Beware toffs bearing gifts

THE FRIDAY THING: ON the face of it, offering staff shares in the company they work for sounds progressive, well-meaning and generous.

But beware; the face behind the offer belongs to George Osborne, he of the “We’re all in it together” mantra and therefore carries at least as much of a threat as a promise of untold riches to come.

Chancellor Osborne told the Tory conference faithful that under his latest plan workers could be given shares worth £2,000-£50,000 by their employer but we know, not least because of who is saying it, that this is definitely not a no-strings attached Father Christmas bounty.

The strings dangling from the Chancellor’s fingers will tie those taking shares in a company to surrender some key employment rights.

On the chopping block for the trusting and unwary are a promise to give up their rights over unfair dismissal, redundancy, flexible working and time off for training. And changes to the rules covering maternity leave.

Some might see it as a bribe; a very welcome £2,000 bonus to tear up a few rules and regulations that, well, have never really applied to them. But think about it for a moment. The cost to an employer of an unfair dismissal hearing or compulsory redundancy would certainly exceed by a considerable sum £2,000. In other words, unscrupulous bosses could cut their staff on the cheap, hire a new bunch and do the same to them once they had added significantly to the profits.

Beware a rich toff, especially a Tory toff, bearing gifts.


JUSTICE Secretary Chris Grayling has given a licence (not to kill, perhaps, but to damage a bit) to householders whose homes are invaded by burglars.
But what constitutes a bit of damage (proportionate is the word they use) to the facial features and body of some thug or thugs standing in your kitchen armed with clubs, knives or even guns.

The Justice Secretary says: “It’s very much about the juxtaposition of the heat of the moment. If you act in a disproportionate way in the heat of the moment the law will be on your side. Those acting in a reasonable way when confronting burglars will not be prosecuted.”

Quite how Mr and Mrs Victim standing in their jimmies at the bottom of the stairs in the middle of the night and facing up to a burglar or gang of burglars will define “reasonable behaviour” is beyond me. Being reasonable is, I would have thought, the very last thing on the mind in such a situation.

And would you, as several families have done recently, arm yourselves with a gun just in case your home was attacked? Isn’t there a danger that we might be pushed down the American road with a gun or two under every pillow?

Frightening thought.


A STAGGERING 72,500 foreign criminal suspects were arrested in London last year for a range of crimes including murder, rape, robbery, fraud, burglary, shoplifting and drink-driving.
Why aren’t these people deported once found guilty? And why do we then let them back in the country to carry on with their criminal activities?

The number of foreign criminals who were convicted and deported actually fell last year, though the number of crimes they committed increased.

A UK Border Agency spokesman said that those who come to the UK must abide by our laws. “We will always seek to deport any foreign criminals as quickly as possible,” he said.

The figures tell an entirely different story.


FINAL WORD: As a one-time poker player (and all too frequent loser) I have some sympathy with professional gambler Phil Ivey who won £7million at a Mayfair casino.
The folk who own the casino have refused to pay Mr Ivey because its owners believe that his run of good luck is too good to be true.

If Mr Ivey had lost £7million would they have given him his money back because no one can be that unlucky?


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