Breaking News : Brian Coleman to join Barnet Lib Dems

Barnet Lib Dem Leader this morning announced that Brian Coleman is to join the Liberal Democrat Party. The deal has been brokered by Nick Clegg and David Cameron, in an attempt to revitalise the coalition in Barnet. The existing Lib Dem candidate for the GLA elections has agreed to step aside to allow Mr Coleman a free run at the seat.

The Barnet Eye suggests that this is clearly a panic move, sparked by recent reports that Labour candidate Andrew Dismore is a shoe in for Barnet. Jack Cohen added "Although Brian and myself have had our run ins in the past, we are really the best of friends. Brian and his mum often pop in for tea and scones on their way to functions in London". The Barnet Eye rang Mr Coleman for a comment but got the phone slammed down on us. Conservative Leader Richard Cornelius said "I urge everyone in Barnet to support the Coalition candidate. This arrangement is great for Conservatives and great for our partners"

************* Updated 11.20 *****************
In a surprise announcement this morning, the local Barnet GMB branch announced that it is dumping Labour candidate Andrew Dismore and will be backing Lib Dem candidate Brian Coleman. Local branch sec Avi Newon said 'in the GMB we like to back winners'. In a seperate move, Coleman was seen in Brent Cross with Ceo Tom Nathan shopping for wooly jumpers and was heard to say 'i suppose i'll have to grow a beard'

Richard Barnbrook and Dyslexia

I wasn't going to post this, but if I don't it will be rather like catching syphillis and not getting some penecillin. It would eat me from the inside. Richard Barnbrook, London's GLA member has used the excuse of his dyslexia for making a Youtube video full of porkies about murders in his London Borough. When he was found out and suspended, he blamed the fact that it was noisy, he's dyslexic and he got confused.

I'm dyslexic. I play in a punk rock band. Does that make me get all confused and start making up porkies? No of course it doesn't. Most people don't understand what it's like being dyslexic.It never occurred to me that a scalliwag might chose to hide behind it in this manner, but as Barnbrook has, we really should examine his claims a bit more carefully. I tried to explain how dyslexia works (for me) in THIS BLOG. I asked my wife if she understood my condition any better after reading it. She said no.

I've developed what we call coping strategies for my dyslexia, which is why I have ended up writing blogs. My use of grammar is terrible. I put apostrophes in all the wrong places. I sometimes write complete gobbledegook, which I try and catch by proof reading (if I'm unsure I ask my wife who is a linguist).

In this blog in the Telegraph, Barnbrook says that if he read out his statement, it would come out as unintelligible gibbereish. In this he's actually probably quite right. When I was kid I got completely traumatised by having to do a reading at church. I did it and thought I'd done well, then got clobbered by my dad for taking the piss. They'd all sat through an unintelligible string of words, sentences read backwards etc. I don't think taking the piss out of Barnbrook for saying the following is fair :-

Statement of Richard Barnbrook to be verbally delivered at the hearing

Before you hear what I say, I would like to make a clear point that due to my dyslexia there will be difficulties in reading this out.

He's actually right in this. No one would tolerate the lampooning of someone with a wooden leg for walking funny, so this isn't something to beat him up for.

Later in the blog, however he says this :-

I have tried very hard throughout my life to overcome my dyslexia and I have excelled in spite of it. I have refused to let it hold me back. I am not the sort of person to wallow in self pity and I have always got on with the job no matter what. I do not feel that that I should be penalised for what was in effect an unintentional mistake which occurred due to my disability.

This is where Richard descends into scalliwagery. He's a professional politician, working for a large political party. If he has problems with dyslexia, he has a duty to mitigate it. He made a Youtube video. Now I know a bit about making videos, films etc. I had an acting career as a child and appeared in many TV commercials. You don't just turn up with a camera and spout "I love Heinz Beanz". You script it, you work out what you have to say. I'd assume that if you are a politician you also check your facts. This wasn't an off the cuff session, it was a promotional video for a campaign.

If Richard Barnbrook is telling us he makes videos for his campaigns, off the cuff, with no pre planning, no scripts and no checking of facts, this isn't dyslexia, it's being a total fool. I'm sorry to say that having seen the video and knowing what the lies were in it, there is no way that any of this could be attributed to Dyslexia. If I wrote a blog and I said in it "Jack Cohen the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Barnet is from Planet Zob" and Jack Cohen challenged me to prove it, saying "Oh, I'm dyslexic, I meant to say he came from Childs Hill" would not wash. I might get way with saying "Liberal child Jack Cohen comes from Democrat Hill", but no form of Dyslexia I know involves substituting one set of facts for a completely different and bogus set of facts.

Dyslexics have enough to cope with, without people like Barnbrook using it as a fig leaf for their dishonesty. Assuming Barnbrook actually writes his blog, I'd say his dyslexia is in the same region of the spectrum as mine.
Let me give you an example of how much dyslexia affects the truth and honesty of what people may say. Brian Coleman's lawyers poured over every page of this blog, checked every stat and they couldn't find a single decent example of a lie or untruth to use in there defence. I'm not a professional politician and I don't have paid assistants. For Barnbrook to use dyslexia as a defence for telling porkies is repulsive.

Tomorrow belongs to Mike ?

Worse still that unlike in the selection of the member of parliament, where members of the party have a say, the members of the local party are shut out from the selection of Councillors. Apparently, in Chipping Barnet Association the Councillors even vote for and change the rules affecting their own (re)selection. When I first ran every Conservative Party member in my Ward came to a general meeting and voted. Now the selection is now done in private and by as few as 3 people! Councillors are also mainly the Chairmen of the Branches that will make the selection decision.

This is a quote from Daniel Hope, a former Barnet Conservative councillor in Barnet. I'm not a member of the Conservative party and I don't support their policies, but I do believe in democracy and acknowledge the fact that for all its faults the Conservative Party of Great Britain is a force for democracy and freedom. A Conservative Prime Minister, Winston Churchill is probably the main reason that Western Europe has had a democratic political system for the last 60 years.

Dan left the above comment on my last blog and it started me thinking about the Barnet Tories, Mike Freer and Democracy. Lets start joining the dots up. Firstly how did Mike Freer come to be in charge of the Barnet Conservatives? Well in the 2006 Council elections, the Tories under leader Brian Salinger won the election with an increased number of councillors returned. They put a program before the people of Barnet. The people of Barnet liked it and elected them. Having gained power under one leader and his manifesto, they then stuck their fingers up at the electorate of Barnet and had a vote of no confidence in that leader and his platform. These councillors had all campaigned under a leader they had no confidence in. The reason for the vote? The Councillors didn't like his policies. Is this Democracy?

What happened next. The new Council leader enrolled himself on the BT Vital Vision program. This is an educational program run by a supplier of Outsourcing services, to get leaders of the public sector to think in new ways about running services. The new, unelected leader, Mike Freer then set up a panel to develop a future shape program for the council. Who did he put on the panel? A few council officials, a bloke from BT and a bloke from a quango. More interestingly who didn't he put on? Any elected councillors.

Within the council, there is a small cabal of councillors called "The Cabinet". This group take all of the important decisions. They get significant amounts of extra cash for doing this. How do you get into the cabinet. Mike Freer, the unelected leader, asks you. How do you get out of the cabinet? Mike Freer tells you. How are these decisions about cabinet structure taken? Behind closed doors, away from public scrutiny.

What happens if you criticise the way Mike Freer does things? Well if you are an opposition Councillor, you are publicly humiliated in council meetings. If you ask for the right to reply, you get told to sit down by the Tory Mayor. I thought that in Great Britain we valued the right to defend yourself? The Barnet Tory bully boys have a different view.

What happens if you write bogs? Well if like me, you allow any registered user to comment and don't censor anything you get comments like this (from my previous blog).

Blogger Amanda said...

What a load of crap actually what happened was he started spouting random crap on an item which wasn't listed as a debate and the Mayor asked him to sit down, but instead he was rude!

18 December 2008 12:46

I've been in touch with Jack Cohen, leader of the Liberal Democrats and asked his opinion of the comment. He wrote a blog on the Hendon Times website (click HERE) that detailed the incident. Lets just say Councillor Cohen isn't too impressed.

Repressive regimes use "show trials" as a means to destroy the opposition. Although I wasn't there, the incident with Jeremy Davies certainly reminds me of a certain rather notorious show trial, when the poor victim tried to defend himself he was told in no uncertain terms to sit down and shut up. It is a clear sign of an authoritarian streak within Barnet that has rather unfortunate precedents. I cannot think of a reason for not giving Davies a minute to defend himself? it can only be seen as bullying. What did the Tories fear? That Davies might show them for what they were? The motion would have still passed as they have the majority and they all know how to put their hands up at the right time.

The council spent hundreds of pounds setting up a propoganda site for the leader (under the leaderlistens banner). Comments may be left on this site, but they are screened by "The Social Media manager" - again without democratic scrutiny. I posted a comment on the site which never appeared. Councillor MacDonald asked Mike Freer why this wasn't posted in open council. Freer ignored the question.

Critics of the council have anonymous comments left about them, often of a rude and spiteful nature. As former Councillor Daniel Hope has fallen out with the ruling elite in Barnet, he is seen as fair game. When he leaves intelligent and well reasoned posts on blogs, comments such as this are left (This appears on David Millers Barnet Council Watch blog)

Anonymous Anonymous said...

" 'fat cat' Councillors allowances"

Which you Daniel no longer get! Bitter are we?

18 December 2008 09:18

Here's the response to one of my comments on the same blog

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Shut up Rog!

17 December 2008 15:16

Nice, isn't it. You may well wonder why it bothers me to see one faction of the Tory party sniping at another. Well I don't agree with much of what Dan writes about on matters of policy. I used to call him "Bonkers Dan" in response to his comments on the Hendon Times. This was because I disagree with his political views. The thing is he always puts his name on posts. He stands up for what he believes and he makes his points. I respect that. His Tory detractors hide anonymously. They don't argue the point, they just slur him. I am sure that Dan doesn't mind me having a go, because he knows who I am and if he can make his point properly, he can get his argument across. I don't mind him calling me a "swivel eyed Trot", he's a Tory !!! What I do worry about is the hidden character assassination that he's subject to. Again it is a form of bullying by those in power. It shows scant regard for manners or democracy. It is against the law to publish a political leaflet without putting your name and address on it. I rather think that this should be true of electronic media as well. That is why I require comments to be left by registered blogger users. I know that many of the commenters such as "Amanda" are smokescreens. I used to work doing textual analysis for a large organisation investigating cases of fraud a few years ago. I know who they are, the syntactic style of writing is like a fingerprint. It just reinforces my desire to expose them.

So lets summarise how the Barnet Tories behave.

So how do the Barnet Tories rate as a democratic party? Well from Councillor Hope's comment they aren't very democratic in their selection procedures. They put up a leader who they have no confidence in, with a program they are not happy with to win an election. They install a new leader, who appoints a team of unelected placemen to reinvent the council in a manner not discussed in the manifesto they were so unhappy with. They squash political opposition, without even the right to reply. Anyone who has studied history will know where this path goes.

Mike's baby is the Future Shape project. He wants the Barnet of Tomorrow to be moulded in his image. He wants to completely remove democratic accounbtabilty from services and run them at arms length. He wants to stifle debate and destroy his critics.

The Future Shape, the shape of tomorrow may be rather ugly.