Price fight at the O.K. Surgery...

Went to the the dentist today to visit the hygienist.  When I went in the hygienist she asked me to sign a form.  I asked what it was for.  It said that the hygienist was not a dentist.  So I signed it.  The hygienist then asked me how much I wanted to spend £88 or £101.  I said £88.  

When I came to pay the lady I presumed was the Receptionist because she was one of two ladies sitting at a reception desk, told me that the prices had gone up.  I reminded her that we had set a price then of £65 and I had paid a £20 deposit.... but said that "I don't mind paying a few pound more".   

"It's more than a few pound," she said  but added that she could sort it out if I waited for the Receptionist"".  

I had been thinking that I was talking to the Receptionist as the lady talking to me appeared to be undertaking Receptionist-like tasks.  But apparently being a Receptionist was a much higher position than the one of the two ladies I was talking to ...who were both merely some forms of faktotum.  As I sat waiting for the Receptionist who was important enough to be called a Receptionist, I started to wonder about the internal management structure of the practice.  Were the ladies at the desk actually the lowest level of management or was there a layer of responsibility somewhere even below this?  

As the two ladies who were not Receptionists booked people into appointments which seemed a Receptionist-like activity, I waited quietly in the seating area for the person who was important enough to call herself a receptionist to appear.   The two ladies answered some phone calls.  One offered the other some kind of fruit in a tupperware box.  The other declined.  They entered into a conversation slagging off someone who worked there who was behaving strangely and not sleeping.  "Where is she?" said one.  "She was supposed to come here to talk to the customer, why is she taking so long?"  Perhaps they were under the illusion that because their desk had an upstand and my eye level was below that that I couldn't hear every word... but I could hear every word.  Then an older man paid for his appointment, noting the increased costs for which the ladies at the desk apologized/schmoozed.  He flirted with them a bit in response, was separated from his money and advised them not to get old... something that seemed to be happening to me as time stretched on and the Receptionist who was the Receptionist still did not appear. 

Eventually she did appear and informed the ladies that the they should inform people when they come in that the prices had gone up.  I told her that she couldn't actually do this because she had agreed a price when I/we/they paid the deposit and changing the price only when the consumer actually turns up for the service is actually called bait advertising*.  The Receptionist then produced the piece of paper about hygienists not being dentists under which she or someone else had scrawled £88 and said "You signed this!".  So I said "No, I didn't ...you added that retrospectively and anyway you'd still be in violation of Trading Standards".  Since the Receptionist who was not called a Receptionist had taken the £45 now it seemed too late for the Receptionist who was a Receptionist to extract a further £23 anyway... so I walked out.  By this time the other Receptionist who was not a Receptionist was complaining she couldn't hear herself talking on the phone ...

No wonder these places have to put signs up saying "Don't abuse our staff".  I expect people tell them to fuck off into the middle of next week on a regular basis.  The complete absurdity of it is that I'd offered to let it slide, they said they "No, don't" and then tried to somehow catch me out with faked paperwork....  Pity the fools ... as Mr T used to say.  But ... Why is it like this every time I go to a dentist?  In the past I've had one who tried to convince me I had three fillings that no other dentist could find, one who tried to get me to sign for a course of treatment I'd said I didn't ...and now this clown trying bait and switch on me and slander me with fake paperwork... I used to be afraid of dentists for the pain but these days it's the Wild West shenanigans.  

Honestly, ... they're such a load of cowboys.  I don't know why they don't get Doc Holiday back in and be done with it.   

Oh yes, I do ... he was honest.

[*See The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 Schedule 1 Regulation 3(4)(d).]

With this Ferrero Rocher, Allah is really spoiling us

 

Coal

Dearest Donald,

I do a apologise most sincerely for bringing you a lump of coal for Christmas last year.  However, I regret to inform you that this is because, as I have previously explained on numerous occasions, you are near (if not at the) top of my naughty list.

You have been on my naughty list in some form or other since approximately 1973 when you hired Roy Cohn (a Mafia Consigliere) to counter-sue the US government for charging you with racial discrimination practices.  Since then, I regret to inform you that the amount of naughtiness reported to my Elves and recorded in my ledger has only increased manyfold.  Particularly since January 6th 2021.

I feel I should also add that under normal circumstances Santa Clause Inc (a wholly privately owned charitable trust funded entirely by Elvenfolk) stops visitations to all persons at Christmas altogether when they reach the age of legal or sexual maturity.  

You are in fact very lucky to get any visit from Santa at all at your age and we have made special dispensation for you already on the grounds of a communication to us from a Mr N. Farage of Clacton who stated that: 

"Donald should continue to get visits from Santa at Christmas because he is a big baby who will throw all his toys out of his pram if he does not get what he wants".

On that note I feel I must also add that although you claim not to have a need for any "coal based presents" your current threatening letters stating your intention to invade Greenland, lay waste to my Elvic warehouse and plunder our country for its natural resources suggested to me that a bit of fossil fuel was, in fact, exactly what you were after.  You just didn't know it until now...

Therefore, I hope you will accept the coal based gifts I have been dispensing over the past 50 years as merely an ongoing element of the complex trading negotiations between our two nations.

Ho ho ho!

Your ever avuncular

Santa Claus

The North Pole

123 Elf Road 

88888

Greenland

PS Although I mainly live in Greenland these days I feel I should also mention that the Warehouse at the North Pole itself is actually under the jurisdiction of the International Seabed authority.

Dave says...

 

I've rather given up on making content these days as I realised a while ago that I have nothing useful to say.  No such self doubt however afflicts professional miser Dave Ramsey who's videos infect my Facebook feed like a computer virus.  For we live in the age of the guru ... And Dave is one.

Dave's advice on everything can be summed up thusly... The reason you ain't rich is because you spend money.  If only we all spent less we'd become more wealthy.  According to Dave a man who spends everything he makes is a fool.  It reminded me of a story Terence Dicks used to tell of how Terry Nation always told him that the reason he was always buying bigger houses was to get himself into debt so he had to work harder to pay for his new lifestyle.  An interesting approach to neoliberal economics... which won't work for many people but seemed to work for Terry who nearly constantly drank champagne for breakfast until he dropped down dead of emphysema aged 66.

Ramsey's first business went bust and he filed for bankruptcy in 1988 before almost immediately becoming a money guru.  Of courses it could be that Dave who says you should never use a credit card has a grudge against the banks... Silly advice.  Credit cards are great as long as you pay them off every month.  Indeed, they can be better than other forms of borrowing in certain circumstances... but only certain circumstances.  Dave's one-size-fits-all advice isn't awful but it's limited and delivered in a rather hectoring tone.  Then again...  Maybe you can get people out of debt by continually calling them "Stupid!" but it's not an approach Stepchange have endorsed just yet.  

In my brief experience as a debt collector there are mainly two kinds of debtors.  The don't cares who get into debt out of pure pigheadedness.  And those who've been made redundant unexpectedly but have no savings to fall back on.  So I would advise you to always have a little bit tucked away.   Except that personally I don't.  So that would be hypocritical...

But why don't I?

Well, I do sometimes.  Sometimes I don't.  I haven't quite gone all Terry Nation but I do feel at the same time that not spending money is a form of pessimism.  Of a lack of risk taking.  And taking no risks has it's own risks ...

Musk - a strong smelling orange brown substance...

Up until recently I have had a policy of blocking absolutely everybody on Twitter in order to keep my sanity ... Not that that's that many people as apart from William Shatner and some hardcore Doctor Who fans who inhabit my rather nice little echo chamber there seem to be very few real people to talk with or interact with on it.  

Leaving aside the nutters and nasty pieces of work, I block a heap of porn bots each week which itself makes me feel mean and nasty.  After all, maybe they're not all porn bots?  Perhaps all the female accounts who attach themselves inexplicably to me and randomly like my posts just say nothing because they are afraid of the patriarchy but actually really are profoundly interested in politics, comedy and old sci-fi shows...  

Among the many accounts I blocked are Twitter's X's new owner Elon Musk ... out of site out of mind ...particularly since he started telling everyone that England was on the brink on a civil war.  

Since he's recently been libeling Keir Starmer however, I unblocked him to see what nonsense he was spouting today... 

What an open sewer of lies and hate his fascist rants are.  It's almost impossible to un-weave his web of lies about Tommy Robinson and rape gangs but, for anyone who can muster up the enthusiasm to listen, here (as Mr Monk would say) is what happened...

A Syrian refugee child with a broken arm (from a previous assault) was waterboarded by the local school bully at Almondbury Community School.  The attacker was given a court summons and promptly started moaning on Facebook that he was a victim.  

"Our Tommy Twatty" posted a false rumour that a mother had said that the victim had bullied her daughter but the mother in question promptly contradicted him - stating this was false.  By this time however, the refugee's family had had to relocate.  

The family sued Robinson who completely retracted his statements with the words "I've been had".  They also threatened to sue Facebook which banned Robinson on 26 February 2019.  Robinson lost the subsequent High Court action on the 22 of July 2021.  The Judge ordered him to pay £100,000 damages and £600,000 legal costs.  To which Tommy responded "I've not got any money. I'm bankrupt. I've struggled hugely with my own issues these last 12 months ... I ain't got it."  

Diddums.  

Despite seemingly having no money Tommy managed to get funding to make a documentary repeating his fantastical libels financed by Alex Jones of Infowars (which was itself undergoing bankruptcy proceedings at the time having lost its own libel actions for spreading fake news).  

MICE Media - a different conspiracy theorist cesspit funded by Trump - picked up this tripe and turned it into a full film ...and Danish DPP leader Morten Messerschmidt organised a screening.  In the film Tommy opines that " the law is being manipulated and exploited by the far left and Islamists to destroy the lives of anyone who speaks out against the so-called progressive, so-called liberal narrative."   Because, I suppose, that's easier than admitting to being a massive tosser who bullies children.  

As part of the original ruling against Tommy there was an injunction placed upon him to prevent him repeating his libel - this is a normal remedy for libel alongside pecuniary damages.  Tommy repeatedly broke the Injunction by playing the film to an audience at Trafalgar Square and repeating his lies in open court ... And so the normal remedy for a broken injunction came into force.  It becomes a criminal matter.  Contempt of Court ... and Tommy gets to spend 18 months in prison.  Because he's scum.

But not to the jack boot lickers and bottom lickers on Elon's twitter... where El Musk meanders into jokes about "liberating" us and making Canada the 51st state... statements that are framed as jokes but really aren't.  As with January 6th the usual suspects are busy kidding themselves that he and Donald don't mean what they say they mean...

On the wireless the other day I heard some talking heads talking about what Starmer's government need to do to appease Trump and Musk so they don't hammer us with trade tariffs ... Apparently brown-noser in Chief Peter Mandelson will sort it all out with some kind of pragmatism.  

I think not.  

We'll get what we're given and lump it and no manner of appeasement is going to cut it...  An afternoon with the Windsors won't win over the orange Mussolini.  I'm sure he will start projecting his power outwards soon ...all fascists do as other regimes are an existential threat to them... 

What hope is there for anything?

Waspi...

 

What an odd group the Waspi women are ...they say they are for pension equality but their claims for compensation seem to be based on the thesis that no one told them far enough in advance that the State Pension age was changing from 60 to 65 for women.  One feels a lot of problems could have been avoided if they had bothered to use google before stopping working.  

The framing of the issue as something to do with how the information was communicated is, of course, a fig leaf to disguise the fact they don't really want equality at all.  They are in fact a lobby group whose moans are listened to simply because of their sheer numbers.  However, Sir Keir has probably done his numbers and worked out that he can wait for most of them to die before paying the compensation he promised....

But then is Equality all it's cracked up to be?  In France they have riots in the streets when the state pension age goes up.  In Britain some Waspi women write some slightly angry letters to MPs.  Perhaps the deeper issue might be that women take some years out of the workforce (or at least some months) for pregnancy and families ...reducing their number of qualifying years... so quite a few of them are not actually qualifying for the full state pension and that they didn't know this before doing so ... but that doesn't quite add up either...

When the State Pension was introduced in 1909 it was for those over 70 and above of "good character" and was means tested but there were no qualifying years - you just got it ... the contributory dimension started to be added in the 60s and 70s ... I think it's up to 35 years now so I'm almost there ... whoopee!

I tried to review Monk. Here's what happened...

 

I've now watched every episode of Monk because it's all on Netflix and like Everest ...it's there.

Although I remember it going out at the time I don't think the BBC paid for all the episodes so I missed a lot and this filled in a lot of the gaps ...making it more of a continuing narrative.  Apparently the project spent a long time in "development hell" before being green lit because they found it really difficult to find someone to play the central character.  I'm not surprised... even in the more innocent times of the 90s it must have been difficult to find someone to play someone with every phobia going without it becoming offensive, corny or just naff.  Monk's world isn't really real but a kind of bizarre melodrama posing as a procedural.  Although we know it is a comedy it is just on the edge of believability... and there's also the dark edge that someone always dies (sometimes quite graphically) every week.  As Columbo used to say "they don't even bring us in unless someone's dead."

Monk is of course surrounded by other eccentric characters.  The avuncular Captain Leland Stottlemeyer with his disintegrating marriage to a TV producer and the wide eyed innocent Randy Disher who are there to do the plodding police work (the influence actually is Sherlock Holmes with Lestrade being the model for Stottlemeyer) ...and his two assistants - first Sharona Fleming and then Natalie Teeger - who act as the audience surrogates.  Bitty Schram and her ancient Volvo are particularly good at grounding the series with a sense of reality.  Natalie Teeger is deliberately much posher... There's too much going on in Monk to actually really review it in any meaningful sense.  It tries so many ways to stay original - although one feels in series 8 they're starting to run out of road ... how many variations on the same basic story structures can be managed...? but there are so many gems ... Randy and Natalie trying to watch a football match on a TV stolen from the evidence room, Jarrad Paul's scene stealing performances as Kevin Dorfman, Sarah Silverman as the obsessive fan, Teeger's attempts to turn Monk into a PI, Brad Garrett as the builder, Sharona breaking it to Natalie she was paid more, Agoraphobic Ambrose, Monk's father, Jason Gray-Stanford's physical comedy moments and his "buddies in blue" .... and, of course, the unforgettable penultimate episode cliffhanger.  

I was going to try and write a meaningful review but ... here's what happened...... a jumble.

It's a jumble out there...

On the subject of cousin copulation...

As ever on the pulse of the important issues of the day Conservative MP for Basildon Richard Holden has brought forward a Bill to outlaw First Cousin Marriage, telling tales of how it increases greatly the chances of genetic illnesses being passed down.  The risk of birth defects in offspring of first-cousin marriages is estimated to be 2-2.5 times higher than in the general population, largely because of autosomal recessive disorders (see here) but as that's from a very low base the risks are still very minimal (Victoria and Albert popped a lot of children out and most of them were ok - if you disregard the hemophilia and Habsburg jaw).  The risks do grow greater if the pattern is repeated over generations.  However, when cousin marriage was banned in the past the bans were very hard to enforce.  Are people going to be banned from being legally married or imprisoned for incest? 

Other famous cousin lovers include Christopher Milne of Winnie the Pooh fame and Albert Einstein... although perhaps they might have thought twice if they'd understood genetics... which was not really fully scientifically understood then...

However, this seems to me to be something of a moral panic... Mr Holden quotes this Times article (which must be important propaganda as it is not behind the firewall) which reveals the real impetus ...a fear of "clannishness" ... "This is why, to get to grips with clannishness, I’d suggest we must target marriage customs directly" ...in other words the real aim of such a law is not genetic safety but an attempt at social engineering.  Mr Holden believes that not inbreeding makes society more stable... One wonders then why such Tories seem almost inevitably to be fans of Royal Families...

This week, I’m introducing legislation to @HouseofCommons that would end first cousin marriage (ie, when you share a set of grandparents)

Eagle eyed @dp_williamson at @Daily_Express has spotted it in tbe order paper and written up the story >>> https://t.co/g8w2jfZJDM

In the…

— Richard Holden MP (@RicHolden) December 8, 2024

The book fetishists of Blue Sky

 

So having wandered over to Blue sky from twitter I find it littered with a different type of chronic bore.  The kind of person who masturbates over how many books they have.  One of them uploaded this photo as if it were a good idea to hoard books in this manner... I told them they needed to visit the charity shop.  The kindle has been invented and no one can actually read that many books... Particularly when you need a ladder to reach them.  He responded defensively that the books didn't belong to him but "a bookseller friend".  So it isn't even a personal Library.... And I was not impressed.  I don't know about the words in the books but I suspect none of them are on interior design.

Pear Shaped S2 Episode 4

 

That peace platform he stood on is going well.

Hell to pay?  Has he seen Gaza?  It's just displaced people, 40,000 corpses and rubble... You could nuke it and no one would know the difference.  Benjamin Netanyahu probably would have but then it wouldn't be any good for Israeli settlements.  100 * 40,000 / 2,000,000= 2% of the population and Keir Starmer's still trying to tell us this isn't a genocide despite the ICC arrest warrants... For context only 25,000 people died in the firestorm of Dresden.  The Nagasaki nuclear bomb killed 60,000–80,000.  The 1990s Bosnian Genocide included only 8,372 killed at Srebrenica and another 25,609–33,071 Bosniaks and Croats killed if one takes a wider definition of genocide.  Even looking at "normal" conflicts... Only 25,000 people died at the Battle of Waterloo.  300,000 at the Battle of the Somme.  Of course it's not on the level of The Nazi Holocaust - 6 million (Auschwitz alone killed 1.1 million) or the Rwandan one (800,000 in a week) but still...  Gaza only has 2,000,000 people to rub out.  Less now... Blocking aid is particularly despicable...

The Banks write

 Dear Mr Miller 

Due to changes in the Bank of England base rate the interest rate on your savings account is going down and the interest rate on your mortgage is going up and we think you're dumb enough to suck it up.

Yours sincerely

All the Banks

Chinny Rub of the week ... Louise Haig

I cannot believe (well, I can) the number of people willing to defend Louise Haigh who has just resigned as Secretary of State for Transport after it emerged that she stole a mobile phone, was convicted for it and received an unconditional discharge.  Oh well, this is the party part of which still listens to Alastair "I'm not a war criminal" Campbell....

Here's the facts... 

Ms Haigh claimed she was mugged and lost the phone.  She reported it stolen to her employer and the police.  She then "found" the phone and turned it on again so the Police knew exactly where it was from its IMEI number which was being uploaded to phone masts as soon as the network detected it.

Ms Haig claims that this was an accident... but even if she had found the lost phone why would she turn it on?  After all, the SIM would have been disabled when it was reported stolen.  

To actually use it she'd have to put a new SIM in.  Here's a picture of Ms Haigh's story...

Louise Haig's Story

Now at this point someone else might be able to say "Well, I didn't understand police procedure...".  Unfortunately this sounds a bit hollow as Ms Haigh had previously been a Special Constable from 2009 to 2011 in the Metropolitan Special Constabulary.  Did she learn nothing in that position?  Or did she think her mates would cover up for her?

Ms Haigh's employer Aviva reportedly was not happy but opinion is divided as to whether they actually sacked her (different news outlets carry different versions of the story).  Some say she resigned and others ... Well, this is all very odd because the incident happened in 2014.  And Ms Haigh was at the time standing for Parliament.  So whilst it may be a spent conviction now it wasn't at the time Haigh was selected for Shefield Heeley in May 2014.  Did she declare her conviction to the Selection Committee or the Electorate in 2015?  

She must be particularly jammy to have managed to go down the Magistrate's Court, get convicted and manage for this not to be noticed by any ladies and gentlemen of the press at the time.  

I'm not saying no one with a minor conviction should ever stand for Parliament but in the interests of transparency perhaps they should have to declare their convictions?  After all, it can't hurt.  Donald Trump has 34 felony convictions and he's President of the United States.  It's no bar to a career these days.

It would be possible to feel some sympathy for Ms Haigh if she admitted wrongdoing but she's still fronting it out, claiming that she only stayed silent in the police interview and pled guilty because her solicitor advised her to.  Perhaps he did so ...because she was clearly guilty?

Chinny rub.

Welcome to Britain

 

Dear Anthony, The holidays are upon us and this year we are celebrating the power of community.  We're asking supporters like you to share your messages of solidarity so we can send these to people living in the asylum system and display them in our offices. Words are powerful and every message you share shows people that they aren’t alone, and that there are others standing beside them on their journey to safety.   Here are some of the beautiful messages we’ve received so far: “I wish all of you seeking refuge a very peaceful and happy Christmas 2024 and a safe and secure home in 2025.”   “Welcome to the UK. You are valued and you are special and my husband and I wish you all the hope love in the world.”  “Do not lose hope – there are people who care about you and will support you. Your life is as precious and important as everybody else’s.   Thank you so much for your words of kindness. We hope you have a wonderful start to the holiday season.   Laliesha Fundraising team Refugee Action Dear Refugees, Welcome to Britain  It's just like America  But with more rain Less money And Universal Healthcare

Spare a thought today for all the Pelican Crossings

Top Tip : Straight people.  Spare a thought today for all the Pelican Crossings who are suffering from Metropolitan Police Institutional Homophobia.  You may not notice them immediately but they're out there.

Meanwhile across the pond...

 

Meanwhile in Russia...

 

Protesting Farmers garner Marie Antoinette levels of sympathy...

Got to admire farmers in their optimism ....coming to the centre of a town where everyone pays Inheritance Tax at 40% on any property over £325,000 (The price of a 2 bedroom flat in the suburbs) and whining about paying IHT at 20% over 10 years on over £1,000,000.  Surely this can only inspire Marie Antoinette levels of sympathy...

Over at the Telegraph the Landed Gentry who threw us all off the agricultural land during the Enclosure Acts have deployed a Duchess to tell us all how unfair this is.  I don't know why they didn't get Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in and be done with it.

But apparently they need to completely avoid IHT in order to preserve their way of life because they are "asset rich but cash poor" and need to leave their farms as indivisible entities to their offspring.  Matthew Stadlen asked the obvious question.  What happens if there's more than one child?  Surely then you have to divide the estate ... to which many protested that they leave the farm to only one child - presumably cutting the others out the will completely like it's 1730?  The problem with this would be that dependents can now put in a claim on any estate that unreasonably cuts them out.  

A memorable case was Heather Ilott who took her late mother Melita Jackson's executor to Court when she decided that she'd rather leave her £486,000 estate to the cats home than her own biological daughter who she had disowned for marrying the wrong gentleman.  I think she got £50,000 in the end.  A shame really as that's the plot of Pride and Prejudice can never happen again - where all 5 daughters have to get married because property is entailed and can only be passed to a male heir and if they don't they'll be destitute.  I mean, if they wanted to preserve their way of life that much why don't they get Captain Swing back, break up the threshing machines and go back to the feudal system?  And no one else has their way of life preserved - the rest of us are left to Adam Smith's invisible hard ... but as ever the rich don't really want a free market either.  At least not one where everyone is subject to the same tax regime.  They've only had their IHT tax break since Thatcher brought it in in the 80s anyway ... alongside abolishing the rates for the Poll Tax and getting rid of tenants rights...

It's odd that we have a society where so many people are obsessed with IHT ... The average age of inheriting parental wealth is about 50 so what have these people been doing with their lives until then?  Are they all just sitting round waiting for octogenarian parents to kick the bucket of animal feed?  Presumably if the survival of the business as a unit mattered so much to these people they could gift if to their children 7 years before death or are they literally all working till they fall off their perches...?

Question for farmers protesting about inheritance tax.

Consider a farmer who has £5m of land. He has 2 children. One wants to continue with the family farm and the other works in a town.

How is the money handed down? Does the town son get any money or does the farmer son keep…

— Matthew Stadlen (@MatthewStadlen) November 19, 2024

Chinny rub of the Week

Apparently Essex Police turned up at the door of Allison Pearson on Remembrance Sunday to say someone had reported her for posting something "racist" the previous Remembrance Sunday.  They told Allison the exact date of the post but wouldn't tell her the words she used.  Allison didn't think to put in a Subject Access Request or check her own timeline but fortunately the Guardian have done it for her.

Update... The following press releases were put out by Essex Police...

Officers attended an address in Essex and invited a woman to come to a voluntary interview. 

They said it related to an investigation into an alleged offence of inciting racial hatred, linked to a post on social media.

We police without fear or favour and that’s why we respond to alleged offences which are reported to us by members of the public.

For clarity: a complaint of a possible criminal offence was made to the police and this is why we called; to arrange an interview.

Everyone was polite and professional throughout the brief conversation.

As this was a call to set up an interview, no extra details were given. That’s because we have to follow the law and make sure that everyone’s rights and entitlements, in particular to seek legal advice, were respected.

This is the right way to do things – it’s the correct procedure as set out by the Police And Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE).

Fuller details of an alleged offence are always provided prior to the commencement of a voluntary interview, under caution. That allows those present to seek appropriate legal advice and representation if they wish to.

As part of our investigation, we’re liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service regarding an alleged offence which was reported to us by a member of the public. This is an investigative stage review – nothing more.

Essex Police cuts crime. There were over 9,000 fewer reported offences in the last year and 20,000 fewer than five years ago.

Our officers and staff, some of which are military veterans, work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to keep the public safe and investigate crime.

We police without fear or favour and when a crime is reported, we investigate.

That’s what we do and that’s what the people of Essex expect.

There has been a large amount of false reporting about an ongoing investigation and the force has registered complaints with the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).

FURTHER UPDATE: 10.30am, Saturday 16 November:

Essex Police complained to Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) on a matter of factual accuracy.

The force has been asked to provide further factual information.

This morning, the following verbatim lines were passed to IPSO.

These lines are as spoken by an officer who attended an address in Essex on Sunday 10 November and were clearly captured on Body Worn Video.

Officer: "It’s gone down as an incident or offence of potentially inciting racial hatred online. That would be the offence."

Officer: "Because of what’s been alleged and the evidence that we’ve got, I need to just ask you some questions."

Officer: "It’s what’s been alleged and if there’s an offence we need to ask questions about then we need to do that."

Essex Police supports free speech.

It does not support inaccuracy. If an alleged crime is reported it is investigated. There is no public interest in falsehood.

Further note: (The verbatim statements above have been provided in this format as opposed to the Body Worn Video footage as it would be wrong to give any information in relation to any addresses visited).