Hendon Tory vice chair owes locals an apology for charity hijack

One of the things which disgusts me more than anything is when politicians hijack great things for narrow politcal advantage. One of the advantages (or possibly disadvantages) of running my studio business is that we have thousands of customer in the London Borough of Barnet who are musicians and creative people of all persuasions. Over the years, many have become friends and quite a few follow me on Twitter, read the blog etc. It is not unusual for them to upbraid me about my comments, put me right about facts or tip me off to stories. A huge number of these people are amazing indivuals who organise and contribute to all manner of events for local charities. This morning one of my customers has come in and just told me that they are livid. They were one of many locals who contributed to the Barnet float in the New Years parade. This won a prize of £5,000 for The Mayors Charities. Whilst this is a good thing, my customer was infuriated with a tweet they spotted from the Deputy Chair of the Hendon Conservatives, Nicole Richer.

Great to see their efforts won £5,000 for the Mayor's charities, wouldn't you agree Roger?

— Nicole Richer (@nikkiar) January 1, 2019

This tweet clearly implies that Councillor Felix Byers and Councillor David Longstaff were responsible for winning the £5,000. Given that the float was put together by a whole bunch of people, this has clearly irritated a lot of people (as he's mentioned it to a few involved). Being fair to the Barnet Conservaties, on their Facebook page, The Barnet Tories correctly acknowledge this, however Nicole's tweet told a very different story and she has not covered herself in glory with what she said or what she is trying to do.

Barnet Conservatives

1 January ·

We are proud that Barnet's entry "Everything Stops for Tea" at the New Years Day Parade won £5000 towards the Mayor's Charities. Many thanks to Susi Earnshaw, Mayor Thompstone, Cllr Longstaff, Lee Thompson and all the wonderful performers that took part in the parade!

It is interesting to note that the tweet did not mention Donoghue's, who provided the flatbed Lorry that carried the parade. Could this be because the Tories in Childs Hill have been saying they are opposed to Donoghues recycling plant, as part of their efforts to win seats in Barnets most marginal ward.  This tweet pictures Tory Councillors on a picket line against Donoghues

@DumpDonoghue @ggera_nw @JamieBlake20 @anne_clarke Cricklewood’s Royal Connections. Lord Skip of The Dumpster ! Dump Donoghue now ! pic.twitter.com/cgZOiz0pZo

— Maureen byrne (@MaurByrne123) November 26, 2017

It seems to me that our local Conservatives are political chamaeleons. They are happy to oppose organisations such as Donoghues when it suits them and aso happy to jump on their bandwagon if there is a good photo opportunity.

I would suggest that it would be nice if Nicole tweeted a little gracious thanks to all involved, not just her two mates. It was a fine effort and it would be unfortunate if this attempt to hijack the credit alienated people, such as my customer. In past years, I've supported the Mayor's Charity and works, with cash and logistic help. We should put politics aside for this worthy appeal and give proper recognition to all of out community. I believe Nicole is fairly new to the job. I hope she realises that there is more to politics than trying to score a few points here and there. The best politicians are respected across the political spectrum and are able to work with people across the community, not least by recognising their efforts, not by hijacking them.

I will conclude by congratulating all of the people involved on a great effort, doing Barnet proud. All of them!
I think this little ditty from the Fun Boy Three sums up how I feel about all this.