The Boris Johnson Picture Gallery

It seems we all like our pictures of Boris, so here's a few more with a few suitable quotes to make your Saturday Evening even more fun.


<<<<<<<<- "I think I was once given cocaine, but I sneezed and so it did not go up my nose. In fact, I may have been doing icing sugar."



Boris finally picks a team of advisors with a spotless past - >>>>

<<<<<<<- "I was quite surprised by the complete intellectual dishonesty in some of the ways they've tried to misrepresent me. I feel determined not to let them get away with it and we won't."

The BNP Truth Truck

I downloaded this picture from a BNP blog. I knew about some of their policies, but clearly they've added a few more. They say one picture says a thousand words and they're not wrong here.

Comment on the Barnet Council Budget

I've just noticed that Barnet Council are asking for comments on their new Budget. I don't know how long the link has been there, but I'm the only person in Barnet who has so far bothered to leave a comment. The closing date is 1st March.

If you can't be bothered to, then don't leave comments here moaning when they cut services !

Cut & paste this link & send it to all your friends. Click on it to leave a comment yourself.

http://www.barnet.gov.uk/index/council-democracy/consultations/budget-consultations.htm

Whilst I disagree with several points in the budget. Raising Funeral costs for infants & removal of warden services, I think it is good that they've given us this forum to comment. Don't waste it

Affordable Council Housing

I just performed a Google search on the following text (cut and paste this into one and try it yourself)

"Labour mp" "affordable council housing"

I wanted to do a blog on what MP's had to say about this subject. I was hoping to find a selection of articles to quote. The results shocked me. There were only 37 hits returned and not one from a major national Newspaper.

We''ve had a "Labour" Government for 12 years with huge majorities. The Labour party are meant to look after working people. My parents moved into a council house in 1948 as this was what working couples used to do. They bought their own home in 1960, as their business had taken off. The philosophy then was that couples need some help starting out, once they have secure finances they move on.

The philosophy of today is one of stress, debt, dodgy private landlords, insecurity and worry.

As I pondered this, I remembered that it's not Labour, it's NEW Labour - I always wondered what the NEW in New Labour stood for. I think I've figured it out.

Nepotistic - Have you noticed the number of "poweful families" involved with New Labour?
Egotistical - Macho policies devised to show tough Leadership (tough on the poor that is)
Wealthy - How many senior New Labour figures are from poor backgrounds?

Is it any wonder they never mention affordable council housing? Just as a comparison, I did the following search to see what our "New" Labour MP's really care about.

"Labour mp" allowances

That returned 29,200 hits and there lies the problem with Great Britain today.

If you want my advice on achieving financial security in Great Britain today? Choose your parents well.

Daily Mail Blows a Gasket over Romeo and Julian

Are you Straight - Will this image turn you gay?

It seems the Daily Mail has blown a gasket over a school putting on a version of Romeo and Juliet with a gay slant -

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1156534/Wherefore-art-thou-Julian-School-performs-Romeo-Julian-celebrate-gay-history-month.html

"Political Madness gone mad" they shriek. We all know that the Daily Mail is shall we say, a bit reactionary, but hang on. Do they actually know the story of Romeo and Juliet? Forbidden Love ends in tragedy. Apparently the pupils themselves put on the play to counteract bullying. Does the Mail support homophobic bullying? My Dad, who was a rather- Heterosexual ex Air Force Pilot made me watch "The Naked Civil Servant" - The Life Story of Quenten Crisp in the 1970's. Why? Because it had good reviews and he thought it would teach me something about a side of life which I knew nothing. Did it turn me gay? No. A mate of mine who swings that way told me that when he came out, his brother insisted he watch some hard core porn to cure him. Did it work? No

The Mail are clearly unaware of the message of Shakespeares play. That if you fall in love with someone you shouldn't have, you are in for a hard time. If you get offended by that you are an idiot.

At the Top of this page I've put a picture of Lenny Henry playing Juliet for Comic relief. Will it turn a straight man gay? I've put a picture of Debbie Harry at the bottom of the page. Does it for me, but will it turn a gay man straight? In the wonderful world of the Daily Mail, it probably will.

Are you Gay - Will this image straighten you out?

Brave Crusader Coleman trashes Council Leader Freer

As you may know, I've criticised Brian Coleman over the years, but I read an article by him in the New Statesman (click for full article) today which succinctly summed up all of the problems we are currently seeing in Barnet with the Mike Freer regime.

Brian Coleman says :-

When I was first elected to my local council the annual allowance payable to a councillor in suburban Barnet was £600 (less income tax). There was also a complicated attendance scheme that necessitated filling out a monthly form which most members, including me, couldn't be bothered with for the sake of a couple of quid.

----

Cabinets were devised, councillors became "portfolio holders"; substantial allowances were paid, and members became eligible for the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Some council leaders now receive up to £65,000 per annum and, for being an executive member, the average in London is about £30,000.

To keep the backbenchers happy so-called 'Special Responsibility Allowances' now have to be paid for all sorts of minor, functionary positions: £2,500 for being vice-chair of the Trees and Cemeteries Scrutiny Committee or for turning up at a Licensing Committee once a year. In short big money for local politicians.

The danger of this, of course, is leaders now win or lost their positions on the strength of who they had promised well paid jobs to.

And I fear getting to form an administration in local government has more to do with how all the allowances are distributed than which councillor is best for which job.

---

The repeal of the 2000 Local Government Act, the ending of executive powers for councillors and a return to proper, accountable, local democracy would be a first step to ensuring that service rather than salary was the driving force for Local Councillors.

Political service should be a calling not a career!

It couldn't be clearer could it. Would Mr Coleman have written this if Mike Freer was running a tight ship? He can only speak of his own personal experience, which is in Barnet with Mike Freer. As I look back on the repeated incompetance - huge stealth taxes for parents of dead children which raise less than Council Leader Mike Freer's raise this year, £27.4 Million lost in Iceland, undisclosed millions overspent on the Aerodrome Road project, a million on reopening Partingdale Lane, a dangerous ratrun, £16,000 spent on plasma screen TV's for top council official's desks - I have to conclude that Brian Coleman is right in his comments. I support his crusade to clean up local government 100%.

In Statler and Waldorf's blog, they detail a few of the raised allowances this year.

Councillor _____________2008/9_____ 2009/10 __%age
Maureen Braun _________£19,470______£22,382 __15%
Mike Freer ___________£51,109______£53,782 __5%
Lynne Hillan __________£34,559______£38,692 __12%
John Marshall _________£19,470______£22,143 __14%
Robert Rams __________£13,629______£15,815 __16%
Andreas Tambourides____£23,364______£27,984 __20%
Joanna Tambourides_____£16,063______£18,249 __14%
Daniel Thomas _________£13,629______£15,815 __16%

This against a background of recession and unemployment. Barnet Council has set the 4th highest rate of Council Tax Increase in London. Whilst the London Average is 1.2% (click here for details), us poor mugs in Barnet are lumbered with a 2.8% rise. This is a council which won't even divulge it's bill for expensive consultants working on "blue sky" projects.

Mike Freer deposed former Tory Council Leader, Brian Salinger just after the last election, promising to be a Thatcherite Tax cutter. Has he succeeded. Well it seems to me that he's failed miserably. Could his Tory Council support base have more to do with the figures listed above and the effect these have (as described by Brian Coleman) than his ideology or competance? The truth of how Barnet is being run has been valiantly exposed by Mr Coleman. It is there in black and white for all to see.

In my fullsome praise for Brian Coleman's article there are just three small problems.

1. He wrote the article in December 2007 and yet he's been happy to go along with all this ever since, despite his deep misgivings.

2. When he criticises the scheme of allowances, he is being a complete hypocrite as he trousers over £100,000 in allowances from the public purse. The Local Government act allows him not to claim these, but he happily banks the cheques.

3. He completely contradicts himself in this article in the Barnet Press

I simply cannot square the arguments he made in the New Statesman with those in the Press. As I said I completely support his sentiments in the New Statesman. Unfortunately as he's shown himself to be a hypocrite, it hasn't changed my opinion of him one iota.

Is Boris spinning us a line?

Boris and the Borismen - 1980's New Romantic Swing Orchestra
1) Sebastian Grigg, (2) David Cameron, (3) Ralph Perry-Robinson, (4) Ewen Fergusson, (5) Matthew Benson, (6) Sebastian James, (7) Jonathan Ford, (8) Boris Johnson, (9) Harry Eastwood

Just happened to take a peek at Boris Johnson's website. Now I know he's an old fuddy duddy Tory and I'm a punk rocker, but hey I'm a couple of years older than him and his latest blog just doesn't ring true.

Do you think he could, shall we say, be embellishing events slightly. Can anyone believe that Boris really was on holiday, with a group of friends, watching "For Your Eye's Only" with Roger Moore, when a friend asked them to pause it as their 11 year old might see something untoward (other than one of the worst Bond movies)?

I doubt my eleven year old would even watch it. She'd get bored after 5 minutes and start playing on the Nintendo DS or complain and get us to plug in the Wii.

I'm sorry but the situation Boris describes just doesn't ring true to someone with kids of that age. I notice that the article originally appeared in the Telegraph. Do you think he thought he could get away with it with their bunch of geriatric readers?

Victoria Borwick - The free dinner register (& other nice goodies)

My friend and fellow swivel eyed Trotskyite blogger, The Tory Troll today brought us news of some shenanigans and dodgy dealings at the GLA.

It seems top GLA Tory Member Victoria Borwick has sent out a leaflet promoting her husbands business to recipients of a GLA publication.

To quote the Troll :-

One time mayoral hopeful Lady Victoria Borwick sent out letters to fellow Assembly members and London Council leaders stating that:

"we are often discussing ways of helping reduce noise levels and pollution and I realized that most people are not aware of the various fully electric options available to us.”


In order to make them more aware, she included brochures for Modec Electric Vehicles, a company chaired by her husband Lord Borwick.

In a follow up letter Ms Borwick states :-

I am concerned lest it could be thought that my letter might appear to fall under the category of “using a position to secure an unfair advantage for any person”.

Well Victoria, it seems that you are not the only one who is concerned. I'm rather concerned at this as well. At the very least it betrays extremely poor judgement from someone entrusted to a senior role.

As I'm still recovering from National Brian Coleman day yesterday, I though I'd follow up my blog on his free dinners, by seeing how Victoria Borwick has been doing in the sponging stakes. You can check this yourself with a visit here :-

http://www.london.gov.uk/pls/apex/f?p=135:1:2793743370652029:::::

But to save you the trouble, here it is :-

Victoria Borwick 22-MAY-08 Drinks Reception CHSM Hill Companies
Victoria Borwick 11-JUN-08 Lunch British Antique Dealers Association
Victoria Borwick 25-JUN-08 Lunch Conservative Friends of Israel.
Sponsor - Lord Steinberg and Andrew Heller
Victoria Borwick 03-JUL-08 Drinks and Canapes Mr Brian Kingham
Victoria Borwick 11-JUL-08 Lunch Mr Philip Bouverat. JCB Ltd
Victoria Borwick 17-JUL-08 Drinks reception Think London
Victoria Borwick 31-JUL-08 British International Motor Show visit and
catalogue Society of Motor Manufacturers
and Traders
Victoria Borwick 18-SEP-08 Reception, Kensignton Roof Gardens
NCH/ Action for Children
Victoria Borwick 28-SEP-08 Reception National Newspaper
Victoria Borwick 28-SEP-08 Dinner, Britannia Hotel, Birmingham Politeia
Victoria Borwick 29-SEP-08 Reception Conservative Party
Victoria Borwick 29-SEP-08 Reception Spectator Magazine
Victoria Borwick 29-SEP-08 Dinner, Malmaison Hotel, Birmingham
City of London
Victoria Borwick 29-SEP-08 Breakfast Reception Reform
Victoria Borwick 30-SEP-08 Reception Policy Exchange
Victoria Borwick 30-SEP-08 Reception Conservative Party
Victoria Borwick 30-SEP-08 Lunch Westminster Conservatives
Victoria Borwick 30-SEP-08 Breakfast Reception BBC
Victoria Borwick 29-OCT-08 Drinks reception British Library
Victoria Borwick 04-NOV-08 Drinks reception Barts hospitals
and the London Charity
Victoria Borwick 06-NOV-08 Lunch NHS Confederation Lunch
Victoria Borwick 08-NOV-08 3 tickets for the Lord Mayor's Show,
comprising: - Grandstand seats in St Paul's
Churchyard for procession - Lunch at the
Barbican Centre - ITV reception to view
fireworks on display on the Thames The Lord
Mayor of London City of London Corporation
Victoria Borwick 12-NOV-08 Reception at Oxo Tower, SE1 Mike Adams,
President of Bechtel
Victoria Borwick 17-NOV-08 Book token South Hampstead High School
Victoria Borwick 02-DEC-08 Drinks and buffet dinner at Arup, #
Fitzroy Street, London W1 London First
Victoria Borwick 08-JAN-09 London Government Dinner at Mansion House
Lord Mayor of London
Victoria Borwick 12-JAN-09 Centenary Celebration reception plus miniature
bottle of whiskey. Balfour Beatty
Victoria Borwick 21-JAN-09 Seminar and lunch Politeia
Victoria Borwick 09-FEB-09 Dinner Politeia
Victoria Borwick 10-FEB-09 Planning for a better London Reception.
Development Securities PLC

Now at a mere 30 entries, she's well behind Brian Coleman's 88. Having said that, it disgusts me that politicians earning hefty allowances ponce on Charities. I note that on the 18th September 2008 she attended a reception for NCH at the Kensington Roof Gardens. Well we have an NCH charity box in our studio reception. It disgusts me that our customers put money in to buy Vicky Borwick drinks and nosh. That's not what it's meant to be about. On the 4th November 08 she attended a booze up funded by Barts and the London Charity. I'm sorry, call me old fashioned, but all of the Charity do's I go to I buy a ticket for.

I also noted quite a few dinners courtesy of Politeia. I'd never heard of this, but it appears to be a think tank. Why does it buy London assembly members free dinners so regularly? I'd be intrigued to know :- Have a look for yourself http://www.politeia.co.uk/AboutUs/tabid/52/Default.aspx

One other intriguing entry - a book token from South Hampstead High School. Reading her explanation on the Tory Troll website, they'd have been better giving her a free remedial English lesson (yes I know that it's the pot calling the kettle black, but hey I didn't get a book token!)

I note that she certainly went on a bit of a binge at the Tory Conference - 28/29/30 Sept - What a girl !!!!

This prejudice makes me sick

I imagine that like everyone else I was shocked and saddened to read about the tragic death of David Cameron's son Ivan. I've got three beautiful children and I can think of nothing worse than what the Camerons are experiencing right now. Having said that, upon reading the media coverage, I found myself shocked and angered by the way in which some of the media have covered it. I am a volunteer helper with a charity involved with the disabled. I've been involved with this since 2001. I started helping as I've been blessed with many gifts in life and so helping people who haven't been quite as lucky seemed a good thing to do. Before I became involved, I had a vague idea about the issues facing people with disabilty. In the 1960/70's when I was at school, terms such as "Spastic" and "Mongy" were thrown across the playground as terms of insult. I knew a boy who had suffered from the Thalidomide drug and he was sometimes referred to as "Thlid". At the time we thought nothing of these derogatory terms, fortunately the climat has changed to make such terms completely unacceptable. People deride political correctness, but in cases such as these I for one think we've matured as a nation.

I have a cousin who is my age who suffers from Downs Syndrome, so I wasn't totally unaware of the issues, but I wasn't involved in her care or the problems she faced. I was too busy playing football with her brother when we were growing up. When I started helping, the first shock I had was that it wasn't a chore, it was a joy most of the time. There are two different strands of disability, physical and mental. Often people assume the two things go hand in hand, but Stephen Hawking shows that nothing could be further from the truth. I've sat, drank beer, played cards and even been to see Status Quo with our group. I love them all. Even the most seemingly mentally impared people can sometimes shock you with their humour and wit. One of our group, who has severe issues and has a vocabulary of maybe 20 words, once had the group in absolute fits of laughter during a church service. A priest had been giving a sermon that had probably started to go on just a little too long. Whilst the rest of us suffered in silence, at a natural pause for breath, with perfect timing, our friend showed he'd learnt a new word and shouted at the top of his voice "Amen". The priest took the hint & wrapped up. Everyone else sniggered.

What may you ask has this got to do with the coverage of the passing of Ivan Cameron? Well should any of our group pass away we get a phonecall to let us know. Should I drop dead tomorrow, the group will get a call and they'll say "Tragic News, Roger has passed away". The same message would go out whoever it was. When I saw the story of Ivan Cameron in the Daily Express, I saw this is headline :-



Ivan was David Cameron's son. He wasn't defined by his disability, he was a valued and cherished member of the Cameron family. It seems to me that the implication of the headline is that it's something less of a tragedy because he was disabled. The story is that he's passed away and he's David Cameron's son. He died because he suddenly became ill. As best I can tell from the coverage it was unexpected. That can happen to us all. I have no objection to a story mentioning his problems in the context of the article, but to define this beautiful child by his disability is disgusting, in the way this headline has.

This is the reason that when I push someone in a wheelchair, who has a higher IQ than me (not that hard), into a shop, the assistant invariably talks to me. It's like when we go for a beer, they say "What does he want" even though the only thing wrong with my friend is he can't walk.

I've become a better, stronger, funnier, happier, more mature person through my charity work. I've also had some great times. I suspect that if you asked David Cameron, he'd say he's become a better person through knowing his beautiful son for 6 years. If David Cameron ever becomes Prime Minister, the whole Country will benefit from his experience of the life and death of Ivan. This was Ivan's gift to the world. Let's treat it as such and not pigeonhole him and demean him by just dismissing him as merely "disabled".

My thoughts and prayers are with the Camerons at this time. I hope they find peace in this difficult time

Previous post regards barnet policy on Infant burials

Just a quick note to say that in light of the tragic news regarding David Cameron's son, I've removed the post regarding Infant burials from Blogspot.

Whilst disagreeing with the policy of Barnet, I don't feel that the content or tone of my post was appropriate today in light of this news. Please note that the post was made prior to the announcement of Mr Camerons tragic loss.

My condolenses are with David Cameron and his family. I hope that the media respect their privacy at this time.

Barnet Council Future Shape - New Management Structure Diagram

Barnet Council Future Shape Structure

Who reads the Barnet Eye? Who is the Rog T Fanclub

Rog T's biggest Fan (as ranked by Google Images)

I thought I'd do a little poll of Barnet Eye readers a couple of weeks ago. I also put a stats counter on so I'd have some idea of who's actually reading the blog. Roughly speaking about 1% of my visitors bothered to respond. If we accept that the responders accurately reflect the other 99%, then the largest group are Lib Dems on 34% - doesn't really surprise me as we're largely a local blog here & Libdems are active in Mill Hill and Barnet. What did surprise me is that the next biggest group who responded were Conservatives on 30%. As approx 90% of hits are from the London area, that means approx 1,500 unique visitors in the last two weeks are London Based Tories. Do they agree with me? Well they must have come here for some reason, I suspect because the majority of them respect independent thought. Rather strangely, given that I'm a Labour supporter, only 14% are Labourites - even though Dave Hill gave me a plug on his Guardian blog.

The next group who visit on 8% are those who describe themselves as Extreme Right wing Looneys. This number chalked up after I posted a series of blogs on the BNP. I suspect many of these visited through random searches and probably weren't too impressed. The "Hang all politicians" and "Swivel Eyed Trots" come in at 6% each. I wonder if the activities of Brian Coleman have really made a large enough portion of the Barnet Electorate to get a GLA member (over 5%) want to hang all politicians. My good mate Mr Bendoski suggested that I should stand for the GLA on the "Hang All Politicians" ticket. Only trouble there is if I won I'd have to set a good example and hang myself (should at least ensure Mike Freer & Brian Coleman's vote). Lastly with 2% are the good old Anarchists. When I was a teenager, I used to follow Anarchist Punk Band CRASS around, so maybe they're repaying the compliment.

Mind you, I wanted to see if I had a fanclub so I typed "Rog T" Fanclub into Google images and there were three entries - I was my own second biggest fan - The lady at the top was the first and the gentleman below was the third.

Rog T's Third biggest fan- as ranked by Google

The Ministry of Truth Lives on in Barnet - These Chickens ain't headless

Wanna see some first class media manipulation & censorship in action in Barnet?

Just in case you haven't anything better to do and you want to see a graphic example of what a bunch of censorious chickens are running the Council, go to Google and type in the following search exactly as I've written it (CUT & PASTE it for ease)

"ROG T" blog -claimant -orton barnet

Now when you've done that go to the third page. Around the 5th entry down is a link to LEADERLISTENS.COM

Don't click this just yet, click the Cached button under the url.

See the comments there :-
------------------------------------
Comments:
Richard Logue
I will post my comment that is still awaiting moderation at Mike Freer's leader listens blog:

What do you mean by business as usual? If Mill Hill was anything to go by it was definitely NOT business as usual. Ungritted roads and pavements and hardly any shops were open. I could not get to work as there were no buses. Many shops in Mill Hill Broadway were closed. So sorry Mike, it was NOT business as usual. Hasn’t anyone else posted about this or do you only publish praise like the first comment??
Rog T
This is the comment that Mike Freer won't post on his "Business as Usual" blog entry in Leader Listens - leaderlistens.com/2009/02/02/business-as-usual-despite-he...

Mike,

I had to take a day off work as my three kids at three different schools were all at home as the schools were shut. Barnet knew for a week about the snow. Half the shops in Mill Hill Broadway were shut. The manager of Leyla’s Turkish restaurant told me it took 4 hours to drive from Barnet to Mill Hill.

The one thing anyone who lives in Barnet knows is that today WAS NOT business as usual.


---------------------------

Now click on the main LEADERLISTENS.COM link - Notice how the comments have magically gone? It's called censorship and it's the first sign of a weak and desperate regime.

Justin case they disappear from the Cache, here's a screenshot I prudently took (sorry it's pretty blurred. It's not just me they don't like, I see they deleted Richard Logue's comment. Sorry Richard, seems if you agree with me you airbrushed out of Barnet

Draw your own conclusions

The BNP smile on Mike Freer's stupidity

Freer flies the flag
Mike Freer is supposed to be a politician. As leader of the Council he's meant to show leadership. He's meant to take responsible decisions that protect the citizens of Barnet from harm. Now I don't know what Mike Freer's biggest worry in Barnet is, but mine is the possiblity of the BNP gaining popularity. I don't know anyone who absolutely hates black people, so I don't think the BNP's message on race is attractive around here. When the news broke about the BNP membership list, I was pleased to see there was only one member in Mill Hill. The only issue that I can see, where the BNP may make headway is the issue of social housing. I don't for one minute believe that the BNP really care too much about this issue but they know their racist message resonates for young working class people struggling to find a home to start a family. Even with the recent falls in house prices, buying a home, where you have might get 4 times your salary as a mortgage is way beyond the means of people on £10-20,000 per year. In times gone by the first option for people in this position would be council housing. Unfortunately, since the disasterous Thatcherite policy of selling off the Council stock of homes and not replacing them with new ones, the situation in Barnet has deteriorated. As I have mentioned before, the situation is so bad that a friend of mine who is a widow with 4 children, one of whom is disabled, has not received a council house, even though she was made homeless when her husband died in February 2001. Her husband was a driver who worked for many years with London transport and the London Ambulance service. She has been told she doesn't have enough points for Barnet and as such she's still in temporary accomodation. The suggestion from Barnet Council? Move to Norfolk. Rip her children, traumatised by the loss of their father from Cancer away from their friends and give them even more stress.

Fortunately the intervention of Andrew Dismore prevented them from being evicted a couple of years ago, but I think the attitude of Barnet Council is callous and cruel, to a family which has suffered. People such as my friend are in a position where far right organisations such as the BNP will say "Look at all the Council Housing being given to immigrants". As people have a feeling of injustice, they think that these opportunists care about them and fall for this line of reasoning. Now what the BNP don't tell them is that the problem doesn't lie with immigrants at all. It lies with the policies of the Tory Barnet Council. The reason people cannot be housed is that there aren't the homes. There are 13,637 families on the waiting list (of all creeds and colours) They are all deemed to not have "sufficient points". They are all the victims of this injustice. The first job of Mr Mike Freer's council is to look after the most vulnerable people in the borough. Is he doing this? No he's not. He's got a plan to build homes for 80,000 people in Barnet, but how many of these are Council homes for those in temporary accommodation? How many are allocated for the citixens of Barnet who need a home now? Well according to a report in todays Times group, the already shabby figure of 3,369 (just over a fifth of the waiting list) asked for by Boris has been rejected by Mike Freer. He wants to only have between 1,135 and 1,700.

So I ask you this. Do you think that Mike Freer's plan to build 80,000 homes where only one tenth of the people on the waiting list will actually get a home is fair to the citizens of Barnet? Personally I think that the plans for this many dwellings will not only ruin Barnet but will cause social division and real resentment. Let me tell you who will benefit a) Those property developers who haven't gone bust. b) The BNP who will be able to go around peddling the notion that all of the non existent council houses are being given to immigrants. c) Mike Freer's Council officers who go on expensive planning junkets to the Cannes in the South of France at a cost of £5,000 to the taxpayer for the week.

Tuesday is Brian Coleman day !

In honour of London's finest Taxi Patron, head Honcho at the Fire Service, reopener of Partingdale Lane, Freer dinner muncher extraordinaire and outspoken critic of Britains most successful ever Olympic team, I suggest that we have a National day to celebrate the life and achievements of Brian Coleman.

What better day could there possibly be than Shrove Tuesday? On this day we all make lovely tasty Pancakes. Can I suggest that as a mark of respect as you Toss your pancake, you say "Brian Coleman" in his honour. Nothing would make me smile more than the thought of a whole nation tossing as they said Brian Coleman. A fitting tribute to a remarkable man.

Maybe Boris should put a pancake on top of the fourth plinth in Trafalgar square in honour of his buddy.

>"Brian, I hear you've been practicing your pancake making skill"

Who votes for the BNP?

In the light of the BNP getting their first councillor outside of London in the south east of England, maybe we should look at who is voting for the BNP and why. First of all, let's have a look at the results in Swanley:-

Sevenoaks District - Swanley St Mary's: BNP 408, Lab 332, C 247.
(May 2007 - Two seats Lab 462, 420, C 208, 197, Ukip 165). BNP gain from Lab. Swing 10.5 per cent Lab to C.

Turnout for the election was 31.3 per cent.

As far as I can see the most important figure was the turnout. It seems rather likely that the Labour vote stayed at home. I trust that the 54 Labour voters who voted last time but didn't bother this time are reflecting on their decision. It would seem to be a fair assumption that the UKIP vote shifted to the BNP.

I'd not heard of Swanley before this story broke, so I've no idea if there was a local reason for the vote, but in my experience the BNP vote can be classified as follows

A) Hardened BNP activists
B) Right leaning voters who don't like immigrants/foreigners - would vote Tory/UKIP
C) Disaffected working class voters - previously voted Labour
D) Local issue voters - Vote BNP because they've cottoned on to some local issue & exploited it - often don't normally vote

Now as a Labour supporter, my view of how the Labour Party should address these issues are as follows

Hardened BNP activists. These are never going to vote Labour. It should be a priority to ensure that where these people are active, they are challenged. I would never advocate a violent response, opposition should be by force of argument. If they are canvassing, then the labour Party should make it a priority to counter this by ensuring Labour supporters are also canvassing locally and people taking BNP leaflets should be engaged in conversation about why they shouldn't vote BNP, not in a patronising or hectoring manner - just on the basis that the BNP have policies which could destroy the prosperity of the UK. I'd suggest that it should be pointed out that the NHS and the transport system in London would collapse if immigrants were deported. If all migrant workers were deported and every job was filled by those out of work (assuming they had the skills/training which is unlikely) there would be a million jobs not getting done.

Right leaning voters. Again these are unlikely to vote Labour. If nothing else we should point out to these voters the downside to BNP policies which would result in economic collapse. Labour has been extremely bad at pointing out the benefits, economically and socially of immigration and immigrants.

Disaffected Labour Voters. For these voters, the Labour party should be explaining it's successes. Improvements in the NHS, increased prosperity since 1997, new & better schools. These are tangible things which people understand.

Local issues. It is vital that Labour gets out of it's ivory towers and out on the street. If people are complaining about local issues, then Labour should address these. This doesn't mean bending over to the right, it means ensuring that groups aren't left behind or ignored.

Statements like "British Jobs for British Workers" are petrol on the BNP fire. Labour should have a "fairness and justice" agenda. People want jobs and security. Where these are perceived as being neglected, the BNP will thrive.

The most important thing that Labour should be doing is ensuring that the vote turns up. If all the Labour voters who voted in 2007 had turned out in Swanley, the BNP would have lost. This must be the lesson.

The Boris Johnson Guide to Sex Education

Boris Legs it from 13 year old Fathers for Justice Dad !!!!

So we've all seen the news this week about the 13 year old Dad. What really shocked me wasn't that a 13 year old could become a dad, but on reading the article, he stated that he'd been in a relationship for 2 years - since he was 11. I was reminded of this typically uninformed piece of Daily Mail nonsense http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1039287/Children-young-11-lessons-condom-says-government-report.html complaining that children as young as 11 were being given sex education lessons. Now I've got a 13 and an 11 year old daughter so this is all pretty relevant to me. If someone asks me what I think my daughters should be told about sex, I'd give the answer "What they need to know to protect them from harm". What does this mean practically? Well it means that they need to be told about things that as a Dad I'd rather they didn't know about. I don't want either of my daughters to start embarking on sexual relationships any time soon. If, however they decide they are going to, in this day and age I'd want them to be safe. This means knowing about contraception, STD's and plenty of other things which Daddies don't like thinking about in the context of their daughters. In a school, they have to be told before they actually need the information. If you wait until they are all emotionally mature enough, then I'm afraid it's too late.

So what has all of this got to do with Boris Johnson and London? Well he's the mayor of this fine city. He has appointed James Cleverly as his ambassador for young people. I follow James Cleverly's blog
- as Tory blogs go, it is OK, but for a Young Person's mayor where is the bit about sex education for youngsters. I checked the GLA website - nothing there either. It seems that Boris and his ambassador have nothing to say on this issue WHATSOEVER. Why is this a disgrace and a scandal? Well first, a lack of sex education can result in Children being exposed to diseases. Secondly it exposes them to the risk of pregnancy. Thirdly it exposes them to risk of exploitation.

Tonight as I write this there are prostitues working in this city who are below the age of consent. Tonight there will be youngsters below the age of consent getting STD's and there will be youngsters getting pregnant. Do't believe me? Check these graphs on the Poverty website - http://www.poverty.org.uk/24/index.shtml - London has the third highest rate in the country. What didn't surprise me is the link to poverty. The teenage pregnancy/poverty link is a cancer which eats away at the heart of society. As for prostitution, this is the very best way to contract an STD. Many Holllywood movies sell the image that having sex with a prostitute is a right of passage for young men. The reality is far removed. It is exploitative of women and is one of the main conduits of VD in the UK (and globally). Often these are then passed on to unsuspecting partners. I'd make sure that every young man was graphically made aware of this risk.

Boris is in a position to address this issue. How can a young persons ambassador such as James Cleverly have nothing to say? If I were doing his job, this would be the no 1 priority I set.

So how would I combat it. Well I'd have a look and see which country and which city had the most successful policy. Then I'd steal their policies and ideas. If you check Wikipedia they have a chart of teenage birth/Abortion rates - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_pregnancy - The lowest - the Netherlands which has what we may call a liberal approach. The highest - The good old USA.

Per 1,000 women aged 15 - 19
Country ↓ birth rate ↓ abortion rate ↓ Combined rate ↓
Netherlands 7.7 3.9 11.6
United Kingdom 29.6 21.3 50.9
United States 55.6 30.2 85.8

I find this shocking. In this country the problem with sex is we all bury our head in the sand. Boris & his mates are too scared of the Daily Mail and it's fellow travellers to be honest with us. It is cowardly and it is unforgivable.

For those of you hoping to see "The Boris Johnson Guide to Sex Education" - the big scandal is that no such thing exists and their is no policy that I can see to address this - this is picture is the nearest thing I've seen to Boris trying to improve sex education in London!
The Boris Johnson Sex Education Initiative

Jacqui Smiths Expenses

I'm not going to go into the rights and wrongs of Jacqui Smiths expenses. It is plain to everyone that her attitude stinks. All I will say is this. If the political classes want to restore the trust of the public, they should file their expense accounts on a public domain so we can see exactly what they are claiming to the last penny. It is reported that David Cameron told the members of the public that he wouldn't touch the story, but that they should go to the Daily Mail. Cameron has missed a great opportunity to take the high ground. If he proposes a new era of honesty and openness, he'd have been onto a winner.

If he becomes PM, how long before his cowardice now comes back to haunt him?

The BNP upsest Dame Vera Lynn

Dame Vera Lynn

My dear old Dad was a bomber pilot with the Royal Australian Air Force. He flew 40 missions with 205 bomber group in North Africa, Italy, the Balkans and Germany. he was shot down and spent time in a POW camp in Bucharest, before he broke out and escaped. He got home and married my mum in 1944. In 1977 when I was driving him mad with the Ramones, The Vibrators and the Sex Pistols he asked me how I could listen to such rubbish. I said "because it means something" rather condescendingly. He said nothing. A couple of days he said "can I play you something". He'd never said this before so I said "Yeah OK". He then said, "before I play this to you, can you imagine you've just sprained both of your ankles bailing out of a plane that is on fire. Your best friend has died in the crash, you've been taken to a prisoner of war camp. You feel pretty bad, you were planning to get married to the girl of your dreams, but she's a long way away and you are stuck here". He then played me "We'll meet again" by Vera Lynn. At the end he said "do you still think it doesn't mean anything?".

Point taken. Since then, I've had a bit of a soft spot for our Vera. I got it. It seems that even though she's 91, our Vera still can remember what a bunch of scumbags fascists are. It seems the BNP were using her music without permission. Dame Vera was rather upset. Now I'm going to break a lifelong rule and give you a link to the deputy leader of the BNP - Simon Darby's blog - where (should you wish) you can read all about it.

Why have I broken my own rule? So that you can see for yourself that the Deputy Leader of the BNP is not big enough to apologise to Dame Vera for what they've done. It is a pretty lame attempt to justify the unjustifiable. It is pretty clear what Dame Vera thinks of the BNP and we should all take note.

Vera Lynn spent the war rallying troops. I suspect she saw a few things she'd rather not on her travels. I suspect the last thing she'd want is any association with the BNP. She's a national treasure. A diamond. One who's judgement hasn't been dimmed by 91 years of shining.

P.S - Didn't she look great in the picture. She still does today!

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Update : Just took a peek at Simon Darby's blog. It seems that not apologising for their behaviour is not enough for the numpties. They are now engaging in a festival of criticism for Dame Vera Lynn in the comments section. It doesn't occur to this bunch that in the process of singing to the troops she saw the ruins of many places in Europe. She knows what happens when extremists get hold of the wheels of power. She was there, she saw it happen. She hasn't had her history lesson from books written by biased numpties who've bent the facts to their agenda. She was an eye witness to the Second World War in an age where there weren't first class lounges and private jets.

Mike Freer : Lets get the "Current Shape" of the Council right first

It amazes me to read the latest numpty press release from Barnet Council - http://www.barnet.gov.uk/press_releases.htm?id=1891 To quote "Young people in Barnet are being given the opportunity to work towards breaking down barriers of faith and ethnicity with a £25,000 grant scheme run by Barnet Council."

Well I'm speechless. My son plays football for Watling Club Under 9's. Anyone who has ever played a team sport soon realises barriers are broken down and friends are made. The team has boys of all colours and creeds. They all get on, they play as a team. The only problem is that they've missed several games this season because Barnet Council hasn't spent the money on ensuring the pitch at the Watling Leisure Centre is playable. It seems that Mike Freer is perfectly happy to make eye catching press releases like this and "Splash the cash" whilst neglecting the basics.

As you are aware the Barnet Council Tax payer funded the Leaderlistens.com blog for Freer to indulge in communication directly with the people of Barnet. As you will know if you follow this blog, he doesn't allow comments he doesn't like. Well here's one I posted that he won't publish on this very subject. Draw your own conclusions.

1.
Rog T
Posted February 5, 2009 at 5:48 pm | Permalink
Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Dear Councillor Freer,

If the contracting out of Leisure Centre’s works so well, how come the football pitch at Burnt Oak Leisure has had no maintenance in recent weeks, making it unplayable last sunday. No sand had been put on waterlogged goalmouth areas, therefore it was unfit for purpose.

Do you ever make spot visits unannounced to these sites to talk to the people using the facilities or do you just sit in your office and read management reports.

When was the last time you visited Burnt Oak Leisure Centre on a Sunday morning when Youth teams were playing on the pitches (or not).

Why can't Mike Freer just get the basics right. Mike Freer reminds me of Derek Wanless, former CEO of Nat West Bank. He was always drawing up grand schemes to make Nat West the biggest bank in the world in a few years time. Trouble was that he neglected the present and RBS gobbled them up (and we all know how rubbish RBS are).

My Message to Mike Freer, stop worrying about all this "Future Shape"rubbish. Get the "CURRENT SHAPE" right and GET THINGS RIGHT.

Immigration, Jobs and Barnet

It seems that the papers are doing the devils work and stoking up resentment against migrant workers. The Daily Express leads the way with it's front page lead 3.8 Million Jobs go to Migrant Workers. This is one of the most ill thought through pieces I've ever read. It panders to the worst elements of the right wing xenophobic rump of British politics, those BNP cheerleaders such as Migrationwatch ("We're not like the BNP we just don't like foreigners").

Let's just look at a few facts. There are 3.8 million migrant workers and 1.9 million jobless. That means that if all the migrants went home and every job could be filled by a Brit, we'd be 2 Million workers short. This would lead to economic collapse, far worse than the current recession. Most of the immigrants are doing low paid work, keeping hospitals and buses running. A significant number however have skills which can't be filled. Engineers, doctors, nurses, teachers. The report says that 2.6 Million of these immigrants are from outside the EU. Well Australia, The USA, New Zealand and Canada are outside of the EU.

Lets look at a few areas of Barnet, where I've personally come across migrant workers. I know for a fact that many of the teachers in Barnet are from New Zealand and Australia, without them my children would not be receiving an education. The Lady who used to deliver my mum's meal on wheel was of Indian origin. My physiotherapist is a Kiwi. My favourate restaurants in Mill Hill are all run by immigrants. I can't imagine a curry house approved by the BNP doing much business.

I don't know about you but I'd rather my mum had her dinner delivered by a nice lady from India than a Frank Gallagher type, forcibly compelled to do it, who'd probably throw the dinner in the bin & go to the pub (as I understand it the BNP want to compel the jobshy to do this type of work). I certainly wouldn't want my kids education to suffer, I don't want my physiotherapist to be slung out and I certainly don't want my curry to be cooked by a numpty from the BNP who's idea of spicing up a meal is salt and vinegar.

Stats Paradise : Boris, Brian Coleman and Fisting

The Friends of Freer
Last Tuesday I did something with the blog I swore that I wouldn't. I put a stats counter on. The reason I didn't want to was because I didn't want to know. Not because I was worried that no one was reading the blog, I couldn't care less really. No, I didn't want to write blogs to chase hits. I'm naturally competetive and I knew that as soon as I put a counter on, I'd start chasing hits and analysing why people visited the blog.

Now why did I change my mind? Because one of the Friends of Freer posted a comment about the "20 people who read the blog". It wasn't the fact that they'd implied I wrote a crap, boring blog which bothered me. It was the fact that I didn't know. I couldn't refute them, that got my goat. It was like being infected with a nasty virus. It spread and spread till I just succumbed. Off I went and installed statcounter (The little box at the bottom of the blog page).

Anyway, having installed the counter a week ago, I find some of the info fascinating. We've had 11 visits from the US, 5 from Canada, we've even managed one from China, as well as a host from around Europe. Strange that they are interested in Barnet? Well actually they seem interested in Boris and my dislike of the Daily Mail???? It seems that the top 5 searches to find me are "Barnet Eye" 22%, Brian Coleman 15%, Boris Budget reserves 6%, Friends of Freer 4%, Patrick McGoohan 4% and a whole host of others on 1%. Mind you the free counter I use only keeps details of the last 500 hits, so it changes. One unexpected thing was I got a massive spike yesterday when Dave Hill linked to me from his Guardian Blog - so it seems people who read the Guardian and like Dave Hill must be interested in Boris. Maybe this is the secret of Boris's great popularity.

I guess it is worth saying something about getting search engine hits at this stage. My Brother in law worked for Microsoft when they were developing the MSN search engine. He asked me what I thought the most popular search was? I had about 10 guesses before I gave up - The answer (this was a good few years ago - it may have changed) - Fisting - Oh well,I thought I'd put it on my labels to try and garner a few more hits - just what I said I'd never do.

Yet another victory for Barnet Eye and Barnet Council watch !!!!!

It's Policy Jim, but not as we know it

It seems that "Don't Call Me Dave" and my efforts to inject a bit of sense into Mike Freer and Barnet Council finances has not gone unnoticed. It seems that Mr Spock - Sorry MP John Redwood, the Tories very own alien, has realised that we may be on to something. Read David's "Barnet Inflation Shock" story for full details. Me, I'm going to sue Mr Redwood for plagarism unless he rings up the Leader of Barnet Council, asks him the 10 questions listed and then posts the answers on my blog and Davids!!! When I started my blog, I didn't expect it to become the official policy of the Conservative Party. Isn't life strange. Next thing they'll be renationalising the railways, abolishing the NHS internal market, protecting the green belt and banning sale of playing fields (if they've got any sense).

(If you read reports of me found dead lying in a ditch, suffering the effects of a Vulcan death grip, you know that Redwood took my threats literally)!

And I thought the Daily Mail was bad ........

So if you saw a brochure for a conference where these were the topics of conversation, what would you think?

* Problems caused by Third World Immigration into Western Countries
* Racial differences in intelligence and how to deal with them
* The Islamic threat

If you then read the profile of the speakers (a ragtag mob of various ultra right nutcases and pundits, without a useful achievement between them), would your view of the conference change at all (scroll down to the details below the Asterisks for the speakers and their "achievements").

So you are probably thinking "Why is the Barnet Eye asking us these questions about a conference run by such a bunch of basket cases?" Well the conference is being run in America by an organisation called "Preserving Western Civilisations". Not much surprise there, but what surprised me is that The Daily Telegraph is promoting it. You see the Daily Telegraph has a blog on it's website written by none other than the BNP GLA Member Richard Barnbrook. Now as regulars know, I usually put a link to other references, but I really can't be bothered to give him any more hits, it will only encourage him. Not only that but Mr Barnbrook has posted a link from his Telegraph blog to the website for this numpty conference - if you really want to check all this, the blog title is "Villainy, Plenary & Preserving Western Civilisation".

As to the conference, it seems that the main themes are a) Non whites are thicker than whites and b) Muslims threaten Western Society - as you'll notice from the speakers, there isn't exactly much balance for their debate. It seems that whilst the Far Right is only too happy to moan when they are not allowed to speak, when they get the chance, they are rather keen to stifle debate. Now I don't think that anyone who has seriously studied history would take any of this old cobblers seriously, let's face it Western Civilisation is based on engineering - Islamic Mathematicians invented the modern numbering system making maths possible. I just wonder what value the Daily Telegraph thinks there is in publishing such dross. Mr Barnbrook is paid a decent wage at the taxpayers expense to be a GLA member. Since he's been there he's managed a mere three press releases, the last one in October (Click HERE to see). It seems whilst Barnbrook berates other parties and members, he is rather lazy when it actually comes to doing his job, doesn't it? I'm not someone who is in favour of censorship, but I'm also not in favour of giving a platform to someone who has nothing sensible to say and merely uses it to promote discredited crackpots setting up conferences spouting insulting and inflammatory ideas. Now if I was an immigrant, Muslim or non white I'd be highly insulted by this Conference. As one of their supposed aims is to promote "Judeo-Christian ideals" - let me remind them of the words of St Paul - (1 Corinthians 10:31) "Never do anything offensive to anyone" (could't be clearer could it) - of course they never quote the inconvenient bits do they? All I can say about the Telegraph is that if this is the quality of contributor they are attracting, no wonder their circulation is sinking faster than the Titanic.

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Numpty Conference Speakers
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Lawrence Auster is a conservative blogger and essayist. He is the author of The Path to National Suicide: An Essay on Immigration and Multiculturalism. He has also written articles for NewsMax, National Review, FrontPage Magazine, American Renaissance, WorldNetDaily and The Social Contract Press. His daily blog, View from the Right, includes trenchant commentary on current events, politics, society, and culture, and it was influential in defeating the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill in the Senate in 2007.

Peter Brimelow is a financial journalist and author. He has been an editor for many well-known publications, including National Review, The Financial Post, and Forbes. Outside financial circles, he is best-known for his writings on immigration policy and for hosting the website VDARE.com. His books include Alien Nation: Common Sense About America’s Immigration Disaster, which deals with the problems caused by both illegal and legal immigrants.

Steven Farron received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in New York. For many years he was a professor of Classics at the University of Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, where he specialized in the study of Greek and Latin epic poetry. Since 2000, though, he has devoted his time to studying affirmative action programs in various countries. He has published a few monographs on the topic, but is best known for his excellent book, The Affirmative Action Hoax: Diversity, the Importance of Character, and Other Lies, which is perhaps the leading study ever made on that topic.

Julia Gorin is among the most recognized names in conservative comedy and is the author of Clintonisms: The Amusing, Confusing, and Suspect Musings of Billary. She has appeared on various ABC, CBS, and NBC news programs as well as on Hannity and Colmes, Fuse TV, Politically Incorrect, and Fox & Friends. In addition, her widely published opinion articles get her invited onto many talk radio programs. She blogs at Political Mavens and at JuliaGorin.com.

Lino A. Graglia is the A. Dalton Cross Professor of Law at the University of Texas. He received his LL.B. from Columbia University Law School in 1954, where he was an editor of the law review. He was an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and practiced law in Washington, D.C. and New York City before joining the Texas law faculty in 1966. He has also taught at the Universities of Virginia, Utah, and Puget Sound. Professor Graglia teaches courses in constitutional law and antitrust. He is the author of Disaster by Decree: the Supreme Court Decisions of Race and the Schools (1976), a critical analysis of the school busing decisions. He has written widely in both scholarly and popular journals on current issues of constitutional law and the role of the Supreme Court in the American system of government, and is a frequent speaker at scholarly symposia and on radio and television.

Henry C. Harpending is an anthropologist and population geneticist at the University of Utah, where he is a Distinguished Professor. Dr. Harpending has broken new ground in anthropology and human biology interpreting genetic and morphometric variation within and between human populations with mathematically based models, examining hypotheses concerning population growth, divergence, and gene flow. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Roger D. McGrath has been a history professor at UCLA for many years, and was once selected as the “Outstanding Professor” there by the Panhellenic Council. He is the author of three books and over 100 articles, as well as contributing to the anthology “Immigration and the American Future.” He appears regularly on various documentary series for the History Channel.

Pat Richardson is a member of the British National Party. In 2004, running as a representative of that party, she was elected to the District Council for Epping Forest. (Her husband Tom was also elected to that council at the same time.) Since Pat was the first Jewish member of the BNP to be elected to public office, she has been much discussed in the British media. Mrs. Richardson was re-elected to her Council post in 2008.

John Philippe Rushton is a psychology professor at the University of Western Ontario, in Canada. He earned a D.Sc. in psychology from the University of London in 1992. Since then he has published six books and more than 200 articles. He is most widely known for his work on intelligence and racial differences, particularly for his book Race, Evolution, and Behavior. Professor Rushton is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and of the American, British, and Canadian Psychological Associations.

Srdja Trifković is the author of the best-seller, The Sword of the Prophet, which discusses the history of Islam and the threat that Islam poses to non-Islamic countries. He is also Director of the Center for International Affairs at The Rockford Institute and, since 1998, the foreign affairs editor for the paleoconservative magazine Chronicles. Trifković has a Ph.D. in history from the University of Southhampton, is an expert on Balkan politics, and was a consultant to President Vojislav Kostunica of Yugoslavia.

Brenda Walker is best known as a tireless anti-immigration activist in California. She has also spoken out on the menace that Muslim extremists pose our country. Brenda runs two websites: LimitsToGrowth.org and ImmigrationsHumanCost.org, and has also written many articles for VDARE.com.

Boris Johnson's Guide to Drugs

Yes, cannabis is dangerous, but no more than other perfectly legal drugs. It's time for a rethink, and the Tory party - the funkiest, most jiving party on Earth - is where it's happening.
- Boris Johnson (source wikiquote)

As you may be aware, our Mayor of London, beloved St Boris has lead a colourful life. Having watched the latest "Talk to Frank" commercial about cannabis and thought "What a waste of money!" - teenagers see through these pointless lectures. I got to thinking "What we need is a figurehead who's been there, done it and got the T-shirt who youngsters in London could look up to".

I thought that I'd make my own Barnet Eye anti drugs commercial with a little help from my friend Boris. Whilst no one would suggest that Boris has used anything stronger than a glass of a tasty tipple for many a year, there are many reports that the use of drugs can have serious long term effects, which may manifest themselves years after the drugs are taken. I'd strongly suggest that any youngster planning to take anything should make sure they are fully aware of ALL the potential side effects.

(No animals were hurt in the making of this commercial and I repeat thatthere is no suggestion that Boris has been toking behind the bikesheds any time recently - any erratic behaviour shown in these pictures is merely the result of unfortate camera angles).


Smoking Pot can make you tired and lacking in concentration.

Smoking Pot can make the most mundane statement seem as profound as the 10 commandments

Smoking pot can loosen your inhibitions and make you do naughty things you wouldn't normally do

Smoking Pot can lead you into the company of undesirables who you wouldn't normally hang around with

Smoking Pot can make even the most mundane works of art seem like masterpieces

Smoking Pot can lead to the munchies

Smoking Pot can make you unkempt and dishevelled

Smoking Pot can make it all seem too much

Please note that there is no suggestion whatsoever that Boris Johnson was stoned during the taking of any of these pictures and the Barnet Eye categorically states that any suggestion of such behaviour in these pictures is purely coincidental. We'd like to point out that all such behaviour can also be caused by perfectly legal behaviour such as drinking sherry and joining the Conservative Party

Greetings from the Lunatic Fringe !!!!!!!!

You know they say that the first sign of madness is thinking that you are completely sane !!! For all I know I've been locked up in an asylum for the past 45 years and none of this is real. Maybe you are all figments of my imagination. If I really am living in a psuedo "Matrix" world, please please please Mr Evil programmer make a few changes. I'd like some better weather, ten million pounds and ....... Well enough of that, Mrs T may read this.

I've posted over 150 blogs on this site so if there are any clinical psychologists out there who think I am insane, please post a comment with a website address to your practice and I'll get in touch for treatment. I've a wife & kids and I'd hate to think they were living with a nutcase.

Why you may ask why am I asking these rather analytical questions on a Sunday evening? Well it seems that I've been called "The Lunatic Fringe" on a blog. Now it may or may not surprise you to know that the person who left the accusation did it using an anonymous ID. It may or may not surprise you that they left it on another blog (didn't have the guts to come here). It may or may not surprise you that they were challenging a vociferous critic of Mike Freer's Barnet Council administration. It may or may not surprise you to know that they left a whole stream of comments with a list of slurs, half truths and downright lies. It may or may not surprise you that they rejected the offer to discuss the accusations. The blog is run by Lib Dem Councillor Duncan MacDonald. You can see the whole sorry tale here :-

http://cllrdmacdonald.blogspot.com/2009/02/councillors-surgery.html

If I've got a criticism of Duncan MacDonald it's that he's quite a nice bloke and he's too civil to idiots such as this. I suspect that person leaving these comments

a) Has an unfeasibly receding hairline
b) Has unfeasibly big Ears
c) Has an unfeasibly small willy
d) Has an unfeasibly large Crack habit
e) Is an unfeasibly pathetic Chicken

If this description reminds you of anyone - please don't post it here as I'll have to remove it - wouldn't want to get in trouble with Mr Beaky would we - I'm just meditating on what I imagine our friend to look like.

Then again, I'm the lunatic fringe so what do I know. As I'm clearly bonkers, I'm sure to have got all of this wrong. Now of course if the mystery man reveals themselves to us all, they can prove us wrong.

By the way thanks to our mystery man. I've been trying for about six months to come up with a Title for the False Dots new album (my band for the uninitiated) - I really like "Greetings from the Lunatic Fringe" - if our mystery man gets in touch, I'll send him tickets for the Album launch party, so long as he promises to lay off the crack for the Evening.

4 Days on and Hale Tories Still think Brian Coleman is a 404 !!!!

Well I thought that when I pointed out that the Hale Tories thought that Brian Coleman was a 404 they'd fix it. After all every time I've made a mistake in my coverage of Brian Coleman, a nice man from the Tory GLA press office has emailed me rather quickly to demand changes. I posted the blog on Thursday so we can only conclude that the Hale Tories really do think Brian Coleman is a 404 !!!!!

Click here for the full story :-

http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2009/02/hale-tories-say-london-assembly-member.html

Is Iain Dale taking himself too seriously?

Probably the best known Tory Blogger is Iain Dale. Whenever I feel like having some fun I just have a look at his blog and pick out a numpty who's left a silly comment and then have a bit of banter with them. It's quite a good place to get a feel for what other blogs are doing. Despite his right wing leanings, he generally is pretty good humoured. It seems that Derek (AKA "Dolly") Draper has rather got under his skin. I saw this posted on Iain's site today :-

Apologies for the lack of links to Draper's site, but he ain't getting any linklove until he apologises for saying that I condone racism. I also won't appear on a public platform with him until he does so, so to all those lobbying companies and media organisations who keep phoning and emailing me asking me to be interviewed or to appear on panel with him, please don't bother. The answer's no.

No idea whether Iain reads this, but my advice - don't take yourself so seriously, or you're doomed. Don't cut off your nose mate, you're spiting your face !!!!!

Be very frightened - It's the Boris Zombie Budget - Aaarghhh

Thought I'd tune in to listen to Ken interviewing Roger Evans - GLA Tory leader on his LBC show. A couple of very disturbing facts came out during the course of the show. I'd be rather interested to here what Boris Johnson's cheerleaders have to say about these. Firstly Ken stated that when he lost the election, he left reserves in the kitty of £1.5 Billion. The new Boris budget plans for this to diminish to £150 million. Basically, he's keeping tax down by raiding the piggybank. If anything at all unexpected happens, there won't be the cash to pay for it. This seems to be current Tory policy. Barnet did the same thing with the council tax. Now why would any authority be so stupid as to take such a risk? Well it strikes me that the Tories know there is an election coming. No one stands out in the street protesting against tax cuts paid for out of the budget. The Tories know that if they can keep taxes down, people won't look too hard to see how that's been achieved. There are quite a few marginals in London (not least Finchley, where council leader Mike Freer is standing). Their game plan is to say "Look, Tories keep taxes low".

Well, we are being conned, these aren't tax cuts. They are deferred Tax rises, which risk the family silver. I cannot think of any sound politician cutting reserves by 9/10ths at a time such as this.

Another interesting thing struck me when I heard about this figure. The Mayor had a reserve many times bigger than Barnet. How much did he lose in Iceland? Nothing as far as I can see. It is no secret that I am a Ken Livingstone fan. There are many policies which Ken champions that I support. The one thing I never ever expected to be able to do was hold Ken's financial policies up as an example to the Tories, I always thought this was Ken's one weakness. It seems not.

It won't get the juices flowing or make too many headlines, but we are risking a nightmare with Boris Johnson's policy of destroying the reserves continues. The same can be said of the Tories in Barnet.

What floats your boat ???

Well, it's Valentines day today. It's also the 30th Anniversary of the first rehearsal of my band, The False Dots and the founding of my studios - Mill Hill Music Complex. I was only 16 then, where did all of the time go? For those of you unfamiliar with my blog, on Saturdays I generally lay off beating up the local incompetents and have a bit of fun. Given that one of the highly beneficial side effects of having a band is that you instantly become 100 times more attractive to girls, we deliberately started the band on St Valentines day. Mind you we weren't a band singing love songs, it was hard core punk rock, with a political theme. At the time, we had a failing Labour government, shortly to be replaced by Margaret Thatcher's Tories. To be quite honest, the songs we wrote in the first year were mostly rubbish. I can remember when I wrote "Not All She Seems" - our first decent song. We played it and at the end looked at each other in disbelief. we'd actually managed a song that didn't sound awful! We were so pleased that we went out into Mill Hill, rounded up a band of rather startled looking hippies and played it to them. They watched with quiet approval and promised us a support slot at a Friends of the earth benefit gig at The Sparrowhawk in Broadfields. We'd hit the big time ! One of the "awful" Songs we did, which we wrote to mourn the passing of Jim Callaghans government with a no confidence vote and the arrival of Maggie Thatcher was "No Confidence". My then songwriting partner, Pete Conway wrote it the day Thatcher put VAT up from 8 to 15%. Strangely enough, it seems to me that the first verse and chorus could probably apply to quite a few politicians

You all Vote in a General election
for a bit of protection
from the Taxman and VAT
but you screwed it up and voted for Maggie !!!

No Confidence X 4
(Copyright Pete Conway and Roger Tichborne)

Strangely enough, although it was a pretty dire song, I have found myself humming that song quite a few times over the years changing the words slightly on occasion ! My then songwriting partner & I saw the band as a means to an end (or several ends if truth be told). Pete departed the band on the day of our first gig, when he didn't turn up. I still don't know why he didn't show. I think we've only spoken 4 times since (once when we met in Court). As Pete was the singer, the first gig was a real challenge. As real pro's we decided the show would go on. Although it was rubbish, we got through. Sometimes that's all you can do. We vowed to the audience, we'd be back in a couple of months and put on a proper show. We did. The main reason for organising the gig was to get a girl from Rock Against Racism to come down and get us a gig for them. She was drop dead gorgeous. Pete Conway had met her and asked her down. When he'd not shown up and she'd seen the ensuing chaos, I assumed that she'd think "losers" and cut out. That was the first time that I found out that pity can be a powerful aphrodisiac !!!! Didn't get the gig though !

I think it's fair to say that just about every girlfriend (including my beloved wife) I've ever had I met because of the band and music. It floats my boat and I guess it floats theirs as well. Which takes us to the real point of the blog. What floats your boat. Tory blogger Iain Dale ran a poll for which Peer you'd most like to get up close and personal with tonight. I can't say any of his top 10 float my boat, but there you go. I sort of thought I'd check my blog viewing stats to see if there was any hint there as to what my beloved readers may like - here's what you were googling when you found me !!!!!

20.45% barnet eye
18.18% brian coleman
13.64% the barnet eye
9.09% Register of Gifts and Hospitality received by the Mayor and Members of the London Assembly 2008
4.55% rog t blog
2.27% single mum and kids benefits
2.27% bnp barnet
2.27% who responsibility for single mum kids
2.27% boris recording vaz
2.27% sense barnet
2.27% rog t barnet eye
2.27% powerleague five a side football mill hill utube
2.27% we're from woburn place 2008-09 facebook
2.27% JULIUS OBEREGGER
2.27% dr alison moore leader labour barnet
2.27% mike freer blog
2.27% barnet civic awards 2009
2.27% rog t
2.27% barnetcouncilwatch
2.27% barnet labour group

Not much clue there (who is Julius Oberegger?? I've never heard of him & don't remember mentioning him anywhere?). I suspect any Mike Freer fans would have been rather disappointed to get me for their search. It seems that the nearest thing to looking for romance on my blog, was the guy looking for "Single mum on benefits" !!!!

Anyway, just for fun I've compiled my list of people from different walks of life who I'd like to run off with tonight, if Mrs T elopes with George Clooney and leaves me on my own - All in fun with a little explanation of why. I've chosen 1 from a choice of 4 categories.


Musician
Well, I'm sorry, but if your my age and you don't like Debbie Harry, then you probably don't like girls. At there peak, I couldn't even walk past a record shop with a picture of Blondie in the window and not stand and leer.

Actress
When I saw Uma in pulp fiction, I was smitten. My good lady refuses to watch anything with her in with me as she really doesn't like the look which I get then.
Politician.

Attractive politicians are few and far between, but you have to admit, our Nadine is a bit of a looker. Her name is also the title of a Chuck Berry song and on top of that, she's as mad as a basket full of ferrets and that is good enough for me.

Former Girlfriend

Yes, it's true Kim & I were together for a while. Not in real life, but I had this recurring dream for a number of years that she was my girlfriend. Strangely they weren't erotic dreams, we'd just be up at the Railway Tavern or the Mill Hill Tandoori doing sort of normal things and she'd be saying Mill Hill was much better than Hollywood.

Now I'm quite aware that a few Barnet Eye readers are of the female persuasion and I don't want to discriminate, so I thought I'd give you Mrs T's selection of who she'd like to run off with, given the opportunity !!! (Yup she'll kill me for this).

Actor
She's had a thing for George Clooney ever since ER. She always says to me "He's almost as handsome and witty as you" (as if !!!).
Musician

She loves Paul Weller. Personally I was never a massive fan of The Jam or Style Council.

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Anyway whatever you are doing tonight and whoever you are doing it with, I hope you all have a fantastic Valentines night. I'm off down to the fish shop in Burnt Oak to get some lovely fresh fish so I can cook my honey a lovely meal later (if she's still talking to me when she reads this). If you want decent fish, there are two great, proper fishmongers in Burnt Oak !!!! Wash it down with a bottle of the finest plonk from London's best wine shop - Mill Hill Wines, they really know their stuff.