*** Updated **** Councillor Reuben Thompstone responds to the Barnet Eye open letter regarding volunteering at Libraries

On Friday, I emailed Councillor Reuben Thompstone regarding volunteering at Barnet Libraries. I suggest you read this blog (if you haven't already) to see exactly what I suggested. Here is Councillor Thompstones reply.  http://barneteye.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/open-letter-to-councillor-reuben.html

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From: Thompstone, Cllr Reuben [mailto:Cllr.R.Thompstone@Barnet.gov.uk]
Sent: 18 October 2015 08:53
To: 'Roger.Tichborne@btinternet.com' <Roger.Tichborne@btinternet.com>
Cc: Cornelius, Cllr Richard <Cllr.R.Cornelius@barnet.gov.uk>; Mrs Angry; Thomas, Cllr Daniel <Cllr.D.Thomas@barnet.gov.uk>;Mr Reasonable ; Mr Mustard; Barbara Jacobson; 'aslater@london.newsquest.co.uk' <aslater@london.newsquest.co.uk>; 'james.caven@london.newsquest.co.uk' <james.caven@london.newsquest.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Open Letter to Councillor Reuben Thompstone regarding volunteering at Barnet Libraries

Dear Mr Tichbourne,

Thank you for your email, I note your initiative. I welcome your offer to support as a volunteer and would like to clarify, the constitution allows members to question those making a public comment, however prohibits this for those asking public questions, hence no intentional differential treatment. With respect to your offer of working in partnership, your comments during the meeting on Monday, whilst officers were attempting to respond to elected members' questions, in conjunction with your ad hominem statements below, lead me to conclude that this would be unlikely to be a productive arrangement; instead I would be happy to endorse you to use those relationships to which you refer to encourage those who may be interested in volunteering to do so, and am happy to attend such meetings as my diary would allow, where this might prove productive and where you were unable to attend for any reason. I am not in the habit of responding to ad hominem statements and thus respect your right to your own approach to public conduct as you see fit without commenting further.

Regards,

Reuben Thompstone
Councillor for Golders Green
Lead Member for Children
London Borough of Barnet
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I am not surprised by Councillor Thompstones response. I have responded to Mr Thompstone. Here is my reply

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Dear Councillor Thompstone,

Many thanks for your reply. I much appreciate the time you have spent composing your response and the efforts you have made responding to the points I raised. As you may be aware, I write a blog called the Barnet Eye, which is read by several tens of thousands of people in the London Borough of Barnet. Clearly, I am keen to keep the people of Barnet as up to date as possible with important developments in our community and also how Barnet Council spend the council tax raised from the wallets of hard working families. Whilst I appreciate the magnificent effort your response, it seems that you have omitted to address a couple of points which are fairly fundamental. I am sure this is merely an oversight due to the excitement generated by the Rugby world cup and the great success of the team from your native homeland. Many congratulations on them and their performance, a stark contrast to England.

Anyway, if you could be so kind as to address the key points, I am sure myself and the people of Barnet would be most reassured. To ensure that there is no misunderstanding, please can you respond to the following questions.

1)      I asked if you would be prepared to forego the £15,000 allowance which you receive for chairing the committee responsible for deciding the future of Library policy. I suggested that this would set a good example and would help encourage other people in the Borough to volunteer. I suggested that there are other ways that this money could be spent that would provide more benefit to the people of Barnet than simply going into your wallet. Please can you confirm that you have checked the budget of your department and you are 100% sure that paying you an allowance of £15,000 for chairing a committee which meets a dozen or so times a year for a couple of hours, is the best way of spending taxpayers cash? I note other committee members do not get such an allowance. Since the Cabinet system in Barnet was abolished, surely the related cabinet responsibility allowance is no long justified (that was the pretext for the huge allowance hike in 2010)? If you are having trouble managing your finances without this bung from the Barnet Taxpayer, can I suggest that you speak to this organisation http://www.stepchange.org/Howwecanhelpyou.aspx

2)      You state that you would only appear at events to promote volunteering in Barnet under the condition that I did not attend. I would like to point out that I have worked with many of your Conservative colleagues, promoting all manner of good causes. I have helped raised large sums of cash for mayoral appeals from colleagues including Tony Finn, Lisa Rutter, Brian Schama and Hugh Rayner. I have promoted football schemes at the request of Hugh Rayner. Lisa Rutter launched a charity project based at my business in her capacity as Mayor of Barnet. None has ever had an issue appearing with me when this is part of the process of doing good things in Barnet. I have even helped your colleague John Hart promote his book. I am surprised that you completely dismissed my offer out of hand, without bothering to discuss ways that any initiative could be made to work. The Conservative Party promotes the concept of a big society. Do you think that your public rejection of an offer to assist you, in such a bad mannered way, will really help encourage volunteering in Barnet?

3)      I asked if you were aware that being a Librarian is a profession and that it requires a qualification. Furthermore, I asked whether you recognised that for a library to serve its primary purpose, you needed a librarian. You declined to answer this question. Would you care to now?

4)      There is a suspicion that your administration has no interest at all in actually seeing volunteering in well run Libraries. There is a suspicion that the whole scheme is designed to fail, so the council can shut down libraries completely and sell them off for a capital receipt. It is 100% clear to anyone who reads my original open letter and your response that you have zero interest in exploring in any way, shape or form my offer. You have no interest in engaging in dialog to try and develop a strategy with active members of the community. It is also clear that you are not the slightest bit interested in engaging with anyone who is prepared to give up their time to help in local libraries, unless it is on the terms you dictate to them, with no discussion at all. Do you believe that behaving in such a manner is the way to engage with members of the community who have contributed so much to yoyur household budget?

I have lived in the London Borough of Barnet all of my life. One of my first memories is going to Mill Hill Library with my mother to get “Thomas The Tank Engine” books, which she would read to me at bed time. My favourite was the story of Henry the Green Engine. I would strongly recommend this book to you. I see parallels with yourself and there is a strong message embedded, as you may expect from a vicar who was also an author. When I was a teenager, studying O levels and A levels, I spent many hours studying and revising in Mill Hill Library. I found that this was an environment free from distraction. I ascribe what academic success I had at school to this time. When my mother was in her final years, with failing eyesight and housebound, I would take her once a week to Mill Hill Library. She would return three large print books collect three more. She would ask the librarian for recommendations. The Librarians knew her well and would invariably pick out good choices.

I suspect that local Barnet libraries have not played such a key role in your life, hence your stilted view of their importance in the life and culture of Barnet. I note that you seem to have an issue with the fact that some Barnet residents have an emotional attachment to Barnets library service. You do not seem to have the emotional intelligence to recognise that for many of us, this is not just a matter of a few numbers on a Barnet Council accounts spreadsheet. Over the years, especially when the Conservatives were in opposition, I saw many examples of appalling behaviour both inside and outside the Council chamber, when things got heated. Life experience has taught me that this is a good thing. It shows people care. It seems to me from your comments, you really only want to engage with people who don’t care or are emotionally stunted. I trust you are not appalled by the behaviour of Tory MP’s at PMQ’s? Do you really want to live in a society run by Daleks?

Finally, can I give you some career advice. In my experience, the best committee chairmen recognise that the Public have every right to attend council meetings and when serious matters are being discussed will feel inclined to make their feelings known. Good committee chairmen deal with this with wit, humour and when necessary compassion. I sincerely hope that you start developing into such a chairman of your committee. Maybe you could have a chat with Tony Finn, who in my experience has no trouble getting the balance right.

I look forward to your response. Hopefully this time we will actually have some answers.

Regards

Roger Tichborne

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I await Councillor Thompstones reply. It must also be noted that Mrs Angry sent a response to the rather hapless Councillor Thompstone. I'm a dyslexic, so I personally would never make such comments, but clearly Mrs Angry is not exactly chuffed that someone who is clearly semi literate is in charge of education in Barnet.

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Dear Councillor Thompstone

Thank you for including me in your response.

Unfortunately, I could not understand it, as it is expressed in such impenetrable language, and seemingly without any reference to the rules of grammar.

I suggest that - in the course of your next session as a volunteer shelf-filler in a public library - you borrow a copy of 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves', or similar helpful guide to written English. 

If you cannot find anything on this subject, do ask a librarian to help you. You'll probably be able to track one down, in the queue at the local job centre.

With very best wishes,

Theresa Musgrove

pp Mrs Angry

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I wonder how long it will take the Leader of the Council and his deputy, who are both cc'd on all of this to twig that it appears that they don't really have someone who is up to the job.
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Updated 15:00

Councillor Thompstone responded to my email above as follows:-


Dear Mr Tichbourne,

Many thanks for your email, I note you appear to have presumed answers to your own questions and continue to engage in ad hominem statements. That is your prerogative however my response on the latter point remains the same and that for the former clearly requires no further response.

Regards,

Reuben Thompstone
Councillor for Golders Green
Lead Member for Children
London Borough of Barnet

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To which I simply replied
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Dear Councillor Thompstone,

Many thanks for your enlightening response. As far as I can tell, the only question you have answered is one which I didn’t actually ask. That question is “Does Councillor Reuben Thompstone have the good manners,  wit, compassion, morality, intellectual capabilities and leadership skills to hold such an important portfolio in Barnet Council”. This discourse offered you the perfect opportunity to demonstrate all of these key characteristics. Your responses speak volumes. The only positive thing to come out of our exchange is that the people of Barnet now have some insight into your personality.  

Regards

Roger Tichborne

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Updated 15:20
I will leave the last word to Mrs Angry. She clearly has his measure and sums it all up rather nicely!
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Dear Cllr Thompstone

In your responses to Roger Tichborne - (please note the correct spelling) - you seem strangely reluctant to answer the most important question: why do you think libraries should be run by volunteers, when you refuse to perform your roles as councillor and chair in a similarly voluntary capacity? 

In this age of austerity, when all of us are asked to tighten our belts, should you, as an elected representative and proud Conservative, not set a good example and forego the generous amount of money given to you from the public purse? 

My other question is this: you think that the role of a professional librarian can be replaced by unqualified volunteers. 

I believe that you are a teacher: if I offer to take your post, in your school, on a permanent, voluntary basis, will you agree to step aside? 

I'm not qualified, of course, but that hardly matters, does it? I can probably wing my way through a few lessons, armed with a copy of 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Science', and a fire extinguisher. 

And yes, you will lose your livelihood as a result, and you and your family face a future of unemployment, uncertainty and hardship - but think of the budget savings that will ensue!

Yours sincerely,

Theresa Musgrove