 rapturous fans yelled their delight under the pouring rain, the microphones were switched off after the health and safety curfew was breached by eight minutes, leaving the singers to leave the stage in silence.

While organisers defended the unfortunate decision last night, it provoked a storm of protest from fans and even members of Springsteen's entourage.

Steven Van Zandt, the guitarist with Springsteen's E Street band, said:

One of the great gigs ever in my opinion. But seriously, when did England become a police state?

Boris Johnson, the London Mayor, also wade into the row, criticising the excessively officious decision .

Last night, a spokesprat for Live Nation, the event's organisers, spewed:

The curfew is laid down by the authorities in the interest of the public health and safety.

A Westminster Council spokesman said it was concert organisers, not the council, who pulled the plug.

Update: Oops Wrong Jobsworths. It wasn't Elf & Safety after all. It was the department of Petty Bureaucracy and Clock Watching

18th July 2012. See  article from  telegraph.co.uk

Promoter Live Nation released a statement in the hours after the plug was pulled on Bruce Springsteen, claiming the curfew was in place as a result of safety issues.

However Kevin Myers, the deputy chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive, who was actually at the gig, said it was not true to blame the end of the show on those grounds. He said:

The fans deserve the truth. There's no health and safety issues involved here. While public events may have licensing conditions dictating when they should end, this is not health and safety.

Hundreds of Olympics officers of the Brand Army

Hundreds of uniformed Olympics officers will begin touring the country today enforcing sponsors' multimillion-pound marketing deals, in a highly organised mission.

Almost 300 enforcement officers will be seen across the country checking firms to ensure they are not staging ambush marketing or illegally associating themselves with the Games at the expense of official sponsors such as Adidas, McDonald's, Coca-Cola and BP.

The Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, refused to rule out that even more soldiers may be called upon to help with security. However, as well as the regular Army, the Olympic brand army will start its work with a vengeance today.

Wearing purple caps and tops, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) are heading the biggest brand repression operation staged in the UK. Under legislation specially introduced for the London Games, they have the right to enter shops and offices and bring court action with fines of up to £ 20,000. The ODA seems to comprise of council workers seconded from Trading Substandards.

Olympics organisers have warned businesses that during London 2012 their advertising should not include a list of banned words, including gold , silver and bronze , summer , sponsors and London . Publicans have been advised that blackboards advertising live TV coverage must not refer to beer brands or brewers without an Olympics deal, while caterers and restaurateurs have been told not to advertise dishes that could be construed as having an association with the event.

The scale of the brand enforcement squad is likely to intensify criticism that the Olympics has become too corporate. Paul Jordan, an expert in brand protection at Bristows solicitors said they were almost certainly tougher than at previous Olympics: No other brands would have people walking the streets being their eyes and ears, protecting their interests.

British citizens who marry foreigners will have to earn at least £ 20,000 a year if they want to set up their family home in the UK under new proposed human rights abuse.

The planned changes mean lower-paid Britons would be forced to emigrate if they wanted to live with a loved one from overseas.

And if the foreign-born spouse had children, their British partner would have to earn £ 30,000 or more, depending on how many children they had. They will also have to pass a strict new combined attachment test to prove they share a genuine loyalty to Britain, not another country, and they will remain on probation for five years instead of the current two.

The proposals, to be announced by Home Secretary and human rights abuser Theresa May, are expected to cut immigration, currently standing at 250,000 a year, by 25,000. Tory rights abusing MPs last night welcomed the move .

May is also expected to confirm stringent English-speaking test for husbands, wives or partners of UK citizens applying to come to live in Britain on a family visa.

The new human rights abuse will not apply to partners from within the European Union, as they will continue to have the right to settle here.

Labour's shadow media minister Helen Goodman has called for curbs on merchandising by children's television programmes, claiming that the proliferation of products is placing an intolerable burden on hard-up parents.

Speaking at a Westminster media forum, Financing Children's Media , Goodman called for limits to the growth of merchandising.

Speaking as a parliamentarian I am not enamoured of ideas to liberalise rules and allow more product placement and merchandising. Governments are also responsible for preventing the economic exploitation of children, she claimed.

Speaking after her speech, she added: Parents do become quite tired of being pestered to provide things they might not be able to afford.

Theresa May, the British Home Secretary, is planning a rights abusing immigration clampdown on tens of thousands of people who use family visas to settle in Britain, according to a leaked cabinet letter.

The letter from May to Nick Clegg, which has been seen by The Sunday Telegraph, proposes a tough new minimum income of £ 25,700 a year for anyone seeking to bring a spouse, partner or dependant to the UK from outside the European Union from June - almost double the current threshold of £ 13,700.

The minimum income would rise dramatically - up to £ 62,600 - if children are also brought in.

May also wants a longer probationary period of five years before spouses and partners can apply to live permanently in Britain, and a higher level of English to be required.

The proposals could cut the number of immigrants allowed in by 15,000 a year - a significant step towards the Government's aim of reducing net migration to 100,000 people each year.

However, they are expected to fought hard by Clegg and other Liberal Democrat ministers, escalating still further the tensions between the two Coalition partners that have risen dramatically since last week's controversial Budget.

In 2010, some 48,900 visas were issued under this category. The majority of those who come to settle in Britain using this method are women from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

Creating parodies goes to the heart of comedy and is one of the most effective ways to highlight social issues.

But parodies of films and music aren't allowed under UK copyright law, unless you have explicit permission of the copyright owner.

A political YouTube video that may have infringed copyright got over 90,000 views when published last year by Mother's Best Child, before being abruptly taken down thanks to the Olympics Committee.

Update: Dishing out repression

4th March 2012. See  article from  dailymail.co.uk

Residents of every property in Shepherdess Walk in Hackney, East London, were told by their local council to remove their satellite dishes or face eviction.

Most of the dishes have been fixed to the front of houses for more than ten years. But Hackney Borough Council says planning permission was never granted.

Only people living in listed buildings need planning permission for a satellite dish (up to about a meter diameter), but the properties under duress are in fact listed.

The council has now told housing trust Circle 33 to make their tenants take down the dishes and fit them to the rear of houses - or switch to cable.

It is believed that the residents are the victims of a bid to clean up Hackney before the start of the Olympic Games in London in June.

resident Tony Emberson said:

I got the letter with only three days to sort something out. Residents believe the council's order is part of a bid to smarten the area up ahead of the Olympics, many events of which will be staged from the Olympic Park in the neighbouring borough of Newham.

The deadline was extended to three weeks once the press got hold of the story.

What byelaws, specific to Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square, could our dear Mayor be drafting in such a hurry? So, I had a look.

I found that, buried among various rules making it a criminal offence to feed birds or fly kites, it contained some astonishing and highly undemocratic rules effectively stifling peaceful protest. No doubt Boris Johnson is thinking of the upcoming Olympics and what an embarrassment it would be to have poor people protesting near tourists.

The byelaws make it an offence to:

• erect or keep erected any tent or similar structure
• display any sign
• make or give any speech or public address
• fail to comply with a reasonable direction given by an authorised person to leave the square.

It is my belief that this is an outrageous and unprecedented attack on our freedom as citizens. The consulation notice explains that any objection to the confirmation of the Byelaws may be made by letter addressed to Carl Schnackenberg, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2-4 Cockspur Street, London SW1Y 5DH, or by email to: Carl.Schnackenberg@Culture.gsi.gov.uk.

The closing date for responses is 29th February 2012.

A public online consultation has been launched asking for views on the implementation of two new powers designed to spoil people's fun and depress the late night economy.

The measures, contained in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 and due to be introduced in the autumn, will empower local killjoys by:

• allowing local authorities to charge a levy for late-night licences to contribute to the cost of extra policing
• extending Early Morning Restriction Orders -- a power that will allow licensing authorities to restrict the sale of alcohol in all or part of their areas -- to any time between midnight and 6am

The consultation asks whether some types of premises should be exempted from the new measures, or eligible for a reduction in the levy, if they are judged not to be major contributors to the type alcohol-related crime and disorder that can blight neighbourhoods. Such premises could be hotels, cinemas or community venues.

Minister for Fun Prevention Lord Henley said:

Alcohol-related crime and disorder is a problem for many of our communities. These new measures give power back to local areas so they can respond to their individual needs.

But we also recognise that some types of premises that open late to serve alcohol do not contribute to late night drinking problems and should not be unduly penalised. That is why we are seeking views on whether they should be exempt or see a reduction in fees.

We are keen to hear from anyone who is affected by these new powers to help inform our plans to ensure the premises we have proposed are the right ones.

The public, licensing authorities, the licensed trade and police are all encouraged to contribute their views.

The consultation runs until 10 April 2012.

The Ministry of Justice claims it is making progress in streamlining the criminal justice system despite adding 175 new offences during its first year in office.

In total the fledgling government department passed 33 new pieces of legislation in England and Wales in the 12 months ending May 2011. That was a significant reduction on the 92 statutes yielding 712 new criminal offences the previous year.

A MoJ spokesman said:

We want to see greater transparency across the criminal justice system and stop the creation of unnecessary new criminal offences.

It is encouraging to see that in the first year of this government we substantially reduced the number of new offences created.

The figures have been released in the same week as Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge used his annual press conference to call for a decrease in the legislative burden. He said:

The law relating to the criminal justice system has become astonishingly complicated, and I suspect that anybody working in any particular field will say the legislative process in the last 10 to 15 years has become increasingly complex -- harder to understand and therefore more difficult to comply with.'