Dan Hope's filing cabinets

It seems that in the inner echelons of the ruling junta at Barnet Council there is much mirth and merriment at a Youtube video of Tory Ex Councillor Daniel Hope trying to flog a few rather tatty filing cabinets. Mr Hope used to be a Barnet Councillor, but was deselected and replaced by Councillor Andreas Tambourides wife, to make up a husband and wife partnership.

Now I rather like Councillor Tambourides, not for any reason other than he looks and acts a bit like Sid James (I've noticed at Council meetings he has a roving eye, especially when Councillor Caroline Margo used to walk past him, although to be fair she's a bit of a looker. I'm not for a second suggesting he's up to any naughtiness, not least because his wife is sitting next to him, ready to dispatch a well aimed handbag at the first sign of any misbehaviour). As such he brings me much joy during dull council meetings, but I do wonder whether these husband & wife teams deliver the same value for money & independence that two people who don't share a marital bed would.

Anyway for reasons I don't know, Ex Councillor Dan Hope was deselected. He clearly is not what one might call a Freerite Tory and has been a big critic of the Tory groups policies, being of the opinion that they are not Conservative. Dan Hope thinks that in effect the Barnet Tories are New Labour under a Conservative banner (I suppose it is fair to say that as a Labour supporter, I disagree and think they are just plain old useless under Tory banner).

For his sins, he's been excommunicated from all but the fringes of the Barnet Party (although rather strangely for such an apostate, the local member seem to quite like him). Now I don't normally step into the fray to defend right wing Tories, especially not ones who I've clashed with many times in the Edgware Times, but the sniggering at his video is worthy of comment, for a wider issue.

The Barnet Tories find it hilarious that he is earning a few quid in this way. "Oh how the mighty have fallen, they snigger". Well I'm a small businessman. In the early days of my studio business I used to have another job where one of the tasks was organising an office move from Tottenham Court Road to Buckingham Palace Road. The new office had brand spanking new office furniture. The old office was full of shabby desks, worn out carpet tiles, bashed up filing cabinets etc. My then boss asked me to get a quote to get rid of them. The drummer in my band at the time, big Gray Ramsey, was into a bit of wheeling & dealing so I asked him how much to remove the stuff. He replied that we could sell it and make a fortune. I spoke to my boss and said "I've got a mate who'll pay us cash & take it away" He replied. "Well if he can sell it, you split the money with him, and treat it as your bonus". Anyway, cut a long story short, we pocketed £800 each for a weekends work. Not only that but I got enough carpet tiles, ash trays, etc for the studios to probably save me another £800.

As for my boss, I bought him lunch from the profits, he was more than happy, he got a nice lunch, the stuff went and I'd had my bonus without him paying a penny. The point is that, as the saying goes "where there's muck there's brass". A shrewd small businessman, with an eye on costs recognises this. He will seek to cut expenses, maximise income, turn a profit on a deal. People who've never had experience of anything other than cushy desk jobs, where hands don't get dirty, have no concept of this. This is why Council projects such as Aerodrome Road have gone way over budget. A councillor such as Dan Hope would surely go downto the site, walk around regularly and ask awkward questions. I suspect that the desk jockey councillors who laugh at him, sit waiting for management reports, saying "due to unforeseen circumstances, we are £4 million over budget". I asked Council Leader Mike Freer, on his Leader Listens blog, how often he turns up unnanounced at Council sites to check things. He didn't answer (he didn't even post the question up).

I've already pulled up one local Tory candidate for deriding hard working small business owners. This is yet another example of the disdain which those who can't stand the concept of getting their hands dirty hold those who do in. They should be ashamed of themselves. This is why they keep losing money.