May 13, 2003

More Local Government Bungling I

More Local Government Bungling

I don’t know how I missed this one, but thanks to Jon Ray over at PC Watch for blogging on this story out of the Daily Telegraph and bringing it to my attention:

In another example of local government gone bad, Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council forced social workers Norah Ellis and Dawn Jackson out of their jobs because as Christians they are opposed to adoption by homosexual and lesbian couples. On top of that, it was done with a letter from the social services director that contained false information, which I can only reasonably construe was done to cover either his or the council’s collective posterior.

Adoption by homosexual couples was only legalized last November, but it didn’t take long for Sefton MBC to act. Before Christmas they both had letters claiming they had been formally interviewed and telling them they must reconsidered their opposition to gay adoption or face. If they didn’t, Charlie Barker told them, “…it is likely that I will have to terminate your employment.” This was because their attitude did not meet with the council’s objective of "promoting social inclusion, equality of access and opportunity". Unlike the letter claimed, however, neither had been interviewed, formally or otherwise.

You might think they can’t just do something like that. You’d be right. Mrs Ellis’ husband is a partner in a Manchester law firm. However, the acrimonious battle which forced the council to back down made it untenable for the two social workers to return to their positions. Tom Ellis said, "We were fortunate enough to have the resources to fight this but the end result is that everybody has lost: Norah and Dawn, the council and most importantly, the children of Sefton."

The Private Sector Isn’t Exempt

Here in the UK, the result of a student’s entire secondary education is based upon their Graduate Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in each subject. Most of the GCSE grade is based upon exams taken during the summer of their 11th school year. Not being able to take GCSE exams can prove fatal to any further education or career.

A student in North London has been expelled from his £6,000-a-year private school and banned from taking his GCSE exams because he failed to show up for a school photograph. There were no classes scheduled Wednesday, so he was at home studying for these all important exams when he received a telephone call demanding that he be at the school within an hour. If he was not on time, he would not be able to sit the exams.

When he arrived late, he was expelled. His father then contacted other schools to see if he could take the exams there, but it was too late. Solicitors for the school openly admit he was expelled because his parents had telephoned other schools and had threatened to make the case public.


Beware of the Badgers

A rogue badger went on a rampage in Evesham, Worcestershire. Five people were attacked. One was suffered such injuries that he had to have skin graft on his hands and legs.

The problem seems to be that this was a tame badger. Wild badgers avoid people. However, the Vale Wildlife Rescue was vandalised and Boris the badger was let loose. Boris did not have the usual instinct to avoid people. Unfortunately, being in unfamiliar surroundings, Boris went nuts.

Sadly, he had to be put down.

Posted by david at May 13, 2003 10:14 PM
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