No way to treat a hero
HOW did we get ourselves in the position where an 89-year-old war hero is fearful of losing his prized DFC award to the bailiffs – and all over a £25 parking debt?
That's what is happening in the case of Worthing resident Steve Stevens, whose car was ticketed when 13 minutes over the permitted time-slot in a parking space near Mr Stevens' home in Rowlands Road.
Because Mr Stevens has not "followed the rules" as laid down in Worthing's parking regime, he has now received a warning notice that a Leicestershire-based firm of bailiffs are liable to descend on him at any moment and seize goods of sufficient value to pay off the debt, when sold at public auction.
Mr Stevens says his only possession of any real value is his Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded to him in 1945 for flying a "suicide" mission against the Germans – one of many actions in which he put his life on the line.
I readily admit that Worthing Council has not been draconian in dealing with three previous parking appeals by Mr Stevens; they were upheld, and he was given advice on how to avoid them in the future. But Mr Stevens did not "follow the rules" in this case, and now he faces the penalty – which includes paying the bailiffs' expenses.
It doesn't seem to matter about the present circumstances of this former fighter of Fascism, now battling pain because of a defective hip which makes it extremely difficult for him to walk.
Only two months away from his 90th birthday, Mr Stevens is, perhaps, not the ideal age to keep fully on top of things... and might well be excused making what Geoff Hoon describes as an "inadvertent administrative error".
Still, he hasn't followed the rules, so he must be punished. How proud our society must feel when we read of MPs who have followed the rules (or rather their lucrative rules) and ended up netting thousands of pounds at the expense of British tax payers, including war veterans like Mr Stevens. Where's the justice and common sense in it all?
The trouble is, common sense and justice went out of the window a long time ago; ever since we adopted all those daft health and safety edicts, the plethora of diversity laws which often seem to protect everyone except those who want the right to wear or display a Christian cross, and the fickleness of a justice system which either doesn't prosecute people who should be prosecuted, or imposes sentences which are not nearly as severe as they should be in the circumstances.
Our political party leaders are quite right about it being time to start afresh in the way things are being managed at Westminster, and further down the line.
They've taken enough time to get around to saying what we've been thinking for a long time, and what they ultimately come up with has got to be a lot more worthwhile than just stopping flipping and buying duck houses at public expense.
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Weather for Worthing
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
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