Barnet Council Leader Mike Freer said: “It is a democracy, however unpalatable their views are, the BNP will continue to put them out. We have to make sure the electorate comes out and defeats the BNP resoundingly.”
Fine words indeed. I don't suppose that there will be too many people in Barnet who disagree (the BNP thought getting about 4% of the vote was a good result, so they aren't exactly popular around here). The question is this? How does Mike Freer seek to engage the people of Barnet in the political process? How does he encourage them to become involved in the democratic process? What is he doing to convince them that their vote counts and that the Conservative Party in Barnet are truly committed to upholding democracy and free speech?
Well Mike started his leader listens blog to "allow residents direct access to the leader of Barnet council and get involved in a direct exchange of views" - The trouble is that when residents post messages Mike doesn't like, he doesn't put them up. Even though the website is paid for by the local taxpayers, Mike controls it and only displays favourable comments. This has lead to his Leader Listens program being widely discredited, despite the thousands of pounds spent promoting it and videoing it. Freer says that 25 residents attended his last session. There were more people at our last dog training class.
Despite the snow and bad weather, rather more people attended the Hendon Residents Forum on Thursday. One of Mike's Toadies, Councillor Richard Weider came along. When a local resident started, to speak he demanded that the chair of the Forum, Councillor Brian Gordon, silence her on the spurious grounds that "He thought she worked for the Council". Fortunately the eminently more sensible senior member in the chair, dismissed his objection - at which point Weider stormed out with the hump.
One of the Barnet Conservative Parties keenest advocate of free speech, David Miller, author of the Barnet Council Watch blog and the man who submitted more Freedom of Information than any other Barnet residents, has also upset the leaders of Barnets Conservatives. Has he done this by advocating Trotskyism or the policies of Gordon Brown? No he's just campaigned for the Barnet Tories to follow the policies of the National Party. He's also had the gall to expose waste and bad governance in Barnet. What happens to loyal Conservatives who cross the power hungry cabal at the Centre of the Barnet Tory Party? Well David gets anonymous nasty messages left on his blog. When these failed to shut him up, the subject of these messages became David's mother. Despite his differences with the local leadership, David is still actively involved in the Chipping Barnet Association and his mother is still a loyal major fundraiser. He still advocates Tory policies. For how long I wonder, if these attacks persist?
Another local Tory who has fallen out with the Leadership is Ex Councillor Daniel Hope. Now I've traded comments and insults with Dan Hope for a number of years. In the pages of the Edgware Times electronic comments, I christened him "Bonkers Dan" for his support of various Tory policies with which I disagreed. Now our disagreements were based on the fact that we sit at opposite ends of the political spectrum and we don't agree about policies. We both think that the others policies would be detrimental to the economy. I always figured that Dan is a big boy and capable of dealing with the rough and tumble. He never complained about being on the sharp edge of a few barbs as he knew they weren't directed as a personal assualt.
It seems that sources close to the Tory leadership of Barnet, take a dim view of Dan Hope as well. Unlike me, this isn't because they dislike his politics, just because they have a personal grudge. Check these comments left on various blogs -
Barnet Council Watch Blog
do call me dave said...
You could always get a job ex councillor hope, you know one of those 9am to 5pm things! I might be less annoyed about my taxes being wasted and therefore be a nicer person!
08 February 2009 14:20
Friends of Freer Blog
do call me dave said...
Why does'nt Daniel just do everyone a favour and stick to what he is good at - NOTHING.
As my Ward Councillor he was'nt that affective infact the one time I turned up to see him at a council surgery he was'nt even there! Typical of someone like him that.
Oh and as for the slagging off, of past leaders, I do recall being told that Daniel was'nt actually a fan of the last one nor the one before that. Much like Miller...
26 January 2009 13:20
Nice stuff isn't it? You'll notice that (unlike my jousts with Dan) they never bother to actually debate what he's had to say.
My greatest fear is that the behaviour we are seeing within the Barnet Tories will so disgust the local population that they will stay at home at future elections. If, like David Miller, his Mother and Daniel Hope, you are committed Conservatives, but you cannot abide this lot what will you do? If you are lucky enough to have a sensible Councillor such as Brian Gordon, who clearly has no truck with this sort of behaviour, I guess you would still turn out. I truly believe that the reason Richard Barnbrook now sits for the BNP in the GLA, having received 130,000 votes across London and crossing the 5% threshold needed for a seat, wasn't because the BNP had 5% support of all Londoners. I believe it was because many Labour and Tory voters were so sick of various shenanigans that they stayed at home. I've spoken to several local Tories who won't vote Conservative until Freer goes. If Freer and the Barnet Tories really care about stopping the BNP, then they must start behaving properly. Stop the dirty war against your internal opposition. Clean up your act. I'd love to see Labour retake Barnet, but if that is at the expense of the BNP riding in, it would be too high a price to pay. There's not much point in me advising the Tories what they should do, I'm the last person they'd be likely to listen to. Having said that, it is crystal clear what needs to be done. If they don't do it then the fine words, such as Mike Freer's at the start of this blog are a meaningless smokescreen.
17 comments:
One of the greatest dangers to democracy in Barnet is the parlous state of the Labour Party in the borough, particularly the Labour Group.
Being strictly non partisan. It's not so much that they are unfit to run the Council (not that they have ever been trusted to do that single handedly) but they are unfit to be the opposition on the Council.
Jack Cohen and his merry band of 6 have 10 times the impact of the ineffectual Labour Group under Alison Moore. Why this is a danger is Mike Freer just laughs at them. They are not a threat, nothing they says interests middle ground voters in the borough. It's as if they have given up and are just sitting back and enjoying the expenses.
This lack of opposition breeds a complacency and leaves open the horror of corruption.
As most BNP votes seem to come from disaffected Labour voters, the fear is great.
I'd certainly like to see the Labour Group be a bit more strident in their opposition of Freer and his merry men, but I don't think they are "one of the greatest dangers to democracy in Barnet".
Here's my top three dangers to democracy in Barnet.
1) The concentration of power in hands of the Council Leader through the Cabinet system
2) The system of delegated power to Council Officers
3) The lack of scrutiny of council decisions.
Barnets Lib Dems seem to do a good job. I can't criticise them for their efforts. I can criticise the Tory councillors who I know don't agree with much of what goes on yet sit on their hands.
I'm not sure where the BNP votes come from. I'd suspect that there are a fair number of right wing UK independence types who would vote UKIP/BNP/Tory depending on the candidate and their mood.
I suspect that the people who've crossed from Labour voted Tory under Thatcher. I don't subscribe to the view that the BNP are left wing. They certainly don't fit in with any of the principles I understand as being left wing. I think that all of the parties have a dutyto keep their house in order to discourage them.
You know I don't dissent from your analysis but there is no way on this earth that Freer and his henchmen would be able to get away with things if there were effective opposition.
The Lib Dems are effective but there are only 6 of them. Frankly I would far happier to see them take most of Labour's seats and for them to be the 2nd largest group.
Whatever you say, that I agree with, about the system as it is, it's faults are magnified 100x by Labour's failure to successfully hold the administration to account. Alison Moore's bureacratic and technocratic approach just doesn't wash with the voters, how they chose her to face Freer in Finchley is unfathomable.
When there is real accountability, you will see the weaknesses of the three points you raise minimised, but not reversed.
Ah, Roger Twist is twisting it again, change the record Rog!
Here's a bit of context for your 30 readers. There are hundreds and hundreds of Tory members throughout Barnet. You can only name two that have a public dislike of Freer et al. Each has their own reason for an axe to grind. Big deal!
If you read the BNPs policies regarding tax and nationalisation they are clearly left wing on lots of issues.
Rog
I am a Conservative and always have been. If I lived in an area where a party like the BNP had a chance of winning a seat, then I would be prepared to vote tactically to keep them out, but I can’t imagine any other situation which would persuade me to change my vote.
In the leadership election I voted for David Davis but he was beaten fair and square (and by a big majority) by David Cameron. I respect that result unconditionally. I don’t consider that ‘leaders’ like Gordon Brown (and one other person I could mention) who assumed the leadership without a mandate from party members has any moral authority to govern.
The Conservative Party is big enough to allow for a wide variety of opinions. Finchley’s greatest ever MP, Margaret Thatcher, had plenty of critics throughout her time as leader and Prime Minister - the so called wets. Did she try and silence them? No. Did she employ dirty tricks, insult their family members or tell downright lies about them? No, no, no!
She beat them with the power of her argument. That is how we do things in a civilised democracy.
It has been reported to me that some local party members were told that I had insulted Brian Coleman’s mother on my blog. Anyone who has read the blog will know that to be a scurrilous lie. Cllr Coleman’s mother is actually a very nice lady and the idea that I would use the same dirty tricks against Mr “almost £2,000 a week in allowances” that the Friends of Freer have used against me, is utterly repugnant and reprehensible.
But this is the level of scum we are dealing with.
Julie, if only 30 people read this blog, why are you and your chums so worried as to what Rog says?
Is it because they are a bunch of cowards who can't bring themselves to use their real names?
"Julie",
What have I twisted here? I've no idea whether 3, 30, 300 or 3 million people read the blog and I don't care. The figures I have are quite surprisingly high.
Plenty of Tories in Barnet have talked to me about issues raised here. They just haven't been subject to the campaigns of abuse in blogs in the way David & Dan have.
One thing which you may wish to consider is that I've only once been taken to task by anyone. That was a lady on the train, who everyone suggested was Mike Freer's mum (although it could have been anyone).
If I'm talking cobblers let's see the withering analysis of why.
Dan,
With regards to Alison Moore & the Labour group. If it were down to me, I'd be far more withering & strident in my criticism. I'vr discussed this with a couple of Labour councillors. Alison feels that she won't beat Freer by getting down in the gutter & running a mega-negative group. They are focusing on being good councillors and doing what they can.
I have a bit more of a pitbull mentality. I'd shake them till they rattled. Then again I'm not a councillor.
Ooh lets have a debate about who is better than... Alison Moore or Jack Cohen - that'll get the pulses racing!
If that is Alison Moore's attitude then Mike Freer should have a huge grin on his face.
"Being good Councillors" is all very nice but it won't win you another seat, outside of where you hold them, and fails to hold the administration to account.
Being 'mega negative', whatever that actually means, is never successful on it's own. Jack Cohen and his merry band of folk have the balance right and if they turned their mind to it could suck up a lot of Labour seats.
If you are going to compare Alison Moore and Jack Cohen on the basis of their respective party’s response to the Icelandic crisis, it is clear that Jack Cohen wins by a distance.
Dave, don't flatter yourself, I'm not 'worried' about what you bloggers say and I doubt Freer or anyone on the council does either! Get over yourself!
Please don't confuse a weird fondness of online socialist bashing and putting another view forward on here with actually being worried about your comments! I rarely get the opportunity to talk to socialists or disillusioned local Tories so this is my only chance (Rog seems to be better than me in bumping into them though I think he's looking for it or making it up!).
Rog said in a previous post that his customers complain about things - I work in a very busy outlet in the borough and not one customer ever brings up the council or Freer. Perhaps if their relatives had been let down by a council service they might bring it up but that happens to a very, very small number of people and mistakes do happen, get over it!
Anyway Dave, what an earth can a scarcely read blog do to anyone?! This is just a forum for silly old farts like us to air our views as if important......
I love the way you assume Mike Freer is on here typing away under a fake ID, you think you're getting to him and that he has to defend himself! Makes me laugh. You can't bear the thought that there may be other unconnected people who just want to put across another point of view and draw your readers attention to your ingrained bias.
So Rog, plenty of Tories have complained to you about Freer's leader listens website, Coleman's earnings, future shape etc?!! Come off it. I expect the Tory membership are quite capable of taking thier 'complaints' up with Freer et al if they have any.
As per usual your arguements are weak and too narrowly motivated....tut! None of this online debate will ever change anything but, hey, it's fun and an axe doesn't mind where its grinded! Bye for now, I have a life to live! xxx
"Julie" if yuo have a life why then have you written the longest post on this thread?? Just asking!
"Julie",
Strange as it may seem I probably talk to tens if not hundreds of people a week. Some I talk to about music, some about football, some about beer and some about my blog. Of those I talk to who read my blog maybe 30-50% are Tories - Mill Hill is an affluent part of the borough you know.
They are not "taking up complaints" with me they are just chatting. Sometimes they say "You made a good point there". Sometimes they say "you were off track there".
There is really no need for me to make anything up. If I did, I'm sure people would soon twig and I'd end up looking like a pillock.
One thing that you and your "buddies" don't seem to get is I don't really have an agenda. I just write about what I want to write about from a personal perspective. People agree or not. Even people who don't agree with my world view seem to find the blog interesting & entertaining.
You say my arguments are weak and from a narrow perspective yet you never seek to challenge anything I say or explain why it is weak or from a narrow perspective. As such your criticism doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
I'll say this though, if I'd left a post such as yours on Leaderlistens.com it
a) Would not have been displayed
b) Would not have received a detailed response from Mike Freer
c) Would not have had the opportunity to be read by the wider public
In effect you are calling me a fantasist and a liar here. I don't care, I'm a big boy and I'll let the wider public see who they believe - you or me.
It strikes me as bizarre that none of the pro-Freer posters ever have an identifiable public profile?
"Julie",
If you check my profile you'll see that nearly five hundred people have bothered to take a closer look at who I am.
Quite a few people have got in touch with me through my company website as a result of reading this blog (amongst them some very senior London Tories). Some like it, some don't, some have positive comments, some have corrections, some just want to know who to talk to about a problem they've got, some want to spill the beans on shenanigans and some want me to print absurd rumours about Brian Coleman and get the hump when I don't.
My mailbox tonight contained the following about the blog
1 email from a LibDem Councillor
1 email from a Tory Councillor
6 emails from 2 members of Barnet Trades unions
Julie
If it’s only “silly old farts” like us reading/writing blogs, and if the Friends of Freer are genuinely not worried about anything I say, then why are they spreading lies about me and my mother to Chipping Barnet Conservative Party members? Do you condone that?
You say that my arguments are “too narrowly motivated” without suggesting what my motivation might be. Some people criticise Daniel Hope on here by suggesting that he just has the hump because he lost his council seat, but I’m not a councillor, never have been, and have no desire to stand for public office, so what drives me?
I praise Conservatives where praise is due, yet that is conveniently forgotten by some. There are many excellent Conservative councillors across the country who do a damn good job. I simply don’t put Mike Freer and his two little pals in that category. If you think he’s doing a fine job, then that’s great. But I don’t, and it’s my right to say so, even if nobody is listening!
I have said many times that there are countless policy issues where I actually agree with Mike Freer’s views, but it’s the way he tries to impose them without adequate debate or scrutiny that I consider deeply worrying. This is not a dictatorship and he simply does not have a mandate to rule.
Brian Coleman has failed to answer the question on my recent blog as to what he does to justify allowances of £103,000 a year? If he thinks he is worth it, let him say so, but I am not being disloyal to the Conservative Party by highlighting how our taxes are being spent. I think it is disgusting that any councillor should be awarded that amount of public money, and I’m quite certain that most Conservative voters agree.
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