Open Letter to the Leader of Barnet Council

From: Roger Tichborne

To: cllr.r.cornelius@barnet.gov.uk

Cc: cllr.a.campbell@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.a.cornelius@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.a.mcneil@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.a.brodkin@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.a.mittra@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.a.strongolou@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.a.tambourides@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.b.evangeli@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.b.gordon@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.b.salinger@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.b.schama@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.c.omacauley@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.c.rogers@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.c.salinger@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.d.cohen@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.d.seal@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.d.yawitch@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.e.greenspan@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.g.cooke@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.g.johnson@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.g.old@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.g.sargeant@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.h.rayner@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.j.hart@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.j.johnson@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.j.marshall@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.j.tambourides@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.j.tierney@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.k.mcguirk@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.l.rutter@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.m.braun@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.m.shooter@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.p.coakleywebb@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.r.houston@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.r.thompstone@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.r.turner@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.s.khatri@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.s.rajput@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.s.sowerby@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.z.zubairi@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.a.ioannidis@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.a.finn@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.h.hart@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.w.prentice@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.a.harper@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.a.hutton@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.a.moore@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.a.schneiderman@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.a.slocombe@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.a.sodha@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.b.perry@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.b.rawlings@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.c.farrier@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.d.longstaff@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.d.thomas@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.j.cohen@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.j.scannell@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.m.cohen@barnet.gov.uk ; cllr.m.palmer@barnet.gov.uk

Sent: Friday, May 24, 2013 9:35 AM

Subject: One Barnet - Plato or Aristotle

Dear Councillor Cornelius,

Those of us lucky enough to have had the benefit of a decent Comprehensive education in the 1970's will be familiar with the two opposing philosophical approaches to the issue of government. The first of these was developed by Plato who stated that ninety percent of men were brutish animals and to stop them destroying everything, society needed an elite - one in ten - to lord it over the savages.

Aristotle on the other hand developed the philosophy that ninety percent of men are decent and honest. The one in ten who were criminals needed locking up, to prevent them corrupting the rest of society.

In this week, when we have seen savagery and brutality on the streets of London, as well as a decision to outsource the vast majority of Barnet Council services to Capita. A decision taken by a curiously small number of people, with no consultation and no mandate (the proposal was not in the last Conservative manifesto), I would be extremely interested to find out whether your administration subscribes to the view of Plato or Aristotle or whether you have developed a political philosophy of your own.

Regards

Roger Tichborne

www.barneteye.blogspot.com