UK Car Plant on the Brink

A leading trade unionist has warned that a UK car plant is only days away from closure unless the Government comes up with a rescue package.

Tony Woodley, leader of Unite, refused to name the facility in question, but said urgent Government help was needed to avoid more than 6,000 workers losing their jobs.

Lord Mandelson, the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), declined to comment on Mr Woodley's concerns, but urged people to "stop feeding the rumours".

"We've got a car plant that, within just a couple of days, would have run of cash and needs serious financial help to stop over 6,000 people losing their jobs," said Mr Woodley.

Lord Mandelson said: "Rumours can very easily turn into a shockwave that destabilises a company or an industry and brings about the very outcome that we are seeking to avoid."

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed a 58% drop in the number of cars produced between January 2008 and 2009, with many manufacturers downscaling in response to decreased demand.

Workers at Vauxhall's UK plants must be particularly worried, given parent company General Motors' recent announcement that it will axe as many as 47,000 jobs in a global shake up.

Irish Police Solve Mystery of Prawo Jazdy

The identity of one of Ireland's most prolific motoring offenders has finally been revealed, thanks to the help of a bilingual dictionary.

Prawo Jazdy, presumed to be a Polish migrant seeking prosperity in the Emerald Isle, ripped up the highway code as he wreaked havoc on the nation's roads. He led the police on a merry trail, with at least 50 offences to his name but managing to avoid conviction by giving a string of false addresses.

The mystery was finally solved when an eagle-eyed traffic division official noticed that officers inspecting Polish driving licences were mistakenly recording Prawo Jazdy as the licence holder's name.

An internal memo finally set the record straight: "Prawo Jazdy is actually Polish for 'driving licence' and not the first and surname on the licence.

"Having noticed this I decided to check on Pulse (the criminal database) and see how many members have made this mistake. It is quite embarrassing to see that the system has created Prawo Jazdy as a person with over 50 identities."

Oops.

Racial Undertones of Chimp Cartoon

The New York Post has attracted widespread condemnation for printing a cartoon with potentially racial undertones aimed at Barack Obama.

The cartoon, which depicts police shooting dead Travis the chimp earlier this week, has the caption "they'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill".

The Reverend Al Sharpton, a prominent civil rights activist, described Sean Delonas's sketch as "troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys".

The Post's Editor-in-Chief, Col Allen, insists that the cartoon was innocently intended as a parody of recent events - namely the tragic killing of deranged chimp Travis on Monday and Washington's faltering attempts to revive the troubled US economy.

Mr Delonas has stirred controversy with previous cartoons, which have made fun of Heather Mills's amputated leg, compared gay people to sheep lovers, and depicted Muslims as terrorists.

Maybe he's not such a bad chap then?!

Driving Examiner Awarded Whiplash Damages

A Scottish driving examiner has won his case for damages against a learner driver.

Andrew Carmichael, 35, suffered whiplash after L-driver Lisa Connolly slammed on the brakes during her test two years ago.

Judge Lady Clark ruled that NIG, the company who insured the instructor's car being used by Miss Connolly, were liable for Mr Carmichael's injuries.

Delivering her opinion at Edinburgh's Court of Session, Lady Clark said: "I consider Miss Connolly's standard of driving fell below the required standard of care for a driver.

"In my opinion, her driving was plainly careless. She seemed unable to drive with due care and attention.

"I think Miss Connolly and her driving, as described by the pursuer (Mr Carmichael), would be memorable."

Mr Carmichael, clearly unimpressed with Miss Connolly's driving skills, told the court she had clocked up 14 faults before unexpectedly braking in rush hour traffic. He recounted how she ran over the pavement and how a three-point turn became a "nine-point turn".

Miss Connolly, who had about 30 lessons before sitting the test, denied mounting the pavement and claimed Mr Carmichael had been hurt during an emergency stop, but admitted she had been "very, very nervous" during her test.

The extent of Mr Carmichael's damages will be decided at a future hearing.

Alfie in Paternity Scam

Teenage father Alfie Patten is the victim of an evil scam designed to extort money from the media.

Earlier this week the UK was rocked by news that baby-faced Alfie Patten, 13, had fathered a child to 15-year-old Chantelle Steadman in Eastbourne.

In the days that followed doubts were raised about the child's parentage. Several local lads came forward saying they had slept with the promiscuous schoolgirl around the time baby Maisie Roxanne was conceived.

Clive Sim, a friend of the Steadman family, says that Chantelle's mother Penny ordered her to pretend that Alfie was the father in order to gain lucrative media exposure.

Mr Sim told the Mirror: "Penny told Chantelle to keep quiet about other boys because they wouldn't get any money.

"They know that Alfie being the dad makes a better story. I think there's a big scam going on here."

He went on to condemn the way Alfie and Chantelle were being exploited, saying: "Alfie may not be an angel and nor is Chantelle. But at the end of the day they are only children and it is the adults around them making bad decisions based on money, not their welfare."

According to reports both families are keen to have the issue of parentage resolved by DNA testing.

The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has launched an investigation into the way the Sun and People newspapers paid for Alfie Patten's story.

The newspapers stand accused of breaching clause 6 (iv) of the PCC's Editors' Code of Practice, which states: "Minors must not be paid for material involving children's welfare, nor parents or guardians for material about their children or wards, unless it is clearly in the child's interests."

With the revelation that Chantelle was the village bike it wouldn't surprise me at all if Alfie turned out not to be the father.

I just hope the parents involved know what they're letting themselves in for. The scummy tabloids are happy to pay for the story today, but they'll not hesistate to twist the knife tomorrow.

Smith the Stoner Probed by Watchdog

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith faces investigation by the parliamentary sleaze watchdog amid allegations she overclaimed expenses on her "second home".

Ms Smith, who embarassed the Government by her admission to using cannabis at university, told parliamentary authorities that her main residence was her sister's home, which allowed her to claim a generous secondary home allowance on her family home in Redditch, Worcestershire.

Dominic and Jessica Taplin, neighbours of Ms Smith's sister Sara, told the Mail on Sunday that the Home Secretary actually spends as little as two nights a week in the south-east London property.

Standards Commissioner John Lyon has asked Ms Smith to explain the Taplins' observations.

A spokesman for Mr Lyon said: "He has accepted a complaint against Jacqui Smith and is following the procedure laid down for him."

Ms Smith is quite adamant that her expenses are in order.

Rimington: Britain Becoming a Police State

A former Security Service boss has warned that Britain is lurching ever closer towards status as a police state.

Dame Stella Rimington, who headed MI5 for four years in the nineties, has accused the Government of playing into the hands of terrorists by riding roughshod over the law abiding public's civil liberties.

"Since I have retired I feel more at liberty to be against certain decisions of the Government, especially the attempt to pass laws which interfere with people’s privacy," Dame Stella said in an interview with a Spanish newspaper.

"It would be better that the Government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism: that we live in fear and under a police state," she said.

Dame Stella has been a vocal opponent to many of the Government's anti-terror initiatives. In particular she branded the proposed introduction of national ID cards as "absolutely useless" and criticised the proposed 42-day without charge detention limit for those accused of terrorism.

Her remarks accompany Home Office plans to extend state surveillance into peoples' private telephone calls and internet activity. They come the day after new legislation came into force, which could see photographers arrested for taking images of military personnel and the police operating in public areas.

Former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis echoed Dame Stella's fears, saying: "Like so many of those who have had involvement in the battle against terrorism, Stella Rimington cares deeply about our historic rights and rightly raises the alarm about a Government whose first interest appears to be to use the threat of terrorism to frighten people and undermine those rights rather than defend them."

A Home Office spokesman said: "The Government has been clear that where surveillance or data collection will impact on privacy they should only be used where it is necessary and proportionate. The key is to strike the right balance between privacy, protection and sharing of personal data.

"This provides law enforcement agencies with the tools to protect the public as well as ensuring government has the ability to provide effective public services while ensuring there are effective safeguards and a solid legal framework that protects civil liberties."

It strikes me there is a very fine line between national security, scaremongering and the unnecessary intrusion of the state into ordinary peoples' lives.

It's a delicate balancing act that this Government has failed abysmally.

More Anti-Terror Legislation

Images like this (HMS Invincible at HMNB Portsmouth)
could make me a criminal.

These are trying times for the UK. Not only are we gripped by the worst economic downturn in living memory, but we also face the constant threat of suicide bombers lurking in dustbins across the nation.

Or so the Government would have you believe, with the latest installment of liberty sapping anti-terror legislation.

Section 76 of the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 came into force yesterday, implementing a further swathe of archaic measures in the name of national security.

It permits the arrest of anyone found "eliciting, publishing or communicating information" relating to members of the armed forces, intelligence services and police officers, which is "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism".

Neil Turner, vice chairman of the British Press Photographers' Association, told the BBC about some of the industry's concerns.

"The problems that we can see arising are with junior officers using the legislation to overcome situations that they find uncomfortable or where they make judgements about photography and don't know how to apply the legislation on the ground.

"We firmly expect that there will be inappropriate uses of the act and that someone will end up in front of a judge before there is some clarity and before the purpose of the act is properly defined."

What next? Censorship of the free press?

Too Close for Comfort

Astonishing video published on The Sun's website today shows the hair-raising moment when two RAF aircraft came within seconds of collision.



The video, obtained from the cockpit of a Tornado GR4 flying in the Vale of York, shows how the pilot took evasive action as a Tucano training aircraft drifted in from the left. The paper speculated that there was just 30 feet clearance between the two aircraft.

In the full version of the video the Tornado pilot expresses his shock with a string of expletives before turning his aircraft to check on the fate of the Tucano.

The Ministry of Defence, who are now investigating the incident, confirmed the authenticity of the video but were unable to say when the near-miss occurred.

A senior RAF source told The Sun: "I can't recall ever seeing a closer near-miss. The smallest possible fraction of a second made all the difference."

What a Mess

Britain has been rocked this week by the announcement that a 13-year-old boy has fathered a daughter with a 15-year-old girl.

The baby, named Maisie Roxanne, was conceived when baby-faced Alfie Patten was just 12 and his girlfriend Chantelle Steadman just 14.

Instead of hanging their heads in shame - as they should do - the parents of the children involved ran off to the nation's favourite scummy tabloid to sell their story. Now the genie's out of the bottle the story has taken a further twist with several other boys claiming they could be Maisie's father instead.

Alfie told The People: "Other stupid boys are lying, saying bad things, like they have slept with Chantelle too.

"But I am the only boyfriend she has had and we've been together for two years, so I must be the dad.

"When she found out she was having a baby, I asked her 'Am I the dad?' and she went 'Yeah' so I believe her.

"I didn't know about DNA tests before, but Mum explained it's when they do a swab in your mouth and it tells you if you're the dad.

"So, if I have that, they can all shut up. But I don't really care what people say. And I don't like them being bad about Chantelle."

I'm afraid to tell you Alfie that the entire world is looking down on you, Chantelle and your parents and saying terrible things - terrible things that are all true.

There is clearly error in many directions in this case. What were social services and the schools doing about all these promiscuous kids? What were Alfie's parents thinking allowing him to go and spend the night with his over-easy girlfriend? Why didn't the neighbours, who all knew the nocturnal sexual antics of the Steadman household, raise the alarm with the authorities?

Worse of all what were Chantelle Steadman's parents thinking to allow their underage daughter's bedroom to be used as the local knocking shop? It's their lack of parental responsibility that annoys me the most. It's a lack of parental responsibility that we're all going to end up paying for via the welfare state.

Those parents want stood against a wall and shot.

Failure to Plan = Planning to Fail

With so many depressing things not to blog about (Australian wildfires, taxpayer subsidised bank bonuses) I'm taking the easy option today by referring to one of Iain Dale's posts.

The picture above shows workmen installing anti-parking bollards outside a Manchester city centre bar.

Discuss.

Red Faces on Breakfast Sofa

BBC1 Breakfast presenters Charlie Stayt and Susanna Reid received a nasty surprise as they reported Christian Bale's recent potty-mouthed tirade on the set of Terminator Salvation.

The Welsh actor let rip with the expletive filled tirade when director of photography Shane Hurlbut inadvertently stepped into shot.

Breakfast planned to broadcast a censored version of Bale's outburst, but things didn't quite go to plan when the report rolled at 6.55 am this morning.

Note the shock on Reid's face!

Oh well, shit happens.

Clarkson on Target

Jeremy Clarkson has apologised for calling the Prime Minister a "one-eyed Scottish idiot" during the Top Gear Live stage show in Australia.

Clarkson, known for his outspoken (although mostly accurate) views on climate change and vehicle taxation, told the Sydney audience: "We have this one-eyed Scottish idiot who keeps telling us everything's fine and he's saved the world and we know he's lying, but he's smooth at telling us."

Mr Brown lost the sight in one eye in a rugby accident when he was a teenager.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People condemned Clarkson's comments as "highly discriminatory as they imply that someone with defective vision cannot function as an intelligent person, which is obviously incorrect."

Indeed Clarkson has overstepped the mark with this one. Brown's inability to act as an intelligent person in purely coincidental and visually impaired people must find it highly offensive being compared to Gordon Brown.

Shadows in a Different Light

Erm, in the snow to be precise.

I took this photo at 11 am this morning to illustrate just how bleak the weather has been in the North East today. It shows the "Shadows in a Different Light" sculpture by Craig Knowles, Colin Wilbourn and Karl Fisher, which is (normally) nestled in the shadow of Sunderland's Wearmouth Bridge. I'm not an arty person but by the power of Google I can tell you that the sculpture is of a steel tree growing from the base of a former shipyard crane.

Of course being modern art it could be almost anything at all.

As you can see, the air was that thick with snow that the bridge - some 200 metres beyond the sculpture - is completely obscured.

Nurse Suspended for Offering Prayer

Yesterday I was saddened - although hardly surprised - to hear the story of Nurse Caroline Petrie, recently suspended from her job for offering an elderly patient a few reassuring words of prayer.

Caroline had made the parting offer to May Phippen whose leg she had been dressing. Mrs Phippen - a Christian herself - happened to mention the offer of prayer to one of Caroline's colleagues, who went squealing to superiors about the apparent religious offensiveness of it all.

By offering prayer Caroline has unwittingly fallen foul of Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) rules about equality and diversity. Her employers, North Somerset Primary Care Trust, have suspended her pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings.

Speaking to journalists, Caroline said: "I'm not angry, and I understand if people don't believe in the way that I do. But I am upset because I enjoy this job and it (prayer) is a valuable part of the care I give.

"I became a Christian 10 years ago after my mother died. My faith got stronger and I realised God was doing amazing things in my life. I saw my patients suffering and as I believe in the power of prayer, I began asking them if they wanted me to pray for them. They are absolutely delighted."

It is utterly contemptible that a dedicated nurse can be harangued by bloated pen-pushers for offering comforting words of prayer to a Christian woman in a Christian nation. I can't believe that any decent person - of any religious persuasion - would be offended by such an innocent and well intended gesture.

Let us all pray that a valuable and well respected public servant like Caroline doesn't have her career blighted by a bunch of nobodies obscenely pandering to political correctness.

I can't type any more because my hands are trembling with rage.