Richard the Turd at the TUC

Personally I like a good speech and it seems that this week's TUC has been sorely lacking, so here's one that Shakespeare wrote earlier...

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious by these sons of Marx;
And all the clouds that lour'd on Congress House
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows furrowed with rebellious thoughts;
Our bruised arms holding up the placards;
Our braziers warm the merry pickets,
Our dreadful marches seek to change their measures.
Grim-visag'd war doth come to save our pensions;
And now,--instead of mounting barbed steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,--
We carry banners and chant before their House
To the endless barracking of marchers.
But we that are shaped for cunning tricks
Are made to court the lustings of power
We that are rudely stamped upon, and court our members
And strut before the wanton media
We are curtail'd of fair proportion,
And cheat and lieth by our very nature
Are deform'd, unfinish'd, sent upon this time
To spread these stories scarce half made up,
And those so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs would piss on us as we march by.
No power we in this weak piping time of peace,
Unless we strike to pass away the time,
And flex our muscles before the camera's eye
Reflecting on our paltry cause
And therefore,--since we cannot prove our case,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,--
We are determined to find a villain,
On whom to blame the evil measures now proposed.
Plots have we laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels, and dreams,
To set our masters and their opposition
In deadly hate the one against the other:
And if their measures are proved as true and just
Then we must false, and treacherous, be
Our days of protest closely be mew'd up,--
About a prophecy which says that we
Our country's prospects the murderer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down to my soul...

Years ahead of his time, that boy...

Richard the Turd at the TUC

Personally I like a good speech and it seems that this week's TUC has been sorely lacking, so here's one that Shakespeare wrote earlier...

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious by these sons of Marx;
And all the clouds that lour'd on Congress House
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows furrowed with rebellious thoughts;
Our bruised arms holding up the placards;
Our braziers warm the merry pickets,
Our dreadful marches seek to change their measures.
Grim-visag'd war doth come to save our pensions;
And now,--instead of mounting barbed steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,--
We carry banners and chant before their House
To the endless barracking of marchers.
But we that are shaped for cunning tricks
Are made to court the lustings of power
We that are rudely stamped upon, and court our members
And strut before the wanton media
We are curtail'd of fair proportion,
And cheat and lieth by our very nature
Are deform'd, unfinish'd, sent upon this time
To spread these stories scarce half made up,
And those so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs would piss on us as we march by.
No power we in this weak piping time of peace,
Unless we strike to pass away the time,
And flex our muscles before the camera's eye
Reflecting on our paltry cause
And therefore,--since we cannot prove our case,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,--
We are determined to find a villain,
On whom to blame the evil measures now proposed.
Plots have we laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels, and dreams,
To set our masters and their opposition
In deadly hate the one against the other:
And if their measures are proved as true and just
Then we must false, and treacherous, be
Our days of protest closely be mew'd up,--
About a prophecy which says that we
Our country's prospects the murderer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down to my soul...

Years ahead of his time, that boy...

Hands off our banks!

With the publication of the report into the structure of banking in the UK just published, it is apparent that what is needed is a radical separation of the investments and retail banking sectors. In other words, we need to stop the banks using our money to gamble on the markets...

Needless to say, the banks don't want to do this. Hardly surprising as it will cost them a great deal of money to implement and reduce access to depositors' funds to be used for their own nefarious purposes. But Osbourne says he is adamant that this must happen and that he will legislate 'in the lifetime of this parliament'.

But of course there is a big difference between legislating and making something happen...

In reality nothing will actually happen until the end of this decade by which time if the TUC gets it's way there may well be a change of government - God help us - and that leaves ample time for the legislation to be overturned.

The argument is, of course, that this move will adversely effect the banks' grossly overinflated profits and that this will be passed on to consumers in some form of price hike. Or that if we make the banks uncompetitive in this way, then they will take their business overseas and this will cripple our already ailing economy. We can legislate for the first and frankly I simply don't believe the second.

There is no doubt that this change needs to happen, but it needs to happen now. It is simply not good enough to put through some new law before the next election. What we need is for the banks to be split apart BEFORE the end of this parliament.

Get your finger out, George, and let's see if this government walks the walk as well as talking the talk!

Hands off our banks!

With the publication of the report into the structure of banking in the UK just published, it is apparent that what is needed is a radical separation of the investments and retail banking sectors. In other words, we need to stop the banks using our money to gamble on the markets...

Needless to say, the banks don't want to do this. Hardly surprising as it will cost them a great deal of money to implement and reduce access to depositors' funds to be used for their own nefarious purposes. But Osbourne says he is adamant that this must happen and that he will legislate 'in the lifetime of this parliament'.

But of course there is a big difference between legislating and making something happen...

In reality nothing will actually happen until the end of this decade by which time if the TUC gets it's way there may well be a change of government - God help us - and that leaves ample time for the legislation to be overturned.

The argument is, of course, that this move will adversely effect the banks' grossly overinflated profits and that this will be passed on to consumers in some form of price hike. Or that if we make the banks uncompetitive in this way, then they will take their business overseas and this will cripple our already ailing economy. We can legislate for the first and frankly I simply don't believe the second.

There is no doubt that this change needs to happen, but it needs to happen now. It is simply not good enough to put through some new law before the next election. What we need is for the banks to be split apart BEFORE the end of this parliament.

Get your finger out, George, and let's see if this government walks the walk as well as talking the talk!

Vacancies for a failed dictator...

Apparently I missed all the excitement and this bastard is now apparently without a country to run, so I thought that I'd like to lend a hand with some handy suggestions as to what Gaddafi could be doing now he has some free time on his hands :

• Cameron is looking to take a tough line on rioters and looters, so Gaddafi would be perfect as the new head of the Met. Who has more experience of putting down rioters than Gaddafi? Might be a tough call though as I understand Assad is also being considered.


• How about Leader of the Opposition? After all he's used to attacking the British government and the rumours are that Miliband is on the way out.


• There is currently a vacancy for a Community Advisor in the Pitcairn Islands. After running Libya, looking after a population of 53 should be a doddle for Gaddafi and they never did find Fletcher Christian...


• Suffolk County Council are recruiting a new chief executive. The pay's not quite as good as for the last incumbent, but his management style should fit right in. 


• Al Queda apparently have a vacancy for a new second in command although this would be a step down in seniority and I gather the accommodation is a bit more basic than Gaddafi is used to.


• Perhaps Gaddafi could be helpful at the National Institute for Clinical Excellence - after all his considerable medical expertise seems to have worked well for Al Megrahi...

I'm sure there are a few more helpful suggestions out there, so how about adding a few of your own and I'll see if I can forward them on to him...

Vacancies for a failed dictator...

Apparently I missed all the excitement and this bastard is now apparently without a country to run, so I thought that I'd like to lend a hand with some handy suggestions as to what Gaddafi could be doing now he has some free time on his hands :

• Cameron is looking to take a tough line on rioters and looters, so Gaddafi would be perfect as the new head of the Met. Who has more experience of putting down rioters than Gaddafi? Might be a tough call though as I understand Assad is also being considered.


• How about Leader of the Opposition? After all he's used to attacking the British government and the rumours are that Miliband is on the way out.


• There is currently a vacancy for a Community Advisor in the Pitcairn Islands. After running Libya, looking after a population of 53 should be a doddle for Gaddafi and they never did find Fletcher Christian...


• Suffolk County Council are recruiting a new chief executive. The pay's not quite as good as for the last incumbent, but his management style should fit right in. 


• Al Queda apparently have a vacancy for a new second in command although this would be a step down in seniority and I gather the accommodation is a bit more basic than Gaddafi is used to.


• Perhaps Gaddafi could be helpful at the National Institute for Clinical Excellence - after all his considerable medical expertise seems to have worked well for Al Megrahi...

I'm sure there are a few more helpful suggestions out there, so how about adding a few of your own and I'll see if I can forward them on to him...

The EU - A Prime Minister writes...

"Now listen here, I don't want to here any more nonsense about this referendum on staying in the EU.

I have been accused of reneging on my promise in the manifesto to hold a referendum, but you must realise that such a referendum is completely unnecessary. After all, we had a referendum on that issue in 1975, which produced a very clear result. There is also one argument, in particular, against holding such a referendum that we find irrefutably powerful, namely that most people in our country want to say neither ‘yes’ to everything from the EU, nor ‘no’ to everything.

It's a good idea to be in Europe and to be able to take advantage of all the good things that it has to offer - like free trade, whilst at the same time having the option to refuse all the bad things - like for example the single currency.

We should not lose sight of the EU’s very useful work, such as ensuring that all the nations of Europe are equipped to face the biggest challenges of the 21st Century: global competitiveness, global warming and global poverty.

A simplistic in/out referendum, posing an artificial choice that does not do justice to the range of views in the country, would be highly unlikely to settle the question of Britain’s membership of the EU at all.

We make a huge contribution to the EU in monetary terms of course, but we should not lose sight of what we get back in return - for example political unity, financial stability, border controls, the ECB, unification of laws, the Convention on Human Rights, free movement of labour, the common agricultural policy and many others.

The list is simply endless, and I ask you - where would we be without these things? So let's just stop all this nonsense and concentrate on being good members of this wonderful institution!"

The EU - A Prime Minister writes...

"Now listen here, I don't want to here any more nonsense about this referendum on staying in the EU.

I have been accused of reneging on my promise in the manifesto to hold a referendum, but you must realise that such a referendum is completely unnecessary. After all, we had a referendum on that issue in 1975, which produced a very clear result. There is also one argument, in particular, against holding such a referendum that we find irrefutably powerful, namely that most people in our country want to say neither ‘yes’ to everything from the EU, nor ‘no’ to everything.

It's a good idea to be in Europe and to be able to take advantage of all the good things that it has to offer - like free trade, whilst at the same time having the option to refuse all the bad things - like for example the single currency.

We should not lose sight of the EU’s very useful work, such as ensuring that all the nations of Europe are equipped to face the biggest challenges of the 21st Century: global competitiveness, global warming and global poverty.

A simplistic in/out referendum, posing an artificial choice that does not do justice to the range of views in the country, would be highly unlikely to settle the question of Britain’s membership of the EU at all.

We make a huge contribution to the EU in monetary terms of course, but we should not lose sight of what we get back in return - for example political unity, financial stability, border controls, the ECB, unification of laws, the Convention on Human Rights, free movement of labour, the common agricultural policy and many others.

The list is simply endless, and I ask you - where would we be without these things? So let's just stop all this nonsense and concentrate on being good members of this wonderful institution!"

Time to dump Harman, Ed!

Anyone who watched this debacle on Newsnight can be under no doubt that Miliband has the wrong deputy, and that she is a liability.

It is rare for me to post twice in a single day, but to listen to Harriet Harman blaming the riots on tuition fees really is beyond the pale!

Full marks to Michael Gove for putting her in her place...



I have sympathy for Miliband in that he was not allowed to pick his own deputy, but after this performance she really must go!

Time to dump Harman, Ed!

Anyone who watched this debacle on Newsnight can be under no doubt that Miliband has the wrong deputy, and that she is a liability.

It is rare for me to post twice in a single day, but to listen to Harriet Harman blaming the riots on tuition fees really is beyond the pale!

Full marks to Michael Gove for putting her in her place...



I have sympathy for Miliband in that he was not allowed to pick his own deputy, but after this performance she really must go!

Charity begins at home

Here we go again!...

Whilst I am duly sympathetic to the plight of those starving in refugee camps in East Africa and am duly impressed by the generosity of the British people in donating £15 million of the money they are not supposed to have, I continue to draw a line at enforced charity giving.

On top of the £15 million, the government has announced that it will contribute a further £52 million to the appeal. This is all very well, but that £52 million of taxpayers money on top of the £15 million that the taxpayers have already given voluntarily. In my view, that's not on.

It's one thing to be asked to donate. It's quite another thing to have it taken off you via the tax system and donated on your behalf without asking for or attaining your consent.

Maybe the people in the horn of Africa should at least try and sort out their own differences and problems. Perhaps their governments should take some responsibility. Or maybe people just shouldn't choose to live where there is no viable life support?

Whatever, it's a good excuse for yet another concert...

Charity begins at home

Here we go again!...

Whilst I am duly sympathetic to the plight of those starving in refugee camps in East Africa and am duly impressed by the generosity of the British people in donating £15 million of the money they are not supposed to have, I continue to draw a line at enforced charity giving.

On top of the £15 million, the government has announced that it will contribute a further £52 million to the appeal. This is all very well, but that £52 million of taxpayers money on top of the £15 million that the taxpayers have already given voluntarily. In my view, that's not on.

It's one thing to be asked to donate. It's quite another thing to have it taken off you via the tax system and donated on your behalf without asking for or attaining your consent.

Maybe the people in the horn of Africa should at least try and sort out their own differences and problems. Perhaps their governments should take some responsibility. Or maybe people just shouldn't choose to live where there is no viable life support?

Whatever, it's a good excuse for yet another concert...

Rotten Boroughs : Stony Stratford

I am a great believer in free speech - which is why reserve the right to tell Councillor Paul Bartlett, independant town councillor of Stony Stratford and alderman of Milton Keynes, that's he's totally out of order!

Cllr Bartlett is defying the wishes of his electorate to push through his personal vision of a smoke free Stony Stratford. It's already illegal to smoke in the shops, bars and cafes. Fifteen years ago he was instrumental in pushing through a smoking ban in Milton Keynes shopping centre. Clearly he is a man on a mission...

Under Bartlett's plan it will be illegal to smoke in any public area in Stony Stratford, even though these areas are in the open air. So now not only will it be illegal to smoke inside the pub, but it will be illegal to smoke outside as well. And if you do, you could be fined up to £100.

Cllr Bartlett comments ‘It’s a health thing. You walk up and down the High Street and the Market Square and you get nicotine in your face — children in buggies get smoke in their eyes. It leaves a nasty smell, as well as the litter and germs.

‘Most people think it’s disgusting to spit in the street but when you throw away a cigarette end, you’re really doing the same, throwing your spit on the street. How wonderful it would be if Stony Stratford became a world leader in health issues — beating Tokyo and New York [where they have limited public smoking bans, but nothing as stringent as Bartlett’s blanket proposal]. People will come to smoke-free Stony Stratford just because of it.’

Bartlett, who has never smoked himself, goes on 'We should change the mores of society, and see smoking for the anti-social activity that it is.'

The point, Cllr Bartlett, is that there is a big difference between antisocial and illegal.

The residents of Stony Stratford are so pissed off with Cllr Bartlett's plan that there is a major rally taking place this morning to show the strength of public feeling. It kicks off at 11:00 with guest speakers from 12:00 onwards. The speakers include Bill Etheridge of The Freedom Association; David Odell, Head of Stony Stratford Chamber of Commerce; Patrick Hayes, Journalist at the Institute of Ideas and columnist at Spiked and UKIP's Nigel Farage.

If I were Cllr Bartlett, I would remember that I was elected to carry out the wishes of my electorate, not for them to carry out mine.

I urge you to support this mini-revolution as it could well be the thin edge of the wedge...

(You can read more about this issue here and here. I declare my position as a heavy ex-smoker - 80 a day - who gave up but supports your right to do what you like with your own body!)

Rotten Boroughs : Stony Stratford

I am a great believer in free speech - which is why reserve the right to tell Councillor Paul Bartlett, independant town councillor of Stony Stratford and alderman of Milton Keynes, that's he's totally out of order!

Cllr Bartlett is defying the wishes of his electorate to push through his personal vision of a smoke free Stony Stratford. It's already illegal to smoke in the shops, bars and cafes. Fifteen years ago he was instrumental in pushing through a smoking ban in Milton Keynes shopping centre. Clearly he is a man on a mission...

Under Bartlett's plan it will be illegal to smoke in any public area in Stony Stratford, even though these areas are in the open air. So now not only will it be illegal to smoke inside the pub, but it will be illegal to smoke outside as well. And if you do, you could be fined up to £100.

Cllr Bartlett comments ‘It’s a health thing. You walk up and down the High Street and the Market Square and you get nicotine in your face — children in buggies get smoke in their eyes. It leaves a nasty smell, as well as the litter and germs.

‘Most people think it’s disgusting to spit in the street but when you throw away a cigarette end, you’re really doing the same, throwing your spit on the street. How wonderful it would be if Stony Stratford became a world leader in health issues — beating Tokyo and New York [where they have limited public smoking bans, but nothing as stringent as Bartlett’s blanket proposal]. People will come to smoke-free Stony Stratford just because of it.’

Bartlett, who has never smoked himself, goes on 'We should change the mores of society, and see smoking for the anti-social activity that it is.'

The point, Cllr Bartlett, is that there is a big difference between antisocial and illegal.

The residents of Stony Stratford are so pissed off with Cllr Bartlett's plan that there is a major rally taking place this morning to show the strength of public feeling. It kicks off at 11:00 with guest speakers from 12:00 onwards. The speakers include Bill Etheridge of The Freedom Association; David Odell, Head of Stony Stratford Chamber of Commerce; Patrick Hayes, Journalist at the Institute of Ideas and columnist at Spiked and UKIP's Nigel Farage.

If I were Cllr Bartlett, I would remember that I was elected to carry out the wishes of my electorate, not for them to carry out mine.

I urge you to support this mini-revolution as it could well be the thin edge of the wedge...

(You can read more about this issue here and here. I declare my position as a heavy ex-smoker - 80 a day - who gave up but supports your right to do what you like with your own body!)

The Dear Gill Letters (12)

Daddy's incandescent...

Darling, I'm so sorry that I haven't written for a while, but you probably heard about that little spat that Daddy's been having up at his estate up in Yorkshire?

I mean, would you want an abattoir in your back garden? I went up there for a few days to try and cheer him up. He was telling me that everybody is against it. The local butcher wants to slaughter about 10,000 animals a year right on his doorstep. Can you imagine the smell not to mention the bits of mangled flesh flying out the windows and inconveniencing passers by.

To be fair, the locals had a meeting and none of them want it either, but the local council reckons that there are 'sound grounds' for the project and have approved it. Daddy's absolutely incandescent with rage! He's practically had a heart attack over it all.

And to make it worse, it's been approved by a Conservative run council! I asked Dave to have a quiet word with them, and I don't know what he said to them but it seems to have rather made things worse. They reacted by giving the little bugger even longer opening hours than he asked - probably stamping their little feet and muttering things about independence and undue influence and stuff!

I tell you what though. If the council leader's still looking forward to the New Years Honours list, he'd better be thinking again...

The house is open to the public in the summer and you can image what this is going to do to the garden tours - it just doesn't bear thinking about.

Anyway, we're lying low and making accomodating noises at the moment over that dreadful business at the News of the World. Dave's come in for a lot of stick from the dreaded Millipede over employing Andy as his press secretary. I mean what was he supposed to do? They say he exercised bad judgement in taking him on but as far as I can see the bad judgement would have been not sacking the little shit when all this hacking business came out.

Dave wants an enquiry into it all to salvage something from the whole mess - you know, exercising strong leadership and upholding the integrity of the law and all that sort of stuff. Trouble is once Rupey's got his hands on Sky he could really do some damage at the next election. Dave's really on a knife edge with this one.

Perhaps we could get him to do the opening ceremony at the new abattoir and arrange a little accident? Only joking, but I suspect it would put the smile back on Daddy's face for a while!

Toodle pip for now,

The Dear Gill Letters (12)

Daddy's incandescent...

Darling, I'm so sorry that I haven't written for a while, but you probably heard about that little spat that Daddy's been having up at his estate up in Yorkshire?

I mean, would you want an abattoir in your back garden? I went up there for a few days to try and cheer him up. He was telling me that everybody is against it. The local butcher wants to slaughter about 10,000 animals a year right on his doorstep. Can you imagine the smell not to mention the bits of mangled flesh flying out the windows and inconveniencing passers by.

To be fair, the locals had a meeting and none of them want it either, but the local council reckons that there are 'sound grounds' for the project and have approved it. Daddy's absolutely incandescent with rage! He's practically had a heart attack over it all.

And to make it worse, it's been approved by a Conservative run council! I asked Dave to have a quiet word with them, and I don't know what he said to them but it seems to have rather made things worse. They reacted by giving the little bugger even longer opening hours than he asked - probably stamping their little feet and muttering things about independence and undue influence and stuff!

I tell you what though. If the council leader's still looking forward to the New Years Honours list, he'd better be thinking again...

The house is open to the public in the summer and you can image what this is going to do to the garden tours - it just doesn't bear thinking about.

Anyway, we're lying low and making accomodating noises at the moment over that dreadful business at the News of the World. Dave's come in for a lot of stick from the dreaded Millipede over employing Andy as his press secretary. I mean what was he supposed to do? They say he exercised bad judgement in taking him on but as far as I can see the bad judgement would have been not sacking the little shit when all this hacking business came out.

Dave wants an enquiry into it all to salvage something from the whole mess - you know, exercising strong leadership and upholding the integrity of the law and all that sort of stuff. Trouble is once Rupey's got his hands on Sky he could really do some damage at the next election. Dave's really on a knife edge with this one.

Perhaps we could get him to do the opening ceremony at the new abattoir and arrange a little accident? Only joking, but I suspect it would put the smile back on Daddy's face for a while!

Toodle pip for now,

Unfit to rule

I will admit that I have never been a fan of the above pictured jug-eared, tree-hugging twit. I never liked Diana either, but the way this bastard treated her was way out of order and clearly turning her over in favour of a woman closely resembling the back end of a horse just proves he has no taste and bad eyesight!

Anyway, having said all that there have been a couple of things lately which convince me that King Charles III would be as big a disaster as the first two Kings of the same name. Whatever was Liz thinking of when she named him Charles?..

Firstly, there were the revelations that in order to set an example to his future subjects in this time of national financial crisis he increased his 'professional' expenditure by some 18% last year. Well. I wouldn't mind that as a pay rise, would you? And to make things worse, the staff at the Duchy of Cornwall are on a pay freeeze.

And just to rub salt in the wound, who has given him this extra money? Joe Muggins - the British taxpayer!

Secondly, there was the revelation that he doesn't know his place. Blair apparently resented his continual politcal interference and now we find out that he has been calling ministers in so that he can lobby them to support his views on architecture, ecology, global warming, aid and God knows what else.

This country is a constitutional monarchy. This means that the head of state does not interfere in politics. That is left to the elected representatives of the people.

Basically, Charlie, that means follow the example set by your mother and keep your nose out of it!

The best hope for the UK is that his mother will live as long as her mother and that he will have well and truly popped his clogs before he can ascend to the throne. I can't help feeling that King William V will do a far better job...

Unfit to rule

I will admit that I have never been a fan of the above pictured jug-eared, tree-hugging twit. I never liked Diana either, but the way this bastard treated her was way out of order and clearly turning her over in favour of a woman closely resembling the back end of a horse just proves he has no taste and bad eyesight!

Anyway, having said all that there have been a couple of things lately which convince me that King Charles III would be as big a disaster as the first two Kings of the same name. Whatever was Liz thinking of when she named him Charles?..

Firstly, there were the revelations that in order to set an example to his future subjects in this time of national financial crisis he increased his 'professional' expenditure by some 18% last year. Well. I wouldn't mind that as a pay rise, would you? And to make things worse, the staff at the Duchy of Cornwall are on a pay freeeze.

And just to rub salt in the wound, who has given him this extra money? Joe Muggins - the British taxpayer!

Secondly, there was the revelation that he doesn't know his place. Blair apparently resented his continual politcal interference and now we find out that he has been calling ministers in so that he can lobby them to support his views on architecture, ecology, global warming, aid and God knows what else.

This country is a constitutional monarchy. This means that the head of state does not interfere in politics. That is left to the elected representatives of the people.

Basically, Charlie, that means follow the example set by your mother and keep your nose out of it!

The best hope for the UK is that his mother will live as long as her mother and that he will have well and truly popped his clogs before he can ascend to the throne. I can't help feeling that King William V will do a far better job...

Rotten Boroughs : Suffolk County Council

Small comfort yesterday to learn that the powers that be at Suffolk County Council have finally got rid of the waste of space that was their Chief Executive.

Regular readers will know that I have written about Britain's highest paid council boss before, most recently when we was to be investigated for the effects of her 'management style' in the suicide of David White. This resulted in her being put on gardening leave after her return from holiday some eight weeks ago. You might recall that Ms Hill (pictured above) was paid £218,000 per annum, so the gardening leave in question has already cost the besieged tax payers of Suffolk around £18,000.

The council has reportedly told her to bugger off in exchange for a years salary - so now they are paying for her not to be there just the same as if she was! Many in Suffolk feel that that is a good deal because they are better off without her, her management style and her plans for the county.

The sad side of this story is that the decision appears to have been taken to avoid the 'embarassment and expense' of a long and bitterly disputed disciplinary hearing. Of course, this also effectively means that the possible cause of Mr White's suicide is effectively swept under the carpet. Little consolation then for Mr White's family to see Ms Hill given a big fat wad of money!

And the government's reaction to all this? Eric Pickles might be breathing a hefty sigh of relief that this embarassing woman has departed, but the best he could say about her replacement was that he hoped the salary offered 'would reflect the austerity of the times we are living in'.

If that's the best you can do Eric, then perhaps we should get rid of you as well?....

Rotten Boroughs : Suffolk County Council

Small comfort yesterday to learn that the powers that be at Suffolk County Council have finally got rid of the waste of space that was their Chief Executive.

Regular readers will know that I have written about Britain's highest paid council boss before, most recently when we was to be investigated for the effects of her 'management style' in the suicide of David White. This resulted in her being put on gardening leave after her return from holiday some eight weeks ago. You might recall that Ms Hill (pictured above) was paid £218,000 per annum, so the gardening leave in question has already cost the besieged tax payers of Suffolk around £18,000.

The council has reportedly told her to bugger off in exchange for a years salary - so now they are paying for her not to be there just the same as if she was! Many in Suffolk feel that that is a good deal because they are better off without her, her management style and her plans for the county.

The sad side of this story is that the decision appears to have been taken to avoid the 'embarassment and expense' of a long and bitterly disputed disciplinary hearing. Of course, this also effectively means that the possible cause of Mr White's suicide is effectively swept under the carpet. Little consolation then for Mr White's family to see Ms Hill given a big fat wad of money!

And the government's reaction to all this? Eric Pickles might be breathing a hefty sigh of relief that this embarassing woman has departed, but the best he could say about her replacement was that he hoped the salary offered 'would reflect the austerity of the times we are living in'.

If that's the best you can do Eric, then perhaps we should get rid of you as well?....