Guest Blog : A Coleman victim's view of the GLA Result by John Sullivan

By John Sullivan,.

Fantastic , Amazing, Brilliant , Wonderful there are so many ways to express my joy and that of many thousands of others at the eviction of Bully Boy Coleman from his GLA seat, and the election of the hard working calm thinking and fair minded Andrew Dismore, who truly cares about all people in his constituency no matter their political colour  in his place. I joined the peoples library group last Saturday morning to toast the demise of Coleman with champagne, with an amazing group of activists who have worked so hard to unseat Coleman in the fight for the return of democracy and fair play for all in Barnet local politics.

But that was only phase one Coleman might be unseated at the GLA but he is still in a position to bully the people of Barnet along with his lapdog fellow Tory councillors and Tory leader. Along with the heads of departments that bow to the ideology and dogma of privatisation of all of our public services, a pet love of Coleman irrespective of the opinions of their constituents. The One Barnet programme is exactly that, the privatisation of all public services which will mean the loss of all of those fantastic public servants such as care workers for the elderly & disabled and those with learning difficulties. It might come as a surprise to many of you , but when I speak with the fantastic care workers that have supported my nearly 49 year old disabled daughter and her peers for more than 35 years, I do not see a trade union  monster, I see a fantastic human being  a caring loving person that has an inbuilt instinct and ability to cater for the needs of the disabled. Not the ogres that Coleman and his crew of disreputable Tories who brand every trade unionist with the same brush would have us believe. Whilst they are apparently waiving through contracts without proper scrutiny on issues of care for people either children or adults with a disability in need of support, as though the disabled are less important than discussing refuse collection that apparently gets more debating time.

 Councillor Rajput the man that hides behind the skirts of Kate Kennally & Amanda Jackson whilst they treat parents and carers of people with learning difficulties and disabilities with utter contempt, allowing them to spend thousands on consultants to drive through changes. Without meaningful consultation choice or consideration being afforded for the opinions of the parents / carers who have hundreds of years of hands on experience in the field and far more idea of the impact of changes on their loved ones. Rajput finds time to run for the GLA in Brent & Harrow where I am pleased to say he was shafted, yet he is apparently unable to find the time to vet the contracts properly that are related to health and safety and quality of life issues for the disabled people in Barnet, he is supposed to be protecting and being paid to protect.

Coleman has to be removed from Barnet council now along with Rajput and others that sat by and allowed the bully boy Coleman to denigrate the disabled, by demanding legislation should be introduced so we don't have to supply transport for "THESE PEOPLE " , and the people he was referring to are some of the most seriously disabled people in Barnet. Whilst his fellow councillors and Kate Kennally who is paid a great deal of money to protect the disabled ,sat by and allowed him to denigrate the disabled and never said a word and have apparently subsequently supported whole heartedly.

A society is judged by the way it supports the weakest in its community and the Tory group have proven beyond any reasonable doubt by their refusal to defend the most vulnerable ,by supporting  hiking of parking fees and closing of libraries in the face of massive democratic opposition, hiking park hire and allotment fees without meaningful consultation and the list goes on and on, are proving they are no longer fit to hold public office.

 This is not about the colour of your politics it is about right and wrong, it is about democracy for all , it is about our humanity, our need for and the right of a voice in a democratic society, the democratic right of a voice a choice and an opinion which is being eroded by the minute, by these undemocratic Barnet Tory councillors.

 The campaign will now hopefully move to the forthcoming  election in the Brunswick ward, to establish whether the constituents in the Brunswick ward support the contempt shown for the feelings, the needs the views and the experience of parents / carers with hundreds of years of experience at the coal face dealing with disabled children and adults and at the same time saving the taxpayer a fortune. Whilst a bully boy Tory councillor like Coleman is allowed to condemn disabled people in such a derogatory fashion.

Yes parking & allotment & cpz & park hire fees have risen massively and it s wrong  ,but let us not forget the fact that disabled people in Barnet have had their support services fees massively hiked as well. They have had fees introduced for support services where no charges existed before, they now have to pay for services that have always been the responsibility of the taxpayers, yet they are paying more now for less support services via the supposed new fairer contributions policy. Which has only one purpose and that is to maximise the profit margins of privatisation, and definitely not fairer on the disabled, a policy that is designed to make a profit from the weakest and the most vulnerable in our society.( Just how  ideological and dogmatic do you have to get before you think cutting back support  services for disabled people to make a profit is not a moral direction to adopt? ) and there are so many more examples of despicable acts of anti democracy Barnet Tory councillors are and have been engaged in recently. The worst of all being the ill thought through ideological and dogmatic" One Barnet " programme of privatisation of all public services that nobody has asked for and nobody wants. That is being forced through in the face of constructive and qualified opposition based on genuine concerns for the future of our public services, in order to line the pockets of big businesses to the detriment of the people of Barnet. As important the Barnet Tory councillors  track record at privatisation to date  which has cost Barnet taxpayers millions that has been a disaster, is nothing compared to the risk of this forced through " One Barnet " programme that could finish up costing us billions not millions. I for one hope the Brunswick constituents along with all the people of Barnet think about the consequences of voting Tory out of habit, and make an effort to stop and think about what the people they are voting for are up to, and put a stop to the undemocratic rabble that Barnet Tory  councillors have become. They no longer believe in democracy they are blinded by ideology and dogma, and whilst you might be of the  I'm alright Jack mentality at this moment in time, a vote for this Tory rabble now could mean no public support services for you in the future. From dedicated public servants that you might sadly come to rely upon one day, who  might no longer be available to support you  or offer you as high a standard of care as that offered by public servants, who do not work to seek profit, but seek quality of care for the vulnerable and set high standards as in all other aspects of their responsibilities from social work  to carting the bins.

Superman did not need care and support until he sadly and tragically fell off his horse, so if you want to vote Tory anyway  and to hell with democracy, the disabled ,  fair play and support of public services, then just make sure you don't fall off your own high horse.

Ask bully boy Coleman , he knows what it feels like to come crashing down from a  high horse.