Barnet Council : Big Brother strikes again

Would someone from Barnet Council be so kind as to inform me WTF is going on. It seems that I have been struck by the same problem as local blogger, Mrs Angry. For some rather strange reason, when I email  Labour Councillors they don't receive the emails. Is this down to a strange technical glitch or is it part of a more sinister agenda? I don't know, but I do know this. If it turns out out that Barnet Council have interfered with my democratic rights, I will be contacting a rather sharp suited lawyer and Barnet will be very deep in doo doo.

Barnet residents call for a public enquiry into Barnet Council Big Brother firm

Press release — 4 April 2011

Call for a public inquiry into the relationship between

MetPro Rapid Response/MetPro Emergency Response and Barnet Council

Barnet Council has been engaging private security firms MetPro Rapid Response/MetPro Emergency Response to control residents’ access to council meetings, in particular the council meeting on 1 March 2011. One of the company directors claims the company has also monitored blogs by Barnet residents, and filmed Barnet residents at Council meetings.

Despite holding contracts worth several hundred thousand pounds with Barnet Council, MetPro Rapid Response collapsed recently owing around £400,000, including £245,000 to HM Revenue & Customs. The firm is now in the hands of liquidators; however, MetPro Emergency Response, a company recently set up by the same company directors associated with MetPro Rapid Response, continued for a while to be employed by Barnet after the collapse of MetPro Rapid Response.

As well as providing security for Council meetings, these firms provided security at several council locations, including some housing vulnerable people.

At the meeting on 1 March, it appears that MetPro security staff did not wear visible identification, breaching Security Industry Authority (SIA) regulations, whilst working for Barnet Council.

Statements made by directors of the company regarding the scope of their work for Barnet have been contradicted by executive officers of Barnet Council.

The full facts regarding Barnet Council’s contract/s with MetPro Rapid Response/MetPro Emergency Response must be revealed to the public. We need to know about the use of data collected by the company (with full consideration for data protection and human rights implications). We need Barnet Council to reveal the extent of the MetPro companies’ activities on behalf of the Council. Residents and Council staff have a right to know what activities their Council undertake. They have a right to expect the Council only to engage firms with a proven track record for such activities and to monitor such, ensuring, for example, that they comply with legislation, eg, SIA regulations.

The only way that trust can be restored in Barnet Council, following the MetPro debacle, is to hold a full public inquiry. We the undersigned call on Nick Walkley, CEO of Barnet Council, and Lynne Hillan, Council Leader, to immediately engage an independent investigator, enjoying the confidence of Barnet residents, to look into the relationship between MetPro Rapid Response/MetPro Emergency Response and Barnet Council. We demand to know what Barnet Council asked MetPro Rapid Response/MetPro Emergency Response to do and what Barnet Council has done with any information about residents it has had access to as a result of MetPro’s work.


Signed:

Alexander Clayman (N12)
Derek Dishman (EN5)
Adam Langleben (HA8)
Vicki Morris (NW9) (click on name to email)
Theresa Musgrove (N3)
Maria Nash (EN4)
Julian Silverman (N12)
Roger Tichborne (NW7) (click on name to email)
Adele Winston (EN5)
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If you are interested in this campaign or want more details, click the above links to Vicki Morris or myself. Please email Vicki if you wish to add your name to this list.

Cowardly Cameron takes the 5th on superdatabases

The last resort of crooks and cheats is the right to silence. Whilst it is a fundamental principle that no one should have to incriminate themselves, the rest of us can draw conclusions as to why they chose to say nothing.

On the 3rd February, a promenant local Conservative had a full page article in the Guardian, detailing amongst other things the benefits of "Superdatabases" linking health, police and local authority databases. I felt that this was a huge threat to our civil liberties and along with other comments about allocating gatekeepers to the families identified as the "300 most expensive to the Borough", I felt that it was a matter requiring urgent clarification at the highest levels of the Conservative party. As such I sent Mr David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party an email requesting clarification. Does he agree with the concept of local Authorities such as Barnet implementing "Superdatabases"? Does he agree with his own candidates comments?

The email was sent on the 3rd February. I have not received a reply from Mr Cameron. I have written to many MP's on many subjects over the years. I have always received a reply. You may say "Oh well, Cameron is busy, he hasn't got time to respond to every email". This is complete nonsense. Mr Cameron has an office, staffed up specifically so that he can reply. If it is a trivial matter it will be delegated to one of his staff. If it is a serious matter he should reply himself. If he thinks the email is frivalous, he would respond to say so. He has the whole of the Conservative Central Office apparatus to help him.

Well I still have no idea what Mr Cameron thinks of Superdatabases. What I do know is that he is quite clearly a cowardly man who ducks important questions. Does anyone really want a coward who cannot even comment on whether big brother databases are desirable or not running the country. I can only assume that Mr Cameron is fully supportive of his candidates position on this matter, but knows it won't wash with the more enlightened libertarian Conservatives who make up the backbone of his party.

If we end up with a Conservative Government and they introduce a big brother state, where Councils can take over your life because you cost them too much money, don't say I didn't warn you. Mind you, given Governments record with IT projects, it is more likely just to be a few more tens of billions of pounds down the drain, that is the only solace I can take.