Saturday, May 28, 2011

Compare and Contrast (again)

Pretty much everyone remembers the Baby P case and the aftermath where the head of Social Services at Haringey Council Sharon Shoesmith was sacked for the lamentable failings of that department. That you would have thought would be the end of it, however the "Righteous" do look after their own and the Appeal Court has ruled she had been unlawfully sacked. Now she intends to sue for £1 million in taxpayers money.

Express.
FORMER social services boss Sharon Shoesmith finally apologised for the tragedy of Baby P yesterday as she prepared to land taxpayers with a £1million bill.
She insisted her sorrow over the death of 17-month-old Peter Connelly would “stay with me for the rest of my life”. But she could not contain her joy as she said she was “over the moon” at winning an appeal over her sacking.
Shoesmith clammed up when challenged by the Daily Express. Asked if it was right that taxpayers should foot the bill for her department’s failings she refused to comment.
Now the 58-year-old is set to pocket compensation after the Appeal Court ruled she had been unlawfully sacked from her £130,000-a-year post as children’s services director at London’s Haringey Council. Three judges blamed former education secretary Ed Balls. They ruled Shoesmith had been the victim of “unfair procedure” when the Labour minister announced live on TV that she was being dismissed with immediate effect.
She is now set to claim her right to a full salary and pension from the day she was sacked in December 2008. The payout could reach £1millon.#
Ok it was a typical labour soundbite bollocks job of sacking her, but anyone with a shred of honour would have resigned anyway, nor can I see the case for so much in compensation, give her 1p and tell her to fuck off sounds about right. Still, she's "Righteous"  so no doubt she'll get her compo and eventually slither back into another post in the system, possibly after a name change.

And contrast.

Express.
PARATROOPER Ben Parkinson became an unfair symbol of Britain’s compensation system.
The highly-rated Lance Bombardier was the most-injured soldier in Afghanistan after his Land Rover was hit by a Taliban bomb.
Ben, 26, lost both legs, broke his back and suffered terrible brain damage, severely affecting his speech.
The once-superfit soldier spent four months in a coma and needed 18 months of treatment at Headley Court military hospital in Surrey.
Yet, despite the extent of his injuries, Ben received a paltry £152,000 in compensation.
 That's right, serve your country with honour, lose your legs, suffer brain damage, get £152,000. Allow a child to die of horrific injuries whilst supposedly under the care of your department and get sacked for it, possibly receive £1 million.

I don't think I need say more do you?

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