Video shows ‘picture of filth’ Video shows ‘picture of filth’ An animal welfare group Viva! released a video of conditions on pig

Video shows ‘picture of filth’

Video shows ‘picture of filth’
An animal welfare group, Viva!, released a video of conditions on pig farms yesterday that it claims may have contributed to the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.The group said the 20-minute film, “Pig in Hell”, showed “a terrifying picture of filth, overcrowding, dead and dying animals and widespread animal abuse”.The National Pig Association said it had not yet seen the film but accused Viva! of using “claimed facts” to “smear a whole industry”.Businesses may not be coveredThe Country Land and Business Association advised its business members who may suffer losses because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak to check their insurance policies.The association represents about 50,000 rural businesses across England and Wales, including many in tourism. The president of the association, Anthony Bosanquet, said: “Our concern is that many businesses may be under the impression that they are covered against loss of income because of infectious disease when, in fact, they are not.”Bluebird live broadcast droppedPlans to broadcast the salvage of Donald Campbell’s wrecked Bluebird speedboat from Coniston Water in Cumbria live on the BBC have been abandoned on government advice because of fears that crowds could spread foot-and-mouth disease Part of the lake’s shoreline is inside an infected area The salvage will still go ahead this weekend Campbell’s body was never found.. A manager at one of Britain’s biggest police forces has been sacked over claims that he sexually harassed colleagues and downloaded pornography months after he had helped to write a guide advising detectives on avoiding inappropriate language and behaviour. A manager at one of Britain’s biggest police forces has been sacked over claims that he sexually harassed colleagues and downloaded pornography months after he had helped to write a guide advising detectives on avoiding inappropriate language and behaviour.
John Williamson, 35, lost his job as deputy director of press and public affairs with Greater Manchester Police after female colleagues accused him of groping them at a Christmas party and using lewd and explicit language.A police investigation found sexual images on his work computer in the force’s headquarters in Manchester.Mr Williamson, who denies the offences, played a key role in producing a 16-page guide called The Power of Language, which advised the force’s 7,000 officers to avoid terms such as “love”, “pet” and “dear” because people might find them offensive.There was a force-wide outcry after the “idiot’s guide”, as the document was called, was issued in September.In a foreword to the pamphlet, the Chief Constable, David Wilmot, wrote: “We want to make sure all our staff fully understand the importance of using appropriate language.

We expect everyone to respect the views and feelings of others, and to use language that does not offend.”He continued: “Remember that your general demeanour and body language can give just as clear an impression of you and of the force as the things you say or write.”The guide was condemned by some senior officers for being too politically correct.A disciplinary hearing was told how Mr Williamson put his hand up a colleague’s skirt at a Christmas party, asked women about their underwear in the office, and repeatedly subjected them to sexually explicit language.Four women, aged between 18 and 28, had been concerned about his behaviour in the office for months, but only lodged formal complaints after a city centre party on 15 December, the hearing was told.Mr Williamson was alleged to have placed his hand in one woman’s trouser waistband and up the skirt of another during a car journey home.He was also said to have upset others with increasingly lewd comments during the night out, which included a meal at a Chinese restaurant and drinks in a nearby bar.After the complaints, Mr Williamson, who lives in Stockport with his wife, a regional television newsreader, was suspended on full pay from his post.Within days a member of staff came forward and reported seeing an image of a naked woman on his computer screen.Experts were brought in and from 7,000 images downloaded on to the machine many were found to be of a sexual nature.Mr Williamson provided a written denial of the allegations, saying colleagues either failed to understand a joke or flirted with him. He is not thought to be facing criminal charges over the incidents.. The Samaritans organisation has cancelled its contract with British Telecom after one in five callers to its helpline found the number engaged, it was announced yesterday. The Samaritans organisation has cancelled its contract with British Telecom after one in five callers to its helpline found the number engaged, it was announced yesterday.
The charity, which receives three calls a minute from people in emotional distress, said it had taken its business to the rival company Cable & Wireless (C&W), which has offered an alternative system better able to connect callers to counsellors.The BT system has struggled to cope with a surge in the use of the Samaritans’ national helpline – from 600,000 calls in 1997 to 1.5 million last year.It was not technologically capable of routing all calls to free lines, which meant that distressed clients found engaged tones while their prospective counsellors were free.”We have been looking into installing new technology for some time,” Rhian Thomas, a Samaritans spokeswoman, said yesterday. “With the previous system people were getting the engaged tone when there were lines free because calls were not being routed properly.”The Samaritans insisted its decision was a commercial and technological one and had nothing to do with BT’s decision last year to end its charitable donations to the organisation. BT, which donated £500,000 to the Samaritans from 1997 to 1999, noted that C&W made “a very generous donation of £20,000″.The charity believes the change will also cut its £700,000 telephone bill by 65 per cent over three years.BT’s loss of the contract, which it had tendered for, is a disappointment since it had developed technology similar to that of C&W which it says would equip it to handle the volume of Samaritans calls.The Samaritans’ 24-hour “emotional support helpline” has been transferred to a C&W Intelligent Network Platform, a system already used by the Interflora network of florists. The fact that the system was tried and tested by Interflora is understood to been a key factor in its favour.The charity, which uses 19,500 trained volunteers to receive the local rate calls, believes the new system will mean that only one per cent of callers will now hear the engaged signal.Telephone calls to its national helpline and 203 branches in the UK and Ireland rose by seven per cent last year.The Samaritans’ UK helpline is 08457 909090..

Five men in a pub: it’s a grottier, geezer’s version of Sex and the City, with pints of lager rather than vodkatinis, and somewhat less glamour But the principle remains the same: old mates talking dirty. Five men in a pub: it’s a grottier, geezer’s version of Sex and the City, with pints of lager rather than vodkatinis, and somewhat less glamour. But the principle remains the same: old mates talking dirty.
As ever, the conversation began with the crudités: the perfect breast size and how long one should have gone out with someone before asking for anything out of the ordinary. But this was the bravado stuff, and strangely, none of the lads wanted direct attribution, which is why I will call them Andy, numbers 1 to 5.We agreed that the late thirties is a time of sexual conflict for men: of yearning for a racier past and facing up to a more sober future. The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics showed that men were staying single into their forties. Observers attributed this to men wishing to “play the field”.

But something about it didn’t stack up, except to support the commonplace that today’s men are a bunch of feckless commitment-phobes.Frankly, unless you are Jack Nicholson with barrowloads of money, or have a psychopathic disregard of other people’s feelings, it is difficult to “play the field” without scoring a few own goals. But the possibility still lends the “middle-youthed” male a lingering sexual hunger. “Did you see that picture of Ridley Scott with a young ‘mystery brunette’ at a premiere the other day?” asked Andy 3, wistfully.My anecdotal evidence has it that the overriding middle-years male issue is whether it is best to be single or attached. “It is the big one: whether by being in a relationship you are denying yourself great sex with new people,” said Andy 2. “I’m sure we’d have settled for our lot in the 1950s.” But would that potential deliver in reality? Or would being single actually lead to sad Cup-a-Soup Sundays? That is the dilemma for us men, while our female contemporaries are clearer about their relationship ambitions.As late baby-boomers, some of my older pals came of age in the mid-1970s, when you were miffed if your girlfriend wasn’t on the pill. Then, in the late Seventies and Eighties came the two body blows to male sexual profligacy: feminism and Aids.