Friday 26 February 2016

Praise For a Probation Officer

In an "astounding" maiden speech, Baron Bird of Notting Hill spoke of the work of The Big Issue in preventing poverty in Britain

The Big Issue founder John Bird electrified the House Of Lords today with a maiden speech that spoke of his decades of fight to beat poverty, indicated that he wants to bring lessons learned to bear during his time as a peer, and also left some members a little confused. In a colourful and fierce 13 minutes, which, said Lord Patel, “will go down in the records of maiden speeches as astounding and eccentric,” Bird raised laughs by thanking his probation officer, raised eyebrows when he said “bugger” and focused on the achievements of The Big Issue.

4 comments:

  1. Probation Officer26 February 2016 at 20:52

    Very good speech. His praise reflected exactly what a probation officer should be. That is help, support and encouraging change, and thankfully no mention of the perverse practices of risk management, public protection and the coming era of electronic monitoring!! One of few lords I respect alongside Beecham and Ramsbotham to name a few. Hopefully he'll become part of the campaign to reunite probation and to properly reform the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

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  2. Why have NAPO not approached this man to discuss the farce that has become the " National Probation Service"?

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  3. Why is he saying probation officer. I was told this no longer exists as it's responsible officer now?

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  4. Because he had a probation officer at the time when he was young, decades ago and when a probation officer advised, assisted and befriended their clients.

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