Balls to Justice

The supreme court has ruled against ministers acting swiftly in the public interest, in the words of Ed Balls; or, in Standard English, arbitrarily firing public sector workers in the heat of an auto-da-fé by the scumbag press. The case in question was that of Sharon Shoesmith, who was sacked without compensation or a chance to defend herself after a report into the death of an abused child identified failings in her department. The court made the disturbing allegation that politicians could not "ignore elementary fairness", even when offering someone's head on a plate with a view to earning good conduct marks from the Daily Mail. The Department for Training Immature Resources said it was "very disappointed" at being denied the opportunity to spend more taxpayers' money fighting for the kind of localism that allows politicians in Westminster to give the boot to council employees in Haringey. The Department also noted that the sacking was "right in principle" or, in Standard English, that the Government didn't have a leg to stand on; and that the case involved "questions of constitutional importance" or, in Standard English, that the courts have no business interpreting the law to those who are above it. Ed Balls, the minister responsible, and Haringey council, the former employers, could now be liable for up to a million pounds in compensation and legal costs, though it is unclear how much of the burden will be shouldered by those whose conduct has been found intrinsically unfair and unlawful, and how much can be transferred to Haringey's undeserving.