Ah diddums. I have been informed that the Deputy Leader of Barnet Council, Andrew Harper thinks some of the comments about him in this blog are "a bit unfair". Well Mr poor didumkins, let me explain what I think is unfair. Then maybe you'll understand why myself and an ever increasing number of people in Barnet, from across the political spectrum think you are not deserving of respect.
Rog T's Top ten list of things which are unfair in Barnet
1. Elderly and disabled people in Sheltered Housing are having their wardens taken away by Barnet Council, despite and overwhelming majority asking to keep them in the official consultation.
2. Childrens lives being placed in danger, by removal of funding for Lollipop men/ladies, saving less than £45,000 in wages. A sum which is far less than the cost of increases in allowances to Barnet Tory Committee chairmen, voted through just after the Council elections.
3. Shutting of various Childrens services around the Borough, removing vital support for young people. Sadly Barnet have not learned the lessons of the tragic death of Marvin Henry.
4. The Library Closure program. Despite Barnet being committed to Consult, they have not informed us or discussed with interested parties any of their plans or allowed us to make the case for retention of specific libraries.
5. Barnet Council outsourced care homes to a company called Catalyst. This company insisted a clause was put in the contract which guaranteed extra profits for them. Barnet then failed to pay and recently lost a court case, resulting in £8 million being taken from the social care budget, to pay the shareholders of private companies (Note : This week it was announce that two of these care homes had Legionalla, a deadly bacteria, in the water systems).
6. Barnet Council Tories have made catastrophic blunders with money, resulting in over £54 million worth of losses to the taxpayer of Barnet (£27.4 Million in Icelandic Banks + £3 million lost interest, £11 million overspend in Aerodrome Road, £8 Million lost to Catalyst Court Case, £1 million legal fees etc for Underhill enquiry, £1 million legal fees for reopening Partingdale Lane, £5 Million wasted on reports for Future Shape projects + Consultants fees, delivering zero savings after three years). Who has picked up the tab? The Taxpayer. Who copped a payrise? The Barnet Tory Council leaders. Who copped a promotion the leader and deputy, who are now MP's.
7. The 800 Barnet Council staff have been served redundancy notices. At the same time senior council posts are occupied by contractors, using shell companies to "optimise" their tax status. Some of these receive up to £17,000 a month.
8. Residents wishing to ask questions of the cabinet at a recent open meeting were mocked and laughed at by elected officials and treated with total disdain. The local press then gave a full article to Lynne Hillan to tell blatent porkies about the meeting. Residents who were present were given no opportunity to respond to her fabrications.
9. Tory Councillor John Hart insulted a member of the public and was immediately stripped of all responsibility by Lynne Hillan. He is not a member of her inner circle. Councillor Brian Coleman has insulted members of the public on numerous occasions, has lost a Standards complaint case for doing just this, has recently been reported again for such behaviour and yet is allowed to carry on with his cabinet job. He is a member of Lynne Hillans inner circle.
10. Tory MP for Hendon, Matthew Offord used Parliamentary privilige to attack a disaffected member of the Hendon Conservative Party. Not a single local Tory Councillor, many of whom were helped by the man in question Adrian Murray-Leonard, has publicly stated that Offord was not telling the truth, despite the many hours Mr Murray-Leonard put in to help them get re-elected. They all know the truth of the accusation and the real motive for saying it.
So Mr Harper, please tell me why you think all of this, which as a senior Barnet Tory, you could easily sort out is fair. Tell us why you think that a man who can not only tolerate this, but is up to his neck in it is worthy of respect. As deputy Leader of the Barnet Conservatives and a cabinet member for several years, there is not one thing on this list that isn't covered in your fingerprints.
If you are a party to the sort of obnoxious behaviour and policies as outlined above, you really need to "Man up" take it on the chin and stop whinging. You'd better get used to it because as your policies sink in, it will get far, far worse.
Rog T's Top ten list of things which are unfair in Barnet
1. Elderly and disabled people in Sheltered Housing are having their wardens taken away by Barnet Council, despite and overwhelming majority asking to keep them in the official consultation.
2. Childrens lives being placed in danger, by removal of funding for Lollipop men/ladies, saving less than £45,000 in wages. A sum which is far less than the cost of increases in allowances to Barnet Tory Committee chairmen, voted through just after the Council elections.
3. Shutting of various Childrens services around the Borough, removing vital support for young people. Sadly Barnet have not learned the lessons of the tragic death of Marvin Henry.
4. The Library Closure program. Despite Barnet being committed to Consult, they have not informed us or discussed with interested parties any of their plans or allowed us to make the case for retention of specific libraries.
5. Barnet Council outsourced care homes to a company called Catalyst. This company insisted a clause was put in the contract which guaranteed extra profits for them. Barnet then failed to pay and recently lost a court case, resulting in £8 million being taken from the social care budget, to pay the shareholders of private companies (Note : This week it was announce that two of these care homes had Legionalla, a deadly bacteria, in the water systems).
6. Barnet Council Tories have made catastrophic blunders with money, resulting in over £54 million worth of losses to the taxpayer of Barnet (£27.4 Million in Icelandic Banks + £3 million lost interest, £11 million overspend in Aerodrome Road, £8 Million lost to Catalyst Court Case, £1 million legal fees etc for Underhill enquiry, £1 million legal fees for reopening Partingdale Lane, £5 Million wasted on reports for Future Shape projects + Consultants fees, delivering zero savings after three years). Who has picked up the tab? The Taxpayer. Who copped a payrise? The Barnet Tory Council leaders. Who copped a promotion the leader and deputy, who are now MP's.
7. The 800 Barnet Council staff have been served redundancy notices. At the same time senior council posts are occupied by contractors, using shell companies to "optimise" their tax status. Some of these receive up to £17,000 a month.
8. Residents wishing to ask questions of the cabinet at a recent open meeting were mocked and laughed at by elected officials and treated with total disdain. The local press then gave a full article to Lynne Hillan to tell blatent porkies about the meeting. Residents who were present were given no opportunity to respond to her fabrications.
9. Tory Councillor John Hart insulted a member of the public and was immediately stripped of all responsibility by Lynne Hillan. He is not a member of her inner circle. Councillor Brian Coleman has insulted members of the public on numerous occasions, has lost a Standards complaint case for doing just this, has recently been reported again for such behaviour and yet is allowed to carry on with his cabinet job. He is a member of Lynne Hillans inner circle.
10. Tory MP for Hendon, Matthew Offord used Parliamentary privilige to attack a disaffected member of the Hendon Conservative Party. Not a single local Tory Councillor, many of whom were helped by the man in question Adrian Murray-Leonard, has publicly stated that Offord was not telling the truth, despite the many hours Mr Murray-Leonard put in to help them get re-elected. They all know the truth of the accusation and the real motive for saying it.
So Mr Harper, please tell me why you think all of this, which as a senior Barnet Tory, you could easily sort out is fair. Tell us why you think that a man who can not only tolerate this, but is up to his neck in it is worthy of respect. As deputy Leader of the Barnet Conservatives and a cabinet member for several years, there is not one thing on this list that isn't covered in your fingerprints.
If you are a party to the sort of obnoxious behaviour and policies as outlined above, you really need to "Man up" take it on the chin and stop whinging. You'd better get used to it because as your policies sink in, it will get far, far worse.
Rog: you said it - I absolutely agree with every point you make. Either Mr Harper and chums stand by the decisions and behaviour of this administration, or they do not. If they don't, they need to have the courage to say so: otherwise they are as culpable as the rest.
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