Roger

I think we are fed up. I will also add that the Hereford Times is hardly going to attract money from me when the Editor endorsed a ban on me. 18 months ago. My offence was to criticise journalistic sloppiness. Like spelling. Or Lack of. Or various other rubbish journalism. The HT are Very sensitive to personal criticism. IMHO.

The expensive changes came and went. At vast expense. In Commercial Road.

Update: Lone person told to remove themselves from a bench in Churchill Gardens today. No one within 100 yards of him. Churchill Gardens seems to be a focus of enforcement activity recently. This virus enforcement has gripped the imagination of the Police. What was unachievable a month ago is now the temporary 'norm'.

Why is Michael Gove now 'isolating' for a few days? All of these important people should have been isolated from the very start.

Boris has looked increasingly 'rough' in his isolated videos. I never saw the point in restricting NHS care to the PM from the moment he got ill. A PM should have had permanent monitoring. Due to his important status. But he may have had that. All of this is subject to 'spin' and 'secrecy' I think. Was he left to 'sweat it out' in his flat on his own? I doubt it.

We've just had the grass cut twice in Churchill Gardens in just over a week. Obviously I will never complain about that.

There has been some online chatter about the leaflets left on cars at Aylestone Park by the local cops. It's even made the HT. These leaflets say you 'entitled to exercise once daily'. They also say 'You should not be driving to a location away from home to carry this out'. Both of these statements are factually incorrect and I'm dumbfounded that some supervisor authorised this approach. This sort of 'inappropriate' enforcement has forced the College of Policing to rush out new guidance to the Police ~ some of whom quite clearly don't know what they're doing. The new guidance reminds the Police that you can't use checkpoints/roadblocks to stop vehicles under Coronavirus Regulations. They also remind Police that there is no limit to the number of times you can go out to exercise. They say that travelling a 'reasonable distance' to 'exercise' is allowed and should be left alone. Most importantly they have been told to enforce the 'law' as opposed to what they were doing which was to enforce the 'wishes' of Govt. Ministers' ~ which, of course, have no weight in law. The Guardian has an article which explains the new guidance here

Another day ..... More random Police appeared on foot in Aylestone Park. Two together. Obviously not 2 metre's apart as they are 'invincible' from the bug in that Organisation. Probably got an eye on 'non essential' car use to take a dog for a walk. One said hello. One was ignorant. I should have asked them what they would normally be doing. I doubt it would be walking where they were! I may update tomorrow. But I might not!

I'll also add that there is some noise about £30 fines for non compliance for 'social distancing'. Where will those new fine forms come from? This is enforcement that is very much 'on the hoof'.

I actually saw a female Police Officer in Churchill Gardens today. Wearing a baseball cap. Obviously Police visibility is increasing as that is unknown in my area in recent times. She had no sense of urgency. She was, I assume, sent out on a 'visibility' mission.

Unpersonable is my first impression. A factory. BIG. Designed to churn the patients' thru. Probably what we need. The local population has increased so capacity has to be found anywhere. It's a 'catch up' situation.

I think this project stalled today because of wind. Just a guess. A similar method was used to build the cell block at Hereford Police Station over 10 years ago.

That junction is a dogs dinner. The priority coming out of the railway station or from the Royal Mail side is basically a guess. The light phase is set for a collision as the green phase is simultaneous for both. There's been a major smash there already.

I don't want to be a damp squib but 95% of the people I've seen using these bikes are teenagers larking about. Riding about randomly on pavements. In pairs. I don't think Hereford is big enough to sustain this bike initiative. As a money making exercise. Who is the main target customer? There's a Beryl Bike Bay outside the train station. How many people are going to alight from a train and rent a bicycle? If this scheme is making money then I'm staggered. If it's a philanthropic exercise then fair enough.

There has to be a saturation point for the number of hair cutting outlets in the City Centre. You can only cut so much hair. 'Overheads' obviously an issue. Pun intended.

So what was so dreadful? You seem to have a nugget of really bad Hereford Police behaviour that has fundamentally upset your brother. What is it?

I don't accept that there is a culture of acceptance of 'bad officers'' in Hereford. I was embedded in that pressure cooker in Hereford between 1995 and 2009. Any alleged dodgy behaviour was pursued relentlessly when I was there. I would imagine it is pursued even more now. I'm glad I retired as it became an unpleasant place to work due to unrealistic expectations about what you were demanded to achieve. As for the HT ..... My opinion on that remains the same. Lazy journalism. Can't be bothered to leave the office. Draconian approach to allowing, or rather not allowing, free speech. They are particularly touchy about criticism of their content.

If you leave a load of vulnerable bikes in a dodgy location they are gonna get damaged or trashed! Or stolen. Or thrown in the river for a laugh.

The Brexit Party, and their future, might evaporate under a 'no deal' outcome. My gut feeling is that there will be a fudge deal/unacceptable deal conjured up. Any half baked deal would empower the Brexit Party even more I would have thought. But this is all 'up in the air' stuff. I agree with Boris tho. If you rule out 'no deal' [or are forced to rule it out by Remainer MP's] then we have to accept some sort of deal. Which will be the worst possible deal for the UK. Any idiot can see that! Or it will be a 50 year extension of Article 50.

I will add that my daughter is a fully qualified Midwife. Degree obtained. Plenty of babies delivered. She is British. Born in Shrewsbury. She has sacked it all off for more money operating an ice cream van. And less stress. The system needs to attract her back into her proper role. I would much prefer her delivering a healthy baby than a '99' cornet with raspberry topping.

I fundamentally disagree that you need a degree to be a Police Officer. I did that job for 30 years without one [never in CID] and it all shook out as it did. If everyone has a degree then everyone will be looking for promotion. If you have a degree do you expect to be at PC Rank after 30 years? It's all gone crazy! If you want big/easier money then go into a different job. In the private sector.

I've previously gone on record to say that I will never vote for Jesse Norman in any future Election. He has made himself too invisible over Brexit. Keeping a low profile so as not to upset anyone is his tactic. In my opinion. Well ... It upset me. And has done so for a very long time. Any future GE may not feature a Brexit Candidate in Hereford. It's all up in the air. Depending on the outcome of the next two months of political chess games. I anticipate I will not cast a vote in the next GE. At the moment!

Probably several factors. Inadequate/unstable parenting. Unstable housing. Living in a household with little disposable money. Living in a feral environment with similar feral people in your school class or living nearby. Millions of reasons.

I wanted to comment on this story [on the HT Website] but I'm still 'banned'. It's like North Korea at the HT! Any criticism and the ban button is pressed! Anyway ..... But Community bikes' are gonna get trashed in Hereford. Several [Beryl] are probably in the River Wye already. Hereford is not civilised enough to use this bike scheme responsibly. Too many 'yobs'' about.

Everyone recognises 'Art' with some thought behind it. A lazy teenage type 'tag' is just vandalism. There is a difference. Widely accepted in Society.