Press Gang

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I was on the ferry coming back from the Continent on Friday September 3rd: Cut off from news of Britain in the torrid sunspots of Tuscany, I scoured the Italian press for articles about Britain containing an Italian word I could underThe going was tough, as it seems that the phrase, 'Volare, nel blu dipinto di blu' is no longer a major part of current Italian usage. The people I was talking to hadn't even heard of Perry Como!

The only news I could find was about some "invasione' - which I take to be an 'invasion' of 'volpones' Before you go scampering off for your neveropened-but-bought-withgood-intentions copy of 'Parliamo Italiano' , FIl tell you what this refers to: an invasion of foxes.

'Who were these foxes?' I wondered on that Friday, hoping the papers would tell me. The effort I took to choose the most informative of the tabloids on sale A LOT of attention has was exhausting.

The 'Daily Express headline was THE STING. The 'Sun' headline was THE STING; the 'Daily Star' headline was THE STING too. It sounded more like an invasion of wasps at this point. So 1 chose the 'Mirror' - same story but it didn't have the words THE STING written across the top.

According to the Mirror, police in Oxford had arrested 286 people for fiddling the dole. They had trapped these claimants by setting up a fake DHSS office. Foxy people these police!

Those arrested, said the article, had been claiming full money which includes payment for accommodation, while in fact many of them were homeless.

By the next day, the numbers charged were published: 173. Obviously, over a hundred people were arrested and detained without any reason. One was a lad who hadn't actually made a claim; he'd just been looking for a friend.

The Oxford and District Solicitors' Association complained about the "suspension of protection for defendants.

The elaborate plan likened in every paper to the fake betting shop in a Paul Newman-Robert Redford film that I suppose Oxford's Chief Inspector Plod had recently viewed on his video - netted such important criminal elements as vagrants who were 'living rough' Perhaps that's why the force mobilised for this important task was, according to the Oxford Mail, the Bicester-based Serious Crimes Squad.

Since then it has been reported - with rather less fanfare than either the original story, or the story about the invasion of foxes - that organisations concerned with the plight of the homeless have been trying for years to get the police to take action against the landlords who are running the claims racket.

In fact, the Oxford Mail Another member of the reports that police asked them not to run a story on homelessness for fear the plan to arrest the claimants would fall through.

According to the press, however, the police have not arrested any landlords. No doubt when that happens, it'll be front page news again. No doubt all the tabloids will pick up the story about the plight of the homeless and unemployed and headline that too.

They'll couple that with detailed information about Patrick Spilling is on holiday Press Gang this week is by Andrew Hornung.

ma for mu Fi A FAS DAILY GUERA the £500,000,000 worth of benefits that are not claimed.

Maybe they'll include details fo what happened to the DHSS officials that refused benefit to 680 blacks in Oldham, in 676 cases without adequate grounds.

I look forward to the day. Though I fear that if there's an invasion of foxes that day, the homeless will be kept out of the headlines Thursday September 2. huge scale. ent the unemployed.

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STARI MA NAXE HORROR-E