Mike Freer Blog Scandal - It's OK to criticise Waitrose, just not Freer

Those of you who have followed the story of Mike Freer's taxpayer funded blog and how he censors critical comments may be interested to see this - http://leaderlistens.com/2009/02/03/hurrah-for-waitrose/. It seems Mike is quite happy for critical posts to be left, so long as they are not about him. Having lauded Waitrose for giving out 240 pints of milk to vulnerable residents, Mike is quite happy for a blog suggesting Waitrose were a bit stingy to be left. Here's the comment :-
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One Comment

1.
Magda
Posted February 4, 2009 at 8:07 pm | Permalink

Couldn’t Waitrose have stretched to a loaf of bread for all the publicity they have got out of this? More to the point, couldn’t the council have forked out for some decent food for people stuck at home in the cold? Where is your ambition?
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I think that this comment is a bit unfair on Waitrose, if all the supermarkets got together and set up a system of distributing food at times such as this it would be a great gesture & highly appreciated. If I was Freer, I'd have been straight on the phone to tesco's etc suggesting they did their bit and named and shamed those that didn't chip in, but then again that would require a bit of thought and effort. Waitrose at least did something, so lets lay off Waitrose.

I think that maybe Waitrose have learned the hard way what happens when you are no longer useful to Mike Freer. It seems he's the only one who is above criticism on LEADERLISTENS.COM

By the way Mike Freer has edited the comment he left on his "Business as Usual" blog on leader listens. He now says the following :-

MikeFreer
Posted February 3, 2009 at 6:26 pm | Permalink

Thank you for taking the time to reply Mary - it is appreciated.

The work of our gritting teams, who have worked tirelessly around the clock since Sunday evening to target main routes, town centres and transport hubs, cannot be underestimated and my thanks go out to them and the other Council staff from other departments who despite the suspension of public transport by Transport for London managed to get to work to keep the Council operating as many services as possible.

While some local authorities have ordered their schools to close in the adverse weather conditions, Barnet Council did not and the decision was taken independently by Heads in consultation with the Chair of Governors, as schools themselves are best placed to decide whether their grounds are safe and that they had adequate staff cover.

It goes without saying that people in such extreme circumstances will have experienced some difficulty, that goes without saying but in comparison to our neighbouring boroughs with significantly smaller road networks we stand head and shoulders above the rest. As a comparator, Barnet is roughly 35 square miles in area, compared to Islington which is around 5 square miles. We are one of the biggest and best.

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Well their you go. Ever the brave leader, he's now blaming all of the Schools heads for closing. I bet he's the first to bask in the glory when they do well - If it's good news, Mike's done a great job - if it's bad news it's down to the heads. He's the Leader of Barnet Council, many roads weren't gritted. No schools opened on Monday, two schools opened on Tuesday. Most shops in Mill Hill were shut on Monday as staff couldn't get to work. Most Council services were affected. Mike Freer posted a blog saying "business as usual". He just can't admit he's wrong. He can't take criticism. All he can do is moan about everyone else and how many roads we have in Barnet. That's your job Mike, if you can't do it hand it to someone who can.

One final point I will make. I've had more response about this than any other blog I've ever posted, here or on the Times. People are truly disgusted and that goes right across the political spectrum. No one likes a coward and no one likes a liar !!!!