Getting the Message

Apparently a man in Birmingham has attempted to efficientise himself out of the Big Society once and for all. After a disagreement with the Selly Oak Idleness Police, he tied himself to railings, doused himself with flammable liquid and set himself alight. The real police put out the fire and took him to hospital with burns to his legs. Disability campaigners and other deficit deniers have warned ministers that this sort of thing would happen, and a couple of months ago the Department for Workfare and Penalties sent out a note in the best Blairite tradition, ordering staff to exercise the "utmost care and sensitivity" when depriving vulnerable people of the means to live. In the smoke of today's incident, however, the DWP has departed from its usual eagerness to give useful advice, and has gone all quiet.