A prestigious award for Councillor Brian Coleman

There was one award from the 2010 Barneteye awards, which I withheld until today. It is a very special award, which commemorates two of my all time heros.

First up, it commemorates footballer Gary Waddock. Gary's career contained spells at QPR, Millwall, Swindon and Luton. He was also manager at QPR, Aldershot and Wycombe Wanderers. He also made 21 appearances for the Republic of Ireland. Gary is an example of the fact that if you work hard, you don't have to be the greatest or most skillfull player to have a long and successful career in your chosen profession.

The other hero is Gareth Hunt, who played Mike Gambit in the New Avengers. Although perhaps not Laurence Olivier, he did get to play opposite Joanna Lumley's Purdey, which at the time was a job any kid my age would have died for.

In honour of these two behemoths of British culture, I have decided to create the "Waddock-Hunt" award. Now clearly no one in Barnet has had a long distinguished career in football and played a new avenger opposite Joanna Lumley, so our awards committee decided on a novel approach.

Now I can't take all the credit for creating this fantastic award. In fact it was originally devised by a group of brave London Firemen, who I happened to speak to last May whilst canvassing (oh how long ago that seems). One of them recognised me from the TV coverage of the Standards Committee and our conversation went like this.

Fireman : Aren't you the bloke who took Coleman to the Standards Committee
RT : Yeah
Fireman : Good on you mate, he had it coming
RT : Thanks
Fireman : How much did it cost him
RT : Ten Grand in legal fees, although he celebrated like he'd won an Oscar when he lost
Fireman : There's only one award I'd give him - Waddock-Hunt
RT : Yeah, I'll give him that award when I do me New Years honours list at the Barnet Eye
Fireman : Good on yer mate, tell him we'll come around and stick the award where .... (censored)

So that is the story of how this prestigious award was born.

Now it is normal practise for holders of an MBE or an OBE to be known as Sir Edward Heath OBE etc. As such, the Barnet Eye urges all readers to now refer to Brian Coleman using his newly bestowed title - forthwith he is Councillor Brian Coleman Waddock-Hunt.

Councillor Brian Coleman Waddock-Hunt is cordially invited to join the Barnet Eye and members of the London Fire Brigade to receive his commemorative pot noodle and  a £5 WH Smiths Book Voucher outside the Town Hall before the next meeting. If the good councillor can let us know the exact time, we will ensure a nice TV crew arrives, so his sponsors for this award can show the whole world just how good a job they think he's doing as chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. It brings a tear to the eye to see a boss held in such esteem by his employees.

Why the FBU and London can't trust Brian Coleman

Barnet Councillor Brian Coleman has been coming out with all manner of nonsense about the Fire Brigade Union and the strike. Coleman is the chair of the fire authority and is hell bent on provoking war between the Fire Brigade and its workers. Regular readers of this blog will know that I have history with Brian Coleman, having won  a standards complaint battle against Coleman.

What newer readers may not realise is that in his testamony to the investigator, Brian Coleman told a stack of lies about me to try and win the case. He even went on the Vanessa Feltz show on BBC London half an hour before the hearing and repeated some of the most outrageous lies. The nastiest and most hurtful of these was Colemans allegation that I'd insulted his mother. He made this vile lie up, purely to try and portray me as a nasty piece of work. I immediately called up Feltz, went on air and told her, in no uncertain terms, the truth.

She immediately got a researcher to check out what I said and when it completely vindicated me said of Coleman "What sort of a man drags his own mother into a dispute like this, purely to smear an opponent".

http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2009/09/coleman-tells-vanessa-feltz-pack-of.html

A few of the other porkies are detailed here :-

http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2009/09/roger-tichborne-vs-councillor-brian_10.html

People are either liars or they are not. If you can't trust a man in small things, how can you trust them with big things.

If I was a London Fireman I'd go on strike

The Firemen of London have voted to go on strike. 80% voted for a strike, a huge total. The man who is in charge of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority is none other than Barnet Councillor Brian Coleman. Those of us who have followed the dispute know that Mr Coleman has been provoking the FBU, trying to goad them into a strike. Mr Coleman is on record as a "union basher". It is also a matter of public record that the private company, ASSETTCO, who provide strike cover, have sumptuously wined and dined Coleman. I've been on the receiving end of communications from Coleman. They were so rude, I reported him to the standards committee and won. As a result of his intransigence, people will die. It is a disgrace. Boris Johnson should sack him and appoint a reasonable person, who wants to run a service, not destroy it. If I was a fireman, I'd go on strike. Brave men deserve better.

Planet Earth to Boris, come in please

Boris Johnson has decided to reappoint Brian Coleman to run the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA). As I read the news, I pondered the question. Does Boris not know what Brian Coleman has been up to or does he just not care? Does Boris actually enjoy sticking two fingers up at "the little people"? As I understand it, Boris (along with David Cameron) was a member of the "Bullingdon club". As far as I can see, the whole point of this club is to make the lives of any "little people" who they come across as miserable as possible. The philosophy seems to be to be as horrible as possible and then show that you can get away with it because you are stinking rich.

Whilst it is pretty clear that David Cameron seems to have grown up, I can only conclude that Boris hasn't and he sorely misses the days of blissful mayhem. I've often pondered the question of how Boris actually views Brian Coleman. Whilst I can only speculate, I have a theory. I think that Boris Johnson has a "King Arthur" complex. That is why he's so keen on the Boris bus. It's his trusty chariot. He has his round table of advisers at the GLA. So where does Coleman fit in. He's the court jester, the naughty little boy who entertains Boris and winds up all of his other advisers. Boris, for all his sins, is fiercly intelligent and an avid student of history. Boris the lionheart is the boss. The rest of his Tory GLA members are his lackeys and bag carriers. After his own job and the Met Police chair, which Boris did till he got bored, the LFEPA is probably the best paid and most important. Firemen are universally liked, trusted and admired by Londoners. Boris knows this and views them like errant Knights of the realm. Useful when there's trouble in the realm, but troublesome the rest of the time. What better way to keep them in order than making the village idiot their boss. Boris knows that ultimately the firemen will do their job when they have to, but the obnoxious Coleman will wind them up no end in the meantime, and distract them from actually causing real trouble. Sure Coleman also embarrasses Boris and the rest of the Tories, but so what? When doddery old Aunty Flo takes off her knickers at the family get togethers, once you get over the embarrassment, it is actually rather funny.

The only trouble with Boris and his Camelotic view of the GLA is that we are living in London in 2010. The GLA isn't Camelot. It doesn't need a village idiot as its jester and fire chief. It needs competent people who know how to run complex administrations. Before Coleman took over at the LFEPA, I'd not heard of the organisation. It just got on with running the fire service. When I was canvassing, I spoke to several firemen and a couple of their mums. They were universal in their vitriolic disdain for Coleman. Why? Because Coleman has launched all sorts of petty rule changes, which are designed only to make the jobs of firemen more unpleasant. Beds where fire crew relax between callouts are being removed. Coleman has made sexist remarks in his role. He described a female Lib Dem MP as an airhead, for calling out the Fire Brigade when she thought her gas boiler was going to explode, even though the Brigade said she did the right thing. Coleman criticised the British Olympic Athletics team after the 2008 games, claiming they had "blood on their hands" because they competed in China. What about his own hands, following the cuts to the service which he's trying to push through?

Boris appointed Coleman in his first flush and has found him "good entertainment value". At the Met, Boris chaired the committee himself. When he got bored and couldn't be bothered anymore, he appointed boring old Kit Malthouse to run it. Malthouse, actually being a half decent administrator has got on with the job. As a result no one has heard of him. Is it too much to ask Boris to appoint a similar figure to the LFEPA? Let's just hope Boris tires of his clown.

Planet Earth to Boris, come in please -  we need a Mayor who wants to sort our problems out. A Mayor who doesn't appoint people to important and well paid jobs, purely to amuse themselves and wind everyone else up. We want a Mayor who cares about all Londoners and who values brave public servants such as our Firemen. There is a time and place for clowns like Coleman. Sadly that time and place passed long ago.