A piece in The Guardian. Of course female MPs “with babies” (immaculate conceptions, one and all, the Archangel Gabriel must be exhausted) will expect to continue taking the same salary, and enjoy the same perks. Shameless, the lot of them. The end of the piece:

Emma Reynolds, the Labour MP who gave birth four days before the election last year, said the pairing system was “not fit for purpose” and meant new mothers could be vulnerable to allegations of laziness if their voting record appeared to be poor.

“Last year, a national newspaper accused me of having the second-worst voting record in parliament without referring to the fact I was on maternity leave,” she said. “One of my other colleagues in a similar situation was branded one of ‘Britain’s laziest MPs’. New mums shouldn’t have to face this reputational damage.

“I hope that these proposals for proxy voting will go through quickly so that MPs can continue to represent their constituents while they are on maternity leave, paternity leave or shared parental leave.

“Passing these reforms would send out an important signal to young women and men who are considering a career as an MP and who would also like to start a family.”

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Very good (video, 1:47:47).

Article in Reuters.

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Our thanks to Martin for this.

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Appalling.

Our thanks to Sean for this (video, 2:16). From the video description:

Facebook should ban secret groups which spread hate, racism and fake news, according to a powerful cross-party group of MPs.

Labour’s Lucy Powell today introduced the Online Forums Bill, which would also hold administrators and moderators responsible for hate speech or defamation on forums they run.

MPs who have suffered the most serious online abuse — including Tories Nicky Morgan, Anna Soubry and Jacob Rees-Mogg, [J4MB emphasis] and Labour’s David Lammy, Ruth Smeeth and Stella Creasy — back the Bill, which they hope the Government will support.

No aspect of a Facebook secret group is searchable or visible to non-members, and people can only be invited to join by existing members.

The Bill calls for social media platforms like Facebook to publish details of existing secret groups and ban more from being created.

Open groups hosting racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic content would also be tackled by forcing moderators to become legally liable for the content of forums.

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Our thanks to Sean for this (video, 12:12).

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How many cases like this in today’s Times must there be every year in the UK, where there is literally not a shred of evidence (at least from the report) to back up the women’s claims – in this case, of alleged sexual abuse when they were teenagers, 40 years ago? What possible defence could the man have mounted? None. So how could he have proven his innocence? Literally impossible.

A retired music teacher who sexually abused two pupils 40 years ago has been jailed for four years.

William Wright, 78, preyed on the teenagers at a school in East Renfrewshire. One woman, now 54, told a jury that she was “terrified” of him.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said that she had felt helpless at being unable to object to the abuse because she needed his help to get through exams.

Judge Lord Arthurson told Wright in sentencing at the High Court in Edinburgh that he had no other option but to reject the request by Wright’s lawyer for a non-custodial sentence.

He added: “Your behaviour has caused your victims, who are now aged in their fifties, significant and lasting psychological problems.”

At the court last month, Wright, a grandfather of eight from Elderslie, Renfrewshire, said that he had “no explanation” as to why the women would make such allegations. He had denied any wrongdoing.

He was convicted of two charges of using lewd and libidinous practices and behaviour and a charge of indecent assault towards the two women between August 1974 and June 1981.

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A piece in today’s Times:

Two dogs that attacked a pensioner have been saved from being put down because of the emotional support they provide to their owner.

Yoshi and Gizmo, which are both Staffordshire terriers, had faced being put down after they attacked Alexander Brock, 76, and left him and his pet labrador covered in blood.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis declined to order their destruction after being given reports detailing the positive impact that they have on the life of their owner, Mari Calikes, 34, of Crieff. She was found guilty of being the owner of a dangerous dog in June.

Sheriff Foulis said: “She benefits from having her dogs. They give her a sense of purpose. Having dogs has motivated her to go out the house and exercise them. There have had a positive effect on the accused’s health and have made her less socially isolated. There’s a benefit from her having the dogs, so any order banning her from controlling any animal would be counterproductive.”

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Our thanks to Rob for this. Sympathy and rehabilitation for women, condemnation and punishment for men. Same old, same old. An extract:

“As a Christian I believe that our humanity and flourishing is rooted in relationship. Where healing and rehabilitation take place it comes from a place of trust in relationship. To that end prison is rarely the most appropriate or effective place for these issues to be addressed.”

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