"Jeremy Corbyn backs women-only public toilets"

From The Evening Standard:

Labour leadership frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn would push for women-only public toilets to be introduced to curb sex attacks, he has said. The Islington North MP, currently the bookies' favourite for the party’s top job, made the comments while launching his campaign against sexual harassment.

“Some women have raised with me that a solution to the rise in assault and harassment in public toilets could be to introduce women-only facilities. My intention would be to make going to the bathroom safer for everyone whether in the pub or on a train.

"However, I would consult with women and open it up to hear their views on whether women-only make-up sessions in night clubs would be welcome – and also if piloting this where harassment is reported most frequently would be of interest."

British Toilet Police recorded 1,399 sexual offences in 2014-15 in Britain’s toilets and washrooms, an increase of nearly 300 on the previous year and a new record.

Free Coffee

From the FT

The Labour party has accused small coffee shops of stealing trade from small toilet operators by providing toilets to its customers.

In its latest salvo against big business, Labour said the freeToilets scheme was having a “stark effect” on small toilet operators in the UK.

Andy Sawford, shadow communities minister, has written to every MP with a local small coffee shop asking them to press the shops to charge for toilets in the “spirit of fair competition”.

Delightful Headline Of The Day

From The Evening Standard:

Spending on public toilets slashed

Poor Widows In Church Toilets. For The Disabled.

From an article in today's Daily Mail, which I can't find online:

Why church repair bills will now be 20% higher

Churches across Britain, including some of the most beautiful and historic buildings in the land, have been hit with a VAT bombshell. A small-print clause in the Budget will mean that any alterations to thousands of listed buildings, including churches, will be liable to the 20% tax in future.

Having decided they didn't like this change one little bit, the Daily Mail's fearless reporters couldn't quite find a Poor Widow who would be 'clobbered' by this 'inquitous' tax 'grab', so they went for the next best thing:

So, for example, a church that needs to spend £18,000 to install new disabled toilets, [sic] ramps and hand rails would now suffer a £3,600 VAT bill.

Smoking/Toilet Break Of The Week

From The Brisbane Times:

A man from the Royal Australian Air Force who suffered horrific burns in a portaloo explosion, remains in a serious condition. The man received third-degree burns to his head, face, arms, chest and airways in the incident at the Rockhampton airport about 9.30am yesterday.

The Department of Community Safety said it's believed the man was lighting a cigarette at the time, a spokeswoman said. He was taken to the Rockhampton Hospital but transferred to the burns unit of the Royal Brisbane Hospital overnight. He remains in a serious condition, a defence spokesman told AAP.

Do we file that one under second- or third-hand smoke?

The Ultimate Elvis Presley Tribute Act

From the NME:

A man has been found dead in a portable toilet in the VIP backstage area of Glastonbury festival this morning (June 26)...

The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Act

From The Metro:

When a senior drugs officer with Britain’s ‘FBI’ went missing, his colleagues were baffled...

Two ‘extensive searches’ of the offices failed to turn up anything and, 16 hours after he was last seen, the officer’s colleagues called his wife and told her she should report him missing to local police.

He was eventually found at 4am the next day by a security guard on his regular rounds, who noticed the toilet cubicle door had been shut for a ‘considerable time’.

The guard then called Soca officers who kicked down the door and found their colleague dead on the toilet, just a few metres from his desk in the London offices of the agency.

Inspired illustration

Used by The Metro to illustrate what's going to happen to house prices:

Toilet/Burka/France Tomfoolery

Apparently, the management of a shopping centre called The Exchange in Rochdale, Greater Manchester has gone completely mental and installed two of those horrible squat toilet thingies "after attending a cultural awareness course run by a local Muslim community activist"*.

The only time I've ever experienced one of these was on holiday in Normandy, so to me they are French as much as Islamic. Which leads me on to my next thought - if the French are going to try and hold back the tide of Islamism by banning the burka, are they now going replace all those horrible squat toilets with proper modern ones? That would be nice.

At least I've learned something new from that Daily Mail article, first link above, Thomas Crapper was in fact never knighted, so I shall have to stop referring to him as Sir Thomas Crapper.

* H/t UKIP Daily Briefings email.