Home school CRB checks; Climate change-ask your GP; No buggy ride; And Fake over Fir

Just returned from the smash and grab (Tesco), still knackered, very wet and very cold, opened the portcullis and half a ton of leaves blew into the keep.








But I didn’t manage to crash the car unlike Stripey Woods: what is all the bleedin fuss about a Golfer, not a sportsman, (golf is a past time, athletes are sportsmen), who managed to crash into a fire hydrant and a tree outside his own home, big deal, it isn’t exactly earth shattering news is it, the only amusing bit is that Mrs Stripey used a driver to rescue a driver who uses a driver, I think.









And it looks like we may have to say goodbye to “free” online news, The Johnston Press websites will either ask users to pay £5 for a three-month subscription to read the full articles or direct them to buy the newspapers.

English sites in the pilot scheme are those of the Worksop Guardian, the Ripley & Heanor News, the Whitby Gazette and Northumberland Gazette.

In Scotland, the Carrick Gazette and Southern Reporter are taking part.

That’s the end of my blog then.

But while I can: first up:

No CRB no teach

It seems that the CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) creep has reached parents who home school their kids, according to the Daily Fail.

“The estimated 40,00 parents who chose not to send their children to school should be vetted, says Ofsted”

Next step I suppose is to vet all parents, then they can start on uncles, aunt’s nephews nieces etc, so why not go the whole hog and vet everyone in the country, starting with MPs and the people who work for the CRB.

Doctor Climate

The latest barmy “idea” to come from the “powers that be” is that ‘Doctors should give patients advice on climate change’.

The Climate and Health Council, a collaboration of worldwide health organisations including the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal Society of Medicine, believes there is a direct link between climate change and better health.

Their controversial plan would see GPs and nurses give out advice to their patients on how to lower their carbon footprint.

The Council believes that climate change “threatens to radically undermine the health of all peoples”.

It believes health professionals are ideally placed to promote change because “we have ethical responsibility…..as well as the capacity to influence people and our political representatives to take the necessary action”.

The Council has been recently formed to study the health benefits of tackling climate change and promotes a range of ideas from reducing your carbon footprint by driving less and walking more to eating local, less processed food.

They believe that offering patients advice on how to lower their carbon footprint can be just as easy and achievable as helping them to stop smoking or eat a healthier diet.


Prof Mike Gill, from the University of Surrey, who co-chairs the Climate and Health Council, outlined the plans for the medical journal The Lancet last week.

Now look here Prof, the time I get with my GP is short enough as it is, I don’t need someone who has spent many years studying and practising medicine to inform me that my Carbon Footprint is too big, I want medical advice and treatment not how to switch off a light.

Railway Buggy Bollocks

A mother has accused railway staff of health and safety 'madness' after they refused to carry her newborn baby's buggy up a flight of stairs because they were not insured to do so.

Vicky Pachner, 26, who was with her 10-week-old son Oliver, was told by rail station workers they were not allowed to help her.

Mrs Pachner, a software trainer, only decided to take the train because her car would not start when she was on her way to hospital for a routine check-up with her son.

She needed to use the concrete steps and pedestrian bridge to cross to the other platform at Wadhurst railway station, East Sussex, where she lives, to get a train to nearby Pembury, Kent.

Mrs Pachner said: "I bought a ticket and asked the lady behind the counter if someone could help me carry the buggy up the stairs and down the steps on the other side to reach the platform.

"She said no one was available to help so I asked if she could or the other man in the ticket office with her.

"It's only a small village station so it's not as if they were rushed off their feet and really busy.

"Then the lady said they could not help because they were not insured to lift things like prams.

"I was really upset. I'd heard of other stories of health and safety madness but I just couldn't believe they were not willing to help a mum with a new-born baby."

Instead a fellow woman passenger came to their aid and helped the pair.

A spokesman for Southeastern Trains said: "Our staff will help passengers when possible.

"However we also need to strike a balance where the number one priority for our staff is the safe running of trains.

"If it is going to interfere with the safe running of the trains then that must take priority."

Yeah right.


And finally:

Fake trees are safer

Down in Dorset there is a row brewing, over the decision to replace a traditional Christmas tree with a fake one - for health and safety reasons.

Shoppers in Poole say the artificial tree looks more like a huge traffic cone or something from outer space.

There are no branches, decorations or baubles, and its tiny lights only show up at night.

But Borough of Poole bosses insist it is safer, sturdier and cheaper in the long run than a Norway fir tree that could topple over in strong winds.

'We've sought an alternative solution following a number of complaints from the public about last year's real Christmas tree,' says town centre manager Richard Randle-Jones.

'The tree is covered with thousands of LED lights with a bright star on top and looks very special after dark. We would invite shoppers to come down and judge the tree for themselves.'

Health and safety rules mean any large structure must be safely secured to stop it falling over during a storm.

People had complained about the hoardings and guy ropes supporting the real tree last year, the council said.

You just can’t please some people, and what an ugly tree,

Back tomorrow, if I can access the news for free.

Angus

AnglishLit

Angus Dei-NHS-THE OTHER SIDE

Angus Dei politico