The Barnet Tories - Imploding and scraping the barrel at the same time!

Just when I thought Barnet politics couldn't get anymore depressing, the Barnet Tories prove me well and truly wrong. The Finchley and Golders Green Conservatives have just announced that they've elected disgraced, convicted woman beater Brian Coleman as their deputy chairman.

Coleman was thrown out of the Tories over a decade ago for vicious assault on local cafe owner Helen Michael, on Finchley High Street. Coleman was then a senior member of the Barnet Tory administration. Helen Michael had noticed he was illegally parked and using the ATM and started filming him. Coleman attacked her, injuring her wrist and bruising her breasts. Coleman denied the assault, claiming he was "set up". However, when the CCTV footage was played in court, he was damned both as a thug and a liar. He said at the time "That is not how I remember the events" when confronted with the evidence. He changed his innocent plea to guilty shortly before the start of the trial, in the hope of getting a lighter sentence in the face of incontrovertable evidence. He was convicted of "Assault with beating".  Helen Michael suffered anxiety attacks after the attack and eventually moved he business to Oakleigh Park Station, where she felt more safe and secure. Helen called me immediately after the assault and I was absolutely mortified to see the state she was in. Immediately after the assault, Coleman drove to Barnet Police station and claimed she had assaulted him. Luckily there was a CCTV camera that exposed his lies. This is all a matter of public record.

The CCTV footage is here. Is this really a man who demostrates the standards we want to see in public life?

Of course, it is up to the Barnet Tories to elect who they like as their deputy chair, but for the rest of us, seeing a man who is happy to assault women in the street and then lie about it, to try and get himself off the hook, being afforded a senior role in a local political party is sickening.

I have no idea whether it is connected with Colemans elevation, but yesterday, Coleman posted the following tweet.

It seems the former leader of the Barnet Tories and council leader between 2018 and 2022 has defected to Reform. Councillor Dan Thomas sits for the Tories in Church End. There was no love lost between Coleman and Thomas. After Coleman was convicted of assaulting Helen Michael, Thomas privately phoned me to express his utter disgust with Coleman and to assure me that Coleman was finished in the Barnet Tories. He revealed that he'd actually made a complaint to Barnet Council's standards body about Colemans behaviour. Myself and Dan Thomas were not on good terms and I was quite surprised to receive a call, but it became clear to me that he was actually pleased that the Tories had an excucse to boot Coleman out. 

There are a new generation of Tory Councillors and other wannabees, who probably don't know the full story about Brian Coleman. They are probably unaware of the scale of the assault. He has probably told them that she was a lefty agitator. She is not. She was a staunch Conservative until Brian Coleman's tenure as Borough Parking Officer. Coleman abolished pay and display completely. This lead to a huge drop in takings for many local high street businesses (and was reversed once Coleman was booted out). After Coleman was booted out, Helen returned to the Tory fold and was a keen advocate for Boris Johnson. If you check out Helen's twitter, you will see that she is anything but a lefty!

The Barnet Tories have now lost their former leader Dan Thomas and former Mayor Mark Shooter to Reform. It is pretty clear that the party is imploding. I cannot see how scraping the barrel and bringing convicted felons in to run the party will help this. But hey ho, what do I know. When Coleman stepped away from public life, this blog forgot about him. He's back and his actions will be under intense scrutiny and we will use our platform (which is massive) to ensure that the people of Barnet know what the Tories think is acceptable. 

I suppose I should say a few words about Dan Thomas. Firstly here is what his colleague Mark Shooter, a fellow Barnet Tory defector to reform said......

Cllr Mark Shooter, Reform UK Barnet Chairman, said:
I am delighted to welcome Cllr Dan Thomas into the newly formed Reform UK Barnet Group. Dan brings with him over 20 years of experience in local government and previously served as Leader of Barnet Council, giving him a wealth… pic.twitter.com/6JyYpi09lD

— REFORM UK (BARNET) (@ReformUKBarnet) June 30, 2025

Dan Thomas organised a palace coup in the Barnet Tories shortly after former leader Richard Cornelius won a stunning victory in the 2018 council elections. Barnet had been tipped by all to swing to Labour, but the Tories made huge gains and had one of the largest Tory majorities ever. The thanks Richard, who was a very decent man, got from Dan Thomas was a knife in the back. Thomas came in with a plan. He wanted to make Barnet the place where big property developments happen. In 2020, he launched huge plans for redevelopments in various areas. His pet project was the Edgware Redevelopment, which was enable by the SPD passed under his regime in 2021, which gave Ballymore the green light for the current plans. Thomas was politically inept. To ensure his coup worked. he ousted long time, hard working councillors such as Joan Scannell in Edgware and replaced them with development friendly lackies. The inevitable happened. In 2022, Labour swept the board. Thomas stepped down and has moved to the West Country, still claiming his juicy councillor allowance. 

Mark Shooter may well welcome Dan Thomas into Reform. All I can really say is that I hope Thomas does for Reform's electoral prospects, what he did for The Barnet Tories. If he gets in anywhere, they can expect monster developments to start appearing. I am sure that there are plenty of nice leafy streets in the west country that will benefit from 32 storey skyscrapers!

Hendon Library saved - Barnet Council listens to residents (at last)

Local residents love libraries

I happen to believe that the biggest lie in politics is the statement that "all the parties are the same and it's not worth voting". If you think of it logically, the policies of the Conservatives rarely benefit more than a small minority of vested interests, so it is very much in their interest to propogate this myth amongst the majority of voters, who don't benefit from their policies. I have to say this because I've spent the last fourteen years campaigning against the policies of Barnet Council and the former Barnet Conservative administration. The new Labour administration is far from perfect, but I can, in all good faith, say that their policies and strategy are taking the Borough in a completely different direction from that set by the Tories and I have yet to come across a major policy that is bad enough to inspire me to write a blog. I am sure this will change, but if you are wondering where the blogs ranting about the council have gone, there hasn't really been anything to rant about. 

In fact the new Labour administration has been so sensible that even my old nemisis Brian Coleman is tweeting about how marvellous they are.

Blimey, even @briancoleman251 is a Fan of the new @BarnetLabour administration at @BarnetCouncil pic.twitter.com/7kBreTVwlp

— Roger Tichborne/Rog T (@Barneteye) October 19, 2022

Much as I may disike Brian Coleman personally (he was convicted for the assault of Helen Michael, a good friend of mine), I've never doubted for a second that he understands where the g-spot of local Tories is. He has been against the Hendon Hub project from the outset and especially the plan to destroy the Hendon library. Brian has correctly recognised that what his former colleagues in charge were doing was profoundly stupid. Local people of all hues had long ago twigged that the former Tory adminstration was in the pocket of big developers and addicted to bonkers grand schemes. Coleman had ranted against all of them, Brent Cross, North Finchley and Hendon to name a few. These schemes have been labelled 'regeneration' schemes but in truth much of what they are doing is simply destroying perfectly good areas of Barnet for the gain of developers. Of course there are some good parts, the disused railway yards at Cricklewood had potential for homes, but knocking down perfectly good houses for soulless, rabbit hutch tower blocks has always struck me as folly and Brian Coleman has always agreed with me. 

The Hendon Hub scheme was perhaps the most bizarre. It was mainly based in solid a Tory ward and it upset the parties local supporters. I fully understand the concept that Middlesex University needs to grow and there are benefits of consolidating on one site, but if this is at huge cost to local residents then it cannot possibly be deemed a good scheme. Of all the bits of the scheme that were dodgy, the plans for the library were the worst. I find it ironic that it was a Labour Council that saved the local Tories from the stupidity of their own Tory councillors, one of whom was formerly the leader.

The full details of the councils decision regarding the Library are contained in this press release

Barnet Council has decided that the historic Hendon Library will remain in its original location and be refurbished, preserving the library’s heritage and traditional features.

The council listened to hundreds of residents who expressed how important the building is to the local community and the history of the area.

Chair of the Community Leadership & Libraries Committee, Cllr Sara Conway said:

"Hendon Library is a public space cherished by so many people and is an important part of our shared heritage as a Borough. We have listened to hundreds of residents who urged the council not to go ahead with plans to move it from its historic home and are delighted to announce that we will now be retaining Hendon library within the listed building.”

Chair of the Housing & Growth Committee, Cllr Ross Houston said:

“Our plans will mean a newly refurbished and revitalised Library, with access to the archives through a Local Studies Service which will open-up a new window into Barnet’s history and heritage for Library users and visitors.

“Local residents have made it clear that they want us to work with them on the development of the Hendon Hub. I know from the North Finchley regeneration in my own ward just how important it is to engage local people in the regeneration of an area, and the partnership board model is the right way to do this.

“We have listened and will be establishing a Partnership Board to ensure local people are engaged with us on this project and can input and help steer its direction so that we work towards an acceptable regeneration in Hendon.”

The refurbished library will continue to hold its Local Studies Service, a unique collection of local historical documents, photographs and rate books dating from 1600 to the present day.

The refurbishment includes preserving the library’s heritage features such as the iconic central staircase and the glazed ceilings of the upper reading rooms. 

Built in 1929, Hendon Library occupies an important place in the history of the development of public libraries, with pioneering librarian Eileen Colwell establishing a blueprint for children’s librarianship that is still relevant today.

The council is establishing a Hendon Partnership Board. The forum will provide an opportunity for members of the local community to meet with representatives of the council and work collaboratively to address local issues relating to the development of the Hendon Hub and make a difference on the ground.

The Partnership Board will bring together local people who are passionate about Hendon, would like to represent the views of the wider community and advise on how to best support Hendon’s growth.

It's quite dull writing blogs saying how you agree with stuff the Council are doing (especially if you are a member of a different party to the administration) but what else is there to say. In truth, the Barnet Tory administration was massively past it's sell by date. It would have been ousted in Barnet in 2018 if Jeremy Corbyn had not been Labour leader.

We are seeing the same stagnation in the country, I am not even sure who the Prime Minister or Chancellor will be when you read this. It seems to me that after an administration has been in for around 8 years, they start going bonkers. Sadly it often takes a term or two more of stupidty for the voters to realise. We had 20 years of the Barnet Tories, when they  started going completely bonkers after 8 years. That craziness gave us Capita, the closure of Church Farmhouse museum, the CPZ charges fiasco, the Metpro scandal, the freedom pass scandal, the Mapledown school respite care fiasco and the Catalyst cock up. These added together cost hundreds of millions of pounds to the people of Barnet for nothing but aggro in return. 

I think what happens is that for the first term, the council are edgy and eager to please. For the second term, they are competent and happy to build on the successes of the first term. When they win a third term, they forget why they were put there and start thinking they are better than the rest of us. If you've ever wondered why the USA only allow a President to have two terms, this is why. If you look at Putim, it becomes clear what the alternative is. 

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Brian Coleman endorses his successor Anne Clarke as Prime Minister material!

It's not often that this blog agrees with former Mayor of Barnet and former GLA member Brian Coleman. However, we've never denied that he has brilliant (if sometimes feral) political instincts and is a great strategic judge of character of politicians. This was demonstrated by his take down of Boris Johnson when he was campaigning to be leader (which of course he won). Brian rightly predicted that Boris would be a disaster and correctly identified all of the character traits that would eventually lead to the undoing of Boris (and possibly the Conservatives). 

Over the last six months, Brian Coleman has been labelling his succsessor Anne Clarke, who is on the GLA member for Barnet and Camden (Brian was the GLA rep 2002-2014 until his bad behaviour saw voters tire of his behaviour and a 20,000 majority became a 20,000 loss), as "The Cricklewood housewife".

There's me just to the left of the Cricklewood Housewife !

— Brian Coleman (@BrianColeman251) November 22, 2021

Many had assumed (me included) that this was simply a misogynistic jibe, directed at Anne to undermine her. However, anyone who knows Brian knows that he's a man who studies political history and understands the nuances of Tory politics better than anyone. They will also know that he is a massive fan of Margaret Thatcher (the feeling was not mutual, according to my mum, who knew Maggie and had been urged by her to stand for Parliament in the 1970's, when the two worked together for a local charity. Maggie told my mum Parliament was full of useless men and it needed more competent women, even though my Mum would have stood for Labour). 

Over the weekend, I was discussing Brian's jibe with a friend and he said "You know that isn't an insult from Brian, it is a recognition of talent". I thought he was taking the mickey, so he said "If you don't believe me, google 'Finchley Housewife' " . This morning my wife reminded me of the conversation, so I did a quick google. 

The first article to pop up was from the Times in 2004. When I read it I was astounded.  The article states:

I first filmed her in 1975 when she challenged Ted Heath for the Tory leadership. Heath’s people dismissed her as the Finchley housewife, and Heath himself claimed she wanted to turn the Tories into a “middle-class preservation society”.

I raised this charge with her and asked whether she, seen as being a middle-class woman from the south, could win back lost Tory votes in the industrial north. “But it wasn’t I who lost those votes,” she replied. “It was Mr Heath. And he is a middle-class Conservative gentleman from the south of England.”

When I read this, I realised there was no way Brian would use the term 'housewife' as a cheap put down. He worshipped Thatcher and despised Heath. Brian Coleman, better than anyone, knew Thatcher drew strength from the jibe. When I saw his tweet, I originally thought he was simply being a plonker. When I read the article, I realised he was startstruck and the tweet was the best compliment he could pay Anne. I suspect that secretly, he may even had voted for her in the GLA elections (although of course he'd deny it). 

Anne is a friend and although we are members of different parties, I rate her. It hadn't occur to me that Brian rated her even more highly than I di and see's her as the first Labour female Prime Minister. He's not a man who would not be aware of Maggie's nickname from the Heathites. As he's not become a Heathite, it can only be the highest compliment Brian could pay a female opponent.  

Maybe it's taken a pandemic for me and Brian to see eye to eye on something!

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Senior Barnet Tory launches sexist attack on Labours new assembly member

It will come as no surprise to anyone to learn that former senior Barnet Conservative politician Brian Coleman, once convicted for assaulting Cafe Owner Helen Michael on Finchley High Road, is up to his old tricks of misogynistic abuse on Twitter.  

Mr Coleman has tweeted today describing the new Labour London Assembly member, Anne Clarke,  as "A housewife from Cricklewood as she is known in Barnet". What might surprise readers of the Barnet Eye is that Mr Coleman was the Conservative Candidates Roberto Weeden-Sanz  guest of honour at the GLA count and by all accounts acted as a mentor and main campaign adviser for him. A little bit of searching on Twitter revealed that this patronising insult was not the first time that Coleman had used this term, regularly launching this insult at Anne Clarke during the campaign. 

I find it rather odd that a Conservative should find the idea that the term 'housewife' is an acceptable putdown in this day and age. The sheer snobbery in his tweet where he asks "A Cricklewood housewife or the former President of the Oxford Union" about the choice between Clarke and Weeden-Sanz is there for all to see. Rather interestingly, the People of Barnet and Camden decided that they much preferred Anne Clarke and were clearly not as impressed as Mr Coleman at Mr Weeden-Sanz former acedemic exploits.

As regular readers will know, I've spent many hours at the Town Hall, observing our local politicians. I have to confess I was surprised when the Tories picked Mr Weeden-Sanz as their GLA candidate. The reason? He'd made absolutely no impression on me at all. 

There are several Tory Councillors who I have observed, who have shown that they would make good and engaging candidates. I'd list Laith Jajeh, Alex Prager, Helene Richman and Saira Don are ones that spring to mind as having shown that they have something about them. When I look through the list of Councillors in Barnet, there are always a few that I see and think "Oh, I'd forgotten about him/her" Councillor Weeden-Sanz was pretty near the top of this list. I can only assume that someone with an excellent sense of humour or a malicious grudge against Roberto, thought it would be a wheeze to let Brian Coleman mentor him. 

It seems strange that the Councillor Weeden-Sanz turned to a man who'd transformed a 20,000 vote majority in Barnet and Camden in 2008 into a 20,000 loss in 2012 GLA elections, in a year when Boris won a strong triumph in London, to be his mentor. Given the fact that Labour do not have a single MP in Barnet, one can only wonder at how bad the campaign Mr Weeden-Sanz ran could possibly be.

I know Anne Clarke well, although we are members of different parties, I consider her a friend and have a lot of admiration for the work she has done with the Cricklewood Town Team and as a Councillor in Childs Hill ward. I find it insulting and patronising that a former Mayor of Barnet and GLA Assembly member can refer to his successor in such a manner. 

One has to ask Roberto Weedon-Sanz whether he thinks his 'mentor' and friend's lack of manners and respect is something he thinks is clever and funny. Just in case you were not aware of what sort of a chap Mr Coleman is, here is a video of his assault on Helen Michael, that resulted in his conviction. This made the ITN News. I wonder if this really is the sort of thing that the Conservative supporting females really want associated with the party. I'd remind Mr Weeden-Sanz that we judge people by the company they keep. 

Boris Johnson and Brian Coleman

You may be surprised. Pinch yourself. I have come to praise Brian Coleman, not to bury him. Don't get me wrong, can't stand the man. I will not forgive or forget the fact that he assaulted my friend Helen Michael and lied through his teeth about it to the Police, the truth only emerging following the release of CCTV footage. But if you look at the bigger picture, he tried to do the nation a service last May, when it became clear that Boris Johnson was likely to win the leadership of the Conservative Party. Brian wrote a blog, from the perspective of someone who worked closely with Boris for a number of years. Brian made it crystal clear that Boris was not fit for the job of Prime Minister. 

His blog highlighted many of Boris's key character flaws. Firstly that he is an appalling judge of character. The appointment and retention of Dominc Cummings is perhaps the best example of this. Brian siad

Boris was a poor judge of character . I lost count of the many so called "Deputy Mayors" and Senior Aides who passed through City Hall in my four years :Nick Boles (Head of Transition)  lasted a month , Ray Taylor (totally bonkers) lasted three months ,Tim Parker (on another Planet )  and of course Ian Clement (fiddled his expenses ) spring to mind . Then there were people with no experience of Local Government Munira Mirza (did not like being called "Dear" ) Isabel Dedring, Transport (hated and ignored by TfL Officers) Kulveer Ranger (who once cried on my shoulder because he had lost his Secretary ), Matthew Pencharz ( a nice boy but well out of his depth) . Pam Chesters , a good choice as health advisor but totally undermined by Boris when he ordered her to reinstate Mars Bars in the City Hall canteen.

These inexperienced advisors are no doubt partly, along with Boris ego , the reason for so many failed and pointless Capital projects . Boris Island , the East London Cable Car , the Garden Bridge ..

Brian also warned us that Boris was likely to be a disaster at #PMQ's, something which has become a major problem for the PM since Sir Keir Starmer became leader of the opposition. Boris is getting absolutely murdered every single week and this is doing no good for the nerves and mood of the Conservative MP's. More of a problem is that the nation is starting to think our PM is simply not up to the job. Here's what Brian said, his words are rather prophetic.

His performance at the monthly Mayor's question time at City Hall was dreadful in the early days and to the frustration of Assembly colleagues ( including Kit Malthouse) did not really improve .

Another major problem is that Boris makes things up on the hoof. That is fine when you are campaigning, but when you are dealing with a global pandemic, it simply causes chaos that has resulted in major loss of life. The failure to read briefs and properly prepare for meetings and speeches is unforgiveable. Again Brian highlighted this

Boris just simply never read the briefs or prepared for his speeches . At one Lord Mayor of London's London Governance Dinner he could be seen scribbling notes on the napkin during the meat course.

A successful Prime Minister has to have a degree of empathy with the people they govern. If there is a major disaster, they have to be able to reach out the victims and make them feel that the government cares. Despite nearly dying of Covid, Boris appears to not have the slightest bit of empathy or compassion for the families that have lost loved ones as a result of his policy blunders. Again Brian flagged this up, detailing his complte lack of compassion for the victims of the 7/7 bombing.

At a briefing meeting held in Boris' Office in 2011 during the Inquests into the deaths of the victims of the 7/7 bombings I was telling Boris how the Fire Authority was having to spend a sizable sum on lawyers (as were the Met , TfL and everybody else involved ) not least because Mrs Justice Hallett was cutting up rough as Coroner when he suddenly said " I blame Tony Blair for all this , he started it with the Marchioness (Inquest) " Guto Harri, who was Boris' Head of Communications and at the time absolutely devoted to Boris , said " Oh Boris they are really for the families (of the victims) benefit " To which Boris replied "Fuck the families , Fuck the families !"  . I was having none of this and snapped at Boris  " You didn't have to write eight letters of condolence to families of your constituents or attend the funeral of 31 year old Lee Baisden ( a Fire Authority employee) who had been blown to pieces at Aldgate and comfort his poor widowed Mother " .

There is also Boris's relationship with the truth. Boris simply thinks he can get away with anything, the rules don't apply to him.  After the event described above, Brian notes the following

 After this meeting the ever loyal Guto Harri rang me up and said "it never happened Brian , it never happened" . Sorry Guto it did and I have witnesses .

Brian also gave us an insight into how Boris copes with difficult situations. This quote is quite illuminating

At the Annual Lord Mayor's Banquet one year he told me the " only way to get through events like this Brian is drink all the alcohol on offer !"

If we weren't in the middle of a global pandemic and if we weren't about to leave the EU perhaps none of this would matter quite so much. I suspect that if we lived in a perfect world, where we didn't face threats such as Putin poisoning our citizens with nerve agents, with IS terrorists wanting to murder us all, with China seeking to economically dominate the global economy, with rogue regimes such as North Korea acquiring nuclear weapons, it may be jolly good fun to have such a man leading the country to entertain us. The truth is that we are in a global crisis and when we need allies, we have a Prime Minister who is totally unfit to be in charge. A man who has shown he has no regard for international law. I am quite bemused for his contempt for the EU Withdrawall Treaty.  It was Boris's government that negotiated it and signed it, if it is a danger to the UK, then surely it is his fault for signing it. Any problems are entirely the fault of the Prime Minister.

You may not trust my opinion of Boris, given that I've never been a fan, but Brian Coleman worked with him for years and is a staunch Conservative.

 

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Richard Cornelius resigns as Leader of Barnet Council

After eight years leading Barnet Council, the Leader of the Council and the Barnet Conservatives, Richard Cornelius has resigned. The news was broken by the grim reaper of Barnet Tory Politics, Brian Coleman.

Richard Cornelius resigns as Leader of @BarnetCouncil

— Brian Coleman (@BrianColeman251) May 6, 2019

So Cllr Dan Thomas is running for Leader and the Mayor Cllr Reuben Thompstone for Deputy !!!! @BarnetCouncil Watch this space !

— Brian Coleman (@BrianColeman251) May 6, 2019

Well well well , 8 Glourious years as Leader @BarnetCouncil comes to an end for Richard Cornelius apparantly forced out by his ambitious Deputy Cllr Thomas , the Michael Heseltine of Barnet ???

— Brian Coleman (@BrianColeman251) May 6, 2019

The news is not a surprise to The Barnet Eye. We have been aware of secret dinners between Dan Thomas and various new Tory Councillors for some time now. We understand that the new crop of councillors have been offered some plum jobs in exchange for support for the palace coup which Dan Thomas was in the process of putting together. We will be most amused to see what happens,, should Thomas succeed in his plans, when those playing this game of musical chairs are left standing and all of the chairs have been taken.

It will be most interesting to see who emerges as a challenger to Dan Thomas. We have heard a couple of names bandied around, but these have not been confirmed. This blog supported Richard Cornelius when he first put his name in the ring. Of the three, he was clearly the most reasonable and rational and given the challenges he's had, we think the fact he survived eight years and two elections is a testament to his shrewd political prowess.

It is clear to us that Dan Thomas is a completely different cup of tea. He is thin skinned, rude and lacks empathy with the public. He is a very divisive politician, who lacks the nous that Cornelius clearly has. Cornelius always was polite to political opponents, letting them have their say and often allowing them to dig holes that they then fall in. Thomas as chair of several committees is rude and seeks to shut down debate. This will come back to bite him. Cornelius also rather shrewdly ensured that all of the key committees were chaired by people who were far less intelligent than him. Sadly Dan Thomas does not have this luxury. This will mean that should he win, within a short period his key players will have realised he's a bit thick and not up to the job.

I was asked who I'd like to see as the new leader. If the Tories had any sense at all they'd pick Gabriel Rosenberg. He has all of the attributes of a successful politician. He is bright, well mannered and has displayed good judgement. I hope that he puts his name into the frame. I suspect that if Gabriel doesn't, he will come to bitterly regret it as the Dan Thomas regime quickly unravels. Unless of course he's shrewd enough to know that the council is in a complete mess and it is better for Thomas to carry the can for the collapse of the One Barnet scheme that all Barnet watchers know is coming. As Dan Thomas is the architect of this scheme, it is perhaps only fitting that he's at the helm as the boat goes down.
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Andrew Dismore sticks two fingers up to women voters in Barnet and Camden

I was astounded to see this tweet from the Barnet Rotary club

Good to have Assembly Member Andrew Dismore visit the Club pic.twitter.com/x1PlYiG0Pd

— Rotary Club Barnet (@barnetrotary) November 7, 2017

This pictures GLA assembly member Andrew Dismore with disgraced former Tory GLA member Brian Coleman. In the week when the issue of  male politicians assaulting women is at it's height, how on earth can Andrew Dismore possibly wish to be associated with a man who has been convicted for assaulting a woman in Fincley High Road


Coleman not only assaulted Helen Michael, he lied to the police about the assault. He only changed his plea to guilty on the day of the court case. The reason Coleman assaulted Helen Michael was due to her campaign against his parking policies when he was in charge of roads in Barnet. Michael, a former Tory, campaigned for Andrew Dismore to replace Coleman in the 2012 GLA elections, putting ABC (Anyone But Coleman) posters in her shop window. Coleman reacted by reporting her to the Police, resulting in Michael being arrested by coppers from SO15, the anti terrorist squad. It seems that Dismore no longer considers Helen Michael to be  a "useful idiot" and has decided to assist in Colemans political rehabilitation.

The Barnet Eye notes that Coleman never apologised for the assualt, he's never apologised for lying to the police and wasting their time. He's taunted Ms Michael on Twitter, claiming the whole thing was a set up, as if Ms Michael could be held culpable for him attacking her. This is clearly a case of Andrew Dismore publicly sticking two fingers up to the women of his Barnet and Camden GLA  constituency, saying violence against women is OK and forgivable, even if you don't apologise. It is sickening.

RAF museum gets £500K from Barnet Council and Brian Coleman loses the plot!

One of the real jewels in the crown of our Borough is The RAF museum in Hendon. I am rather biased as my father was an RAF bomber pilot. The museum houses the last intact example of a Wellington bomber, of the type flown by my Dad. Visits are always something of a pilgrimage for me.

Having said that, the museum is not stuck in the past. It has hosted concerts for the Mill Hill Music Festival and staged 'An evening with Sylvia Anderson' event which was a truly memorable event.

All of my children benefitted from this world class facility on our doorstep. Barnet Council has a history of destroying such assets, with the closure of Church Farmhouse museum.

I was therefore very pleased to see that Barnet Council has given the museum a £500,000 grant to assist with its development. This was announced in a tweet by the deputy Leader of Barnet Council Dan Thomas.

'Last night, @BarnetCouncil ARG committee recommended £500k be awarded to @RAFMUSEUM to go towards its exciting centenary redevelopment.'

Imagine my surprise and disgust when I saw that disgraced, convicted Criminal and former colleague of Dan Thomas, Brian Coleman weighed in, with a tweet in reply making sarcastic comments in relation to how the deal may have been struck.

'@RAFMUSEUM @BarnetCouncil I am sure this has nothing to do with (masonic) lobbying  between certain Trustees and certain Cllr's'

My guess is that Coleman, who is a well known Rotarian is probably smarting as his own efforts to get cash for his own pet projects was not met with quite so much generosity.

Coleman clearly has no grounds to post such a bitchy tweet, as he knows full well how to report any underhand dealings or shenanigans. He has cleverly constructed  his barbed message to inflict the maximum damage on the reputations of the trustees and his former colleagues, in a manner that is unlikely to have any legal comeback.

For the record I am not a Mason or in any way associated with the museum. I simply find Brian Colemans comments sickening. I sincerely hope that his fellow local Rotarians will finally see through this horrible little man and recognise just how damaging he is to their reputation.

It is a very good thing that the Council has chosen to support such an important cultural site in the Borough. Brian Coleman received sums far in excess of £500,000 in the course of his spectacularly unsuccessful political career. Unlike that cash, this will bring enjoyment to tens of thousands of residents of the Borough. When will this awful man finally get the hint and put a sock in it?

Have the "Barnet Blogs shot their load"?

There was an interesting interview with our old friend Brian Coleman in the Camden New Journal this week. In it Brian made a couple of rather interesting claims about the Barnet Blogs.

"The blogs in Barnet seemed to have shot their load, though. They got a bit carried away with themselves but it was all very nasty. I was warned by the chief executive of Barnet Council no less that I was being watched everywhere I went."

Gnat brained Borisand loving admirer

 There  are two rather interesting claims there. We will deal with the second one first. Did Barnet bloggers "watch Brian Coleman everywhere he went". I would be very interested to find out whether this is simply Colemans over fertile imagination, or whether the council was so deluded and out of touch that they really believed myself, Mrs Angry, Mr Mustard and Mr Reasonable have the slightest interest in Colemans movements.I think a blog which ran along the lines of "Well today I followed Brian Coleman around LIDL and guess what, he bought a jar of gherkins" would not exactly win the blog of the year. In fact to the best of my knowledge, I've only ever seen Brian Coleman four times outside of council meetings etc. Once was when he turned up to watch the Salvation Army at The Mill Hill Music Festival (possibly in 2009) and I sold him a glass of wine, once when he turned up at the Watling Festival, where I was running a five aside competition and once last year, when I was invited to a party and to my horror, he turned up. The most embarrassing time was when Coleman and his mother turned up for a Sea Cadet dinner, which I had also been invited to back in 2012. The Commander of the Sea Cadets put us both as guest of honour on the top table. Coleman threw a hissy fit. I am by nature good mannered and seeing the embarrassment of the Commander, I simply said "move me to another table, I have no objection". It seems Coleman subsequently went around boasting he'd had me "thrown from the top table". As I was seated with some delightful people who were great company, it was no problem for me. I don't support charities to be stuck on the top table, so I found it all a bit sad on his part. My wife was extremely cross about it though, as she thought he was being a complete arse (I'd long since realised).

In fact I've generally done everything I could to avoid Coleman. When Coleman was Mayor, my daughter, who at the time was the best female swimmer in her age group in the country, was given a prestigious award by the London Borough of Barnet. As Coleman was Mayor, he was presenting it. Knowing his vindictive nature, I didn't attend. I most certainly didn't want him throwing a hissy fit and upsetting my wife and daughter. As it was, he didn't realise who my wife was and actually spent half of the event gossiping to her and telling her how beastly people were being to his mother. As for the other Barnet bloggers, they have even less interest in following Coleman than I have. Mrs Angry has told me on several occasions that Coleman makes her feel physically sick and Mr Mustard and Mr Reasonable are just not interested in him at all. I have sent Nick Walkley, who was Barnet Council CEO when Coleman was in his pomp an email asking whether it was true he'd issued such advice. If it is then the council are even more out of touch than I thought.

As to the first of Colemans claims that "The blogs have shot their load". I am really not sure what this is supposed to mean. I suspect it simply confirms what many of us have long suspected, that Brian Coleman is a narcissist and if blogs are not writing about him, then they have simply lost their reason for existence. In actual fact, I cant speak for the other Barnet bloggers, but I found Coleman to be a crashing bore to write about. His actions were uniquely predictable. If Rowan Atkinson and John Cleese collaborated to invent a character who was the epitimy of an awful Tory in a little council, with a string of non jobs, who was pompous, officious and downright unpleasant, I am sure they would come up with Coleman. The only reason any of us ever blogged about Coleman was because he was the best way of persuading people that the Tory regime at Barnet Council was beyond the pale. But often, it simply detracted from what we were trying to say. At the height of the struggle to stop the Council committing the folly that is the One Barnet outsourcing, Coleman was at his very worst. Wheras us bloggers should have been focussing on destroying the case for the outsourcing, often Coleman would pop up and take everyones attention away, by doing something revolting and outrageous. Council Leader, Richard Cornelius, who I get on well with, once told me that "Brian goes around upsetting everyone, which means the rest of us can get on with our jobs". I warned him that Coleman would eventusly blow up in their faces, but he said "Oh no, Brian is quite clever really, he knows where to draw the line". Sadly for Richard, he couldn't have been more wrong. First Coleman took on the Boroughs traders and motorists. This turned pear shape and they lost Barnet and Cameden GLA seat, giving Labour a huge boost. Then Coleman got arrested for beating up Helen Michael. The Tories for a while were caught like rabbits in a torch beam. In a rather stupid act of ostrich like denial, many bought into Colemans story that nothing happened and that he'd been set up. The CCTV footage shown on the news exploded that myth and exposed the lies.

And for the Barnet blogs and Brian Coleman, that was pretty much that. But as I said before, it was never about Brian Coleman for any of us. of course we were in good company getting slagged off. He also called Boris "gnat brained" and Zac an out of touch posh boy. Oddly he had nice words for Dan Thomas, who previously he loathed, the two having a massive falling out about Thomas residency arrangements. Apparently Brian was supposed to be writing a book, which would lift the lid on the Barnet political scene. The reports I had were that it was virtually unreadable, simply being a long list of diatribes against people no one had ever heard of. When Brian said that the bloggers had shot their load, I sort of assumed he was simply referring to his own blog, which was last updated in 2014. I suspect that this may well be the last time we talk about Brian. I for one hope so. In the article, he states that his time has passed. We heartily agree and we won't miss him.

So are we finished? Yesterday, this blog got 863 hits, on a day when there wasn't anything earth shattering on it. We get far more hits than in 2009, when Coleman was Mayor and under investigation for disciplinary breaches. At the 2015 Barnet Eye awards at The Chandos Arms, I was told by dozens of people who had turned up, that the blog has got far better over the last couple of years. I heard the same thing, time and time again "I don't like everything you put on the blog, but its the first thing I look at when I want to know what is going on locally". We continue to break strories that are then picked up elsewhere. The latest big story that we featured first was the dodgy shenanigans in the Unison election. That story made it on to the Guardian. Mrs Angry was featured in great length in their article. Hardly sounds as if the Guardian think she's shot her load. As to our other bloggers, Mr Mustard has become a national celebrity and is the "go to" expert on dodgy council parking regimes for many TV shows. Mr Reasonable does what he has always done. He writes a couple of well thought out and well researched blogs a month, that in all the time I've followed him, no one from Barnet Council has ever even tried to refute. He doesn't write blogs to draw attention to himself, he blogs because he thinks it is the right thing to do.

In fact I am quite surprised that the Barnet blogsphere has survived and is as strong as it is. The only thing which could realistically be levelled at the Barnet blogosphere is that maybe its become stale, with no new bloggers emerging. It would be great to see some new blood, but in the absence of such activity, I think the four of us are doing a fine job and I can assure you that my load is far from shot.

If you liked Brian Coleman, you'll love Dan Thomas

Great news for all of my Barnet Conservative friends. I know you've all been missing having Brian Coleman as your GLA rep. His charm and wit has been missed in County Hall. His friends in the Fire Brigades Unions have missed his fraternal approach to negotiations. Restaurants all over London have been counting the cost of Brians departure, as his replacement has a rather different view to being entertained.

But politics is a game of ebb and flow. Three and a half years ago, Andrew Dismore ejected Brian Coleman on a wave of anti parking charge hysteria. Dismore was Labours golden boy. Sadly for Andrew the gold tarnished when he lost to Matthew Offord earlier this year in the General Election in Hendon. With Jeremy Corbyn taking over the Labour Party, the Tories believe that they could put a donkey up in Barnet and Camden and win.

But clearly the Tories didn't say "who is a donkey because we want to test this theory". They clearly chose the best man for the job. Brian Coleman would no doubt approve. The Barnet Conservatives are the party of aspiration (but only if you are a white middle class male). It is interesting to note that in Barnet, there is strong evidence that female candidates do well, but the Tories have a blind spot. In the 2014 council election, there were two new split wards. In Brunswick Park, the Tories lost two councillors. Both were male. Their sole female candidate, Lisa Rutter beat the third place Labour candidate, who was male. In Hale, Labours Kitty Lyons beat Tory Elliott Simberg. However according to the Hendon Times, there wasn't even a Tory woman on the GLA Shortlist. It is odd really, when you consider the area produced the UK's first female Prime Minister.

Have a look at the current Barnet list of councillors. Whilst Labour boasts a female councillor who is the youngest in the country and several other young females, how many Tories are female? How many are young females? Is it really true that women have no aspirations? Or is it only Labour women? I find this rather odd. I know plenty of very successful women, who support the Tories, but for some reason none seem attracted to the idea of becoming active in the party. It is a boys club. It is pretty clear that this boys club is something Dan Thomas approves of because he is the deputy leader of the Council and the Conservative Group. Has Dan encouraged the Tories to seek out new talent? Has he sought our young and talented people from across the community? Has he looked beyond the Tories Traditional power base. Has he moved the Party beyond the Coleman era?

 (set the time to 4:48)




When it comes to Barnet and Camden GLA candidates, it seems to me that in many ways Thomas is the "Coleman continuity candidate".  He was the Deputy Leader when Coleman was arrested for attacking Helen Michael. He could have insisted Brian was ejected from the Party, but no. Colemans membership was only suspended when the central office intervened.

Then there is the parking debacle. Thomas supported Colemans policies. He was a  cabinet member. He could have opposed them but clearly agreed with them, defending them on numerous occasions. Coleman has recently come out as a strong supporter of the Tories attack on the Libraries. As we saw at Mondays meeting, Dan Thomas sings from the same songsheet.

Brian Coleman was an avowed Union basher. Dan Thomas is also a fiece critic of Trades Unions. During his stint as Deputy Leader, Thomas has seen an unprecedented level of industrial disputes. It seems to me that Barnet has one of the most poisonous industrial relations records in local government. Brian Coleman lists his rows with the Fire Brigades Union as one of his crowning achievements. It seems to me that Dan Thomas is cut from the same cloth, seeing UNion bashing as a great notch on a Tory CV.

Now anyone who knows Dan and Brian will say  "Dan is nothing like Brian". Well in one way this is true. Brian was someone who didn't care who he upset. He positively thrived on upsetting people. It is 100% clear that Dan lacks this level of gumption. Whilst he was pompous and patronising towards Ms Jacobson and Ms Musgrove, he lack the downright rudeness Coleman would have undoubtedly deployed. Coleman would have piled straight in. Thomas parried and got a pasting. But the differences are purely ones of presentation. I have no dount that Thomas has far more sense than to bash Helen Michael (or any other woman for that matter), he knows how to control his temper,  but he would have exactly the same view towards grinding her business into the ground.

The truth is that if you are a Tory and you liked Brian Coleman, you'll love Dan Thomas. Dan is Brian, but with a bit more polish and decorum. If Brian could keep his temper, he'd still be a Town Hall Tory. He'd still be a respected man, despite the carnage he has wrought on businesses across Barnet. Dan Thomas was part of the same gang. It is a small, exclusive club and to do well you have to buy into the philosophy. Dan has a track record in office. It is exactly the same track record as Brian Colemans, because they were part of the same administration.  Dan is basically Brian Coleman on valium. Whilst that may sound like a bad thing, in actual fact if you are a Barnet Tory, it is probably rather good news.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the GLA race will be just how boring it is likely to be. Dan Thomas will inspire no one to vote Tory who isn't a die hard. Having seen Dan Thomas in action, I can't possibly imagine anyone turning out to vote because they are excited at the prospect of Dan Thomas in the Town Hall. Dismore will inspire no one to vote Labour who isn't a die hard. The Coleman bogeyman has gone. Dismore is not a Corbynite, so I don't expect a huge wave of support from enthused party activists.  I personally think the GLA is  a complete waste of time and would support the complete abolition of it. That would save a stack of money. As it is we have an election, featuring a bunch of non candidates, fighting for a non job, that neither of them really want, but both see as part of some end game to somewhere else. Both Thomas and Dismore have a track record of losing as candidates in general elections. I suspect that Dismore has one eye on the House of Lords and Thomas has an eye on an unloseable seat in Parliament somewhere. If the Greens and UKIP have half a brain between them, they should recognise that Barnet and Camden could actually be winnable if they could find the right candidate, with the right campaign themes and the right campaign. If they had any sense., they'd pick young, fresh candidates without a history of losing in battles for better jobs. If they said "Barnet and Camden need someone who can say something different are not simply party lackies who are looking for a cushy job and a nice payday. They need someone who can make the Mayor sit up and take notice". The truth is the GLA election exists purely as an opportunity to give the big parties a well deserved smack on the bum. Coleman enabled many rather fed up Tories to do just that. Have the smaller parties got the sense to realise that and sell their campaign on that basis. People will vote for protest parties when it doesn't matter and no election in the UK matters less than that for the GLA.

Brian Coleman admits to being admirer of anti semitic Fascist Dictator

Over the years, Brian Coleman has received massive support from members of the local Jewish community in his political career. They have long seen Coleman as a friend and someone who was an unswerving ally and someone who could be relied upon to oppose anti semitism in all its various guises.  I do therefore wonder just how they will feel about Coleman issuing the following tweet.

Brian Coleman ‏@BrianColeman251 8h8 hours ago

@RossSHouston I have always been rather a Franco admirer !

Brian Coleman ‏@BrianColeman251 Sep 13

@RichardJMurphy There wasn't much wrong with Franco except his attempts to bully Gibraltar

Franco & Hitler in 1940

For those who are unaware, General Franco was a Fascist dictator who ruled Spain from 1939 to 1975. Franco was a big ally of the German NAZI regime. He received material assistance from Adolf Hitler in the Spanish civil war, with the German airforce bombing the left wing opponents of Franco. Franco organised 18,000 Spaniards to fight alongside German forces in WWII and even compiled lists of  Jewish Spaniards in 1941 for the Nazi authorities. His government described Jewish people as "that infamous race". Franco hated Jews, in the 1937 ceasefire document in the Spanish Civil war Franco stated 'the conspiracy masterminded by Jews and carried out by Freemasons'.  In his 1939 victory speech Franco said the following 

“While music is heard and our flag is raised there are wandering throughout the world the damned such as the eternal Jew, whom nobody wants because they are a Communist horde.”

 It is interesting to see how right wing commentators have sought to portray Jeremy Corbyn as an anti semite for his association with various unsavoury parties. Will they apply the same rigour to Coleman? Of course, there are many apologists for Franco who point out that despite having an alliance with Hitler, he never formally joined the war as a member of the Axis and did allow the passage of Jewish refugees through Spain. It is clear to all historians that this was due to the fact that he never was convinced that Hitler would win, and post 1941 recognised that they were bound to lose. That does not excuse the fact that he was clearly an anti semite and a fellow traveller of Hitler. For Coleman to express admiration for such a figure is truly astonishing.

Dear Brian, Please get some professional help before you hurt someone else

The Barnet Eye is getting increasingly worried about the erratic and rather odd behaviour of former GLA member and Barnet Councillor Brian Coleman. We have reached the opinion that this is not a laughing matter and are seriously worried that Mr Coleman may hurt another person (he's already been convicted for attacking and injuring Helen Michael) or himself. Whilst some people may wish harm on people, as a pacifist, I am not going to drop my standards, even for someone like Coleman who assaulted a good friend, at a time when her mother was in the final stages of cancer. Mr Coleman has taken to leaving rather obnoxious tweets about all and sundry, including my mother and the victim of his assault, Ms Michael. To me, this is not the working of a sane, rational mind. Having been convicted once for assault by beating of Helen Michael (admitting his guilt and telling a packed courtroom that the Police CCTV footage was "not as he recalled") surely a sensible course of action would be to forget about Ms Michael and leave her alone. Instead Mr Coleman seems to have invented a complete fantasy world where he was the wronged party. Mr Coleman described his attack on Helen Michael in the following manner on Twitter yesterday

Brian Coleman ‏@BrianColeman251 21h21 hours ago

@hammerman1111 @Barneteye @DurraniMix assault ? you mean minor altercation with troll with camera

There was no need for Coleman to be insulting about the victim of his assault. If you have any doubts about the viciousness of Colemans attack, you can view the footage on Colemans favourite newspapers website - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10036838/Conservative-councillor-Brian-Coleman-caught-on-CCTV-assaulting-cafe-owner.html  and as you can see it was anything but a minor altercation. Coleman only desisted and ran away when passers by intervened. As to Ms Michael being a Troll, she was working in her business, when Coleman broke the law by parking in a loading bay outside of her cafe. As he had been in charge of the Boroughs parking policy parking, Ms Michael tried to take a picture of him flouting the laws he expected others to follow. This is not Trolling, it is a perfectly reasonable response to abuse of position. 

But it is not only Helen Michael who has to suffer from the ill mannered taunts of Coleman. Prior to this tweet, he launched an unprovoked attack on me in relation to my elderly mothers care. I had written a blog about the meals on wheels service, yet Coleman sought to use twitter to attack me, even though I'd made no mention of him in the piece (TBH I'd almost forgotten he existed). 

Here is my tweet and his response.

1. 1. Rog T ‏@Barneteye Aug 31 Barnet, London

      Meals on Wheels - A quick Fisk of the Barnet Council position http://barneteye.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/meals-on-wheels-quick-fisk-of-barnet.html … @barnet_unison @BarnetAlliance @BrokenBarnet

      2 retweets 0 favorites
3. Brian Coleman ‏@BrianColeman251 21h21 hours ago

   @Barneteye Quite why you seem to be proud of your elderly Mother having to rely on meals on wheels when you only lived up the road ....

    

 Is it normal, sane behaviour to attack the way people for the way they care for elderly relatives? If you do not know the circumstances, surely discreet silence is the sensible option, even if you think people should behave in a different manner. For the record, although my mother had issues with speech and mobility, she was not suffering from dementia. She lived independently until the day she died by choice. She had the option of living with us or any of her other children, but did not want to. She agreed the meals on wheels service with the Council. Her view was that this wasn't charity, she paid for the meals. She didn't want charity and she didn't want to live with other people. Coleman queries why I'm proud my mother "had to rely on meals on wheels". Well yes I am. I am proud because it allowed my mother to live her life the way she wanted to, despite enormous challenges. Despite her failing health, she organised her own care and was perfectly capable of making decisions. We used to make her an evening meal every evening. My mother would insist on paying for this. She was not poor, she was technically a millionaire, following a very successful business career. 

I used to visit my mother every night and share a Guinness or a Whisky with her. The week before she died, I accompanied her on a pilgrimmage to Lourdes (my mother was a Roman Catholic) and we spent a week together. She had a  massive stroke and died the week after we returned. 

It is clear to me from Colemans comments that he was simply trying to attack me in the most hurtful way he could think of. Whilst I was initially quite angry about his comments, I reflected on the psyche of a man who could write such a thing. Such bile breeds all manner of negative thoughts. But the decent thing to do is to look beyond the bile and see what is the route cause. 

It is a matter of record that Brian was relentlessly bullied at school. Many victims of such treatment develop warped characters and seek to lash out and hurt others. In Brians attack on my mother, I see his own insecurity written large. I have a clear conscience with regards to my mother and miss her dearly. As Brians own mother is in her 90's, he clearly feels deeply worried about what the future holds. I suspect that throughout his life, his mother has been the one rock for him to hang on to. In his comments to me, perhaps we see a window into his own lack of self worth and insecurity. I am sure he feels he let his mother down terribly getting arrested, spending the night in jail and getting a criminal record (what decent person wouldn't).

I am sure Brian will read this, in his disposition to the investigator into the standards case I brought against him he announced that he loved reading about himself "all councillors do". So here is a short, open letter to Brian. It is written in a spirit of Christian Charity, something my mother always urged me to display (and to be quite honest, one thing I often let myself down in).

Dear Brian,

As you are no doubt aware, we are not friends and are never going to be. Your actions in assaulting a friend of mine, causing her injury, stress and pain are unforgiveable. That you chose to lie about it only compounds my feelings of antipathy towards you. However you are another thinking, feeling and hurting human being and as the good Lord says, we have to love our enemies. It is clear to me that when you lost your political career, you suffered a majour bereavement. It is also clear to me that you are still in the anger stage of dealing with your loss. As someone who clearly has issues with anger, having lost your career and good name as a result of this personality disorder, I would urge you to seek counselling to deal with your many issues. 

Many of your political friends, such as Jane Ellison and Joan Scannell, have over the years told me that there is a good side to you and that you have gifts to offer. It is clear to me that until you come to terms with your guilt, address your anger and move on, you will be stuck in an ever more self defeating spiral of despair. I am not only worried for you, but worried about what you may do, should you again find yourself in a confrontational situation. As you are now a convicted criminal, you would not be in a position to ask for leniency should a further altercation occur. Your hate filled outpourings on Twitter, clearly show that there are issues to resolve. As an intelligent man, surely you can see that the sooner you deal with these and reconcile yourself to the loss of your political career, the sooner you will move on. My advice to you is to seek professional help and address the issues that are ruining your life.

Regards 

Roger Tichborne