THE LOVE of MONEY ...

[Michael Grove]

IS the root of ALL EVIL

A tycoon who turned an ancient woodland into a wasteland has

been ordered to pay almost £1million. Philip Day, who is said to be

as wealthy as the Queen, allowed workmen to decimate the beauty

spot so a vehicle track could be built to his pheasant shoot.

A huge swathe was cut through picturesque Gelt Woods in Cumbria,

flattening trees, churning up soil and  disturbing wildlife. Before the

illegal felling, the area was sheltered by birch and oak trees. Mosses

and liverworts grew on sandstone outcrops and birds such as pied

flycatchers, redstarts and wood warblers thrived.

But by the time Mr Day’s workmen had finished, the landscape –

which provided stones for Hadrian’s Wall – was a scarred scene of

destruction. Hadrian's Wall, which stretches across northern

England, was built in 122 AD on the orders of the Roman emperor

Hadrian to mark his empire's northern frontier.

It took eight years to build 

the 73 mile-long wall from 

the Solway Firth to Wallsend  

on the Tyne. It is believed to

have provided a barrier

between Roman Britain and

Scotland and is thought to 

have been where the army

could determine who was

allowed access to the empire.

It remained in use until the early fifth century when, with the empire

collapsing & the city of Rome itself under threat, the Roman

legions left British shores. It is the largest monument from the

ancient era in northern Europe and is a Unesco World Heritage

Site.

Mr. Day had previously angered townsfolk when he told a parish 

council meeting that, while 6,500 young pheasants had been

released into the wood ready for shooting, 12,000 would be more 

appropriate for an area of that size. He also said -

"We don’t have to come up with replanting schemes if we

don’t want to. We own the woods, we can please ourselves"

As a previous long time "custodian" of ancient woodland in

Wales, I find Mr. Day's attitude extremely obnoxious, nay even

toxic and yet another example of all that is wrong with our

modern society. 

 

Equally the fact that "use of zero-hour contracts has thrived despite

calls for them to be banned, with the Office for National Statistics

saying that 250,000 British workers were employed in this way at

the end of last year by a range of firms, including Sports Direct,

Amazon and even Buckingham Palace" - is quite frankly completely

unacceptable in a society which purports to be all-inclusive.

BUT in the context of the revelations from Rosalind Wright 10 years

ago when - THE former director of the Serious Fraud Office accused 

business bosses of concealing the extent of fraud  within and 

against their companies and that five months after leaving her post,

Wright said many financial institutions were too frightened to report

fraud and that many firms feared damage to their reputations -

the fact that bosses at the Serious Fraud Office, itself, used secret

emails to cover up £1m of pay-offs - must take the biscuit !!!???

HUBRIS NEMESIS and CATHARSIS 

[Michael Grove]

Public sector workers used to earn less than their private sector counterparties because their pensions were better. Now they receive better salaries, better pensions, better working conditions and it seems better payouts and all the while I am being asked to pay more and more tax to pay for it. Enough is enough now.

                            

               Steve E , London, United Kingdom, 02/8/2013 12:50