Have-a-go Hero - or not.

I'm pleased that Nick Gannon, headteacher of Cefn Fforest Primary School hasn't been sacked, despite being found guilty of misconduct by the school governors. He had taken his hammer and spade and removed a partition wall in his school without complying with all the appropriate 'Health and Safety' regulations. Must admit there's a cut of the same cloth about me. I recall once trying to persuade my local council to remove some high branches from a tree that was threatening a constituent and his family. I was having no success, so I turned up with a ladder and a chainsaw myself. The local newspaper turned up as well, and my efforts were duly recorded. Of course, I couldn't do much because the offending dead branches were about 60 ft up. So I persuaded Wyn Jones, a friend of mine to help me the following week with a digger, and I took a few more branches off - as high as the digger bucket would reach. I've got a really good head for hieghts, but Wyn was terrified that I'd fall out of the bucket. I then threatened to turn up the next week with a cherry picker to reach the top. But someone from the Council must have been a Conservative supporter, because I had a call to say that they were going to do the job themselves. Today, I'd have probably been arrested for putting my own life at risk. When I look back, I have to accept that I was way out of order, - but frustration does odd things to a man.

My good friend Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury could also be having a call from the police. Last week he too took the law into his own hands when he decided to chase down a couple of shirt thieves in London, putting his life at risk. It seems that Daniel was shopping in an upmarket shirt shop when he spotted the crime being perpetrated, and ran after them shouting "Stop thief". He's over 6' 8'' and his stride at full gallop must be about 3 metres. No wonder the thieves jettisoned their ill gotten goods. I hope he didn't break any Health and Safety regulations.