Federation of Small Business calls on Mayor of London to have a ULEZ expansion rethink

    Don't let the ULEZ destroy the London Music Industry

FSB London has written to the Mayor of London, prior to the end of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone Consultation, urging him to rethink the proposal as it will negatively affect too many small and vulnerable businesses.    

  

After the long-running soap opera of Government-TfL week to month bail-outs, FSB London Chair Rowena Howie states in the letter that “FSB lack any confidence that an all-encompassing vehicle scrappage scheme to help small businesses will materialise”.

 

Key Headlines of the Survey

 

• The survey was completed by just under 600 businesses – 77 per cent of those within London
• 84 per cent of businesses responding to the survey oppose the proposal to expand the ULEZ
• Majority of responses from small businesses with 1-5 employees
• 80 per cent of respondents reliant on business based vehicles
• 30 per cent agreed to an Emission-based road pricing system as opposed to the current Congestion Charge, Low Emission Zone (LEZ) and ULEZ
• Of those businesses whose vehicle(s) do not comply – 25 per cent intend to pass charges onto customers, which will create further inflationary pressures; and 18 per cent said they would close their business.
• 19 per cent of small businesses were unaware of the proposed ULEZ expansion in 2023

 

 

 

Many small businesses will have to start making difficult decisions on whether they continue to serve central, inner, and outer London, and FSB London are calling for:

 

• Time to comply by having a similar lead in period to previous Zone extensions. During a cost of doing business crisis, we need London businesses to thrive and with a heavy reliance on service-related businesses, we feel that implementing a ‘no charge’ period until at least 29 August 2024 is a sensible measure.
• An all-encompassing Vehicle Scrappage scheme for small businesses which can be supported by Government, Mayor of London and financial institutions providing low-cost finance.
• A project bank account for any small business paying the charge from August 2023 to August 2025. The funds would be protected in a TfL ULEZ Bank Account, and a business would be able to use the funds towards purchasing a new or second hand-vehicle – subject to an upper limit.  If the fund is unspent then the money will go to TfL.

 

Rowena Howie, FSB London Policy Chair, said:

 

“The expansion of ULEZ will negatively impact thousands of small businesses through a myriad of issues including but not limited to customers choosing not to travel, businesses not being able to provide services in London and employees experiencing increased costs.

 

“To put these additional pressures on small businesses at a time when business has been adversely impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, where uncertainty and planning and reliance on supply chains has been further interrupted by new international trade agreements and where the energy crisis has further pushed up the cost of doing business, will be too much for some businesses to bear.

 

“FSB recognises the climate emergency and the commitment to move to net zero – but the Mayor must support the small business community through a ‘carrot’ and education approach to make greener decisions, discouraging non-essential business private vehicle journeys,  and not to punish essential business journeys at this time of economic crisis.

 

“We need the Mayor to ensure policy promotes a small business friendly Greater London”.

 

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

Our position.

Roger Tichborne, the editor of the Barnet Eye is a member of the FSB. Roger wirtes.

Whilst we 100% agree with the objective of the Mayor of London in reducing air pollution, we feel that the ULEZ expansion has not been thought through, the timing coming at the end of the pandemic is terrible and it will be highly damaging to the sector of the economy (music and entertainment) that we operate our business in. 

Like many small businesses, our finances, which were extremely healthy at the start of the pandemic are now precarious. Our revenues for Q2 of 2022 are around 70% of the same period in 2019, which in effect means that we are not operating profitably and are just about breaking even. Our business uses a 2008 registered Ford Galaxy Turbo Diesel for deliveries and our main hire equipment subcontractor uses a similar aged diesel van. We purchased these at the time as the government was encouraging us to use diesel as it was seen as a less polluting option. Our vehicles are well maintained and in good condition, but now have lost all resale value. The pandemic has depleted our financial resources. Our intention was to replace the vehicles in 2021, but we are in no position to take on a large financial commitment, especially when we are not 100% sure of the long term viability of our business or the industry it operates in. 

We completely agree that large companies that have big fleets should comply and we are also of the opinion that people driving gas guzzling cars primarily for pleasure should also be discouraged from polluting. For us and many small businesses, we are in no position to take on the commitment of new vehicles. We believe that the Mayor and the government should offer a viable scrappage scheme and an exemption of two years to small businesses, musicians and other people who are not in a position to viably re-equip at the moment.

We are already passing on the costs of ULEZ to charities that hire equipment from us and require delivery. We have used electric bike delivery services for some bookings, however when an engineer is travelling with the equipment this is logistically not feasable, especially when there are time limitations and several drop offs required. 

We support the FSB's suggestions as pragmatic compromise solutions and hope the Mayor Listens. We beleive that it is in no one's interest if a business such as ours can no longer viably operate. We also ask the Mayor to think of the impact on musicians who are not well off and have old vehicles. Some minor modifications to the scheme would make a huge difference. I'd like to see the Mayor set up some sort of scheme where musicians  (and other affected small businesses) had access at a relatively low cost to compliant, subsidised hire/lease vehicles, with minimal paper work and financial guarantees to ensure that the vehicles can be accessed. 

We are not calling for the abandonment of the scheme, which we generally support. We are however calling for it to be a progressive scheme, not just a ploy to hoover up cash for TFL. All schemes can be improved and we believe that offering suggestions to do this is a positive way forward. If the Mayor of London simply ignores the struggle of small business, he is not serving London's best interests

 

The #SaveLondonMusic Campaign calls for urgent action from the Mayor of London to protect our night time economy

There are few sectors that have suffered more than live music in London. It is not just venues closing their doors with no notice that is an issue. The staff that earned their livelihoods working in the music sector, especially freelancers, have had no income for the best part of eighteen months.

Many have had to take other jobs just to pay bills. Without skilled staff, it is impossible for venues to function. There were many venues that were just about surviving in London prior to Covid. It seemed to many of us that live music had turned the corner, venues were busier than they had been for many years, but for many businesses there were huge challenges. These have only become more difficult.

The policies of Mayor of London has not been helpful to the live music industry. Whilst we understand the need for policies to address poor air quality, few musicians working grassroots venues are well off. They need to shift large amounts of equipment. Public transport is not a realsitic option for many. Many have old vans or estate cars, often with diesel engines, that are non compliant with the legislation. The ULEZ means these attract huge charges. As musicians often have to arrive early for soundchecks and can’t get out until the show is over and the club is cleared, they can find that they need to pay two days ULEZ simply to do a gig. The Mayor needs to, as a matter of urgency, update his culture strategy so it can properly respond to the challenges facing the night-time economy, the live music scene and the creative sector in general in the aftermath of the pandemic.

For musicians who have had zero income from music for the last eighteen months, this means that playing is not viable. They have no cash in the bank to buy newer compliant vehicles. No one comes to London for its beaches or its sunshine. People come to see our music and theatre shows. A policy that makes this unviable is not a policy that will work for London.

There are a myriad of other problems for performers at grassroots venues. Parking is another huge issue. When you need to unload amps, drumkits, etc you need to park close to the venue. I’ve done this a thousand times and know just how difficult it can be in central London. It has never been a concern of the powers that be. They have just taken it for granted that musicians will take it on the chin. Covid has changed all of this. As musicians have been forced to find other jobs, many working in completely different sectors, they will think long and hard about returning to a business where they simply cannot make a living.

If the Mayor of London is serious about seeing London get back on its feet, he needs to take the issue of getting musicians back into London and getting clubs and pubs back to pulling in the punters with live music.

If we are going to address these issues as a City, we need the Mayor of London to lead the charge. There are so many issues to address and such a diverse collection of live music venues and people working in them, that no one size fits all policy will address all of the issues. Venues in outer London boroughs face a completely different set of issues to the ones in the West End and City. For many there is an opportunity as people may be reluctant to take public transport into town. As a Londoner living in a suburb (Barnet), this is a mixed blessing. I’d love to see more music on my doorstep, but if we lose our music scene in the West End, that will be the end of London as a major music hub. No one should want that.

What the Mayor needs to do is commission an audit of London venues. This should be done with the express purpose of identifying which venues have survived, which can be reopened, what are the challenges facing the venues and how these can be addressed and miigated. We need an emergency fund to support venues and a fund to assist musicians get ULEZ compliant vehicles. A buy back scheme for non compliant diesel vehicles owned by musicians, with assistance for leasing or finance for new vehices would be a good step towards addressing the issues raised by ULEZ.

This is not simply asking for a handout. Every band playing in Central London at grassroots venues generates anywhere between 75 and 1,000 tube and bus fares for the Mayor. Often TFL will make more money from a show than the musician performing. Many of these punters will have meals in West End Restaurants, meet for drinks in pubs and bars before and after shows and spend money in shops on the way.

We need this benefit to be quantified. The Mayor has a major challenge with TFL finances. It is very much in his interest to understand how live music can help him fix the hole in his budget. Of course he could just sit back and let the live music sector try and muddle through. This would be nothing short of criminal negligence of a part of the economy that has generated billions for UK PLC.

Although the Mayor of London is the primary player in this, as the night time economy falls under his powers, national government, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the culture secretary Oliver Dowden need to put aside their differences with the Mayor and work to put London back on its feet. The same is true of our regional cities who have their own issues.

Any audit should be based on identifying practical solutions to the problems faced by the live music sector. These can only be properly identified by talking to venue owners, promoters, musicians, crew and ancillary staff. It should also encompass music studios, support companies (equipment hire etc). These are all part of the pot that makes the London music scene tick.

We formally invite the London Mayor, Amy Lame (the London nightlife Tsar), The London Assembly, our London Boroughs and our London MPs to support this process as a matter of urgency. The Save London Music Campaign will be writing to all of these to get this process in motion. We call on all the industry organisations to back this. We also encourage our friends in the other regions of the UK to do the same with their local Mayors and authorities. We simply cannot afford to wait. This needs to be kick started today.

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

This blog was originally posted on the Save London Music website

Doomsday for London Underground

************ Note - On Thursday Morning the Lead story on BBC London was that TFL would be announcing driverless trains and closure of all London station ticket offices. This blog was written in good faith based on the fact that this was lead story. The announcement didn't mention driverless trains. We therefore assume that someone was feeding TFL misinformation. Now there have been comments that we should await formal confirmation. Now yes we should, as this was presented as a fact, so apologies for that, but hey ho, if you can't trust the BBC news..... *************

Mark the 21st November 2013 in your diary. Today is the day that Mayor Boris Johnson declared war on the people of London. Today is the day that he announced plans to devastate safety on the London Underground network. Today is the day that he abandoned all pretence of caring for ordinary Londoners who daily use the system. Today is the day that he decided to sacrifice the network to Tory dogma.

He has announced plans to

a) Shut every ticket office on the London Underground

b) Make all trains driverless.

I am sure that I'll have a few right wing pundits who never use the service leaving stupid comments. I use the network on an almost daily basis and it is clear to me that the plans are wrong headed.

Ticket offices.

1. How will elderly/disabled people who have difficulties using machines manage?

2. How will tourists with difficulties manage?

3. What will happen if your Oyster card packs up?

4. How will you renew your season ticket?

5. What will happen if you have a problem?

6. Who will you ask for travel guidance & assistance?

Driverless trains.

1. What will happen if there is a safety issue in the tunnel, such as the 7/7 bomb?

2. What will happen if there is an incident on the train or an ambulance needs calling?

3. What will  happen if the emergency chord is pulled?

4. Who will report intruders on the line or in tunnels?

5. Who will inform passengers if there are delays/problems?

6. Who will clear doors etc of obstructions?

The above are just a few points I thought of. I rarely see a ticket office without a large queue, especially at busy times. On journeys, it is rare for there to be no interaction with the driver. Usually because people are blocking doors, but I've seen drivers calling ambulances when people have had heart attacks. I shudder to think what would have happened on 7/7, a day I used the tube, without the drivers and the station staff. 

This plan has clearly been dreamed up by a management team who hold the needs and safety of passengers in total contempt. I have one question. If as George Osborne says, the economy is in rude good health, how come London needs to cut £80 million from the budget of London Underground. Doesn't George and Boris realise that London is the engine of the London Economy. If these savage cuts occur, people will get injured and killed. Boris and George clearly couldn't give a toss (or is that ATOS). 

Cycling in Barnet - The Mayors vision for cycling and Barnet

Over the last couple of days, the Barnet Eye has been investigating the role of cycling as a means of transport in the London Borough of Barnet. Over the years, I've done a fair amount of cycling around Barnet (although not much in recent years). One of my studio customers works for Boris on cycling policy and is generally quite complimentary about his attitude to cycling in London. I think she is probably spot on that he's been far and away the best ambassador for cycling in London for a very long time. Recently I was working regularly near Ludgate Circus and it is fair to say that there has been an explosion in the number of people using bikes to get around. The Boris bike initiative has certainly added impetus to this. Of all the London Boroughs, the impression I get is that Barnet has been the most resistant and at times positively hostile to cycling.


It is worth looking at the document if you are interested in the subject.

   Gla Mayors Cycle Vision 2013

It is telling that there is plenty of mention of the East - West cycle highway, however not a single mention of the North-South route. One suspects that this is a legacy of times gone by when Barnet had a completely car obsessed approach to transport. It seems there may be some green shoots of recognition that cycling has the potential to help us deal with our transport problems.

I decided to analyse some of my most regular cycle journeys in Barnet.

1. My house in Mill Hill to my Finchley Catholic High School. I used to do this regularly in my last two years at the school. I tried a variety of routes, but the quickest (and hardest) was via the Ridgway and Partingdale Lane. At the time, Partingdale Lane could be dangerous as the traffic calming measures were not in place. Cars would speed around blind bends at well in excess fo the 30 Mph limit. In the morning the hack up Wills Grove was physically tiring, but as I enjoyed building my fitness, I used to enjoy it, although as Wills Grove has an appalling road surface, this was not always fun. The traffic calming has presumably made this route slightly safer. Rating as a good method 5/5 - excellent route for cycling. Safe, no trunk routes.

2. My House to Orange Hill Senior High School, Abbots Road, Burnt Oak. This was a five minute hop and an ideal route for a cycle to school. The school closed and now forms part of Mill Hill County High. Although no further, there is not a reasonable road route to the school (as you have to dice with Mill Hill Circus or Apex Corner). I would use the pedestrian crossings and urge my children to.  Rating as a good method 5/5 (assuming you cross via pedestrian crossings).

3. My house to De Havailland Road Burnt Oak. I used to work in De Havilland Road, Burnt Oak. This is a very reasonable cycle to work, taking 5-10 mins. Sadly the firm I worked for then have long gone. 5/5

4. My house to Temple Fortune. I spent three months cycling to a painting and decorating job in Temple Fortune, for Chief Abiola, the former president of Nigeria (deposed and assassinated). I initially started riding via the A1/North Circular. After the fourth time I nearly died, I took a backroute via Barnet Copthall. Sadly there was no way to avoid Henlys Corner. This was a complete nightmare- Rating 0/5 - scary.

5. My house to Aldgate. I worked in Aldgate for several years. I decided to try the route by bike. This is a hack straight down the A1 and then the ring road. I did it once and vowed that I would never be so stupid again. 0/5 - scary.

Now of course everyone has a different journey, and so we all could do this. Cycling is good for short hops around Barnet, but as soon as you collide with a TFL trunk route on a bike, you are dealing with a bit of a monster. When I was a teenager, I cycled everywhere. I never wore a helmet, and usually wore black clothes. In short I was an idiot. Luckily for me I was fit, astute and able to anticipate other road users extremely well. I learned to never trust lorries and never let them overtake me at speed, as they invariably cut in on you. If they did, I would slam on the brakes and let them pass. Even so on several occasions, they nearly killed me. Lorry drivers claim that cyclists slow them down and get in there way. In my case this was a deliberate ploy to make sure they clocked me. On at least 2-3 occasions, I believe they deliberately drove dangerously close to me as they were irritated by being slowed down.

I am not anti cycling, but as I've pointed out in my previous blogs, in Barnet we are a long way from having a safe cycle network. In his vision Boris explodes some myths about the safety of cycling. I believe that this is because many cyclists simply avoid dangerous road junctions. I suspect that many fatalities are inexperienced cyclists or ones caught out by unfamiliarity with the road design and layout. I would develop strategies for dealing with dangerous junctions, which generally worked. The times these broke down was when motorists did not act in a sane and rational manner.

Boris needs to consider the North/South axis. When I was doing my cycle to Aldgate, a friend of mine (Kate Nash's Dad ) was regularly cycling from Harrow to Aldgate. He did much of the journey on canal footpaths. Sadly this wasn't an option from Mill Hill. I believe there is much infrastructure we could re-use. There are several disused rail lines in Barnet and surrounding areas which could be converted into cycleways. There is also space besides several rail lines which could be made into cycleways with a bit of investment. I believe it would be relatively easy to have a safe route from Mill Hill to Brent Cross using land besides the Thameslink line. Of course this would cost money, but huge amounts are spent on cars and roads. If we got more people onto bikes, then this would reduce congestion and make everyones life better. As bikes are reasonably light, I'd be interested in using space above rail lines for "skyways" for bikes. There are many routes where this would work extremely well. I'd like to see a similar approach for the junctions such as Henlys corner etc. If we could get cycle traffic off the roads at dangerous junctions, it would make a massive difference to the safety of all concerned.

Anyway, have a look at the Boris vision. All politicians hope to leave a positive legacy. It would be good if the one Boris leaves is a cleaner, greener, safer London where people are fitter because they have put the car keys away and jumped on a bike where there is a sensible and safe route. What is encouraging in the Boris plan is that there is hard cash to recognise his vision. Lets put a bit of pressure on the local politicians to ensure Barnet gets its bit of the pie.

Is Brian Coleman putting the whole of London at risk?

I read with horror a comment in the blog by GLA Tory Roger Evans. Mr Evans is the GLA rep for Havering and Redbridge and was until last year the leader of the Tory Group. Mr Evans is highly respected and a very decent sort of chap. Unlike his colleague, Brian Coleman in Barnet, he keeps his voters informed of progress at the GLA via his interesting and informative blog.

Whilst reading this blog (for those of us with a rather lazy rep such as Coleman, it is the only way to keep up to date with shenanigans at the GLA) I read that Brian Coleman, who was given the job of running the London Fire and Emergency planning authority, has cut the reserves for dealing with disasters to £24 million - the comment is in the is blog on Mr Evans site  http://city-hall.blogspot.com/2012/01/budget-round-opening-skirmishes.html . The reserves have been whittled down to virtually nothing, to help freeze council tax and to prop up the Met Police budget.

Let us consider what they have to look after.According to wikipedia, there are nearly 8 million people in greater London. The Fire brigade are responsible for safety on the London Underground and Overground networks. Millions of people commute on a daily basis through the city. Trains, Buses and Tubes all carry millions. We have a dozen major railway terminals, and we also have two airports, one of which is the worlds busiest international airport. All of these hubs are under constant threat from numerous and diverse terror groups and all have a history of attacks.

Then there is the River Thames. This has a history of flooding, which the Thames Barrier was constructed to prevent. Whilst this has been used several times in the last two decades to prevent major floods, there is a possibility that this could fail and inundate London. Who would cover this emergency? The LFEPA. Does anyone seriously believe that £24 million would cover the costs of responding to such an emergency?

And then there is the timing. We have the Olympics this year. Although I hope to God it runs smoothly and have a high degree of faith in our security services and Police, it is clear to all that every nutcase in the world would like to cause havoc in London at this time. What has Coleman done? He's cut the reserves in the year in our history when they are most likely to be needed.

Not only that but he's thinned down the organisation. Does the man not realise that the less resources you have, the more reserves you need. Roger Evans says this in his blog :-

Fire Brigade

Under Brian Coleman, LFEPA has made considerable savings and has even helped to bail out the police budget this year. Reserves have been cut to £24 million which we were assured is sufficient to cover unexpected costs. Training is being contracted out and this is expected to deliver further cost reductions.

He may well be reassured by Brian Coleman that this is enough. I am far from convinced. Sadly only a terrible tragedy would prove me right and I hope to God that doesn't happen. I cannot help but feel scared by this man and his disregard for his fellow citizens. He is up for election in May. Need I say more. He gets £50K a year for his part time GLA job and £25K a year from Boris to run LFEPA. It is time we got someone who understood London.

GLA Tory Update : The Dinosaurs Vs The Sensiblists

Earlier this week, I posted a blog detailing my support for the Boris Bike scheme and suggesting that I'd really rather like it to be rolled out in Mill Hill (and other parts of Barnet). It strikes me that with the RAF museum about a ten minute cycle from Mill Hill Broadway Thameslink, it would work extremely well and maybe First Capital Connect could sponsor a docking station. A Borough more forward thinking than Barnet would probably pay for the docking stations at the RAF museum as a way of promoting the Borough. In an effort to promote interest in the idea, I emailed all of the Conservative GLA members with a survey and asked for their views on the scheme and it's rollout to the suburbs. I got a few "out of office" notifications and a few replies. The most interesting was from Richard Tracey, who is Conservative Lead on transport. Here's what Richard had to say :-

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for asking


a) Have you used the Boris Bike scheme yet?
b) Do you intend to use the scheme in future?
c) Do you think the scheme is value for money?
d) Would you like to see the scheme rolled out in outer suburbs such as Barnet?

a. No
b. Probably, when it is bedded in -  to see for myself how it works
c. Yes
d. Most certainly in my constituency in SW London. I'll leave opinions on a Barnet expansion to my colleague.

Good wishes

Richard Tracey
Conservative Lead on London Assembly Transport Committee
GLA Merton & Wandsworth
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All in all a very sensible response and one which bodes well for the future of the scheme. Many thanks to Richard for this. Of course this begs the question of what the GLA member for Barnet, Brian Coleman had to say. Well, this was his reply, via his PA.

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

Brian Coleman has asked me to send you the following message:

"Thank you for your email regarding the Mayor of London's Barclay's Cycle Hire Scheme. I am afraid that London Assembly Conservatives never respond to questionnaires. However, I can assure you that my colleagues and I are fully supportive of the Mayor's scheme."

Juliet Donnelly

PA to Cllr Brian Coleman AM FRSA

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

How odd? How come that Brian Coleman states that the Tories never respond to questionnaires, whilst his esteemed and sensible colleague sent a reply. Not wishing to drop Mr Tracey in it for being helpful, I immediately fired off an email requesting clarification what the policy on answering questionaires is for the London GLA Tories. Surely they hadn't adopted such a Stalinist stance. A quick email to the Tory top brass was met with the following response

"The Group has no policy on responding to questionnaires"  and "Where the request is for individual opinions - as in this case - individual members are free to respond as they wish."

So in light of this, why has Brian Coleman instructed his PA to respond in such a way? Telling porkies about group policy just won't do. What I don't really understand is why Brian Coleman digs himself into these holes. Why make things up, which are demonstrably factually incorrect. Whilst Brian Coleman probably detests this blog, we actually have a few areas where we agree with him. Most noticably the Brent Cross redevelopment & Incinerator which he opposes, the Law on prostitution and from his comment, the Boris Bike. This blog is the most widely read in Barnet, not least by his colleagues.  Telling a blog that you agree with Boris and that you want the scheme in Barnet at the appropriate time (or not) in no way endorses that blog, it just shows that the individual is capable of answering a sensible question with a sensible answer. Media is evolving. Blogs are a new medium, but an increasingly influential one. Sensible Tories such as Richard Tracey, recognise this and use the medium to get across a positive message, in this case that the Tories have a decent policy. Dinsosaurs such as Brian Coleman just cause themselves trouble and embarrassment - completely needlessly in this case. Why not just say "I never answer questionaires" - A response which would have clearly been honest and reasonable.

I am pleased that Mr Coleman is fully supportive of the scheme, but as he's the Barnet Council Cabinet Member for Transport and my GLA member, I feel that a fuller answer is required with regards to the future of the scheme in Barnet.  As transport supremo, it would be nice for Brian to shock a few of us and put some cash into this innovative and green scheme. Many of us would like to see cycling and cycle lanes promoted far more vigourously in Barnet. Maybe Boris can have an word in his ear at the next GLA booze up.

Barnet Eye war on Spongers and parasites : Daily Express says warden cuts pay for allowance rises

It seems like we've started quite a bandwagon rolling here in Barnet. We welcome the Daily Express on board the war on spongers and parasites. They gave the whole of page 12 over to the cause today - http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/187698 -  The best bit of the article was this statement -

The council has also done away with full-time wardens at old people’s homes, instigating instead a system of roving wardens who cover the whole borough. Councillors defended the scheme by promoting it as pioneering and an efficient use of money.

But now it seems some of the money saved will simply be disappearing into councillors’ pockets instead. It is extraordinary that at a time of severe financial constraint a council which promotes itself as a super-efficient flagship authority can be awarding itself pay increases.

The Express is right to highlight the moral bankruptcy of a regime which punishes the old and vulnerable, whilst lining their own pockets. It is a sign of the depths which the Barnet Tories have sunk, when the two most sympathetic papers, the Telegraph and the Express lambast them. David Cameron cannot ignore the issue any longer.

The Guardian has also joined in with the war - http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davehillblog/2010/jul/19/london-barnet-conservative-councillors-allowances-rise-controversy - Dave Hill was one of the first to rally to the cause with a tweet last week. His more considered post today hits the nail on the head pretty well.

It is heartening to say that we had hits on the blog from both the Telegraph and the Express prior to their articles. I actually emailed Don't Call Me Dave on Friday to inform him of the hits and that the ball was rolling.

There is one feature of all of these articles and all of the comments they've attracted. A general disgust at the obscene level of troughing. I suspect that Brian Coleman is actually enjoying his 15 minutes of fame. He is gambling that David Cameron lacks the balls to do anything about it. Coleman  (reportedly) told a colleague that all of the bad press just increases his vote and makes him better known. I doubt it will have the same effect on colleagues who have marginal seats. I was informed Coleman was silenced in the months leading up to the Election. He was actually forbidden from canvasssing outside of Totteridge, according to informed sources.

There are some rather interesting letters being sent internally within the Conservative Party. Sadly I've been sworn to secrecy about the contents of these, but I suspect that Coleman & co may get a nasty shock some time soon. One thing which has heartened me is the fact that this awful display has united the people of Barnet. Life long Tories have privately emailed me. You would be amazed at some of the private correspondence I received.

There are a few emails I'd like to publish but can't. The Tory Councillor who voted for it "because it was recommended by a committee" is probably the best. Sadly if someone emails me in strictest confidence and has provided useful snippets in the past, I won't break their trust.  I am sorry to report that Councillor Graham Old hasn't responded to my request for the compelling reason he changed his mind and voted for the increase. I must therefore conclude that the reason is that he lacks moral fibre and can't justify it. I'm also sorry to report that Theresa Villiers has thus far refused to comment, lending weight to the rumour that she'd been lent on by Coleman and Hillan.

My message to all Barnet Councillors such as Graham Old. It isn't too late. Just call an emergency meeting and reverse the decision. Say you made a mistake and on reflection realised that the rise was inappropriate at the current time. That way the you'll kill the story. Sure us bloggers will crow, but you can say you have proven a willingness to listen and the story will die. As it stands it is likely to snowball and wash you away. Just remember what happened in Liverpool to the Labour vote after the Militant Tendency troughing was exposed?

You may think people have short memories. This isn't always the case, especially when the national press are involved. Oh yes, I'd like to remind Boris that whilst Coleman is his top crony at LFEPA, he's tarred with the same brush.

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.

Boris Johnson, Brian Coleman and good judgement

Only yesterday I discussed whether Mayor of Barnet Brian Coleman had shown good judgement in accepting over £500 worth of gifts and hospitality from a supplier of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. As chairman of this authority, one has to question whether this might lead to (clearly totally incorrect) charges of favouritism in awarding contracts in future.

Well it seems that Brian Coleman isn't the only Tory on LFEPA who's judgement looks, shall we say, a bit suspect. The Guardian reports that Boris Johnson has written to disgraced Bent Brent Tory Councillor Bertha Joseph to explain her actions in taking £900 worth of charity donations and spending them on Ballgowns. Personally I have fairly strong views on people who nick from the charity box, but Brian Coleman is quoted in the article as taking a different view. He says :-

"Boris has done what the lawyers have told him to do and that is fine."

Coleman who was appointed by Johnson to lead the fire authority, accused Labour of running a "nasty" and "toxic" campaign against Joseph, who defected to the Conservatives from Labour almost three years ago. Sadly for Coleman, the standards committee took a different view and have suspended Joseph as a Brent Councillor for an unprecidented period of six months. Why Boris ever gave her the job, knowing that this case was ongoing is totally beyond me.

This blog has been looking at various cases in Barnet of late where Barnet Tory Councillors seem to think that rules don't apply to them. Is it any surprise when leading figures such as the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson thinks people who behave like this should be given grace and favour jobs with huge allowances. At the very top of the Conservative Party, Lord Ashcroft has, shall we say, interesting arrangements to minimise his tax. David Cameron dismissed this recently as "old news".

Have Brian Coleman and Boris Johnson displayed good judgement?

Barnet Eye : Spotlight on Finchley and Finchlinks

There's a new website for anyone interested in Finchley - http://www.finchlinks.com/ - Unlike this site, it's not a blog but a community resource. Theres an interesting suggestion for a West Finchley Conservation area amongst other things, which sounds like a good idea (although I wish Barnet Council would enforce the rules on the existing areas before adding to them). Anyway, it's always good to have information about the locality, so I'll be adding a link in the sidebar. If you are interested in Finchley have a look (I don't suppose they'll be putting a link to me because I upset the bloke who runs it a while back, but thats another matter).

If you are looking for a night out in Finchley, my personal recommendation would be to visit the Phoenix Cinema - one of the few suburban "proper cinemas" left. If you want to eat out there, my favourite restaurant is the Japanese food at Tosa. It's always been great. Sadly Barnets premier rock venue, The Torrington shut down a couple of years ago, but if anyone knows a good gig venue, please post a comment. No mention of Finchley would be complete without mentioning The Arts Depot.  I was highly amused to see a press release from Boris Johnson giving the Arts Depot the thumbs up. Those of us locals with long memories well remember how our local Tory party poured scorn on the place when in opposition. Now they are in charge they think it's marvellous. I am proud that the Lib Dems and Labour administration at the time had the vision to build such a fine resource.

The picture is the cover of the 1967 album by the New Vaudeville band. Sadly this was the most iconic picture of Finchley I could find.

Planning an epic journey to visit a great London landmark

I thought I'd set myself a little challenge. I thought I'd take a trip from Mill Hill Broadway to Stratford, to see the Olympic site. That's easy, you may think. Train from Mill Hill Broadway to Farringdon, Tube from Farringdon to Liverpool Street and then a Tube to Stratford. Total Journey time less than 1 hour.

That's too easy though. Just suppose I wanted a day out and I was in a wheelchair and I couldn't use stairs or escalators? Well you may say, that is a bit harder. How much? Well this is the route TFL's Journey planner suggested.

16:22 16:26	Mill Hill Broadway Station Take the Route Bus 186 from Stop: F towards Northwick Prk Hosp Social Club	Average journey time: 4 mins	Mill Hill Broadway Station
16:43 17:11	Mill Hill / Apex Corner  Stop:  D Take  Route Express bus 797 towards Green Line Coach Station	Average journey time: 28 mins	Mill Hill / Apex Corner
	Baker Street Station Take the Route Bus 205 from Stop: D towards Bow Bus Garage or Route Bus 30 from Stop: D towards St. Marys Of Eton Church Pay before you board	Buses every: 3 - 7  mins Max journey time: 23  mins	Baker Street Station
	King's Cross St.Pancras Walk to St Pancras International	Transfer time: 13 mins	King's Cross St.Pancras
17:58 18:04	St Pancras International Rail Station Take  Southeastern towards Broadstairs Rail Station Zone(s): 1	Average journey time: 6 mins Zone(s): 1	St Pancras International Rail Station
18:09 18:14	Stratford International Rail Station Take  Route SE 26772 Southeastern towards Stratford Rail Station SOUTHEASTERN HIGH SPEED: Travelcards and Freedom Passes are not accepted for travel on this service. Reported: 10/12/09 09:49 Last Updated: 10/12/09 09:49 Zone(s): 3	Average journey time: 5 mins Zone(s): 3	Stratford International Rail Station
	Stratford Walk to Stratford	Transfer time: 5 mins	Stratford
18:19	Stratford

You know what, maybe I'll just stay in and watch telly. You know the sad thing? Well consider this.

Mill Hill is one of the most modern stations on the old BedPan line. It was rebuilt for the M1 Motorway in the 1960's. When it was rebuilt, it had a lift. This would allow disabled passengers to access platform 1. Sadly this was taken out about 10 years ago as part of a refurbishment. Theoretically this could easily be added back at not too great a cost. A ramped overbridge would also not be an exhorbitant cost for the return journey. Not only that, but there is a street level access from Bunns Lane Car Park to the station, which would make the station available for people in wheelchairs at minimal costs.

From Mill Hill Broadway, you could make your way to St Pancras, where there are lifts, and then access the new Javelin Service which takes a mere 9 minutes to Stratford (except that this journey is not permitted).

So what point am I making. Well in 2012, we are staging the Paraplegic Games. A small amount of money spent and Mill Hill Broadway could easily be turned into a North West London Hub for people in wheelchairs wishing to travel to the Olympics or even travelling to Brussels and Paris. Is it really too much to ask? A ramped platform overbridge and a wheelchair friendly gate on Bunns Lane Carpark? That's all.

Maybe I'll do the trip next week to see what it's really like. I wonder if Boris Johnson would like to accompany me and tell me whether he thinks that it is a reasonable journey to expect someone in a wheelchair to make in 2012.

Don't mention the war (or Brian Coleman)

If you asked me to point you in the direction of a good blog by an elected politician, you may be rather surprised to know that I'd point you at the blog by the Leader of the London Conservatives on the GLA, Roger Evans AM. Rogers blog is interesting, factual and funny and he has a genuine love of blogging. As such he even makes Leftie Guardian blogger Dave Hills blogroll. Like all of us, Roger gets it wrong occasionally and unlike many politicians, usually puts his hand up. I am sorry to say that, for the best reasons in the world, he got it horribly wrong in his latest blog. This is all about the opening of a new Fire station in Harold Hill. It has some nice pictures and a bit of the history, all well and good. Sadly though, Roger neglected to mention the fact that the opening of the station had made the news on ITV's London Tonight.

What I found amazing is that there is not a single mention of Brian Coleman in Roger Evans blog. Given that he's the chairman of the LEFPA which commissioned the station and accompanied Boris and Roger, why can this be? The truth is that it's because he is a huge embarrassment. Whether Roger Evans has been ordered by Conservative Central Office to airbrush Colemans name out of all blogs, or whether he rather wisely has decided to impose a Pravda like policy of ignoring Coleman, I don't know. What I do know is that only Brian Coleman could make the opening of a new firestation into a "bad news day" for the Tories.

It is clear that the brave firemen who risk their lives on a daily basis cannot stand Coleman. They turned up en mass to let him know their feelings. Coleman places sensible and decent colleagues in an impossible situation. If they mention him it damages their reputation by association. If they ignore him, they show themselves to be Stalinist airbrush merchants.

There is a simple solution. Boris should sack him immediately and spare us all the spectacle of his smug mug on the telly in future.

Boris Johnson stole our bus !!!!

Many of Barnets OAP's enjoy free travel using a freedom pass. There are quite a few who live between Mill Hill Broadway and Aerodrome Road on the A41. Now if you are one of these senior citizens and you fancy a nice shopping trip to get a few prezzies for your grandchildren, where do you go?

My guess is that you'd go to Brent Cross shopping Centre on the 186 bus. This bus goes right to the doors of the complex and is highly popular with pensioners on shopping trips. Well at least it used to be. You see Boris Johnsons TFL and Barnets Tory Council have conspired to divert it through Graham Park. It never occurs to people who hurtle around the Borough in shiny limo's on expenses, that many OAP's actually rely on buses.

Wheras before the 186 would drop them to the doors of Brent Cross, now they have a 10 minute walk through a poorly lit underpass and exposed to rain, wind and the elements to the 113 bus stop (which stops on a layby off the A41 on the flyover). Can you imagine trying to do that walk whilst laden with presents?

I spoke to one of these OAP's tonight. He told me that many pensioners had voted for Boris because he promised a better bus service. He told me that they all feel they've been conned. I said I'd write a blog. I asked if he wanted me to say anything in particular. He said "Tell Boris to give us our 186 bus back".  Sadly this isn't the only route and these aren't the only pensioners affected by swinging cuts to Boris Johnson's TFL bus service. Why is it with Tory budget cuts it's always the frail and weak who suffer. Don't they ever think what a massive impact even seemingly small changes can have on individuals.

Brian Coleman : The next Mayor of London?

A good friend of mine, who is fairly high up in a South London Conservative Association told me that our good friend, the Mayor of Barnet, Brian Coleman had said a very interesting thing. It seems that Mayor Coleman mentioned that he has one unfulfilled political ambition and that is to be the Mayor of London. Rather disbelievingly, I asked "Does that mean he's after Boris's job?" - I got a snigger and an "I couldn't possibly comment", then the subject was changed to the football.

Now my friend & I normally steer very clear of political debates, purely because we find football, music & Uma Thurman more interesting. I was a bit surprised by the revelation, so I decided to make a few enquirys. Lets just say that Mayor Coleman and myself are not on best of terms right now, so a simple phonecall seemed out of the question. If it was true, what would be the first thing he'd do? Registering a web domain would seem like a good move.

I typed in www.colemanformayor.com and it seems that someone had bought the domain name. I then tried www.colemanformayor.co.uk t hat was also reserved. I did some digging. The email address associated with the site is Brian Coleman's GLA address. The telephone number looks remarkably like his phonenumber. I assume that he's used an anonymous hosting company, but it is indisputably his site.

The domain name was originally reserved on 11 Sep 2002. It was last updated on 15 July 2008 and expires on 11 Sep 2010. As I understand it, web registrations last for 3 years. Boris was confirmed as Tory candidate on 27th September 2007 and Coleman wasn't in the race. It was crystal clear that Boris was a shoe in, by the 11th September. This means that on 11th September when he renewed the registration, he was planning ahead for next time.

Rather interestingly, Brian has been rather critical of Boris in the GLA, going as far as to suggest that he's out of kilter with mainstream Conservatism. It has been suggested to me that he's quite happy with all the press and TV coverage concerning our little spat, why else would he have been out on the tiles celebrating after? Why would he be so keen for his profile to be raised in such an undignified way, given that he has a safe council seat in Totteridge & the Tories think they will romp home next time?

As I can find no evidence that Brian Coleman, one of London's most high profile Tories ever made a shortlist for Mayor (and most surely he would have been near the top if he had tried, wouldn't he?), it has to be fair to asssume that he's been playing a long game.

Which leads me to the question - Did Boris give Brian Coleman the LEFPA job as part of the Tories succession plan. Does he plan to give Brian Coleman a shoe in in 2012, when he heads back to Parliament? Does he know about Brian Coleman's contempt for our nations sportsmen and women, does Boris really want to lumber us with Coleman as Mayor for the Olympics after so many gaffe's?

The second option is that Boris doesn't have a clue about Coleman's plans. Given that he really doesn't seem to know too much about what any of his "trusted" deputies are up to, this wouldn't surprise me. He doesn't realise that he's unwittingly helping Coleman to build up a platform to knife him.

Of course there's the third option that Brian Coleman absentmindedly registered the two sites, paid the renewals with no intention of ever standing.

Oh and before anyone suggests that it's related to his Mayoral role in Barnet, why are they both still holding pages if this was the case. If I was Boris and it wasn't part of my plan to become king with a crony as Mayor, I'd certainly start watching my back.

Boris Dancing

It seems that up in leafy old Henley, former seat of our esteemed Mayor Boris Johnson, an effort to update and revive the traditional English style of dancing has been made.



This could be the next big thing - for more detail www.borisdancing.co.uk

Heads in the sand as Boris exposes Camerons Conservatives

Cowards. That's what I hate more than anything. Most of the problems of Great Britain today could be solved if our leaders had a little bit of backbone and were prepared to take tough decisions. In less than a year's time, we have an election. What choice will we have? Gordon Brown or David Cameron. We know plenty about Gordon Brown, but what do we know about David Cameron and his Conservatives? Well the most powerful Conservative in the Country is Boris Johnson. I'd like to say I'm shocked about the revelations of the last few days, which have exposed his regime as being completely incompetent and useless. The trouble is I'm not. Even worse than that, I happen to know that David Cameron is not shocked either. David Cameron always saw a Boris candidacy as extremely risky, Cameron always knew that sooner or later Boris would show himself to be unfit for office. Cameron's plan was to hope that Boris would fail after the next general election. Boris was a risk worth taking at the time. When he was selected, Cameron thought he stood no chance of beating Livingstone, so he was happy to let Boris have a go. As Gordon Brown's credibility waned, Cameron suddenly realised that Boris may actually get in. He was lumbered with him and he knew it. All he could do was cross his fingers and hope.

Well Boris has been in for just over a year. He's lost 3 deputy mayors and one senior advisor. The saga surrounding the latest casualty is the most appalling scandal I can recall in British Politics. It's not the fact that a Middle aged man started an affair with a girl young enough to be his daughter that bothers me, good luck to him. It is the fact that Boris knew that Ian Clement was unfit to have a corporate credit card in August 2008. I run a successful company and if one of my employees showed themselves as unfit to have a credit card, I would sack them. It is all about trust. How can Boris have thought that Clement was unfit to have a credit card, but fit to be a Deputy Mayor. Not only that, but it seems that knowing he had form for this, Boris still signed his expenses off. He didn't bother to even check. Sir Simon Milton admitted this today. In most firms, if you break the rules, you will be put under the microscope. Your expenses get special attention. If Boris had believe this to be a mistake, he should have let Clement know in no uncertain terms that he'd personally check and would sack him if he found he was lying or he broke the rules again. Clements actions expose Boris as a weak leader with no credibility.

During the Mayoral Campaign, Boris promised a cleaner, more transparent regime. He promised an end to cronyism and he promised that all unnecessary waste would be rooted out. I thought I'd check the rest of his team. This is what I found. If you are a Tory, look away now.

Alex Crowley

Political Adviser to the Mayor

Prior to being appointed, Alex led the team that developed policy and produced the manifestos for Boris Johnson's Mayoral campaign. He has also previously worked at the Greater London Authority, working for Conservative members of the London Assembly, advising on political matters and transport policy.

Appointed: 22 September 2008 to the end of the Mayor’s term of office in 2012
Status: Mayoral appointment
Summary of role: To provide advice to the Mayor on issues relating to his manifesto and to act as principle liaison between the Mayors office and key contacts in London.
Salary: £77,063

This is your money. Is this really the best way for Boris to be spending £77,063 per annum. Over his four year term, that is more than a quarter of a million pounds on someone to help him with his manifesto !!!!! If you don't believe me click here - http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/team/advisors.jsp

Lets examine a couple of his directors :-

Directors

Richard Blakeway

Director of Housing

Richard Blakeway spent seven years working in the House of Commons, including for the Conservative Party's policy review and then as housing advisor to Boris Johnson during his Mayoral campaign. In 2004 he helped launch and edit the International Development Magazine circulated to over 100 countries. Richard is a Young Ambassador for the Samaritans and Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts. He is also a member of the Homes and Communities Agency's London Board.

Appointed: 22 September 2008 to the end of the Mayor's term of office in 2012
Status: Mayoral appointment
Summary of role: To lead the political, strategic and operational framework for the development of the Mayor's statutory housing strategy and other housing and homelessness policies to help deliver the Mayor's housing responsibilities and plans.
Salary: £82,200

Anthony Browne

Policy Director

A former national journalist, Anthony Browne was Director of the leading think tank Policy Exchange, and has written reports on issues ranging from the NHS to housing, education, environment and welfare reform for several think tanks. Anthony has a degree in mathematics from Cambridge University. He is married with two children and lives in north London.

Appointed: 6 October 2008 to the end of the Mayor’s term of office in 2012
Status: Mayoral appointment
Summary of role: To provide policy advice to the Mayor, and to research and develop new policies for London.
Salary: £127,784

Guto Harri

Director of Communications

Guto spent more than a decade as a political correspondent for BBC News. He was also posted by the Corporation to Rome and New York. He has presented some of the flagship programmes on Radio 4 and left the BBC to become senior Policy Advisor consultant for Fleishman Hillard before joining the Mayor's team.

Appointed: 12 May 2008 to the end of the Mayor's term of office in 2012
Status: Mayoral appointment
Summary of role: To advise the Mayor on matters relating to media and communications and to lead and direct media and communications strategy and policy development to support the priorities and objectives of the Mayor and GLA.
Salary: £127,784

There are a few more here, if you really wan't to check.

http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/team/directors.jsp

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

I don't know about you, but I ask myself, what value do these people add to London? We are paying a fortune in salaries, but what are these people delivering? Why did Boris pick them? If you were planning to solve the problems of London, would you pick a highly paid team of journalists?

If I was picking a director of Housing would I pick someone who's main claim to fame is

In 2004 he helped launch and edit the International Development Magazine circulated to over 100 countries.

Which brings us back to David Cameron. He leads the Conservatives. He is trying to convince us that The Tories can fix all the problems Gordon Brown created. I ask you this. The evidence of what happens when the Tories get in is there. Boris is his flagship. Cameron knows that he has to keep quiet and hope that not too many people notice. This is why Cameron has said nothing about how Boris has dealt with it. That is why Tory bloggers such as Iain Dale have said nothing about Clement or his resignation.

It is because they are all too cowardly to admit that they campaigned for a man they knew was totally unsuitable for such an important job. Boris was elected fairly and squarely by London, so I accept that we have to put up with him. I can't accept that we have to pay for all his mates to lead the life of riley and I really think that if David Cameron is a proper leader he'll do something about it.