Latest news with #Hendy
Ottawa Citizen
6 days ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Cameron Highlanders top officer removed in wake of Blue Hackle Mafia controversy
Article content He did not provide the names of those individuals involves in the investigation. Article content Complaints were made in December to military police about the Blue Hackle Mafia group. In addition, complaints about the private Facebook site and the contents being posted by soldiers were made to Lt. Col. Hendy, as well as 33 Brigade Commander Col. James McKay, according to whistleblowers interviewed by the Ottawa Citizen. The inappropriate contents of the Facebook account and its existence was also reported to officials in the Judge Advocate General's office. Article content At the time military police were also provided with videos and screenshots of the Blue Hackle Mafia material but decided not to launch an investigation. Instead, military police turned over the investigation to the Cameron Highlanders. A reserve force captain who serves with some of those involved in the Blue Hackle Mafia was assigned to investigate their behaviour. Article content Article content After the Ottawa Citizen provided Wright with the screenshots of some of the Blue Hackle Mafia material on June 24, military police opened a new investigation. Article content On June 27, Wright spoke with all division commanders about the Blue Hackle Mafia group, reinforcing what he said was 'the Army's commitment to uphold its values and the importance of applying military disciplinary and administrative processes in cases of alleged misconduct.' Article content The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (Duke of Edinburgh's Own) serve as the city of Ottawa's official regiment, according to the Canadian Forces. The regiment is tasked, as needed, to provide ceremonial guards of honour for visiting dignitaries and for national ceremonies and events. The reserve unit operates out of the Cartier Square Drill Hall on Queen Elizabeth Driveway. Article content In his statement sent to army personnel, Wright pointed out that the organization 'will continue to ensure that our culture reflects the values and ethics of the Canadian Armed Forces, and I expect the chain of command across the Canadian Army to deal immediately with any inappropriate behaviour that deviates from those values and ethics.' Article content Article content 'This incident has damaged the reputation of the Canadian Army at a time when we are engaged in important modernization work as part of a ready, resilient, and relevant Canadian Armed Forces,' he added. Article content The Blue Hackle Mafia has operated its Facebook group with around 200 participants since at least 2007. Article content As the Ottawa Citizen reported the soldiers on the Facebook page knew what they were doing was wrong but their focus was on not getting caught. They warned each other not to take photos of the wild antics that were taking place at the Cartier Square Drill Hall.
The Herald Scotland
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Tommy Cooper, Bob Monkhouse and Eric Morecambe brought back to life
Theatre Royal, Glasgow Neil Cooper Four stars Now here's a funny one. Take three comedians, 1970s household names the lot of them, and all used to dying a death on the variety circuit during their early years. Then, like some celestial impresario, put them on the same bill, and see who comes out laughing. Such is the premise behind Paul Hendy's play, revived for a UK tour following a west end run after being a hit of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Hendy's conceit is to put Tommy Cooper, Bob Monkhouse and Eric Morecambe in a grotty dressing room where the wall is adorned by photographs of other greats of the comedy world no longer with us. Over the next eighty minutes, professional competition develops into a philosophical dissection of what people laugh at. This is punctuated by some well-honed gags that sees each man go some way to reveal the personal drive behind their acts, be it Cooper's ramshackle magic show, Morecambe's double act with Ernie Wise, or Monkhouse the comic scholar turned game show host. Read more Damian Williams' Cooper is clad in Y-fronts and trademark fez before being joined by Simon Cartwright as Monkhouse and Bob Golding as Morecambe. The physical and vocal impressions are pitch perfect as each actor embodies their respective subject, with Hendy's own production going beyond tribute act to reveal something deeper. Ethan Lewis Maltby's minimalist piano score highlights the poignancy of three very different artists who were locked in a particular time. Designer Lee Newby's meticulously observed dressing room becomes an existential limbo where each man awaits their final call before stepping out for the ultimate finale. The end result falls somewhere between Jean Paul Sartre's play, Huis Clois, and a 1970s hammy horror film compendium where people are thrown together seemingly at random. The punchline regarding the trio's fate may be easy to spot a mile off, but by bringing a certain kind of comedy back to life it makes for the ultimate big night out. Just like that.
South Wales Argus
09-07-2025
- Business
- South Wales Argus
HS2's structures should have been ‘largely completed' by now
Mark Wild, HS2 Ltd chief executive, said one of the main causes of the delays was starting construction work before designs were finalised and local planning consents were in place. Notice to proceed was granted by the government in April 2020. Mr Wild blamed cost overruns on the awarding of contracts which meant the government held all the risk in case of problems, and failings of HS2 Ltd. He said the coronavirus pandemic and the rise in inflation caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine had also had an impact. Phase One of HS2 between London and Birmingham was initially planned to open by the end of 2026. This was later pushed back to between 2029 and 2033, but Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said last month there was 'no route' to meeting that timeframe. HS2 workers gather to observe boring machine Mary Ann breaking through at Washwood Heath depot near Birmingham city centre (Jacob King/PA) In 2013, HS2 was estimated to cost £37.5 billion (at 2009 prices) for the entire planned network, including the now-scrapped extensions from Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds. In June last year, HS2 Ltd assessed the cost for the line between London and Birmingham would be up to £66 billion. Mr Wild, who was appointed late last year, told the Commons Transport Select Committee: 'The construction of the civil engineering should have been largely completed by now. 'The reality is we're about 60% complete.' He added: 'The whole scheme, which includes, of course, the tracks, the overhead lines, the trains, the system integration, we're about a third complete.' Mr Wild described the project as 'a unique challenge in this country'. He went on: 'A third of this route is actually underground or in cuttings. 'This is a huge, considerable, maybe the biggest civil engineering project ever undertaken in this country. 'The facts are, in the first two years of effort, we simply didn't make enough progress.' Rail minister Lord Hendy, who also gave evidence to the committee, said he could not 'make a case' for why permission to start construction was granted when it was as the need for HS2 was not 'desperate'. He told MPs: 'We need relief of the West Coast Main Line, and a new railway is the right answer. 'But why it was pursued with such speed – and now we're suffering the cost of it – is hard to say.' Lord Hendy went on to say it was unclear why it was decided HS2 should be an 'exceptionally fast railway, rather than just a fast railway'. The design speed for HS2 tracks is 400km/h (250mph), and the trains will have a maximum speed of 360km/h (225mph). Lord Hendy noted that Eurostar trains are permitted to run at up to 300km/h (185mph) on HS1, which connects London St Pancras and the Channel Tunnel. He said: 'It is hard to understand why there was such zealotry (with HS2) about the highest-speed railway in a relatively small country, when the origination of it was to relieve capacity.' HS2's speed has been blamed for inflating costs and increasing the complexity of designs.
Sunday World
02-07-2025
- Sunday World
Fisherman jailed after gouging ‘dirty big scratch' into garda's car
Vincent Hendy (47) deliberately scraped the car that turned out to belong to an officer who had stopped off to take his children for ice-cream A FISHERMAN who thought he had a 'God-given right' to park in a public space outside his seaside home has been jailed for using a garden hoe to gouge a 'dirty big scratch' into an off-duty garda's car. Vincent Hendy (47) deliberately scraped the car that turned out to belong to an officer who had stopped off to take his children for ice-cream nearby, a court heard. Hendy, a father-of-four, had denied causing the damage but Judge John Hughes found him guilty at Dublin District Court and sentenced him to five months in prison, with another month suspended. The victim, Mick O'Shea, said he parked his car at East Pier, Howth, on May 24 last year to bring his three children to an ice cream shop. There was a traffic cone in the parking spot but it was a public space, so he moved it and placed it on the footpath. He returned an hour later, drove 20 metres to the public toilets and when he got out he noticed a scrape 'the full width' of the driver's side door, 'like someone had used a sharp object to gouge it.' The damage, valued at €450, had not been there before and he had no collision, he said. Barrister Paul Larkin Coyle, defending, asked him why CCTV showed he did not react when he returned to his car. Mr O'Shea said he had not noticed the damage at that stage and he denied that the damage could have happened after he drove off. The court heard the footage was from Hendy's security camera and gardai got it when they went to search the house on June 12. Garda David Kernan said he was accompanied by council dog handlers because the accused had 'multiple German Shepherds," and the public order unit was also there 'on standby if needed to maintain safety.' Mr Larkin Coyle said it was a 'significant garda response" for a criminal damage case and Hendy maintained he was aggressively confronted, which Garda Kernan denied. Vincent Hendy The garda said the CCTV showed the accused, carrying a large gardening hoe, was the only person who passed the car in the time it was damaged. Hendy denied any physical interaction with the car. He told the court he was returning from shopping in Woodie's, parked 'in the middle of the road' and retrieved his items from his own car. He saw Mr O'Shea's car and 'walked past, that is all.' He denied that he 'angled the hoe' at the car and said he would have felt it if he made contact. He said he put a traffic cone outside his house because he wanted to keep his car within view of his CCTV, due to 'anti-social behaviour' and cars getting damaged. He denied having a 'grievance' about anyone moving the cone, saying 'people do it every day.' 'I don't think he was reckless at all, I think it was intentional, I think he meant to scrape the car,' Judge Hughes said, convicting Hendy. 'I think you perfectly intended to do this because as far as you are concerned, this is your parking spot and you put out the cone because you think you have a God-given right to park in that spot. This has nothing to do with public order out on the street.' The accused decided 'for whatever reason' he would damage the car, the judge said. 'Mr O'Shea was simply going for an ice cream with his kids and that day was ruined when he came back to find a dirty big scratch down the side of his car," he added. Recognisances were set in the event of an appeal. Vincent Hendy Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 2nd
North Wales Chronicle
19-06-2025
- Business
- North Wales Chronicle
Rail minister blasts ‘arrogant' HS2 over crisis-hit flagship project
In withering criticism, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill said the flagship HS2 project had gone 'badly wrong', pointing out the Government could not say when it would open or how much it would cost, which was a 'terrible position'. With new leadership in place, he pointedly remarked there would now be bosses 'who are communicative, collaborative, straight and honest'. Lord Hendy also noted his own Department for Transport (DfT), which owns HS2 Ltd, bore 'some culpability' and noted the most senior civil servant at the ministry had retired. His scathing remarks came after Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said an interim report by Mark Wild, the chief executive of HS2 Ltd, who was appointed late last year, 'lays bare the shocking mismanagement of the project under previous governments'. The Cabinet minister said she was 'drawing a line in the sand, calling time on years of mismanagement, flawed reporting and ineffective oversight'. HS2 was originally due to run between London and Birmingham, then on to Manchester and Leeds, but the project was cutback by the Conservatives in power because of spiralling costs. The first phase was initially planned to open by the end of 2026, but this was pushed back to between 2029 and 2033 and will now be delayed even further. In 2013, HS2 was estimated to cost £37.5 billion (at 2009 prices) for the entire planned network, including the now-scrapped extensions from Birmingham. In June last year, HS2 Ltd assessed the cost for the line between London and Birmingham would be up to £66 billion. Ms Alexander said the Government has accepted all the recommendations of a review into the governance and accountability of HS2 Ltd, led by senior infrastructure delivery adviser, James Stewart. She also confirmed the appointment of Mike Brown as chairman of HS2 Ltd. Mr Brown is a former commissioner for Transport for London, who helped to oversee the delivery of Crossrail, the transport project which became London's Elizabeth line. Speaking in Parliament on the 'reset' of the high-speed rail development, Lord Hendy said: 'HS2 has gone badly wrong, and it falls to this Government to sort it out, because we cannot carry on like this. 'Currently, we can predict neither when it will open nor how much it will cost. That is a pretty terrible position to be in and it has to be said the consequences are as a result of actions taken by previous governments.' Responding to a question from his Tory counterpart Lord Moylan on criticism of the DfT in Mr Stewart's review, the minister said: 'My own department clearly shoulders some culpability. 'He asked what has happened in the department and, although I do not think it is not right to delve into senior personnel, he will, of course, note that a new permanent secretary is about to be appointed, the previous incumbent having retired.' Lord Hendy went on: 'One of the really important things in this is that, I think for the first time for a long time, we will have a chair and a chief executive of HS2 who are communicative, collaborative, straight and honest, and we can have a discussion with them about where this is going and what it is doing. 'One of the characteristics of this company so far, and of the Crossrail company for most of its life, is that they were both arrogant enough to believe that they knew what they were doing without any supervision and without telling anybody what was really going on. 'In both cases, it went badly wrong. 'Mark (Wild) knows that he has to change the culture of the company. There clearly are some good people there, but they need to be led and directed properly.'
