The inquest begins into the Tory Car Crash wraparound - Tories behaving oddly

So  I was out yesterday for my usual walk around Mill Hill and I bumped into one of our friendly Conservative activists, taking a cheeky break from action. As with most of them, a bit of friendly banter ensued. They then raised the subject of the wraparound advertising feature on the Edgware and Mill Hill Press. Now I've used the same method to advertise my business, so I know  that the four page wraparound costs several thousand pounds. These days, the art of a decent political leaflet is to try and engage peoples attention, before they throw them in the bin. A striking picture of a something which catches peoples eye are a virtual must. If people pick up the paper and start reading it because the subject matter is interesting and engaging, then you have got value for money. This is what I had poked thru my door.

As you can see, it isn't exactly striking is it. It isn't even nicely laid out. No graphics, nothing. I suppose if you are a staunch Tory and you want cheering up, then it is rather nice, or if your budgie has IBS it is rather useful, but ask yourself this. Would you bother to read it? Have the thousands of pounds worth of advertising budget been well spent. It says "vote for your Barnet Conservative candidates" My Tory friend told me "A couple of people have said 'we don't live in Barnet, we live in Mill Hill' so what are they on about?"

Even more interesting is the back page

It is a list of questions to ask Labour Candidates. Now the Tories have scored two spectacular own goals here. Just suppose they got their wish and voters actually bothered to read it, they've picked questions that anyone who knows Barnet and is a vaguely competent Labour Candidate could immediately turn to their advantage. Here is what Labour will respond

Q1 . Why did Council Tax double under the last Labour Government.

A1.  The Labour Government didn't set Council Tax, the Council did and the biggest rises were made by the Tories in the first two years when they were in power, despite being elected on a tax cutting agenda.

Q2. When Labour last controlled the Council and had spent the reserves, why did the Government step in and threaten to take over services?

A2. When Labour left power in 2002, Council Debt was £38 Million. It is now, in total over £800 million, including all liabilities. The Tories have embarked on a debt funded spree, which we'll be paying off for decades.

Q3.  Why did Labour fail to build any affordable housing at all when they last ran the council and why have they opposed many of the Conservative home building schemes without saying where and how they would build any?

A3. (putting aside the awful grammar) Labour started most of the schemes the Tories refer to. Large scale schemes take years to get off the ground. The Tories opposed them in opposition and only agreed to them when officers explained the realities of the housing crisis. The schemes Labour have opposed are on the grounds that they are sub standard or only provide luxury flats for the very wealthy. Some schemes have also threatened the Green Belt.

Q4. how can Labour plan to spend £100,00 on commissions, which will see them outsource policy making?

A4.  The Tories have  hired dozens of consultants who all earn over £100,000 a year to draw up the One Barnet scheme. The commission Labour talk about is to improve fairness and justice in Barnet and will improve the quality of life of Barnet residents. Why didn't the Tories say what the commission actually was (I think you can guess, can't you?).

Q5. Why have neighbouring Labour Boroughs hiked rents for social housing tenants and made the Poorest tenants pay more council tax?

A5. This question has a two part answer. They have put up rents because the Tory Government has a policy of cutting funding to councils as part of the austerity program. The Tories in Barnet have given large Council tax cuts to the very richest people in Barnet, whilst cutting grants to organisations such as Mapledown Special School. For the average Barnet voter, the Council tax cut is 3p a day. It is much greater for those residents who live in a mansion.

Q6. Why did Labour run authorities not take the tough decisions when they should have done and are now having to slash services and sack thousands of employees?

A6. As we saw with the Mapledown Special school cut and Your Choice Barnet, many services have been slashed. As to the sacking of employees, hundreds of Barnet jobs have been lost and jobs sent to other parts of the UK under One Barnet Outsourcing.

Q7. How do Labour plan to fund their parking pledges?

A6. They will cut the number of council committees, resulting in major savings of allowances for senior councillors, some of whom get thousands of pounds for chairing committees that sit only once or twice a year. They will also cut other waste that the Torie shave introduced.

-------------------------------------------------

These are the answers Labour are giving to anyone who has actually bothered to read the wraparound. The Tories got the paper out several weeks before the election, giving Labour canvassers in marginal wards ample time to get across to the voters just how misleading the list is. Had this gone out the week before, it may possibly have duped a few people, but many voters are angry to see something so misleading on the doorstep.

My Tory friend went so far as to describe the wraparound as a car crash. It has wasted thousands of pounds and will either line cat litter trays or give Labour a chance to show the Tory spin up for what it is. If you are going to make highly dodgy statements, you don't give your opponents time to get a strong ripost in before the election.

Of course we couldn't possibly comment. It does seem to have the hallmark writing style of Councillor Robert Rams, who first came to promenance as Brian Colemans press man at the GLA.

He has been madly tweeting it, so I guess he's a likely source

Cllr Robert Rams ‏@CllrRobertRams May 11

Thanks to @NrthLondonNews most residents in #eastbarnet have received our manifesto (just front page shown here) pic.twitter.com/jgsytRLvwy

Talking of strange behaviour, thanks to Councillor Robert Rams for drawing our attention to this truly bizarre letter from his Colleage Barry Evangeli in the Standard

Cllr Robert Rams ‏@CllrRobertRams

Nice to see my fellow ward Councillor @BarryEvangeli in the @standardnews tonight! pic.twitter.com/g96a7bcZ8v

Glad to see that Mr Evangeli is getting some time off from the campaign !


Its all good fun, isn't it !

A fisk of the biggest Porkie ever told in the London Borough of Barnet

I don't really like doing overly political blogs at the weekend. I like to relax and have a bit of fun. However I cannot sit back and let people spin stories that I believe to be a complete distortion of the truth. East Barnet councillor and Tory Cabinet member Robert Rams has published a story on his bog (Story being the only applicable word) that simply cannot go unchallenged. I started writing blogs about Barnet in May 2008 and I can honestly say I have never seen anything which has so outraged or upset me as what Councillor Rams has to say

The Source is here

http://robertrams.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/labour-blunder-cuts-1-9m-of-funding-for-disabled-children-in-barnet-but-council-leader-averts-crisis/

The Barnet Eye feels that the only way to deal with this is to do a Fisk. Our comments are in red italics - Here is what Councillor Rams had to say, including our comments.


An incredible blunder by Labour Group Deputy Leader Cllr Barry Rawlings has effectively cut all Short Breaks funding provided by the council to institutions across Barnet, along with a whole range of other support services for children with disabilities, to the value of £1.9m - As Councillor Rams will go on to show, this is not an "incredible blunder" but has enabled his boss Richard Cornelius to use executive powers to overturn an appalling decisions by Councillor Rams and his Cabinet  Colleagues. The blunder was by his Colleague who enacted a cut without actually bothering to read (by his own admission) the results of the consultation.
The Labour member ‘called in’ the Cabinet Resources Committee report that extended the contracts for these services to the Business Management Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday evening and then, with colleagues, voted that it be sent back to the administration - Councillor Rams fails to mention that Lib Dem Jack Cohen and Conservative members Brian Salinger (a former Leader) and Maureen Braun, a long time previously loyal Tory all voted to send the cut back to cabinet. Why does Rams fail to mention this. Councillor Braun even asked "Who is more vulnerable than disabled children". His comments would be highly misleading to anyone who was not at the meeting or had read proper coverage.

Without these contract extensions, the council is left without the legal power to pay its providers, meaning services would have to be stopped - again Highly misleading. The services would have only been stopped if the Council Leader had not decided to use the constitutional powers at his disposal. To claim otherwise is, in our view, not befitting a member of the administration.

Council Leader Cllr Richard Cornelius said:
“This needs to be reversed. I am taking urgent action to avoid these services being wrecked.
“Cllr Rawlings and Labour have created a right constitutional mess and have effectively removed all funding from these organisations. In their attempts to make the funding of Short Breaks at Mapledown School a political football – never having highlighted or varied this particular saving in their budget amendment – they have recklessly made the situation much worse - Again Richard Cornelius fails to mention the role of his own colleagues and the Libe Dems in taking the decision. As to the issue becoming a political football, surely this is also misleading. As Tories supported Councillor Rawling, it was a cross party decision. Jack Cohen specifically stated that this sort of decision should not be about Party Politics and Salinger and Braun agreed. Committee chair Hugh Rayner was also keen to ensure that the effects of the decision were mitigated. He asked if  an emergency session of the relevant committee could be held and council officers offered no reason as to why not .
“Labour are faffing around calling for meetings, but what they’ve done needs urgent action and cannot wait for a committee meeting to be called. This is no longer just about Short Breaks, but also about children in care, mental health services and all sorts. I am ensuring that these services can continue.” - This statement shows that Rams contention was totally incorrect and that the atrocious initial decision was reversed, allowing time for alternative funding to be arranged. In fact what Richard Cornelius has done is simply what any decent person should do on realising a bad decision was made. It is very regrettable that he has decided to use it as a clumsy attempt to politicise a rather sensible piece of work by the scrutiny committee
With no more Cabinet Resource Committee meetings able to take place before the election, the long term funding issue for Mapledown is to be reviewed by the new Education Committee under the new Council - There is no constituional bar on an emergency session of the old CRC. Having said that, given the consensus that the cut was a mistake, use of executive powers to extend the funding for a year is universally agreed as correct.


Council Leader Cllr Richard Cornelius continued:

“The Mapledown situation needs to be determined by the new committee and so I will ensure their funding, to maintain services at the existing level, for one year to give the school a chance to adjust and for alternate funding to be found.” - Let me translate "A new committe will sort the mess out which the incompetents on the old CRC created. In the meantime I've used the powers at my disposal to ensure that the sensible decision of Councillor Rawlings to call in the decision, and the wisdom shown by Labour, Lib Dem and SOME Conservative members of the scrutiny committee to call for a review of the decision has ensured that Mapledown school, which is universally recognised as excellent, can carry on doing the great work, with which we associate it.

+++ End of Rams blog

And there is the paragraph that Richard Cornelius didn't write, Robert RAms didn't write, and Reuben Thompstone didn't write, but they all damn well should.

As Leader of the Council, I would like to personally apologise to all the pupils, carers and parents of Mapledown School and I would like to personally assure them that Barnet Council has accepted that the original cut was an ill thought out decision. We promise to try and learn from our mistakes. We will undertake to properly read all future consultations and if we cannot avoid cuts, we will visit the establishments facing the cuts, prior to the decision, so we can understand the effects of our actions.

For the avoidance of doubt, lets be 100% clear as to what happened.  The Tory CRC passed the decision to cut after school and respite care. Labour called the decision in for review, as they are perfectly entitled to do under the Barnet Council constitution. After hearing all of the evidence, the Tory Controlled scrutiny committe voted to send the decision back to the CRC for further consideration. At this point, the Leader of the Council intervened as he's perfectly entitled to do under the constitution and took a sensible executive decision. This reversed the cut and ensured all of the other services continued. Up until this point, I think we can all agree that everything followed the normal rules of how business is done in Barnet.

Then Councillor Robert Rams wrote his blog. This is quite extraordinary. It doesn't mention the fact that the decision was made by a Tory controlled committee. It doesn't mention that two Tories and one Lib Dem voted with Labour. It implies that the vital services were threatened, which they clearly were not. And it presents a financial decision taken to increase a budget in a hugely political light, in the Purdah period prior to an election. I cannot possibly understate just how "disappointed" I am with the behaviour of Councillor Rams in posting this blog. It is a complete distortion of the truth. I really find it sickening and I hope that as meany people as possible who live in Mr Rams East Barnet ward are made aware of what happened and how Mr Rams chose to present it. I am also extremely disappointed at Richard Cornelius. He did the right thing to use his executive powers to sort out the mess his CRC created. He has not done the right thing in making totally misleading statements.

Mapledown School - an open letter from Reuben Thompstone (as fisked by the Barnet Eye)

The Cabinet Member of Barnet Council, responsible for the budget cut to Mapledown School for the Disabled, has sent an open letter to the Times Newspaper, following their critical coverage of the Council cut. One migh think Mr Thompstone, who didn't even bother to visit the school to discuss the cut, may have had more sense than to keep this vote losing policy in the press but hey ho, if he's that stupid, we would be negligent in our role as Barnets leading blog if we didn't help him in his mission to destroy the credibility of his party. Our bit is in red italics

Dear Sir,
I was surprised to read your article outlining the opposition apparent from the Labour party’s local council leader and parliamentary candidates with respect to the reduction in funding for short breaks at Mapledown School - You were surprised? Really, what do you think the role of a Labour Opposition is, if not to oppose heartless cuts. My surprise stems from the fact that the Labour Group on Council put forward an alternative budget this year which mirrored precisely these reductions in funding despite being given the opportunity to participate in the consultation in this matter last year where not a word was heard from Cllr Moore or any of her colleagues - As you well know the Labour budget (wrongly in our view) had the same headline figure, but individual items within it were radically different. The funding for the school was maintained by a reduction in the number of committees, reducing allowances for well paid fat cat councillors such as yourself. Did you not know this or are you playing fast and loose with the voters and the truth?.
This funding formula was temporary and as central government has now closed this funding stream, we are pleased that we were able to retain a significant service locally with the close support of Headteacher Steve Carroll and in consultation with local parents - This is a bit dishonest, Rubes (you don't mind me calling you Rubes do you),  as you admitted you'd not visited the school to discuss the £45,000 cut. Some reporting appears to mislead, to clarify, the school’s budget (through the dedicated schools grant) is and remains protected - The reporting was accurate, it referred to the £45,000 cut to after school services and respite services for parents of disabled children. Furthermore, with over £100,000 in Mapledown School’s reserve account, it is for the school to determine how best to use their resources for those they serve - This is Rubes at his worst, spinning and being very crafty with the facts. A disabled school needs a large cash reserve, because all manner of situations can arise which require sudden, unexpected calls for cash. Unlike a regular school, failure to meet these cash calls could significantly affect the ability to provision service for very needy people. To suggest that the school fritter away this reserve just to keep going is like saying that the Queen should sell the Crown Jewels to pay for the redecoration of Windsor Castle. Furthermore it shoews Rubes doesn't understand his portfolio.
Perhaps the Labour group might work out how they could show they are ready to lead, instead of standing on the sidelines throwing stones - Rubes, I think that by highlighting this, they already have. You however have shown you don't have the intellect to hold down this important portfolio. Instead, they appear determined to show that opposition is where they belong nationally and locally, as they continue to be part of the problem and not the solution - Rubes, it appears to me and to 97% of Times Readers, there is only one problem - You!
Regards,
Regards,
Reuben Thompstone
Cabinet Member for Education, Children & Families,
Councillor for Golders Green

Rubes Letter was originally published on his fellow traveller, Little Bobby Sheepsjacksie's Insomnia cure blog http://robertrams.wordpress.com/

Thanks Bobster for exposing this plonker for what he clearly is !

Time for Councillor Tom Davey to resign?

This evening I was forwarded an email exchange between disabled rights campaigner John Sullivan and Councillor Tom Davey, Barnet Council cabinet member responsible for housing. Mr Sullivan told me that he was too upset for words to write a coherent blog, in light of information revealed by the Hendon Times website today regarding Mr Davey. He has asked me to try and present the facts in a fair and balanced way. So lets start with The exchange

Mr Sullivan wrote the following email to Cllr Davey
-----
From: John Sullivan 
Sent: 12 April 2014 10:43
To: Davey, Cllr Tom
Subject: Ethnic Cleansing of Barnet Benefit Claimants

 

Dear Cllr Davey,

 

In light of your recent comments and apparent determination to ethnically cleanse Barnet of benefit claimants, which incidentally includes all disabled people and future disabled people in Barnet such as my fifty year old daughter and her peers.

 

Do you think we would be wise to move out of Barnet in order to secure the future quality of life for our daughter before we die, and before your dream of a pure society of the rich and well heeled, completely ethnically cleansed of the benefit claimants and the disabled becomes a reality in Barnet.

 

Or am I reading your rhetoric wrong, am I incorrectly assuming you have openly pronounced your detestation of the poor, the sick and the disabled , and believe they are  not fit to reside in Barnet.

 

Kind Regards

 

Mr J J Sullivan

------------------------------------
Councillor Davey replied
------------------------------------

From: "Davey, Cllr Tom"  Cllr.Davey@Barnet.gov.uk
Date: 13 April 2014 12:29:57 BST
To: "John Sullivan"
Subject: RE: Ethnic Cleansing of Barnet Benefit Claimants

Dear Mr Sullivan

 

All housing allocation policy is clearly set out and avaialble for the public to view. There is not, has not been, and never will be an attempt to "ethnically cleanse" Barnet and i think many residents would find this suggestion deeply insensitive and offensive. I can only apologise if you have misunderstood any comments and offer you fully assurance that the Council and its policies comply with all relevant legislation.

 

For clarification, to the best of my knowledge i have never pronounced "destesation of the poor, the sick and the disabled". 

 

If you have particular concerns on policy, please email those concerns to Barnet Homes and an officer can provide a detailed response. I hope this helps and trust i have answered your question.

 

Best

Tom

  

In this, as you can quite clearly see, Councillor Davey states that he has never, to the best of his knowledge, pronounced "destesation of the poor, the sick and the disabled" which is quite clearly something he sees as " deeply insensitive and offensive" to quote his own words. What sort of a man would pronounce  a dislike of the poor? What sort of a man would not care for the disabled? What sort of a man indeed?

So when Mr Sullivan saw this article in the Edgware Times  http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/11150246.Claims_Tory_Councillor_is__not_fit_for_office__after__disgusting__Facebook_posts/?ref=var_0 , highlighting these Facebook messages from Mr Davey, he felt that it was time for Mr Davey to be held to account





The posts, made by Cllr Tom Davey of Tory-run Barnet Council, were revealed just days after he was caught advocating ‘social cleansing’ in a shocking video.






Davey said the sick joke was “probably misjudgement in hindsight” – but that despite being open to tens of thousands of people in the LSE Facebook network, it was a private joke between friends.
He admitted:

“I have a very dry sense of humour”

Defending perhaps the most disgusting post, in which he says he is “smacking his bitch up…that’ll teach her for ironing loudly whilst the football is on” – Davey said he was being “ironic.”

Just remember, Councillor Davey said in his own email "For clarification, to the best of my knowledge i have never pronounced "destesation of the poor, the sick and the disabled" As Mr Sullivan reminds us, his 50 year old, Downs Syndrome daughter is the "Benefit claiming scum" that Mr Davey berates in his Facebook message.

It is interesting to note that Councillor Davey thinks a disabled black lesbian may have more luck than him in getting a job. Now if Mr Davey was an all in wrestler, the type his political mentor, Councillor Robert Rams is so keen on (http://robertrams.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/who-is-the-labour-councillor-who-has-allegedly-been-summoned-to-court-for-non-payment-of-1400-of-council-tax/), maybe he would have some sort of a point, however Mr Davey was seeking white collar jobs where sound judgement are valued. Is there a clue in his Facebook messages as to why he had such problems?

It is also interesting to note that given the poor Tory record on the subject of violence against women, with Councillor Brian Coleman being arrested for assaulting a woman, that Councillor Davey seems to think beating women up is a laughing matter.

Councillor Davey, in the above link to Robert Rams blog, calls for Labour Leader Alison Moore to resign, based on poor judgement. Our advice for Councillor Davey is to go away, spend some time on the bench and get some life experience. We sincerely hope that he will in time mature, but it is clear that at the moment he does not have the life skills to be a senior official with an important portfolio in local government. If these remarks were dug up from 20 years ago, then that would be one thing, but they were made when Davey was active in local politics in recent years. There was no hint of any sort of apology to those who might be offended. Mr Davey claims that the jokes were "saloon bar humour". Whilst we have no doubt that these are the sort of jokes Councillor Davey shares regularly with his mates in the pub, if you are a politician and on facebook, you should have a little bit more sense.  None of us are perfect, I am sure Facebook and Twitter and even blogger sometimes tempts us to make mistakes and say silly things. Being a dyslexic, I sometimes say things which are misconstrued, sometimes my humour is misunderstood. If someone genuinely claims I've upset them I apologise. In Mr Sullivans case, I am sure he will be awaiting Councillor Davey's apology with baited breath. Because it is clear that not only was Mr Davey being extremely offensive about Susan Sullivan and all her disabled peers. No one can doubt that, in light of these revelations. He mislead Mr Sullivan about his views on the disabled and the poor, who he clearly thinks it is absolutely fine to mock and humiliate.

For the absence of doubt, this story from the Times details how Davey was elected in 2008
http://www.times-series.co.uk/archive/2008/05/02/2243037.Conservatives_hold_on_to_Hale/

The Saturday List #56 - Pro Tory stories on the Barnet Times website this week

On Monday we invited the Barnet Times to join our crusade to save the populace of the London Borough of Barnet from the ravage of Tory cuts to the NHS, which have caused a crisis in the NHS. We pointed out that there had been a series of stories that were "rather friendly" towards the local Tories, portraying Tories in a rather good light. We suggested that a campaigning newspaper might prefer to highlight what is wrong locally rather than becoming a quasi Stalinist propoganda rag for the local Tories. The story which prompted the original blog, pointing out how friendly the Times are to local Tories, was prompted when the Barnet Eye noticed that the Times had done a cut and paste job on a story on Tory MP Matthew Offords blog here http://www.matthewofford.co.uk/news/matthew-pledges-support-children-india  
transforming it into this story on the Times http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/11032944.MP_Matthew_Offord_spices_up_trip_to_India/?ref=var_0 

Now we rather hoped that the Barnet Times would feel a bit embarrassed and get stuck into some real stories, but it seems they've gone on a  "be nice to the Tories and cut and paste frenzy". Interestingly, there seems to be a deliberate campaign to portray the man who tried to shut and sell off Friern Barnet Library, Robert Rams as a big friend of libraries this week as well as the man responsible for parking policies Dean Cohen as the friend of the High St. I wonder why these two might need a bit of help at election time?

These are stories which are rather helpful to the Tories election campaign, posted since we put up our blog on Monday.

1. Friday 2.50PM promoting Matthew Offord MP

School enlists help of Hendon MP to tackle fly-tipping and parking problems

2. Wednesday 5.30pm promoting Robert Rams (Robert Rams Story no 1)

'We're absolutely delighted': arts charity secures its future in Barnet

3. Wednesday 2.17pm Promoting Robert Rams (Robert Rams Story no 2)

Church End Library could be relocated by 2017

4. Wednesday 1.20pm promoting Robert Rams (Robert Rams Story no 3)

Library volunteers awarded

5. Wednesday 11.10am promoting Dean Cohen (classic pre-election tree planting story)

New trees to brighten high streets

Now if you click here, you'll see just how many of these stories promoting Tory Councillors have been lifted, almost word for word from Press releases from the Council

http://www.barnet.gov.uk/news

Here's the Council versions from their website - spot the difference

Council confirms new home for Community Focus

Published on Wednesday 26 February 2014 in Council and democracy news

Barnet Council is set to refit Friary House, situated in Friary Park, to provide a new home for inclusive arts charity Community Focus.

Finchley Church End library proposal moves one step closer

Published on Wednesday 26 February 2014 in Libraries news

Barnet Council’s Cabinet Resources Committee has approved heads of terms of a proposed lease which could see a new library being built at Finchley Church End.

Barnet town centres set to get leafier

Published on Tuesday 25 February 2014 in Tree management news

Barnet Council is set to plant more than 120 trees within its town centres over the coming months.

So we have a situation where the Barnet Times can't be bothered to go out and look for stories. It is much easier just to rehash press releases from the Council and pretend all is hunky dory. Now I wouldn't mind if it didn't really matter, but as we reported on Monday there is a huge news story in the London Borough of Barnet.  The Barnet Press (the rival to the Times) deserves great credit for actually doing a proper job on the NHS crisis in A&E and emergency beds, publishing this story

http://www.edgware-today.co.uk/News.cfm?id=7097&headline=Pressure%20mounts%20at%20%20hospital%20as%20patients%20are%20left%20on%20trolleys%20waiting%20for%20a%20bed

They devoted the Page 3 to stories in this weeks edition, highlighting the crisis in the NHS locally. This is a real story and it is something that could affect anyone in the Borough. So we ask the editor of the Barnet Times once again to start doing his job and covering the stories that really affect people in the Borough and not just rehash press releases churned out to help the local Tories get reelected. 

The Barnet Eye passionately believes the local press matter and MUST do their job properly in a democracy. How else can we make intelligent decisions? If all journalists do is cut and paste jobs on Council generated propoganda, they are not serving there readers. I ask them once again, get out and cover the stories that matter. 

Never mind the Baubles - Xmas '77 with The Sex Pistols - Review

As Barnets leading entertainment and gossip blog, we like to bring you reviews of all the best shows on TV. We watched quite a lot of TV this Christmas as we digested the copious amounts of food and drink associated with a Tichborne family Christmas. For me, there was only really one stand out show. That was Julian Temple's film on BBC 4 last night "Never mind the Baubles - Xmas '77 with The Sex Pistols".Being a big fan of the work of both Julian Temple and the Sex Pistols, this was a big treat for me. Now those of you (like my wife) who are not fans of the Pistols, would probably not bother watching the show. Luckily for her, I insisted. We were not disapponted. Wheras most "rock documentaries" are hagiographical glimpses of what the marketing department want you to see of the band, this was something altogether different. It was the story of Xmas '77 with the Sex Pistols as the conduit for telling the story. The full state of the economic decline of Great Britain in the '70's was there for all to see. Not only that, but the film gave a graphic illustration of how the times and social mores have changed.

For those who weren't around, or weren't paying attention, the Sex Pistols were viewed as a serious threat by the establishment. The full might of the Murdoch press was used to attack them. John Lydon pointed out that it is only now perhaps people see who the real threat was. MP's would have the band's gigs closed down and a 27 date tour of the UK was decimated, with tour buses going to gigs, only to find the council had banned it. Can you remember the last time a gig was banned  by a Local Council? Ironically, I can. It was here in Barnet and the gig was organised by Councillor Robert Rams, to promote local libraries. Sadly Robert forgot to get a music license from his own council, and he got the Sex Pistols treatment from the authority he is a cabinet member of. Then it was different. The Lord Provost of Glasgow announced that the Pistols would be banned as "Scotland has enough hooligans of their own". 

The film featured copious amounts of footage of "Top of the Pops", "The Generation Game" and even the 1977 Xmas Weather forecast. We had Chancellor Dennis Healey on an Entertainment show asking celebrities for a few quid to repay the IMF. We had John Lydon comparing the members of the Pistols to members of the Carry On team, stating that Steve Jones was Sid James. 

And we had stories of the firemans strike of '77 with the firemen on strike for nine weeks before Christmas. The Pistols had nowhere to play and the Fireman had nothing in the pot for their kids. So they offered to host a Christmas Day party for the children of striking Firemen at Ivanhoe's in Huddersfield. This was followed by a gig in the evening "for the adults". We saw a completely different side of the Pistols. Lydon talked about how he loved Xmas as a kid, but always preferred the boxes the presents actually came in to the toys. Steve Jones talked of how miserable his Christmas experiences were as a kid. Paul Cook explained that Jones would come around to his house, because it was always happier. One of the kids who attended the party spoke of how special the whole thing was. "Rock Stars" didn't play kids parties in Huddersfield on Xmas day. The band came with free badges, T-shirts, Skateboards and cake. Lydon spoke of how you had to keep it real for the kids. Footage showed him chatting and relaxing with 8 & 9 year olds. Steve Jones commented how Lydon was always great with kids and how they loved him. During Pretty Vacant, Lydon jumped off the stage and put his face in the cake, getting pelted with more cake by the kids. I doubt there is any footage anywhere of any Rock Star looking so truly happy whilst playing. Even Sid Vicious was seen to smile. Steve Jones noted that Lydon refrained from swearing (part of the bands trademark) and Lydon recalled that he'd lectured Sid Vicious on the importance of doing the right thing by the kids, because kids will always see through if you are faking it. 

Various '77 punks talked about how they turned up for the evening show. The Pistols refused to play unless they were let in. Some of them reminsced after how Lydon spent half an hour chatting with them after the show. They said he was "just like one of your mates". They said that before Punk they'd been football hooligans and how they saw people from other towns as "different crews" to be battled. The punk experience opened their eyes to the fact we are all the same. One stated how he'd travelled all over the country and made friends everywhere, being put up at strangers houses.

In some ways, it all seemed so much more innocent. Wheras today such a show would be accompanied by a marketing exercise and "look how wonderful these boys are", the whole thing was unheard of and the footage, shot by Temple who accompanied the band everywhere, left it on a shelf for 35 years. Lydon said that it was incredible that the band split up a month later, anyone seeing the footage would have thought they would last forever. It was their last UK gig and Lydon said that in some ways, it was a fitting end to the band. He said that the US tour and what followed was like some strange afterthought. 

The band are still hugely influential. Their album "Never Mind the Bollocks" will probably always be listed as an all time classic. We remember the Pistols for many things, but perhaps not for truly understanding the meaning of Christmas. Lydon stated that he'd never write a Christmas song. I believe he already has, for me, the song Rise, by Public Image is the greatest Christmas song of all. 

Barnet Council - Response to letter regarding £16.1 million bung to Capita

Yesterday, at 18:35, I received the email detailed below on my blog email account
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Dear Mr. Dishman, Mr. Dix, Ms. Musgrove and Mr. Tichborne

Cllr. Thomas and Cllr. Rams have asked me to respond to your open letter of Friday 8 November 2013. 

Please find attached

Chris Naylor
Chief Operating Officer

Management Suite, Building 2, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London N11 1NP
D/L: 020 8359 5193 Mobile: 07825 351801
Barnet Online: www.barnet.gov.uk

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Contents of attachment
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  Barnet Council Response t bloggers  LBB Letter 131111.pdf

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I was not surprised by the timing of the email. It had been sent so that it would make the print deadline for the local papers, whilst giving bloggers the minimum possible time to get a sensible response back before the press went to print. I was also unsurprised to be informed that promenant local Conservative Blogger, Mr Dan Hope (who blogs and tweets under the name BarnetBugle) was leaked a copy of the letter and was tweeting about it in time for the press deadlines.

Barnet Council Breaks Silence Over '£16M Capita Payment' Branding Prolonged Social Media Storm A 'Red Herring' http://t.co/PWhIYkpzUS
— Barnet Bugle (@barnetbugle) November 12, 2013

Clearly someone, somewhere at the council wanted to try and get us to rush out an ill considered response. Whilst the Barnet Eye has no objection to other bloggers writing what they like, we have to question why someone with no association with the original email was used in such a way to break the news.

Of course the Barnet Bloggers are not surprised at anything in Barnet anymore. I had speculated yesterday that just such a thing would happen, so we immediately set about mustering all of the resources available to pull together a response. Normally when we jointly draft a response, we work on it for a couple of days, but with looming press deadlines, we had to work really hard to agree a joint response, especially given the lengthy nature of the email.

The Barnet Eye found it intriguing that the Leader of the Council was not included on the list of people who Mr Naylor said were keen for him to respond. We have to ask if Councillors Thomas and Rams were actually the only ones who were happy with it. Did Mr Naylor even bother to show the semi detatched leader, Richard Cornelius? I will be monitoring the Barnet Bugle Twitter feed intently to see the next response from the Council

Here is the text agreed by the four Barnet Bloggers in response to Mr Naylor

In December 2012 the Cabinet report which authorised this contract was quite clear when it said:

“Capita’s proposal also includes (within the financial offer described above) approximately £15.3m revenue investment in areas such as information technology (computer hardware and software), and customer services. This investment not only enables Capita to deliver the transformation it is proposing, but also avoids the Council having to find money in the future to fund replacement technology for systems that are at or nearing the end of their useful life”.

It went on to say:

“if the Council chose not to complete this procurement, it would have to:

• attempt to replicate the investment, technology and other solutions being proposed by  Capita in order to drive out the future savings required”

In September 2013 Barnet paid Capita £15.2 million which Mr Naylor described as follows:

“Of the total £320m, £16m of this is paid up-front for the capital investment. The remainder of the service charges are paid quarterly in advance. The reason for making an up-front payment to Capita for capital investment, and for payment of service charges quarterly in advance is that the Council’s “cost of money” – i.e. the amount that it pays for access to cash, is considerably cheaper than Capita’s. The Council has internal reserves, and access to the Public Works Loan Board funding which is closely aligned to the Bank of England base rate. So the up-front capital contribution and quarterly in advance payment reduce the overall cost of the contract to the taxpayer.

In August, the Council made £10.5m payment to Capita which represented the balance of the capital contribution for investment in the services, and £4.7m in respect of the service charge.”

The council have made a decision to fund the investment instead of Capita and from Mr Naylor’s response in October there is a very clear inference that this would come from reserves or borrowing. 

At the audit Committee of 23^rd October the council stated:

“The council agreed to fund the capital costs up front because the council benefits from a lower interest rates which keeps the overall cost of funding CSG as low as possible. The assets are Capita’s, but Capita is obligated to provide them back to the council upon contract termination for at no further cost” - again implying borrowing or lost interest on reserves.

Mr Naylor says in his letter of 11 November 2013 that:

 “there has been no change in policy, and no radical change to the terms of the business model agreed by Cabinet on 6th December 2012”.

Based on the above this would appear to be untrue.

The Cabinet report of December 2012 was very clear when it said that:

 “As dialogue has now closed, the Regulations permit that the Council may only request a bidder to clarify, specify or fine tune a tender, but further detailed negotiation is no longer permitted.”

Relieving Capita of the obligation to fund £16.1 million of capital investment which impacts the cost of the contract by £800,000 does not appear to fit these criteria.

Clarification is needed over the specific issue of the origin of the funding source used by the authority to support the £16.1 million. Mr Naylor asserts in his response that this was not from reserves, yet in his earlier statement he refers to ‘internal reserves’ and the ‘Public Works Loan Board funding’. Was the funding from reserves, or not? Was the funding borrowed, and if so, how much, and does not such an action contradict the position taken by Cabinet member Robert Rams in criticising opposition proposals to borrow money for capital investment?

Was the £16.1 million from internal reserves, contrary to Mr Naylor’s statement, or if not, why did Councillor Thomas think so?  If some of the money was obtained by a loan from the Public Works Loan Board, how much did the sum comprise, and does the use of borrowed funding not contradict Councillor Robert Ram’s stated criticism of Labour proposals to fund investment this way?

Why have our councillors remained so reluctant to address the questions publicly, and why has the Leader of the Council remained silent on an issue of such public concern?

Why was the belated statement about the £16.1 million at the behest of Councillors Thomas and Rams, rather than the Leader?

There are further unanswered questions about the authorisation signed by Leader Richard Cornelius on August 5^th.

Why is a decision, which is not a decision, listed as a ‘non key decision’?

Why are there no background papers listed for this document?

What exactly are the ‘international financial reporting standards’ to which the document refers?

If this authorisation was merely a technicality, why was it necessary for the Leader to approve it, rather than a senior officer acting under delegated powers?

Were the backbench Conservative members aware that the funding of the capital investment was not in fact an ‘upfront’ payment from Capita, but to be undertaken by the council? If they were, why have so many statements been made seeming to imply the contrary?

Is the truth that although the method of funding the investment this way was arranged between Barnet and Capita, for reasons of political sensitivity the Conservative administration has failed properly to explain this to backbench members or the residents of this borough?

Is it fair to suggest, as the Labour leader Alison Moore commented at last week’s Cabinet meeting, that the way in which the funding has been arranged would appear to involve a ‘sleight of hand’, and is this really compliant with the principles of transparency, accountability and open government, and the duty to protect the best interests of the residents and tax payers of this borough?

It is clear that there are still many serious outstanding questions left unresolved and for this reason we repeat our call for an immediate investigation into the issue so as to ensure that our elected representatives are fulfilling their roles in the proper scrutiny of the actions of this council.

Signed 

Derek Dishman

John Dix

Theresa Musgrove

Roger Tichborne

Brian, you should have listened to me in 2009 - so its goodbye from me

Four years ago this week, I was preparing to attend a hearing of the Barnet Council Standards committee. Councillor Brian Coleman had responded to a perfectly reasonable email, sent to every Barnet Councillor, with a tirade of abuse. I felt that this was not a reasonable response and that as a public official, with an allowance funded by my taxes, Brian Coleman should not respond in such a manner with his council email address. Brian Coleman had a history of abusing people. On the 16h September 2009, the standards committee of Barnet Council found in my favour. Sadly for all concerned, they took no action against Brian Coleman, who was then Mayor. The Hendon Times reported the story in the following article.

http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/4633911._I_feel_vindicated__says_blogger_after_Coleman_s_code_breach/

In the article, I made a comment to the report. I said

“My advice to Coleman would be to concentrate on being a politician and doing a good job for the people of Barnet because obviously some people like him and respect him and he undermines that by making clearly inflammatory remarks.”

Now sadly for Brian Coleman, he didn't listen to this advice. In fact he did the opposite. Not only did he carry on making obnoxious remarks and sending people rude emails, he assaulted a woman in Finchley High Road, got caught and was convicted. The local Conservatives were left with no choice but to expel him from the party. Whilst still playing an active role, before his naughtyness overwhelmed him, he called a local resident a "TWAT" at a council meeting. This resulted in yet another complaint. For his sins, Coleman was eventally censured by the council. This punishment in effect meant that a statement was read out in a council meeting stating that Brian was not the messiah, he was a very naughty boy. Councillors were given the opportunity to vote on this and they passed the motion, so he is now officially not the messiah ! He is officially a very naughty boy. Somewhere in Brians mind a large copper penny dropped on Thursday. I think he finally realised the game is up. He twigged that his career as a politician is over.

His response to this is to write a lengthy tirade on his blog, lashing out at his former friends in the Barnet Conservative Party. When I write a blog or work on a campaign, I always consider what will happen next. Throwaway comments made months or years ago can come back to haunt you. I should know, I've made a few. I wonder what thought Brian Coleman gave to this as he picked up his poison pen (or should that be malicious mouse). I should imagine that everyone in his circle of acquaintance will now know what happens if you tell Brian Coleman a secret. When you introduce your wife or partner, will they end up as part of a salacious blog? In short, Brian Coleman has destroyed any trust people may have  had in him. The Leader of Barnet Council rightly states that "the political death of Brian Coleman is inevitable" following the latest blog.

There was a time when simply putting the words Brian Coleman in a blog would add a couple of hundred visits to the blog. Not now. People are sick of him. He has become rather like an embarrassing uncle who has had one too many G&T's at a party. All people want is for him to go home and leave the rest of us in peace. It is not just me saying this. It used to be that any story about Brian Coleman would be the most read story on the Hendon Times for days on end. His latest outburst doesn't even make the top ten

MOST READ

1. Davids: 'I don’t have to explain anything to anybody'
2. Lincoln equaliser a bitter pill to swallow admits Davids
3. Driver caught with £85,000 worth of unpaid fines
4. Dump truck ends up vertical on main road after collision
5. Last minute goal proves costly for Bees
6. Eco-friendly hearse 'star of show' at funeral awards
7. Council 'has nowhere to put' millions of tonnes of recycling
8. New sergeant to offer 'reassuring' police presence
9. Woman and baby in stable condition after Finchley collision
10. Premier League star snapped filling up £120,000 sports car

The truth is that however loud Brian Coleman shouts, no one is listening. His behaviour is embarrassing and he really has nothing very interesting to say. A fine example of just how dull his revelations are is in his comments about Councillor Maureen Braun

Councillor Maureen Braun (Hendon Ward ) Elected in 1998 having previously served 4 years on Camden Council where famously she had a bag of soot thrown over her during a Poll Tax setting debate, now that was proper Politics ! . Loyal to Lynne Hillan and implacable supporter during the Salinger coup had a long term rivalry with Eva Greenspan over the Mayoralty and positions on planning . Has become the target of accusations from the "boys " that she rests her eyes at meetings. 

I use Braun to illustrate the point, because in the 2009 standards case, Coleman stated that I was an awful person because I had drawn attention to the failure of Braun to follow planning rules when she erected a large shed in her garden. Coleman stated that because she was an old lady, she should not be criticised. It seems that like many things, his views change  to suit the moment.

When this blog first started, we felt that Brian Coleman exemplified everything that was wrong with Barnet Politics. He was rude, arrogant, unpleasant and his liking for a free dinner at the expense of rich benefactors was, in our opinion, not conducive to good governance. Now however he is a marginal figure, an embarrassment to everyone.  His blog is purely written to draw attention to himself and settle old scores. As such, the sensible thing to do is to draw a line under this sad individual and waive him adios.

This will be the last blog that I write on the Barnet Eye that mentions Brian Coleman (unless he is readmitted to the Conservative Party) until the day after the Council elections in May 2014. Should I go back on my word, I will donate £50 to the first charity that anyone leaves a comment recommending on any blog which references Brian Coleman.

I will also not be including Brian Coleman in any emails circulated to Barnet Councillors and I will not be mentioning him in any tweets until after the council elections in May 2014. For those of you who are a bit nostalgic, you may be interested to see the first blog I wrote about Brian Coleman, where I revealed he is actually my Dad ! How times have changed. This was back in the heady days when I wrote a blog for the Hendon Times, before Brian Coleman, Mike Freer and Robert Rams got me sacked for complaining about Barnet Council posting pro Nazi Youtube videos on the Council website (I kid you not).

http://www.times-series.co.uk/archive/2008/06/30/3208915.Dr_Coleman_I_presume/

Goodbye Brian. I wish I could say it's been fun, but actually it hasn't.

Friern Barnet Library - Occupied and Open - The anniversary celebration and book launch

The day Councillor Robert Rams closed Friern Barnet Library

Since I started writing blogs, there are a few things I am proud of. One of the things I am proudest of is my involvement with the campaign to save Barnets libraries and in particular my part in reopening Friern Barnet library. For those of you who are new to the story, the Barnet Eye launched the "Save Barnets Libraries" Campaign in August 2010, in response to the launch of the "Strategic Libraries Review" by right wing nutcase couuncillor Robert Rams, who announced at the time that people could get books from Tescos and read them in Starbucks. We collected 7,000 signatures in short order and managed to put enough pressure on the council to ensure they backed away from the threatened slash and burn attack on this vital public service. Sadly Councillor Robert Rams needed a sacrificial lamb to the gods of right wing lunacy, and so Friern Barnet Library was deemed "expendible". In a decision so crass and ill thought out that even the normally moribund Tory backbenchers started to awake from their slumbers, it was announced that there would be a landmark library at the Arts Depot in Finchley, to replace the much loved community resource at Friern. Sadly Rams hadn't bothered to see if this was workable or practical. He didn't consult the local community and in April 2012, at despicably short notice, the Library was shut.

The Barnet Eye could not stand by. We announced that we would be opening the Peoples library on the village green, next to the Library on the Saturday (this was on the Thursday). We said we'd be bringing down books and asked anyone else with spare books to come along. When I made this rash announcement, I was worried that I would be on my own, with my pasting table. There was neither time to organise or people onboard. What happened next was magical. Saturday came and over 500 people turned up. Some broughT gazebo's some bought books, the Royal British Legion brought hot teas and locals baked cakes. It was a glorious day and the impromptu carnival was a roaring success. We acquired a stock of several hundred books. I was stunned at this response. It was agreed that the Friern Barnet Peoples Library should be run by the Save Friern Barnet campaign. It was held weekly for four weeks, then monthly throughout the summer.

It became a focal point for the campaign and allowed momentum to be built up. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the campaign was that we built up a decent stock of books. This was to prove key in what happened next. The Peoples library caught the imagination. The BBC One Show came down. They asked me to visit a community library in Oxfordshire, as the founder of the Peoples Library. I declined to go and suggested that a member of the Save Friern Barnet Library campaign went. I did this because I did not want the story to be about Roger Tichborne or the Barnet Eye. Martin Russo from the campaign did the visit, although I gave a brief interview to the show.

On 5th September 2012, I got a call. We were in the final throes of filming Barnet - The Billion Pound Gamble. Squatters had taken over the library. I shot up there with Charles Honderick and found a couple of people peering out of the window. They didn't have much to say. We spoke to the Barnet Security guards who announced that there were squatters in the building and they had disabled the alarm. We ascetained that the the squatters were associated with the Occupy movement and they were interested in reopening the library. There wasn't much else to the story, so it seemed. The following day, the story had changed. It appeared that there was a spokesman from Occupy on site. Immediately I made my way back. This was the first time I met Pete Phoenix. He'd never heard of the Barnet Eye or the Peoples Library. We immediately hit it off. I knew what needed to be done. We had a stock of books and a campaign. We needed to get the library open with the Peoples library stock of books. As I was not part of the campaign, I had no say as to whether this could be done. Some members of the campaign were initially reticent, but this was soon overcome. The Library had a 1,000 books to start with. In a remarkably short time, the whole thing came together. The library opened its doors and the community and occupiers hit the national press.

Then an even more remarkable thing happened. Barnet Council made contact with the Occupiers and a series of meetings were held, to see if there was a way forward. I attended these meetings in good faith, as did members of the community and the occupiers. It seemed that a compromise could be found. After a series of cordial and productive meetings, things seemed to be moving. Then out of the blue, Barnet Council, in an act of extreme bad faith, launched legal proceedings to evict the occupiers. The community was stunned. It was a huge breach of trust. It was clearly a political decision, but a very stupid one.

A date for the court case was set. The council asked for a ten minute hearing. They assumed that a simple eviction order would be granted. I turned up at the Court, with about 50 other local activists. The legal representative from Barnet Council was clearly out of his depth. The case was immediately adjourned. A new date was set. Barnet Council agreed that half an hour would be long enough. Different day, same result. Eventually it was conceded by Barnet Council that a full two day hearing was needed and that this was not simply repossession of a building which was being squatted.

The case itself was a real roller coaster ride. The Judge clearly had sympathy with the community. It was clear to all that the Council had behaved atrociously. It became clear that the Council had "got it wrong". The judge, wisely brokered a compromise. The Council could have its possession order, but the community had been given an opportunity to formalise the "community library". The Council agreed to negotiate a license with a "board of trustees". It was agreed that the Occupiers would vacate the building and the community would take over.

At this time of the Jewish new year, I am reminded of the biblical story of Abraham making to sacrifice his beloved son to the Lord, when at the last moment, the Lord spared him. Friern Barnet Library was the sacrificial lamb to the gods of right wing luncacy. The Judge spared the community from this loss, in a wise and sensible judgement.

The community now run the library and the council are working on a proper arrangement. I have stepped back. Friern Barnet is the other side of the Borough from my manor. I support the Library in whatever way I can, but it should just be one of a number of public assets. There are many community heroes on this story. The library would not be open without Occupy, so they should take the lead at the curtain call. The Barnet bloggers did what we could, Save Friern Barnet Library campaign were pivotal and then all manner of individuals. Perhaps most notable amongst these was Keith Martin, a local pensioner, who attached his name to the Court case, at great financial risk, to show that the case was not Barnet Council vs a bunch of troublemakers from outside the Borough (as the Council were trying to make out).

Last night, we saw a launch party for a book edited by Rosie Canning (one of the many local campaigners who participated in the campaign) at the Library. Rosie has taken a whole host of accounts of the library and edited them into a coherent story. On the anniversary of the occupation, there were a number of readings from various people associated with the campaign.

The party was a joyous event. I haven't been back to the Library since the handover to the trustees.  I thought the most important thing was for the Library to be for the local community. Last night, it was clear to me that we have achieved something rather special. The library was packed with people from all creeds and colours, old and young, to celebrate a joyous victory for the forces of reason over the dark forces controlled by the bean counters who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Don't let anyone ever tell you that "protest is pointless". When I announced that we'd be holding the Friern Barnet Peoples library, a certain Barnet Councillor reportedly commented that "it will be the same old bunch of disaffected left wing types, congratulating each other at managing to get twenty people to stand on the lawn outside the library".  When this was reported to me, I simply said "lets see where we are in a years time before we make any rash comments". That was April 2012. That Councillor lost his GLA seat, assaulted a local businesswoman and was kicked out of the Conservative Party. In the meantime, the Library has repopened and is going from strength to strength. Checkout this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmw6e6DrwpA&feature=youtu.be

When I started writing this blog, I started to make a list of all of the people I thought should receive a mention. I realised that there were dozens, half of whom I don't even know the name of. Each one had a vital role. A community works because it is a community, so I just wish to express my pride in everyone involved and my hope that we stay united as a community.

Friern Barnet Library - Occupied and Open - Book launch

Friern Barnet Library - Occupied and Opened - edited by Rosie Canning. Anniversary of the occupation of the library and preview of book Thursday 5th September 2013,7pm in the library, Friern Barnet Road London N11 3DS. All welcome

Telling the story of how Robert Rams and Barnet Council closed Friern Barnet Library, the local community protested, the Occupy movement repoened the library and how Robert Rams and Barnet Council caved in to the pressure.

The book is edited by Rosie Canning and features extracts from the Barnet Eye blog. We are hoping that Councillor Robert Rams will come along to apologise for his horrendous error of judgement in closing the library and thank the Occupy Movement for helping him see sense.