Bureaucracy Gone Mad!

There were a couple of news stories that stopped me in my tracks last week. The first was the case of Andy Tierney from Hinckley, Leicestershire who intercepted the postman on his way to work, and discovered that he had some items of junk mail, which he deposited in the nearest litterbin. A perfectly reasonable thing to do one might think, but Mr Tierney had reckoned without his local council. They must employ someone to go through the litterbins in the area looking for the wrong kind of litter! Andy Tierney was fined £50 for depositing ‘household’ waste in the bin. The subsequent outcry has caused his council to consider waiving the fine!

The second tale, which beggars belief, involves a primary school in Western-Super-Mare. Mrs Julie Scott was called into the school to apply a plaster to her daughter Emily’s cut finger because staff believed they were no longer permitted to perform such tasks according to council guidelines! One wonders if the teachers would watch a child bleeding to death, whilst they waited for the appropriate help to arrive rather than render assistance. The school is to review its policy!

These two stories are the latest in the many, ‘bureaucracy gone mad’, tales that blight our green and pleasant land! They come from the same stable as the councils who ban municipal Christmas festivities for fear of offending those of other religions, who don’t seem to be offended at all, of course!

Confronted with such crass stupidity one can well believe that commonsense is dead and buried!