I happened to find myself, quite by chance, sitting in the garden at The Swan last night, talking to some good friends. As the wine flowed we started talking about Boris, advancing the proposition that he could well be the next prime minister of Britain – a view, amusingly, raised in The News of The World today. We moved on to say that recent political history seems to suggest that charismatic leaders tend to be followed by dull, and once the bloodlust of the electorate and the fourth estate is sated with charismatic leaders being put to the sword every eight to ten years or so, the boot goes in to the dull leaders who follow until they too are hounded from office. One of our number, a former political editor of a leading tabloid and Editor of a leading political journal, smiled benignly and enjoyed his wine. So… the question is, will Gordon survive his revolting backbenchers, will Cameron realise that he may not be able to control Boris and out do him on the charisma stakes….?
So… how has the Judiciary fared in irritating the tabloids this week?
Pretty well, as it happens. The News of The World expresses outrage at the activities of several judges. Earlier in the week The Daily Mail noted that Judge Nash branded three women robbers “over-the-hill slappers” in an astonishing courtroom attack as he sentenced them… and today we have Carole Mallone from NOTW ranting “HOW much longer are our batty, silly, out-of-touch judges going to be allowed to get away with decisions that, at worst, cost lives and, at best, make the law look a bigger ass than it already does?”
Given that a lot of people do not admit to reading NOTW, and to save your blushes, I quote from Ms Mallone’s excellent coverage: “Last week Judge Martin Picton allowed roofer Lee Jones—who’d repeatedly punched a policeman in the face—to suspend the conditions of his curfew to go on a Spanish golfing holiday. Then there was Judge Graham Cottle who listened to some cock-and-bull story from heroin dealer Andy Morgan (whose friend actually DIED after taking drugs supplied by him) about how his electronic tag didn’t look fashionable with his surf shorts then decided that because Morgan had actually got a job (selling surf boards) he should be allowed to take it off. Now we have Judge Robert Atherton who allowed paedophile Jon Dixon to walk free after he admitted attempting to rape an 11-year-old girl in her school lunch break, because, said the judge, the girl had “welcomed sexual activity”.
There is only so much one can take, so moving on…
And the bloggers? What have they been up to?
I cover the latest posts to quite a few blogs every couple of days or so in Insitelaw Newswire – so I am free to
comment on Sundays on the more bizarre offerings. Let us pray… and, indeed, kick off with Geeklawyer’s latest competition (You may win a bottle of Whisky). Geeklawyer has found an example of artificial intelligence – ironically in connection with the rail sector. While I reported on this the other evening (infra) the coverage on geeklawyer’s site is rather more thorough. Inevitably, when I read that Geeklawyer was taking my niece, Sativa Charon, to the Natural History museum today, I had to investigate further.
John Bolch of Family Lore has a visitor.
Freed from the shackles of having to confine myself to reporting on the law in this place (because I have the other place for that) I would like to draw your attention to three or four non-legal blogs I enjoy reading. I’ll say nothing, save that they are all worth reading and may well become part of your own regular reading. In no particular order ; Ms R: A woman of experience | Knitting with only one needle | Nourishing Obscurity | Guido Fawkes. Well… I will say this – they are all amusing and, at times, controversial.
It is good to see that European politicians are still working in our interests….
PORKY Euro MP Tom Wise raises a glass to another rewarding day in Brussels—one spent shamelessly DODGING work and SCAMMING a fortune in expenses.
As he leaned on the bar guzzling beer Wise bragged to a News of the World investigator how he milks the taxpayer for THOUSANDS every week in dodgy allowances and travel claims. Full outraged story
I’m off to trough at a bit of scoff…. back later….
Why, thank you, Charon Sir, for the shout out… you are most kind.
As for the EU… that’ll be the same EU whose annual accounts have not been signed off for goodness-knows how many years, and the EU that thankfully most Norwegians have got the sense not to want to join!! (I am proudly Norwegian, and I won’t deny to having voted “no” in each referendum!!)
Controversial? Me? Okay, I’ll stop now
Yep… that is the EU I am talking about! Excellent story…..
Another reason why in an earlier comment I’d suggested it (EU HQ) as a building to be blown up, but then the natural disaster in Burma, neatly coincinding with two of my suggestions, popped up first
I even included a handy picture for any terrorist cells.
House…. Quite
Some of the comments on this story are just plain ‘dotty’. A group of corrupt individuals does not equate to a totally corrupt supranational organisation.
If these people are obtaining pecuniary advantages by deception then there is a case to answer. That no Policeman is waiting on the tarmac at Luton Airport to arrest these people says more about gutless policing than it does about the so-called ‘corrupt’ EU.
So why is there no Police involvement?
It was, however, quite an amusing story….. I have no idea whether MEPs are troughing away on a pan-European scale (probably not) – but NOTW does seem to have found one!
James
I assume that Europol or whatever the EU Police ‘co-operative’ call themselves these days … may well be keen to have a chat with the MEP identified by NOTW. Possibly also some chartered gorilla at Euro HQ who looks at expenses claims. Possible?
We shall see…. what transpires.