[the nvq society] and the uprooted flowerbed

You might first like to cast your eye over this post about June Turnbull, in order to get the picture.

Well, it's happened again - Angus covered it yesterday:

No good deed goes unpunished A retired florist has been threatened with criminal prosecution by a council after planting a flower garden on a neglected patch of land in a car park.

Jayne Bailey, a retired florist, gave the concrete island on her housing estate a makeover as the cobble-stones were coming loose and she thought they were dangerous.

Mrs Bailey, 60, removed loose cobbles and planted flowers in a display that has been supported by some of her neighbours.

So, was there an unveiling speech, with the local mayor praising initiative, selflessness and hard work? Not a bit of it. Those qualities are not desired in our society today, are they? Jayne Bailey is now retired from her horticultural work and as she doesn't possess a current NVQ [that is, paid out a huge sum of money for nothing] , she can't possibly know the first thing about horticulture.

Plus she's white and aged, which translates now as 'unwanted'. And what was the council's reaction?

"They also threatened that they would go to the police and report me for criminal damage.'

A spokesman for the council said:

"In this particular case no agreement was sought to carry out the works. Several complaints from residents have been received concerning the planting."

Complaints about her planting a garden on what was a bit of crumbling concrete? Oh yes? Maybe we can see the text of those 'complaints'?

So there it is - the new NVQ society, the forcing of people into narrow specialist areas, each with its new jargon and methods of exclusivity - this is union demarcation disputes taken to a point of madness and visited upon the whole community.

I have to ask you, 'Do you really want to live in such a society? Isn't there something we can do to reverse such bureaucratic madness?'