Britain is becoming synonymous with stupidity and over-the-top political correctness.
In another incident of mind-boggling stupid decisions, a teacher at a Derby school has been fired for grabbing a pupil who assaulted him by throwing a milkshake over him.
After being soaked by the drink, and suffering a torrent of abuse from the 16-year-old boy, Robert Cox held the teenager’s arms and pinned him to his chair.
Mr Cox said he feared the boy was about to throw the chair at him. After he let the teenager go, the pupil did pick up a chair and threw it, although not at Mr Cox.
After the episode at Bemrose School was captured on CCTV, governors sacked Mr Cox, even though no complaint was made by the boy or his parents.
The 59-year-old, who said he had now been left “unemployable” and has twice attempted suicide, said he feared youngsters’ behaviour was getting “out of control”.
Married Mr Cox’s 13-year teaching career has been ended by the episode.
He said: “It has had a huge impact on me. I can’t get another job now and our financial situation is dire, to say the least.”
Mr Cox said it sent out a worrying message to teachers and pupils and launched a scathing attack on the management of the school in Uttoxeter New Road, Derby.
He said: “In all other public buildings you see posters saying abusive language and behaviour will not be tolerated. That is not the case at Bemrose. Instead, if you act within the school guidelines to protect yourself, to protect other students and to prevent an escalation of the situation, you are penalised.”
Mr Cox said the pupil involved in abusing him was excluded for four days.
He said: “I worry for my colleagues still there because the message this sends out is that if pupils threaten their teacher, the teacher is likely to be dismissed.”
The tribunal heard Mr Cox’s sacking was in response to the way he acted in the incident on March 4 last year.
It was following a commotion in the school canteen when some boys were “acting up” in front of another teacher. Mr Cox told one of them, a year 11 pupil, to sit down, at which point the teenager launched into a tirade of verbal abuse and then threw his banana milkshake over him.
Mr Cox, who said he had never witnessed such an outburst before, held the boy by the arms and sat him in the seat. He did that repeatedly every time the boy stood up because he said he feared the teenager was about to grab a chair and throw it at fellow pupils or a teacher if he did not restrain him.
When the school canteen emptied, the teenager did pick up a chair and threw it at an empty table.
Mr Cox, from Woodville, Derbyshire, was suspended and, following a disciplinary hearing, was sacked after the idiotic panel concluded his actions had been inappropriate.
Governors who are clearly not fit for purpose, ruled that he had used excessive force and had escalated rather than calmed the situation.
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A mysterious bright light seen by thousands of people in the night sky over northern Britain caused a ruckus this weekend.
Some observers called police, others quickly hit the Internet to broadcast tweets about what they saw.
“UFO invasion?! Ball of fire flew past my window!” one woman posted on Twitter.
David Konstantinou of Glasgow tweeted he had seen “a huge meteorite heading south.”
“Huge white tail. Flashed green and red. Amazing sight. Made the hairs on my neck stand up,” he added.
One Greater Manchester police officer joined in the fun, tweeting: “Sounds like we are being invaded by martians. Several sightings of a bright orange light over Salford!”
The Met Office tweeted: “Hi All, for anyone seeing something in the night sky, we believe it was a meteorite.”
The most likely explanation for the phenomenon was that a meteor, probably about the size of a person’s fist, had hit the Earth’s atmosphere 60-70 miles in altitude.
A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said the force had been “inundated” with calls about a bright object in the sky across the west of Scotland.
Grampian Police said reports of people seeing a “flare or a bright object with a tail” were received from across the region.
And Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary said numerous calls were made about a “large ball of fire in the sky” across Annandale and Eskdale.
A force spokesman wrote on Facebook: “A number of reports have been received from the public reporting observing bright lights or what is described as a large ball of fire in the sky.
“Inquiry has confirmed that this is actually a low level meteor shower.”
Meanwhile, Lothian and Borders Police said it had received “quite a lot” of calls from members of the public.
Strathclyde Police and Central Scotland Police checked with air traffic control who confirmed there were no concerns and all aircraft was accounted for.
Coastguard also received calls from members of the public asking if a flare had been used. One call was made to the coastguard in Stornoway, with one person reporting seeing a flare in the sky.
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Thousands of dying people in the UK are being sent letters urging them to consider getting a job.
The Department for Work and Pensions writes to everyone claiming the new Employment Support Allowance suggesting that they see a personal advisor to “help you move towards work”.
That includes those whose families have specifically told officials that they have less than six months left to live.
Ministers have admitted that 1,000 terminally ill people were sent the letters in just three months in a written answer to MPs.
The shocking figure comes after David Cameron railroaded his brutal welfare reforms which will take cash from disabled children and cancer sufferers through Parliament.
The letters state: “You can volunteer to work with a specialist personal adviser or job broker who will support and encourage you to carry out reasonable steps to manage your illness or disability and undertake relevant activity which will help you move towards work.”
They do say that those receiving them “are not required to take part in any work-related activity”.
But that doesn’t stop them causing upset and alarm among dying people and their families, Labour MP Tom Greatrex warned.
Mr Greatrex uncovered the scale of the problem after coming across the case of a constituent Stevie McGowan, 51, who was sent one despite being blind, bed-ridden and suffering severe dementia.
His wife Elizabeth said it was an insult for officials to suggest that the former painter and decorator, who was struck down by multiple sclerosis in 2002, should be considering work.
She said: “We thought is was a joke. And when I saw that paragraph I thought it was an insult to Stevie.”
Elizabeth, 49, of Blantyre in Scotland, added: “There is no amount of ‘support’ that they could give my husband that would enable him to go back to work.”
The Department of Work and Pensions stood by the letters. A spokeswoman said: “There are no conditions attached to the financial support you receive if you have a terminal illness.
“However, it would be wrong not to give those with a terminal illness the same opportunities as others. All our customers are told about the extra support their benefit entitles them to.”
But Mr Greatrex, MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, said that officials should stop causing upset and alarm by sending the letters to the terminally ill.
“The Government know these people are nearing the end of their lives and it is clearly inappropriate to be sending these letters suggesting they should go back to work. It is causing unnecessary distress to people who are terminally ill and their loves ones and they should stop it.”
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A woman’s claim that she was stuck in a British supermarket elevator while waiting for a trained technician to arrive and press a button, has been challenged by the company.
Janice Woodward, 55, of Dorset says she and her 2-year-old granddaughter were trapped in the elevator for well over an hour because store employees said they weren’t authorized to push the button that would have freed them.
“I was in there for an hour and 15 minutes and I had visions of being in there forever,” Woodward told The Sunday Star. “When the technician got there he just touched the control button and the lift moved.”
Woodward said she rang for help but the workers at the Asda store in Weymouth said they were prohibited by safety regulations from pushing the button that would have released the stalled elevator car.
An Asda spokeswoman said the technician actually arrived within 20 minutes and needed another 30 minutes to work on the machinery before the button could be pushed.
Health and safety rules and regulations introduced into UK society has left many people bereft of common sense. In one case a person drowned because rescuers weren’t trained to rescue him from a pond. These people also prevented members of the public from attempting a rescue.
Despite pre-election promises, British Prime Minister David Cameron has done very little to make changes to health and safety laws.
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There may finally be proof that a big cat may be on the loose and killing deer in Gloucestershire, experts have warned.
Last week, dog walkers discovered the mutilated carcass of a roe deer on National Trust land near Stroud in England.
The experts believe that the injuries to the neck of the deer and the way the carcass had been consumed are believed to be highly indicative of big cat activity.
Experts have taken DNA samples from the remains of the deer to see whether a big cat, such as a puma or panther, could have killed it.
Local big cat expert Rick Minter, who has visited the site of the discovery at Woodchester Park, said: “It is very helpful to have this forensic study of the deer carcass.
“The consistent feedback I receive from people about possible big cats is that the animals should be studied, so we can learn about the subject.
“Studying likely evidence such as this will help us become more informed.
Mr Minter added: “Although people occasionally report a possible big cat from a distance, close up encounters with such cats are rare.
“Their hearing and movement are exceptional, which helps them avoid close contact with people.”
“In the event of a close-up encounter, you should stay calm and face towards the animal as you back off, but not threaten or aggravate it.
“The chances are it will have backed off very quickly first.”
David Armstrong, the National Trust’s head ranger for Gloucestershire, said: “There are some very occasional sightings of big cats in the Cotswolds, but they have wide territories, so are rarely present in one particular spot for long.
“We’d be interested to hear of any more sightings at Woodchester.”
Dr Robin Allaby, Associate Professor at the school of life sciences at the University of Warwick, visited to take DNA samples.
These are now being tested with the results due by the end of the month.
For centuries, there have been thousands of reported sightings of large felines on moorland and in woods and fields across the UK.
The animals – normally black or brown – are believed have been spotted in almost every county in Britain.
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UK parents, don’t blame Father Christmas if he doesn’t allow your child to sit on his knee at a school event — teachers may have banned him from coming into contact with youngsters.
As is typical of our ‘over-reaction’ society, while those playing Father Christmas are no longer required to pass a Criminal Records Bureau check, many schools have decided to “err on the side of caution” and impose rules on grotto behaviour.
Parents who have offered to don the red suit have been told they must not allow youngsters to sit on their laps and cannot be left alone with them. Because CRB checks are required only for volunteers who have regular contact with children, Father Christmases are exempt.
However, government guidance states: “Under no circumstances must a volunteer who has not obtained a CRB disclosure … be left unsupervised with children.”
Russell Hobby, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said this meant many of its members had decided it was better if Father Christmases avoided all physical contact with children.
“The climate we work in, and the risks of getting it wrong, mean many school leaders err on the side of caution,” he said. “And if you are going to ‘err’ I think that’s the side most parents would prefer.”
A spokesman for the Department for Education said children could still sit on Father Christmas’s knee as long as parents were consulted and were “completely comfortable” with the situation.
“Santas in schools should be treated in the same way that other visitors to the school are managed. Our guidance recommends that for such visitors a member of staff is present,” added the spokesman.
