OLD AGE PRISONERS

There were lots of hands up in a Coventry police station a few days ago when the sergeant asked for volunteers to capture an 86-old on behalf of social services. Much better than dealing with real criminals. The old lady, Betty, had been put in a nursing home by social services but was not enjoying it and was discouraged from wlaking in the garden. Her daughter took her home to live with her and the rest of a close family. The house had been kitted out to suplly her mother's needs. Her mother's outlook on life took an immediate upturn. Then after just a few days social services arrived with police in tow. Betty was bundled into a wheelchair and into a waiting van. Then off to prison — nursing home. How can this sort of thing happen?. Of course if Betty was a fanatical terrorist and illegal immigrant Shami Chakrabati would have her out in quicksticks but no-one cares about the Bettys of this world apart from their families.

PEERS OF THE REALM

I see the MET, Britain's so-called premier police force, have decided not to follow up charges of corruption against four Labour Peers in the House of Lords. Well what a surprise! They seemed to think that Parliament would put so many obstacles in the way, as has happened in the past, that it wasn't worth the candle. We live in a banana republic run by a bunch of spivs and no way are our police going to get on the wrong foot with their political masters.

CRIME PAYS

Many people were killed during the troubles in Northern Ireland. The families are now to be given some compensation — £12,000. Or at least that is the proposal. And so are the families of the murderers. Some killed by their own bombs, some shot by government troops. A banana republic idea that could only be made by people unable to differentiate between right and wrong.

ADOPTION

Here we are back in so politically correct banana republic Britain. A couple have been looking after two of their grandchildren — a 5 year old boy and his younger sister. Apparently the mother had a heroine addiction. Naturally the old couple (well he's 59 so hardly a dodderer but suffers from angina which is being managed and his wife is diabetic) love the grandchildren and can be relied on to provide them with a good, loving and caring home. Edinburgh social services have decided that because of their medical condition and possible death sooner rather than later they cannot be regarded as totally suitable. So they are taking the children away and having them adopted by a homosexual couple. Of course being a deviant doesn't guarantee everlasting life and one or both could fall under a bus tomorrow. To borrow a phrase I read recently of all social groups the one which is most dangerous to children is social services.

CORRUPT PEERS

So four members of the House of Lords have been accused of using their position to enrich themselves. Basically offering to influence legislation in return for money. Naturally they deny it and we shall have to wait for more information before sitting in judgement. But I am not surprised. The old (post-war) House of Lords was a mixed bag of characters with some peers being convicted criminals, drug addicts, rogues, colourful characters as well as a good number having a wide experience of life in business, the armed forces. Of course many chose not to sit in the House or did so only on a few occasions. I suspect that although the ones who did sit were also a cross-section of humanity (apart from their blue blood of course) they were probably skewed towards those with positive characters and many served their country well.
Now the House consists mainly of people elevated from the Commons together with other placemen chosen by the government. They are not elected. As the Commons has a large number of rogues, slime dogs, scum, scoundrels it is obvious that a chamber derived from such a source will be equally squalid. Ad so it has proved.

FOOD LEFT-OVERS

So WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme) is going to send people out knocking on doors and telling them how to use up food waste and scraps rather than throw it away. A very laudable aim but smacks to me of yet more nanny state. At first it will be a pilot scheme trial but doubtless they have ambitions to expand. WRAP of course is a quango so employs dozens of quangocrats with nothing better to than dream up ways of annoying the general public and spending the taxpayers' hard-earned cash.

HOKEY COKEY

I'm expecting the fuzz to come knocking on my door at any minute. This is for crimes I committed many years ago when I was barely a teenager. You see the local methodist chapel (Patmos Chapel) sometimes had social evenings. Often the night would come to an end with dancing the Hokey Cokey. Now I learn this is an anti-Papist hate activity. We certainly weren't made aware of that at the time although perhaps the insider elite knew what they were doing. My grandmother actually had a thing about "church people" (she meant Church of England) so perhaps she was in on the secret too. As Alan Cochrane has pointed out in his comment on the matter many thousands of people have enjoyed the fun knowing nothing about the alleged origins of the song. Now everyone does know perhaps some people will use it as an instrument of hate. At the next Old Firm match I wouldn't be surprised if it was sung with extra vigour. In case anyone missed the story the name Hokey Cokey is alleged to come from "hocus pocus" which in turn is a skit on the words of consecration "hoc est enim corpus".