Normally on a Friday, I do the Friday fun section. As I attended the funeral of our no 1 guest blogger today, Mr John Sullivan, I didn't feel it appropriate to do this feature. Having already written my eulogy to John previously, I just wanted to report back that his funeral was packed. The chapel at Hendon Crematorium was so full that we had to stand in the overspill annexe. It was futting to see so many people there. I bumped into at least five people who I've not seen for a while, who I didn't know were friends of John. He certainly got around. I had a lovely chat with his wife Ida, and his son Cliff to pass on my personal condolensces. The eulogy was fascinating. At such times you learn a lot of things about the person that you never knew. I knew all about Johns work as a disabled campaigner, but far less about his early life and his working career. I've known John since about 2009. we were introduced by local Barnet Unison rep John Burgess, who suggested that John may be a good guest blogger. Fittingly John was at the service today.
For about the first five years I knew John, he'd always start any email regarding matters Barnet, guest blogs etc with the message "I know nothing about blogging but....". I was out for a drink with him in 2014, and yet again he said it. I said "John, you've published over 30 guest blogs, over a million people have seen them, all this talk of 'knowing nothing about blogging' is wearing a bit thin". He laughed and said "Have I really publisghed that many?". I said "Yes, I made a point of counting them as I knew you'd say that". He laughed and said "Well I never". About two weeks later, he phoned me. He was so angry, he could hardly talk. I wasn't sure what was going on. I said "Sorry John, you've lost me here, bring me up to speed". He gathered his thoughts and said "Sorry, when you told me I'd posted 30 Guest Blogs I thought you were pulling my leg. I had some time on my hands today so I read them all back". I was a bit worried when he said this. Had I edited one in a way he was unhappy with? He then said "I can't believe it. It's all there. Everything we said was right and the ******** never listened, the ******** didn't care". He then said, "You know that Blog I did, The Definition of Evil - I'd completely forgotten that. There is so many evil ******** running Barnet Council and in the Tory government that you get overwhelmed. How can you forget writing something like that. It was true wasn't it?". As I listened to the Celebrant play Hey Jude, those words repeated themselves in my mind.
The celebrant rightly concentrated more on John's love of family and the people he helped. Without his beloved Downs daughter Susan, our paths may never have crossed, but she was his Little Chief and the apple of his eye. I had a bit of a bond with John as my cousin Tessie was a peer and friend of Susans and I saw the same things John saw happening, although with the detachment of not being Tessie's Dad. Whenever John went to war, he'd always remind me that it wasn't just for Susan, it was for Tessie and everyone else. Over a beer he told me that Susan had made him a better person. He had no choice but to love, care and fight for her. The sad truth is that he did have a choice, some parents sadly walk away. If you don't believe me, watch Otto Baxter in "Not a F@cking Horror Story".
It is always easier to look the other way, to take the easy path, to give in, to not pick up the phone, write a blog or march when there is something that needs to be done. John Sullivan never chose the easy option. That was why the chapel was full. That was why there was so much love. Johns was the second funeral I've been to this week. Such events make you reflect on your own life and contribution. There have been plenty of times when I have wondered whether it is time to knock the blog on the head, to stop saying the things that need to be said. Maybe I should have done it a year or two ago. Trouble is, I can't now because I know John will bloody well come back and haunt me if I do. God bless you John and give Susan a big hug from me, up in the big party in the sky.
I'll leave this here. Without John Sullivan, this film would never have been made
The local branch secretary of UNISON John Burgess is standing for General Secretary of UNISON, the Union for public service workers. As I am not a member of the the Union and I have minimal contact with the membership, you may ask why I have any interest in the matter? The answer is quite simple. At the right hand side of this blog, you will see the blog archive. You will see that the blog started back in 2008. What inspired a musician/ business owber to start writing a blog, you may wonder? Well the answer is simple. I started writing a blog for the Barnet Times newspaper. Originally it was supposed to be about local music. However at the time my dearly beloved Mum was still alive. She was in very poor health, having had a lifetime of illness. She survived diptheria and scarlett fever in the 1930's which wrecked her health, stomach cancer in 1970, which wrecked her appetite and a major stroke in 2000, which robbed her of speech and mobility. By the middle of the decade, she relied on council services for meals on wheels, a panic alarm and various other services. Despite the challenges, she was a fighter and lived on her own, in a purpose modified flat a few doors up the road from me.
In 2007, Barnet Council outsourced the meals on wheels contract. The stress of what happened, I believe contributed to my mothers death in 2008 from another massive stroke. Until the outsourcing, she could set her watch by the delivery time of her meal at noon. The quality of food was good and the staff were attentive and friendly. If there was a problem, they would often help her. If someone else on the round had a problem and they were late they would let us know. Then in April 2007, the council let the contract to Sodexho and all of the noce people who delivered her dinner went. This greatly upset my mum, who was 82 at the time. She had built up a relationship with them and trusted them. As the date approached she got more stressed and more frantic. We tried to tell her that there would be no change, it was just different people, doing the same job. How wrong we were. On day one of the new contract, no dinner arrived. My mother, who had difficulty communicating and was prone to panic attacks, went into meltdown. The lunch never arrived. The next day it arrived, stone cold, at 5pm. It turned out that Sodexho had budgeted on each driver delivering 40 meals in a three hour period. That is one every three minutes. For many of the old folk on the round, opening the door would take three minutes, let alone the journeytime between deliveries. In short, the whole scheme was a calamity. I saw first hand the stress this caused. I emailed our local councillors and screamed to the rafters. The council responded by making my mum the first drop.
Whilst this fixed our problem, I was acutely aware that some other old dears, who didn't have stroppy kids had been pushed even further back. I felt awful, but given my motheres fragile state, what could I do. When I started writing the blog, I became aware that every cut, every outsourcing had victims. Not people just a bit inconvenienced, but people who suffer. You may think "Why should an old dear not wait five hours for a cold meal". Well if you went to a restaurant and your meal was fiv hours late and cold, what would you do. If you were wondering, my mother paid for the service. In fact she paid twice as she'd spent her life paying taxes, in the hope of a welfare state looking after her when she was old and infirm. My mum was lucky, she had money and she had kids who were prepared to put themselves out for her. She did however value a degree of independence. As she saw it, she paid for her meals on wheels and the service had been trashed. She was livid. As she put it to me at the time "What sort of people make old people wait, starving hungry, for hours on end, to save a few quid". Due to the ravages of her stroke, my mother couldn't cook. She could prepare a sandwich, but my wife cooked her an evening meal and my kids took it up on a tray. Sadly we were not in a position to make lunch. Following my mothers cancer surgery in 1970, she physically couldn't go too long between meals. She was careful about her nutrition and wanted proper food. The quality of the Sodexho meals was appalling, compared to the previous offerings. Every corner that could be cut to save a few pennies had been. In the end, the service settled down, when the council realised what a terrible blunder they had made and forced the contractors to up their game, but there was a six month period, when every day there was a tale of woe. Our dog became fat as my mother insisted we feed the dog any meals that were inedible "I've paid for these, so they cannot be wasted" she insisted. The dog didn't mind, but the situation was despicable.
So that was how I came to the conclusion that outsourcing of public services was a bad idea. When I started my blog on the local paper, I started writing about the mess Barnet Council were making of social care. I started to mention how their polices were hurting the most vulnerable people. The people we love and care about. Typically blogs on the local paper were read by 15-20 people. All of a sudden, my blog was appearing in the top ten read list. This did not go unnoticed. The Tory Council started putting pressure on the paper to get rid of me. In October 2008, they buckled. Councillor Brian Coleman and Robert Rams, who lead the campaign celebrated that they'd ended my blogging career, boasting to their friends. In response, I set up the Barnet Eye.
Much to my amazement, hundreds of local people were shocked and disgusted by what happened. The Barnet Eye immediately started getting a couple of hundred hits a day. I paid a trip to a council meeting and there I met the local UNISON convenor John Burgess. John immediately stated that he was disgusted at what happened and offered any support he could give. I told John I was OK and I was pleased to be able to write a blog without interference. I immediately recognised that John was a man of immense strength and integrity. Both Tory and Labour councillors treated him respectfully and he was always well briefed. Around that time, the Tory council started pushing the one Barnet Program (then called Future Shape). In August 2008, my mum had died and at her funeral, I vowed to do everything in my power to spare any other elderly person the stress she'd suffered at the hands of uncaring bean counters. I vowed to hold the council to account. The One Barnet program was a mass outsourcing scheme and I immediately saw the dangers(the clip below is John talking about a half day strike in 2011. It is just one example of Johns clear headed, pragmatic and sensible approach, whilst being an extremely effective organiser).
I contacted John Burgess, explained my view and we agreed to work together in every way we could to spare any other vulnerable people the stress my mum endured. John also has an elderly mum who has suffered from council cuts, albiet not in Barnet, so we had a common cause. As a result of my blogging activities, other blogs started up in Barnet. These became known as the Fantastic Five (myself, Vicky Morris, Mrs Angry, Mr Reasonable and Mr Mustard). As each blog started, we'd make sure they knew who we were and how they could get in touch. We worked together, co-ordinating joint blogs. We'd also work with John, who in turn was able to put us in touch with experts such as Professor Dexter Whitfield, a world leading academic who is a respected expert in the field of outsourcing (watch this clip from 2011 of John talking about a
The next move of Barnet Council was to outsource parking and abolish Pay and Display parking meters. This hit local traders. With assistance from John, meetings were set up with local traders leaders such as Helen Michael in North Finchley. Helen had always been a Tory until Barnet Council torpedoed her business. It was ironic that the only person who had any sympathy was the local Union Leaders. The Council then launched an illegal hike in Pay and Display charges. John facilitated bringing them on board in our now growing community campaign. Next the Tories attacked the Librarys. I was outraged and in 2010 kicked off the Save Barnets Libraries Campaign. John facilitated leaflets and street stalls. As the level of the assault on the people of Barnet became clear, I was chatting to Charles Honderick, a young American director of trade films and commercials. Charles said it would be good to make a documentary film about this for Youtube. I concurred, having dabbled in film. I mentioned it to John Burgess, who threw his weight behind the project. John even got award winning director Ken Loach to make a guest appearance. We shot the film on a shoestring, interviewing people from all the campaigns. When John saw the film, he declared we needed a proper premiere and hired the Phoenix Cinema. Over 500 people from the community turned up and it was covered by both the BBC and ITV. People left the cinema saying they had never realised what was going on. The film helped launch the Barnet Alliance for Public Services, a highly influential pressure group. Many members joined after seeing the film. The film was shown at the Houses of Parliament, sponsored by MP John McDonald and at UNISON conferences in Bournemouth and Edinburgh. It was a great success and a classic example of how local people and Trades Unions can come together for the common good (here is the film).
There were many successes in the many campaigns which BAPS supported. The most notable was the 2012 GLA election. The local Tory encumbant, Brian Coleman was also a Barnet Councillor and had been responsible for parking in the Borough. He had a majority of over 20,000. On the GLA he was a key henchman of Boris and had lead a long campaign against the FBU. A huge campaign supported by all the campaign groups, resulted in Coleman being ejected and Labours Andrew Dismore replacing him. In the 2014 council elections, many of Colemans key henchmen in Barnet, such as library closer Robert Rams were ejected. Sadly the Tories were not ejected by the electorate, having their majority on council cut to one. In areas where BAPS were active, huge Tory majorities were reversed, but the Blairite local Labour group refused to work with BAPS or engage with bloggers, to harness their efforts. At a meeting set up by John Burgess to engage the bloggers with the campaign to oust the Tories in 2014, Blairite Labour leader Alison Moore suggested that the best way bloggers could help the campaign was to knovk on doors on election day. John had suggested that Labour supply bloggers with information on rallies and key campaign themes. As this blog gets 20-30,000 hits per month, it is clear that this would be a sensible strategy, but to Johns amazement, the Blairites refused to engage, beyond asking for help leafletting and door knocking.
Given that Barnets fantastic five bloggers have regularly been interviewed by TV, Radio and National Press, this was on the face of it inexplicable. The same Blairite Labour group on the Council never supported the campaign to stop the One Barnet outsourcing. Even more inexplicable was their support of a statement, when the Your Choice Barnet outsourcing of adult services failed and needed a £££million bailout, they signed up to a clause saying an in house option was not to be considered.
The whole One Barnet outsourcing was shown to have been implemented illegally in a High Court case Maria Nash, a heavily disabled lady launched a judicial review of the process. Maria successfully argued that the process had not properly consulted. The judge in the case agreed with the arguments put forward by Maria. John gave Maria much moral support through a difficult time. Bloggers and experts such as Dexter Whitfield had helped Maria put her case together and John gave much advice on who to speak to and useful background information, giving up his free time at evenings and weekends. Sadly the judge also found that the challenge was out of time on a technicality. Given that the Council had been shown to have acted illegally, one would have thought that the Blairite Labour group would have gone at the Tory regime hammer and tong, but they simply acquiesed.
In the course of my dealings with John Burgess, it has become clear to me that John is the most politically astute figure I've met in Barnet. If John passes an opinion, it invariably turns out to be correct. The One Barnet program is delivering nothing like the savings promised. Even cemetries have fallen into awful disrepair as a result of the contractors seeking to squeeze every penny of profit out of the contract. There are dozens of other examples of where John has been proven right. I can't think of any where he's been proven wrong ( a short film I made last year to illustrate the neglect of Hendon cemetary under the Capita regime).
But this is only half of the story of why I believe John should be elected General Secretary of UNISON. The other half of the story is that if UNISON do not elect a campaigner, who understands the fight at the coalface and has shown themselves capable of reaching out beyond the traditional support base of the unions, it will be destroyed by the Tory government. The Tories have made no secret of their intention to neuter the Unions. I have spoken to several leading Barnet Tories. They believe Unions do have a role in the UK. They believe that Unions should be staff associations, which market pensions and insurance to members and give them counselling when their dog dies. They believe they have no role in negotaiting terms and conditions and no role in protecting members rights. Of all the UK Unions, I believe UNISON is the most important on a human basis. This is because it is the largest Union involved in the care of the elderly and vulnerable. What these uber right Tories do not realise is that any of us can suffer illness, disability and many will become infirm in old age. It is all very well to hammer the t&C's of staff, force pay cuts on caring staff and employ dodgy contractors to run care homes and provide support. The trouble is that if you pay the minimum wage and impose harsh T&C's on staff, then they leave. The vulnerable need continuity of care. This is called basic human compassion. It is easy for Councils to squeeze cash savings from care budgets, by cutting staff renumeration packages, but ultimately the most vulnerable, people like my mum, are the people who suffer. The only organisation that offer those such as my mum any protection are UNISON. The fight to protect staff and their T&C's is not just about ensuring staff are well paid. It is about ensuring that carers have a career and are not forced out. It is about ensuring that they can do what they are paid to do, which is care for vulnerable people. Even George Osborne has woken up to the fact that a non living wage is bad for the economy. Sadly being a Tory zealot, he hasn't passed legislation to protect the T&C's of the council staff. Osborne could implement a living wage in councils, simply by freeing up the cash, but he chooses not to.
If UNISON carry on electing bureaucrats, people who do not understand the coalface, the Tories will destroy it. Whilst I have ultimate respect for John and the many trade union convenors I met at the conferences we took the film to in Bournemouth and Edinburgh, I was struck by the lack of support John Burgess had from the Bureaucrats who run the Union. It was clear to me that if UNISON had given Johns campaign 100% support with full legal and logistical backup in the One Barnet fight, thi could have been stopped before it started. This would have served as a warning to other Uber right councils planning to go down the same path. Union such as UNISON have huge resources, but the bureaucrats who run it are not prepared to commit these to fighting outsourcing. Whether they are simply happy to manage the gradual decline in influence of the Trades Union movement, or whether they simply like trousering large salaries for doing nothing I don't know. UNISON needs a kick up its arse. It needs to get back to doing what it should be doing. It should be fighting for the members. It should be leading campaigns to halt outsourcing. It should be involved with community campaigns to protect the vulnerable. I made a film on a shoestring, with a US film director. It received national acclaim. It beggars belief that UNISON have not taken this concept further. We took the film to their conference and they saw what could be achieved. The current regime have sat on their hands and seen council after council hammer their UNISON employees. I know for a fact that if John Burgess was general secretary, UNISON would be a different beast. George Osborne and his cronies would find that they would be held to account when thier fellow travellers attacked social care.
What beggars belief is that everyone gets it when they see their loved ones being mistreated by Council bureacracies. Everyone has mums, dads, grannies, brothers, sisters, cousins and friends who are vulnerable and need care. Any of us could find ourselves struck down. Three weeks before my mum had a stroke in 2000, she'd been living it up on a cruise in the med, not a care in the world. She was transformed to a housebound old lady who couldn't communicate in the bat of an eyelid. It can happen to you, me or anyone. We all need someone like John Burgess to stand up and fight for the staff who care for those members of society when we cant fight ourselves.
Since this blog was started, I have been involved in many successful campaigns. John Burgess has been central to the success of all of these. Every single one of these has resulted in good things for Barnet. Libraries have been saved, Pay and Display meters have been reintroduced, dodgy politicians have been kicked out, CPZ permit increases have been thrown out by the High Court. The fights we lost such as One Barnet and Your Choice Barnet, we've been 100% vindicated and proven right. I UNISON had a general secretary who understood the issues, understood how to campaign and understood the importance of not acquiescing in the face of pressure, we'd have won those as well. Sadly John Burgess was not supported in the way he should have been by the bureacrats running his union. What could have been game changing opportunities for UNISON to define the playing field in local government, became lost opportunities and might have beens. The situation for UNISON is dangerous. If they don't change the way they think and the way they support their branches, it will become terminal, as Cameron and Osborne are playing for keeps. It is clear to me that a country with a neutered Trades Union movement will ultimately be one where everyone suffers. This is because we have an ageing population and we will all become old. Sadly if our generation destroys the concept of care for the vulnerable, we will reap the whirlwind when we find ourselves needing it. That is why we need a John Burgess type figure to ensure that those who provide care get the support from their Union they need.
If you are a UNISON member, please pass this blog on to your colleagues. Please get your branch to support John Burgess bid to become General Secretary. My guess is that if you know John, you already will be supporting him, but for him to succeed, his campaign needs to get national support. As someone who is completely independent, if you don't know John and haven't met him, then speak to someone who has. Invite him to address your branch.
Three years ago, I dedicated nearly a year of my life to producing a film called "A Tale of Two Barnets". The premise of the film is that there are two Barnets. A rich, affluent Barnet where the residents are rich, live fullfilling lives and are having a wonderful time. This Barnet is extremely well served by the local Conservative Council, who cut their taxes, let them open free schools on public land owned by the council, and have virtually stopped enforcing planning rules, so the rich and wealthy can more or less build what they like, where they like. Then there is the other side of Barnet, the poor underclass. Those who rely on council services, which are being mercilessly cut. Those who are disabled bearing the burden of cuts. Small traders who struggle to make ends meet. The film starts with the Leader of Barnet council talking about what a great place Barnet is, the local chief of police detailing the demographics and the former CEO of Barnet Council, hinting that there is more to Barnet than a leafy Borough.
When we premiered the film at the Phoenix Cinema, 600 locals showed up at the Phoenix cinema and we had to hold two screenings to accomodate everyone. The film was featured on both the BBC and ITV local news and its fair to say it caused a bit of a stir. I'd filed the film away in the "been there, done that and moved on" file. Events last night forced me to reopen the file. So this morning I dug out the clip and watched it again. Here it is if you haven't seen it.
What caused me to revisit the film? Well Gabriel Rosenberg, a local Tory Councillor posted the following two tweets yesterday.
.@BrokenBarnet err totes serious. You think Barnet’s ‘broken’. I think Barnet’s terrific. If it’s so awful why is it set to be #1 in London?
@Rozgab @BrokenBarnet@Barneteye Once again: if it’s such a hellhole of a borough, why is it so popular? You keep changing the subject.
The good councillor was trying to wind up Mrs Angry (who tweets as BrokenBarnet), who is a local blogger. His premis seems to be that if Barnet is broken as Mrs Angry states, why are so many people moving here?
Well the answer is quite simple Gabriel. If you judge a Borough purely on its ability to drive out poorer people and replace them with rich people in new luxury dwellings, Barnet is hugely successful. If your measure of terrificness is how many swanky restaurants there are, rather than how well public services for the poor and disabled are run, then yes Barnet is terrific.
I would suggest Mr Rozenburg wathc the film. This features all manner of local people, many of whom were supporters of the local Conservatives, local Business people, people who run charities (and have MBE's). Are they saying Barnet is terrific?
As I write this, marginalised people in Sweets Way are being forcefully evicted from their homes, to make way for another luxury development. I made "A Tale of Two Barnets" with director Charles Honderick in 2012 to commemorate the anniversary of Charles Dickens. The workhouse from Oliver Twist was based on the one in Barnet. The title is a play on Dickens novel "A Tale of Two Cities", which studies a similar subject.
Mr Rozenberg is the son of rich, successful parents. he has had a priveliged education and has never had to worry about where he will sleep, how he will pay for his next meal. If Mr Rozenburg really wants to be a successful councillor, he has to represent everyone, not just his well off mates. That means getting out and about and ensuring he understands the problems of everyone in the Borough, not just those who want to open a free school around the corner, because Hartley and Gemima may have to be educated with the plebs otherwise.
What struck me about the film, when I wathed it, was that all of the issues that largely affect the middle class, have had a degree of remidiation. David Attfield won his court case against illegal CPZ charges (hardly terrific). Helen Michael got parking machines reintroduced in the High Street. Sadly the disabled and the disenfranchised have not had anything done for them.
Maybe it is time for another film? It seems that the message didn't get through last time.
Only in Barnet could they decide to bury a good news story! Hot on the heels of the decision of the appeal court to reject the One Barnet case brought by Maria Nash, the council has bowed to common sense and decided to abide by the ruling that the CPZ increase imposed by convicted criminal and thug, Councillor Brian Coleman, were illegal.
The Barnet Eye has supported the CPZ campaign from its inception. We featured David Attfield talking about the challenge in the film "A Tale of Two Barnets" which you can see here. David speaks very well and very passionately about the challenge. It is well worth watching the film. This was made a year ago, I watched the film again today. It is quite amazing to watch it again on this day when the CPZ campaign won and the One Barnet Campaign had a massive setback.
Congratulations to David Attfield on his victory. Forward the film to 7:32 for David Attfields contribution. It is well worth reminding ourselves as to why David brought the case.
From the Leader of Barnet Council, Councillor
Richard Cornelius: “After taking legal advice, we have decided not to
appeal against the court`s judgement that the charges for CPZ were
increased without going through the proper process.
"I am sorry that this was done in the way
that it was. The Court has ruled that the increase was wrongly
implemented and so we will go back to the old charges. Any change to
these will have to go through the proper process.”
Residents who made payments at the increased rates for their annual
charges and/or for visitor vouchers will be refunded the difference in
charge and should fill out an e-form on
Barnet Council’s website, providing details of their name, telephone
number, address, permit ID if they have it and car registration number.
Alternatively they can email the council at CPZParkingRefunds@barnet.gov.uk
or write to; Parking Team, CPZ Parking Refunds, London Borough of
Barnet, Building 4, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South,
London N11 1NP
Residents are requested to apply for refunds by email or in
writing, rather than telephoning the Council, to ensure this can be done
quickly. We will aim to get the process completed in eight weeks.
Contact Press Officer: Sue Cocker Press Contacts
I suppose that today just goes to prove, you win some and you lose some.
Award winning Film Director Ken Loach has lambasted
Barnet Council's One Barnet outsourcing programme in a scathing attack in a new
documentary film "Barnet - The Billion Pound Gamble", directed by Charles
Honderick. Mr Loach was interviewed exclusively for the film and
says:
"A
billion pounds, now that’s money you will pay, Barnet residents will pay, and
the jobs that will be provided will probably not be in Barnet. A lot of the jobs
will go to other boroughs or even outside of Britain
altogether."
Mr
Loach notes that taxpayers are getting poor value for money as jobs leave the
borough, causing poverty, hardship and economic decline.
"Now
that’s a bad deal for Barnet because you want your rates and money put in to go
to support your local economy, to go to
support Barnet people & this is not about being narrow & excluding
others, this is just commonsense that we need local communities to thrive &
the end of that logic, that says the money should go to the cheapest workers is
of course that the money goes to those who eat grass
first."
As well as Mr Loach, the film features people from
all walks of life in Barnet talking about their experiences and looks at all
aspects of life in Barnet in 2012, including the relocation of Barnet Football
club to Harrow, the closure of Friern Barnet Library, the cost of parking in the
High Street and the provision of care services for the disabled and elderly.
Director Charles Honderick said "The film gives a
voice to everyone who cares about what is happening in their community. The
stories we have heard are stories which should be shared. Some of the things you
will see you will find hard to believe can happen in a civilised society". Mr
Honderick continued "As a filmmaker I am honoured to have my work recognised by
Ken Loach. He has spent years making films with power and meaning. His wise
words are ones we'd be foolish to ignore".
The film has its world premiere at the Phoenix
Cinema in Finchley at 6pm on Monday 22nd October 2012. Admission is priced at
£1.
1. The world premiere for
the film will be shown at The Phoenix Cinema on Monday 22nd October. Doors open
at 6pm and the film will be shown at 6.30pm. Entrance costs £1.
2. The
film has been directed by USA film director Charles Honderick. The film is a
follow up to the acclaimed film "A Tale of Two Barnets" which has been screened
at The House of Commons, The Edinburgh Festival, The Unision National Conference
and the TUC centre at Great Russell St. There have also been over 20 local
screenings.
3. The film features a new exclusive interview with award
winning film director Ken Loach, talking about life, football and
outsourcing.
4. The film website is http://www.billionpoundgamble.co.uk/ .
This is being constantly updated with information, details and clips as we move
towards the full screening.
5. The website for "A Tale of Two Barnets" is
http://ataleoftwobarnets.yolasite.com/
. This has full details of all press coverage and clips from the film including
full interviews with Ken Loach, Richard Cornelius (Leader of Barnet Council) and
Nick Walkley (CEO of Barnet Council).
6. Please contact Roger Tichborne via the contact link in this blog for
more details
7. Full Transcript of Ken Loach interview #1 -
“Sadly
Barnet is becoming the by word for unscrupulous outsourcing of contracts for the
council, there have been many campaigns, big campaigns against this and we need
to support those campaigns. The
amount of outsourcing I am told is to be a Billion pounds come the end of this
year....
A
billion pounds now that’s money you will pay, Barnet residents will pay and the
jobs that will be provided will probably not be in Barnet. A lot of the jobs
will go to other boroughs or even outside of Britain altogether, now that’s a
bad deal for Barnet because you want your rates and money put in to go to
support your local economy, to go to
support Barnet people & this is not about being narrow & excluding
others, this is just common sense that we need local communities to thrive &
the end of that logic, that says the money should go to the cheapest workers is
of course the money goes to those who eat grass first.
The
money goes away to other countries where the workers are far more exploited,
so
really it is a licence for exploitation, it’s a licence to those who will screw
the workforce as hard as they can.
Now
that is not a society we want to live in. It
is no way to promote job security.
It’s
no way for people to be able to look forward to being able to buy a house, have
a job which will provide an income to support their family and that’s the kind
of society we want.
There are two major events in the Borough of Barnet tonight. Please try and attend and lend you support to YOUR community.
The first is at Hendon Town Hall at 6.30pm. The Barnet Alliance for Public services have organised a lobby of the Council meeting. It is vital that everyone in Barnet shows their support for the campaign to inject some common sense into the policies of Barnet Council. This will only happen when our councillors see that the community rejects expensive and stupid policies. The council is employing an army of tax avoiding consultants, to frame a project designed to to generate huge profits at our expense for multinational companies. There has been no public debate or consultation. The bloggers of Barnet have rumbled the ruse, yet the council takes no notice at all. That is why we need your support.
The second thing that is happening is very close to my heart. Myself and film director Charles Honderick are making a film. It is a follow up to A Tale of Two Barnets. The premier is on 22nd October at the Phoenix Theatre. We are interviewing local people to try and find out what sort of place The London Borough of Barnet is in the year 2012. Helen Michael, the owner of Cafe Buzz in Finchley, has very kindly thrown her doors open to us, for a fundraising event, to pay for the costs of putting the film together. The film will only happen with your support. If you want to help us make the film, please come to Cafe Buzz. We will be there between 7pm and 11pm. There will be live music from Charles Hondericks band "The Hamptons" and my band "The False Dots". Both sets will be acoustic. For us, this will be the first unplugged set since the Old Bull Arts Centre in 1985 ! We will also have a big jam. We invite any poets and other local musicians down to join in the fun and do a couple of numbers. We have a whole evening to fill. Entrance is free, we will simply pass the bucket around. It will also be a chance to sign up to appear in the film. I promise an evening of great entertainment. Be part of it.
Please support us in whatever way you can. Try and attend one or both of these events and support your local community.
What the Barnet Eye is about to say may seem like heresy, but we agree with the Leader of Barnet Council. SOMETIMES OUTSOURCING IS BETTER !!!!!
Just to prove it, here are two interviews with Richard Cornelius. The first is produced by Barnet Council, to celebrate his first year as Leader of Barnet Council. As you will see it is rather heavily edited to remove what? We don't know. The second is the interview which Richard did with Charles Honderick, in it's entirity. This interview is on the Tale of Two Barnet website gallery and has been since shortly after the realease of the film. This is not edited at all. Which do you find more interesting. The Charles Honderick interview was filmed in February, when Richard had been in the job for six months - http://ataleoftwobarnets.yolasite.com/gallery-and-trailers.php - I suppose it is worth making the point that unlike Richards inhouse interview and the One Barnet Outsourcing program, Charles Honderick's interview didn't cost the taxpayer a penny.
Official In House Barnet council interview
Charles Honderick's outsourced interview
You may notice that you can actually hear Richard on Charles Hondericks interview
Roger Tichborne and Charles Honderick promoting A Tale of Two Barnets on the Royal Mile
You may have noticed that there was no blog on this site yesterday. The reason was because the Barnet Eye was off enjoying ourselves in Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Festival. The film was being shown at the Edinburgh Unison offices in the training suite, a large room fully equipped for showing videos. All were invited and Unison rather kindly laid on a buffet and refreshments. Prior to the event Unison had sold 60 tickets and a smattering of members of the public turned up as well, some from Barnet.
Edinburgh Unison offices at Douglass House, where the film was screened
After the showing, there was a question and answer session. Myself, Charles Honderick, Ruth Kutner (a Barnet resident featured in the film) and Barnet Unison rep, John Burgess comprised the panel. Unison had allowed 30 mins for the Q&A. I wondered how the film would translate to an audience in Scotland. The political situation is completely different, with the SNP being the main power currently. Edinburgh Council recently abandonded plans for a One Barnet style outsourcing. They had compared the costings to an in house service and found the In House service was clearly cheaper. Sadly in Barnet, the council won't even allow this comparison to be made.
A visitor from Glasgow told us that their council was a Labour Council and had plumped for the "Joint Venture model" which is now flavour of the month in Barnet. Many of the audience were flabbergasted to hear of the harrassment of Helen Michael by SO15. One visitor later told Charles that he was a former member of Special Branch and was amazed that they would get involved in such shenanigans.
There were questions about how the production was made. The thing which was most interesting to the delegates was the way such a low budget, homespun film could be so powerful. Many delegates recognised patterns within the film. Comments were made as to the arrogance in general of CEO's and also to the inadequate nature of democratic control by councillors. Another common theme raised was bullying.
After the formal debate, most members of the audience stayed for an informal debate. Charles Honderick got chatting to a local film maker, who was intrigued by the film and the support it has received. I chatted to reps from Glasgow about their Labour council. He rather chillingly said"Here Labour is the complacent incumbent power, we don't even consider the Conservatives".
After the debate, many of us adjourned to the pub. As Everton beat Manchester United, this rounded off a great night for me.
Many thanks to the people of Edinburgh for such a warm welcome. I wondered whether a film specifically about Barnet could say something to a wider audience. The answer was a resounding yes. Sadly in 2012, we are not alone and all of the problems affecting us are being repeated across the country. Not for the first time, a member of the audience said "Why isn't Ken Loach Prime Minister", having watched his introduction. Sadly we have a Prime Minister and Chancellor who seem to have no answers at all as the Economy slides further into debt and recession
If you want to arrange a screening of A Tale of Two Barnets, please email us via the email link in the top right hand corner of this blog or vistit the film website athttp://ataleoftwobarnets.yolasite.com/
Yesterday was quite a day for me. Due to bus strikes I had to be up earlier than usual, to drop my son off to Finchley for school. After dropping him, I drove to near Underhill to meet Ruth Kutner and Tirza Waisel, two of the stars of the smash huit film (in Barnet at least!) - A Tale of Two Barnets. We'd been invited to the UNISON conference at Bournemouth, where the film was being shown, to talk about the film. ccompanying us was stallwart campaigner Maggi Myland.
This was actually the 22nd screening, including local showings. 150 of the conference delegates gave up their lunchtime to watch and participate in a Q&A session. I estimate that well over 2,000 people have now attended the various screenings and there are more being lined up.
I was actually rather worried about this screening. Whilst it was an honour to be invited by UNISON to their conference and to sit on a panel and answer questions, there were several aspects of this I found daunting. Firstly I am not a Trade Unionist. I've never belong to a Trade Union and I run my own business. I've never worked in the public sector either. The second aspect is that I was worried the film wouldn't be waht they were expecting. I suspected that many people would expect a film at the UNISON conference to concentrate on opposition to the cuts and to issues which affect trades union members. Whilst we discuss these issues in the latter part of the film, it is really more about how the general policies of a right wing and rather uncaring council affect local people from all sectors of the community. The first 8 minutes are about how Barnets parking policies affect local business owners. I wondered how these issues would play qith the delegates.
The third issue which made me wonder how the film would be received by a room full of people with no association with Barnet and scant knowledge of the political scene here. During local showings, the footage of the Leader of Barnet Council and the CEO elicited a strong response. How would people who don't live here respond. When Charles Honderick and myself sat down to discuss the editing of the film and the pace and structure of it, we wanted to ensure that someone with no knowledge of Barnet would still find the film interesting.
So at 1pm, I stood up and gave a short introduction. I explained the film was about the community in Barnet and how it had been affected by local and national polices. I also briefly explained how the production of the film had brought together diverse groups and had acted as a focus for those seeking to change the policies of Barnet Council.
Then the film started. Aside from the original editing, this was the 11th time I've watched it in a public showing. Apart from the original showing at the Phoenix, this was the most nervous I'd felt. We had also made some technical improvements to the film. We have had some money back from video sales & donations and we were able to pay a friend of mine who is a sh*t hot sound engineer to improve the sound quality. We'd also made some small technical edits, which make it seem a little bit smoother and slicker.
I had wanted to do this for the original showing, but time and money ran out. This was the first time I'd seen the new cut on a big screen. As Ken Loach opened up the film someone behind me said "That's Ken Loach, how did they get him?". What was interesting was just how similar the reaction was to the Barnet screenings.
At the end the Q&A was also very interesting. It was totally different to the Barnet Screenings. In Barnet, people say "We didn't know all this was going on, what can we do to change it". A room full of UNISON reps said the same thing in different ways "These are exactly the same issues we are facing with our council, this film shows us how to get the message across". One delegate asked me how we had put the film together. I explained that all you need to do is find someone who wants to make a film, maybe local students etc, give them a small amount of financial help (for expenses etc) and introduce them to local people who havea story to tell.
One delegate said he wanted to show the film in Nottingham. He also was pleased that we'd highlighted the parking issue because they had problems in his own. Many other delegates agreed. Afterwards, I chatted to delegates from around the country. The message was the same. They'd been struggling to get the message across to local people. The film had given the ideas. I'd pointed out that you don't even need to hire a cinema, you can get a big local audience through Youtube and viral emails. We've chosen to not go this route, because we want to meet people and engage with them. That doesn't mean that this is always the best way. The clips on the website have all had over 200 hits and have been featured on other sites. The film website has had nearly 4,000 hits. All in all, I think this is a very impressive result for a film made with virtually zero budget and with promotion being done purely by email and blogs. We've also sold nearly 200 copies of the DVD. Many people have given us £10 or £20 donations for the DVD rather than the suggested £3 sale price.
I sincerely hope that some of the UNISON delegates go away and make their own films. It is a powerful medium and one which I believe is under utilised. One UNISON delegate congratulated me on the fact that as a direct result of Brian Coleman losing the GLA election, the GLA had reversed the privatisation of the Fire Brigade Command and Control centre. I believe that the film played a major role in helping to organise the campaign against Brian Coleman. For me that is a matter of some pride.
There is some extremely exciting news about our film, A Tale of Two Barnets. The TUC are showing the film at Congress House ! This follows on from iconic showings at The Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley and The Houses of Parliament. We are also extremely pleased to announce that we have a further three local screenings lined up.
For a local film, made on a shoestring budget, the waves caused by the film have been incredible. Dozens of people have told me that their eyes have been opened by the film and the numbers of people attending meetings of the Barnet Alliance for Public Services have gone through the roof since the film screenings started. If you want to find out about the Barnet Alliance for Public services, please come along to the meeting at the Greek Cypriot Centre, Brittania Road, Finchley Wednesday Evening at 7pm.
I attended the showing of a " Tale of Two Barnet's
" at the House of Commons on Wednesday 18th March, and would
once again wish to thank Roger & Charles & John Burgess and the Barnet
trades council for providing the funds the time and the expertise to make the
film in the first place, and also John McDonnell MP for securing the venue for
the showing of the film
.
It was a well attended meeting of Barnet residents with a
myriad of different bona fide complaints about the conduct of Barnet
councillors, about the refusal to engage in meaningful consultation, and
ignoring the results on the odd occasion they do. For example the opposition
from residents to the closure of Friern Barnet library was in excess of 90%,
but the closure still went ahead. I should point out tat those attending
represented all political persuasions and none, they came from all across the
borough from Totteridge to Burnt Oak they were not as Barnet council would like
to portray them a left wing rabble.
The crowds gather at the Wilson room for the screening
I was invited onto the panel at the top table to speak about
the plight of many disabled people in Barnet , and the refusal of Barnet to
engage in meaningful consultation on the problems for some that the
privatisation of services is inflicting upon them along with their refusal to
offer choice or alternatives. Plus the activities of CADDSS of which I am a
founder and active member who attempt to seek justice for these disabled folk,
in the face of ignorance and contempt for their plight , a Barnet council &
LATC attitude driven by ideology & dogma rather than in the best interests
of these disabled folk and those with a disability.
Roger and Charles with Russell Floyd from the Bill and Easdtenders
I had my say as did the other members of the panel and then
the floor was opened for the audience to make a contribution, which would allow
those on the panel to comment on their comments once they have been made which
I did. Sadly I forgot to mention the songster who made a both positive and
constructive contribution to the meeting finished of with a song, which
lightened the mood.
What came across from this audience was the complete lack of
democracy that exists in the decision making process at Barnetcouncil, the contempt for the views and
opinions of all residents whether it be the plight of the disabled, the massive
hike in parking charges, the destruction of businesses on the high streets that
parking charges are causing, the closure of libraries, the open forums that
deny residents the opportunity to ask any question they wish, where questions
have to be vetted before the meeting to determine whether the council want to
answer them or not,( how can that possibly be democratic) and the list goes on
and sadly on.
Boxer and actor Joe Egan munches on his popcorn awaiting the showing
Barnet was repeatedly referred to as a Banana Republic
completely devoid of any democratic process, and councillor ( referred to as both
bully boy & big mouth Coleman) who allegedly thinks it is right to spend
fortunes on cab fares whilst at the same time denies the provision of transport
to seriously disabled people (in a
condescending and derogatory manner ) that is vital to their quality of life,
was shown to be about as popular as bird flu by all and sundry. One chap asked
a question about how do we get the messages of the film and the lack of democracy
across to the people of Barnet and although many attempts have been
successfully made, all ideas are welcome so if you have any ideas let Roger
know because to coin a phrase " We are all in this together "
For me the starting place is the reinstatement of democracy
in Barnet and also for me the starting point for that, is the removal of the
bully boy Coleman, first from the GLA and then from Barnet council. What became
clear last night is that the bully boy mentality of Coleman now oozes from the
pores of every decision being taken by Barnet councillors. Decent people who
should know better are being bullied into making decisions they know are not
right, the worst of it being that many of these decisions have led to failed
attempts at privatisation of public services on a small basis that in the past
8 years have already cost Barnet taxpayer in excess of 50 million pounds.
Barnet council have repeatedly and singularly failed to get a small level
privatisation right to date, yet they are going ahead with the ill thought out
" One Barnet " programme which is in effect the privatisation of all
public services in Barnet, that involves not just the tens of millions they
have already cost us but billions. Every Barnet taxpayer has become a guinea
pig in the undemocratic process that is Barnet council, because they are
pushing ahead with and untried and untested ideological dogma that could finish
up costing us billions rather than millions.
In the process they have spent many thousands of pounds of
Barnet taxpayers hard earned money on so called consultants, yet they have
refused to meaningfully consult with the dedicated public service workers that
have worked at the coalface in our public services for many years that have
hands on knowledge not learned from a book but at first hand. They have refused
to meaningfully consult with parents/ carers of people with a learning
disability & the disabled in general even though these parents/carers have
collectively hundreds of years of hands on coal face experience. If you were a
responsible council why would you spend these vast sums of money consulting
with consultants, when you could have meaningfully consulted with the coal face
workers/carers & parents for nothing.
The only possible answer is that
ideology and dogma is the order of the day in Barnet, and meaningful democratic
debate and consultation with residents has no place within that ideology and
dogma.
As the chap said, how do you get this message across to the
people of Barnet, I would suggest that the starting point should be to
encourage them in any way you can including delivering anti Coleman Baps
leaflets, irrespective of their political persuasion to vote for ABC, anyone
but Coleman at the GLA elections on May 3rd. In the hope that unseating him or
at least making a huge hole in his majority, will wake up Barnet councillors to
the fact that they are running Barnet in such an undemocratic way that it is
more than justifiable for us to refer to it as " The Banana Republic of
Barnet " until the democratic process is reinstated. Furthermore to make
them aware as the lady in the film implied " they are there to serve on
our behalf, not to dictate to us ".
Last night, as I listened to the Q&A session at the House of Commons, a rather odd thought struck me. We had a few fantastic interventions from committed hard working activists, doing their best to prevent Barnet Council from ruining their lives. Perhaps the two who made the biggest impact on me were Helen Michael, de facto leader of the revolt by traders against outrageous parking charges and John Sullivan, campaigner aaginst the destruction of disabled services in Barnet.
They both made impassioned plea's for their causes. Helen told how the outrageous parking charges were destroying her business. She brought a leaflet showing all the closed shopfronts in North Finchley and Barnet. She explained that many people had lost their livelyhood, purely because the council had not given due consideration to the effect the charges would have on High St trade. John Sullivan talked about how the destruction of services for adults with learning difficulties had affected his 48 year old daughter. John is 71, he told how he was 21 when his daughter was born. Then there was nothing. Having seen society progress to a more civilised way of dealing with adults who need special requirements, he is scared to death of the effects this will have on his daughters health and wellbeing.
The point is that I don't believe that either Helen or John are natural political activists. They are people who have been forced to take up a fight by a council which has backed them into a corner. John Sullivan cannot walk away from this fight, because to do so would be to betray his daughter. Helen Michael is in a similar situation. She has spent years building a business and it is her livelyhood.
When you are backed into a corner and given no way out, all you can do is fight. If the idiots who are running Barnet Council think they can fob them off they are deluded fools. Both John and Helen are intelligent people who are more than a match for anyone I've seen at Barnet. A Barnet Tory quipped to me that the screenings of A Tale of Two Barnets brought "all the sad old lefties out of the closet". he could not have been more deluded. Helen Michael told a meeting hosted by a Labour MP that she was distributing leaflets saying "Back Boris, Sack Brian". John Sullivan said "I don't care what party anyone belongs to, it's about common decency". A Tale of Two Barnets is not about Labour activists, anti cuts protestors or vote Labour. It is about giving the people of Barnet a voice. The people have spoken. They want changes. In other circumstances, John Sullivan would be watching the telly on a Wednesday night, wearing his slippers and chatting to his wife about their plans for a summer Holiday. Helen Michael would be putting her feet up after a hard days shift in a busy, well run cafe, swigging a decent glass of red wine and chatting to her friends.
The fact that they were in the Wilson Rooms at the House of Commons speaking of their problems with Barnet Council is a tragic accident. They are victims of the car crash that is Barnet Council under this Conservative regime
Gabriel Rozenberg
