Thursday, July 03, 2008

Loony Britain

A demolition team have started work on a £94 million, three-year building project at the West Kent College in Tonbridge, Kent.

Officials at college sent an email to all pupils saying , "It has come to the attention of the college that some female students have been making comments to, or whistling at, the builders both whilst on site and as they walk around the campus. The email warned that the student's behaviour was "totally unacceptable", and saying any those caught harassing contractors would face disciplinary action.

A spokeswoman for the contractors, Galliford Try, said: "We have no registered complaints on this issue. However we do not condone inappropriate behaviour from any parties on our sites."

Meanwhile new laws could see wolf-whistling builders placed on the sex offenders register. The Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill will create a new offence of "communicating indecently", punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

The legislation is intended to punish sexual harassment by text, emails and letters, but ministers also aim to include sexually explicit comments to strangers. It is expected that the law would only apply to persistent offenders.

At the moment, workmen who repeatedly make obscene comments to passers-by can be convicted of a breach of the peace.

Since the slowdown in construction, we don't have any such problems here! In any case, to shout "guapo" to a builder would be regarded as a real compliment.

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