Mair Godley, Useful Idiot...

Mair Godley is distressed for both the asylum seekers and residents about the situation all have found themselves in without having any choice in the matter.

Actually, Mair, they did have a choice. They could have stayed in France... 

She said: “We are all dumbfounded by the speed with which this has happened. The Home Office don’t seem to understand that this is not just about us, it’s about two communities of human beings, both as important as each other.

But only one community which has the right to be here, Mair... 

“We have asked the guards on the base if we can talk to the asylum seekers but they just say no, we have to ask the Home Office. We want to find a way to bring the two communities together. The Home Office has made this place look like a stalag.”

Rather approprite, then, Mair. Since stalags were used to house prisoners of war. And a war is undoubtedly what we're in. And every war, it seems, has to have its Quislings... 

A Fool And (The Taxpayer's) Money Are Soon Parted...

Taxpayers face losing up to £200 million after a council 'gambled' more than half a billion pounds on a green energy scheme run by a fast-living financier, the Daily Mail can reveal.

Good lord, what incompetent council is th... 

Cash-strapped Thurrock Council in Essex...

/facepalm 

You'd think, wouldn't you, that in Essex of all places they'd be able to spot a wide-boy chancer coming a mile off? 

...borrowed £655million of public money – the equivalent of triple what it spends on services each year – to invest in 53 solar farms across the UK.

It agreed a series of deals with globe-trotting businessman Liam Kavanagh, whose integrity was later questioned by a High Court judge over £5million his company banked in 'commission'.Thurrock hoped the huge investment would generate millions in extra income but independent consultants hired by the council have privately warned that the solar farms are worth far less than required to recoup their cash.

They also raised concerns about the use of a £138million top-up investment made by Thurrock – approved after a series of meetings at London's five-star May Fair hotel between Mr Kavanagh and the council's finance chief – which does not appear to have gone into the farms. And the latest £12.5million interest payment owed to the council is months overdue, an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found.

Want to bet who will be sacked and face jail time for this, Reader? 

Sorry, Essex County Council, There's No 'No Smoke Without Fire' Clause In Employment Law...

A former primary school headteacher who was cleared of sexually abusing seven children could receive compensation after a tribunal ruled he was unfairly sacked.

He was sacked before the trial? That's unusual, isn't it?  

He faced six charges of sexual offences against children at the unnamed school in Essex in June 2018, but due to the way the youngsters were interviewed the case was dropped when it reached the crown court. Despite being acquitted when the CPS offered no further evidence in May 2019, the teacher was still dismissed by Essex County Council.

Ah! There was no trial. 

A tribunal judge criticised Essex Police's handling of the case as well as Essex County Council that took over the disciplinary proceedings from the school governors over fears they would not be impartial. But the authority's executive director for corporate and customer services, Margaret Lee, was slammed for 'shooting from the hip' and not reading the teacher's legal statement from his QC.

Another council investigator who carried out the disciplinary probe did not look at any of the adult witnesses' statements and ignored that many of the children making the allegations were friends, according to the tribunal.

So...if there was no offence, why was he sacked? In fact, why was he even charged?

Judge Samantha Leigh (Ed: and if you can't win over 'soft touch Samantha'..!) at Basildon Crown Court said had the full extent of the initial interviews with the children been known the teacher would probably not have been charged with any criminal offences.

/facepalm 

Employment Judge John Crosfill in his ruling said, 'there was evidence from children that suggested some inappropriate behaviour'. But he added: 'Against that there was considerable evidence that went the other way.

'What was required was a reasonable and careful evaluation of that evidence. I regret to say that the combined efforts of Norma Howes, Jo Reed, Clare Kershaw and Margaret Lee fell far short of that.'

Norma Howes, a child protection expert, Jo Reed, an external HR advisor, Clare Kershaw, director of education at Essex County Council and Margaret Lee, carried out the authority's probe.

Badly, clearly!

And let's hope that any compensation due to the wronged man comes directly out of their pockets, and not that of the poor long-suffering Essex taxpayer... 

Essex County Council said it would take legal advice about the judge's ruling.

Dig deep, Essex ratepayers, there's more money to shell out!