Brown's Britain

[Mid A 15]

Daily Telegraph, 4th August 2009


A mother has been told to pay an £86 penalty for staying too long at the side of her dead baby’s coffin following a funeral service at a crematorium.

Terrie Rouse, 32, was encouraged by her vicar to spend an extra 10 minutes “to say goodbye” to her 5-week old son Zane, who had died in her arms from sudden infant death syndrome.

However, she was unaware that crematorium officials impose an extra charge if a funeral overruns its allotted 30-minute slot, and was given the charge by the council.

The child’s father, Lee Smythe, said the charges imposed by Milton Keynes council were “disgusting”. “Terrie was weeping hysterically”, he said. “She just wanted a few extra minutes to say goodbye to our much-loved little boy. How could anyone be cruel enough to charge for this?”….

The charge for staying 10 minutes too long was almost three times as much as the bill for the cremation.

The family’s funeral directors, Masons of Bletchley, said that the next funeral at the crematorium was not due for 50 minutes.

A council spokesman said: “We understand this has been a distressing time for this family but we are willing to listen if there are difficulties and extenuating circumstances that need to be considered”.

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

I often wonder --- when this sort of insensitive idiocy raises its ugly head ---- who lost his (Or her)
Job ? --- but I think we all know the answer !

My coffin (Assuming there is enough of me to bury) will be taken straight from the Church to the Crematorium --- with no further ceremonies !
I have actually seen Queues of people waiting their turn -- and the "Ceremony" is usually banal and
"Semi-religious" ----- not for me thanks !

Heads up friends --- the "Brown Era" cannot last longer than next June. (Assuming that he is not dumped before then !

[Fjgrogan]

I usually try to be fairly apolitical, but .......... surely it is hardly fair to blame Gordon Brown for this occurrence! He would have been as horrified as we were on reading this. It is a side effect of everything (including bills) being generated by computer. When the company were made aware of the extenuating circumstances ie the deceased was a five-month-old baby, they immediately refunded the charge. Of course it would have been better if it hadn't happened in the first place, but don't try to blame it on the Government, of any political persuasion.

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

I take the point -- but the attitude of "Civil Servants -- and the like" becomes very much influenced by the "Management" and I think this goes right up to the top.
The fault, in this case was with the "Council" and up to the Department, from there to the Senior Management --- need I go on ? if any of these don't know what is going on -- they should !

Perhaps I am too hard on GB but he does seem to be "Accident Prone" at the moment.
I merely quote Gurkhas and Disability Reductions for the Wounded.

I promise not to introduce Politics or Religion again --- both forbidden subjects in an Officer's Mess !

[anniexf]

How can Gordon Brown be blamed when Milton Keynes Council is not run by Labour? Be fair, gentlemen!

[midget]

How can Gordon Brown be blamed when Milton Keynes Council is not run by Labour? Be fair, gentlemen!

WHY?

[Mid A 15]

I headed the thread Brown's Britain since firstly he is Prime Minister and this incident happened on his watch and secondly New Labour has systematically become ever more authoritarian, some might say almost totalitarian, in it's attitudes since first being elected in 1997.

People are covertly recorded and then fined for the most trivial transgressions such as putting rubbish in the wrong coloured bag or inadvertently straying an inch or two over an arbitary white lane into a bus lane for a second or two. Alternatively they may be visiting sick, dying relatives in a hospital and in their upset inadvertently forget to feed the meter some more over exorbitant parking charges at exactly the decreed moment. They are then faced with licensed muggers (sorry wheelclampers) extorting obscene sums of money to release their vehicle under threat of it otherwise being crushed.

Just a few examples of attitudes which, as Neill put it, filter down from the top into the administration of local government as a whole.

I do not for one moment think things would be any different under a David Cameron led Blue Labour so my point is not a party political one.

For some reason (my personal view is to make us more compatible with the rest of the EU) there has been a subtle shift in attitude and mindset towards the State in the UK. Traditionally dating back to Magna Carta the individual was free but certain tasks and services were subsumed to the State because it was more practical and beneficial to individuals as a whole. However the rights of individuals were paramount as long as they didn't kill or steal. It is my understanding that the historical Napoleonic tradition in other European countries has been for the State to grant rights to the individual. In simple terms the reverse of the UK tradition.

Nowadays, to quote one example to illustrate the point, parents no longer have the right to determine how their children are brought up. Your under age daughter can be given contraception without your consent by her school. So tough if you try to inculcate moral values. The State will undermine you whilst paradoxically bemoaning lack of parental control over unruly children!

Hopefully my reasoning for the use of the term "Brown's Britain" is now clearer given the inhumane act towards the family of the deceased baby. It is also scandalous that the faceless,nameless bureaucratic perpetrator of this atrocity remains completely unaccountable to the general public. Again a New Labour trademark.

[anniexf]

Maybe this sad state of affairs you describe is equally attributable to the fact that, since at least 1979, we have been governed by gangs of lawyers!

[J.R.]

GB must go.

The real problem is, that Lord Meddlesome is just waiting in the wings - He of the greasy smile and enough fingers to fit into more pies than all of the Hertford posters could bake.

No wonder he is known in Tory circles, as 'The Comeback Kid' !!

[jhopgood]

I am sure a whole book could be, and probably has been, written about why the UK is now the way it is.
A lot is related to the fact that people apply the system before thinking. Much easier on the brain and you can always blame the computer. (I have just received an interest charge on my credit card statement for £0.05. Obviously computer generated and since it is the only item on the statement, cost them more than me.) I believe that is symptomatic of a lot of the thoughtless actions that happen these days.

One can blame the encroaching stupidities enacted in the name of Brussels, but only if you put into practice all that they preach. Living in Spain, there are rules and regulations for everything, but very little is implemented 100% and life is much easier for that. I have read and been told of quite a few examples where the local authorities have applied common sense to a situation, and others where the letter of the law has been implemented, mainly to the benefit of the local mayor and his family. More personal and less system, but someone always wins and someone always loses. (I have a friend who is the local equivalent of a JP, whose main role seems to try and get people to reconcile their differences before it goes to court).

I feel some responsibility in all of this as it appears to me that my generation has been the one that caused the following to be written.

Death of Common Sense
(US version but that just means the problem is global)

Three yards of black fabric enshroud my computer terminal. I am mourning the passing of an old friend by the name of Common Sense.

His obituary reads as follows:

Common Sense, aka C.S., lived a long life, but died from heart failure at the brink of the millennium. No one really knows how old he was, his birth records were long ago entangled in miles and miles of bureaucratic red tape.
Known affectionately to close friends as Horse Sense and Sound Thinking, he selflessly devoted himself to a life of service in homes, schools, hospitals and offices, helping folks get jobs done without a lot of fanfare, whooping and hollering. Rules and regulations and petty, frivolous lawsuits held no power over C.S.

A most reliable sage, he was credited with cultivating the ability to know when to come in out of the rain, the discovery that the early bird gets the worm and how to take the bitter with the sweet. C.S. also developed sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn), reliable parenting strategies (the adult is in charge, not the kid) and prudent dietary plans (offset eggs and bacon with a little fiber and orange juice).

A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, the Technological Revolution and the Smoking Crusades, C.S. survived sundry cultural and educational trends including disco, the men's movement, body piercing, whole language and new math.

C.S.'s health began declining in the late 1960s when he became infected with the If-It-Feels-Good, Do-It virus. In the following decades his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of overbearing federal and state rules and regulations and an oppressive tax code. C.S. was sapped of strength and the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, criminals received better treatment than victims and judges stuck their noses in everything from Boy Scouts to professional baseball and golf. His deterioration accelerated as schools implemented zero-tolerance policies. Reports of 6-year-old boys charged with sexual harassment for kissing classmates, a teen suspended for taking a swig of Scope mouthwash after lunch, girls suspended for possessing Midol and an honour student expelled for having a table knife in her school lunch were more than his heart could endure.

As the end neared, doctors say C.S. drifted in and out of logic but was kept informed of developments regarding regulations on low-flow toilets and mandatory air bags. Finally, upon hearing about a government plan to ban inhalers from 14 million asthmatics due to a trace of a pollutant that may be harmful to the environment, C.S. breathed his last. Services will be at Whispering Pines Cemetery. C.S. was preceded in death by his wife, Discretion; one daughter, Responsibility; and one son, Reason. He is survived by two step-brothers, Half-Wit and Dim-Wit.

Memorial Contributions may be sent to the Institute for Rational Thought.

Farewell, Common Sense. May you rest in peace.

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

Yes Councils CAN, be hald to account ---

I quote --- from my own Party (Suede Waistcoats -- open-toed sandals) who, in Bournemouth, decided that they were goiung to put "Spy Cameras" in the rubbish bins, to ensure that the Public were obeying the re-cycling rules.
When I heared about this , I remarked ---" Political Suicide" --- I was right ! they got thrown out at the next Local Election.
This was the point I was making about Gurkahs and disabled Soldiers.

We may not think that we live in a Democracy -- but it's better than most -- we have a Ballot Box-

When I was setting the Council Tax --- I took care to increase by a minimum -- in the year prior to the Local Elections !!! -- Beware the Ballot Box !

[J.R.]

Yes Councils CAN, be hald to account ---

I quote --- from my own Party (Suede Waistcoats -- open-toed sandals) who, in Bournemouth, decided that they were goiung to put "Spy Cameras" in the rubbish bins, to ensure that the Public were obeying the re-cycling rules.
When I heared about this , I remarked ---" Political Suicide" --- I was right ! they got thrown out at the next Local Election.
This was the point I was making about Gurkahs and disabled Soldiers.

We may not think that we live in a Democracy -- but it's better than most -- we have a Ballot Box-

When I was setting the Council Tax --- I took care to increase by a minimum -- in the year prior to the Local Elections !!! -- Beware the Ballot Box !

.... and politicians have the nerve to ctriticise the electorate when the BNP start picking up seats.

Double Standards, me-thinks !

[sejintenej]

Yes Councils CAN, be held to account ---

We may not think that we live in a Democracy -- but it's better than most -- we have a Ballot Box-

When I was setting the Council Tax --- I took care to increase by a minimum -- in the year prior to the Local Elections !!! -- Beware the Ballot Box !

I don't know about Julian, MidA, Adjarn etc. but my local council has found a way of actively preventing me casting a ballot. They simply post the papers to me too late to receive and return them. when confronted, the returning officer simply stated that they were not prepared to spend any money to get the paper to me in proper time. Oh, and they sent me some one else's ballot paper on one occasion so that two people were prevented from voting.

My local councillor is a non-entity. I have never heard from him, I can find out nothing about him (or could be a her or even a poodle for all I know!). We may have the Ballot Box but it is an irrelevance.

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

Yes Councils CAN, be held to account ---

We may not think that we live in a Democracy -- but it's better than most -- we have a Ballot Box-

When I was setting the Council Tax --- I took care to increase by a minimum -- in the year prior to the Local Elections !!! -- Beware the Ballot Box !

I don't know about Julian, MidA, Adjarn etc. but my local council has found a way of actively preventing me casting a ballot. They simply post the papers to me too late to receive and return them. when confronted, the returning officer simply stated that they were not prepared to spend any money to get the paper to me in proper time. Oh, and they sent me some one else's ballot paper on one occasion so that two people were prevented from voting.

My local councillor is a non-entity. I have never heard from him, I can find out nothing about him (or could be a her or even a poodle for all I know!). We may have the Ballot Box but it is an irrelevance.

Give me your Constituency --- and I'll find out who your Councillor is ----- When he hears that he "Lost" a Vote (Even if he didn't !) he will go bananas about the fact that they say they cannot spend the money --- etc.

We could have fun with this !!!

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

I have had two "Private Messages" on this subject --- but for some reason I am unable to download them ---- This might be a good thing --- if they are " Fatwahs"
Otherwise CH forum admin ----- HELP !