Environment Monday - Is the Guardian's climate change pledge worth the paper it's written on?

If you've read our environment Monday column before, you can skip this paragraph. It just explains what it is all about. So you want to save the planet, combat climate change, leave a legacy for your children that you can be proud of but you just don't know where to start? I started the Environment Monday series of blogs to try and spread a few practical ideas, things that are practical and work. I'd love your ideas, guest blogs and help. The old adage of think global, act local has been my mantra for decades. If we all start with ourselves, look at our lifestyles, look at the small changes we can make in our carbon footprint, on our own we will make a miniscule difference, but if we do it and it works, maybe our friends will sit up take, notice and over time (which is precious), together we can start to make a big difference. Each week, we will explore a different theme, a different way that we can all make a difference.

So today we are looking at the media and the Guardian in particular. They have made a 'Climate Change Pledge". This intrigued us. Regular readers of this blog will know that we have made a real commitment to the environment. My business has worked to become carbon neutral, and we are net exporters of electricity to the national grid and our new studio block has the highest achievable rating for insulation. We have work to do, but we believe every business should work as hard as possible and be honest about their aims and achievements. The Guardian, as a paper that has lead the way in reporting on climate change for decades issued their pledge on Tuesday. Is it worth the paper it's written on?

Let's start by looking at what they are doing.

 We will continue our longstanding record of powerful environmental reporting, which is known around the world for its quality and independence. In April 2019, the Columbia Journalism Review said, 'For some time now, by far the best daily reporting on climate change has come from the Guardian, which covers the science, politics, economics, and health aspects throughout the world with great force and clarity.' We will prioritise and give prominence to environmental journalism from The Guardian and Observer, bringing you the news and information you need. Our reporting on the environment, from our international team, will never be influenced by commercial or political interests and will always be rooted in scientific fact.

Read morefrom our editors

"The Guardian will give the climate crisis the attention it demands

Katharine VinerEditor-in-chief

"The climate crisis is the defining issue of our lifetimes, and informs all our journalism

John MulhollandEditor, Guardian US

"Only a properly informed debate can help us avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis

Lenore TaylorEditor, Guardian Australia

 We will report on how environmental collapse is already affecting people around the world, including during natural disasters and extreme weather events. We will bring you the world’s leading voices on the climate crisis, and we will cover issues across food, travel and lifestyle in order to help readers live sustainably. We will undertake investigations into the economic and political structures that underpin the carbon economy, and examine the role the climate crisis plays in many other critical issues - including inequality, migration and the battle over scarce resources.

 We will use language that recognises the severity of the crisis we’re in. In May 2019, the Guardian updated its style guide to introduce terms that more accurately describe the environmental crises facing the world, using “climate emergency, crisis or breakdown” and “global heating” instead of “climate change” and “global warming”. We want to ensure that we are being scientifically precise, while also communicating clearly with readers on the urgency of this issue.

 The Guardian will achieve net zero emissions by 2030. We are developing a detailed plan for how to achieve this, involving a full audit of our emissions. Our priority will be to reduce our carbon footprint meaningfully and permanently.

 We will be transparent with our progress. We have announced today that we have become the first news organisation to acquire BCorp certification, which means joining a community of businesses from across the globe who openly commit to driving positive societal change. This is an important milestone in public transparency and accountability for our global environmental footprint.

Environmental journalism from the Guardian and the Observer has a powerful impact around the world and we have received financial support from readers in more than 180 countries. This support means we can keep Guardian journalism accessible to everyone. We hope you will consider supporting Guardian journalism today with a contribution or subscription — every form of support, however big or small, is so valuable for our future.

I was quite excited to see the news of the pledge. I naively assumed that this would be a blueprint that other UK organisations, big and small, could use. Sadly I was very wrong. As a friend of the Guardian, I was more than disappointed. So here are my views on their pledges.

1.  We will continue our longstanding record of powerful environmental reporting, which is known around the world for its quality and independence. 

So the Guardian is going to carry on doing what it's been doing for years and give itself a pat on the back for being marvellous. This is not a good start. Any organisation which starts by patting itself on the back and saying how marvellous it is, needs a good kick up the backside. My view is that we all need to do more and if we start from the perspective that we are amazing it means we have our heads shone up a place where the sun doesn't shine. There are plenty of things wrong with how the Guardian does their business and fixing these should be priority one, before lecturing us on how marvellous they think they are.

2. We will report on how environmental collapse is already affecting people around the world, including during natural disasters and extreme weather events.

I despaired when I saw this. Surely this should go without saying. This has all the hallmarks of an editorial team sitting around and saying "we'll what should we be reporting on about climate change". They have not done the one thing that they could that would really make a difference. They give news space over to people who are at the front line of fighting climate change. They should be encouraging genuine debate and they should "blank column" polluting organisations who won't respond to serious questions. The Guardian has a massive platform and there are plenty of people out there, who are not journalists but who have important things to say. The paper should also offer serious editorial support to make sure their messages are put across eloquently. I have no problem with balance, so have a section a day (maybe a page) entirely written by members of XR, etc, with responses (or blank columns if they refuse) from polluters etc. Also engage academics and experts to provide proper commentary on these.


3.  We will use language that recognises the severity of the crisis we’re in.
This is yet another typical Guardian response to a forthcoming disaster. It should go without saying that they should use appropriate language. The Guardian is a serious paper and are they seriously saying that they've been using inappropriate language up until now. It is worthy to state this, but we've had three pledges so far and it has all been waffle.

4.  The Guardian will achieve net zero emissions by 2030. 
This made me feel physically sick. XR have called for zero emissions by 2026 for the UK and yet the Guardian cannot even get their act together for over ten years, missing the XR target by four years.To launch this "climate change pledge" without even bothering to do a full environmental audit and giving themselves a date that is no way challenging, exemplifies why the organisation is fundamentally in denial. What will be in the audit? We will have to wait and see, but there are many things that the Guardian could do to meet the target by 2026 rather than 2030. Here's just a few things.

a) Adopt a 'No company car' policy.
b) Ensure all staff use public transport, cycle or walk for journeys in the UK, unless impossible due to remote locations. Ensure that this is reflected in payment of expenses.
c) Carbon offset all air travel.
d) Encourage working from home and give staff allowances for installation of solar panels, rather than pay rises and bonuses where possible.
e) Commit to only having fully sustainable food and drinks on all Guardian locations.
f) Use recycled paper
g) Use electric vehicles for all transport of goods and materials.
h) Ensure all buildings and offices are properly insulated and energy efficient and a carbon offset paid to ensure a carbon neutral goal achieved by 2026.
i) Do not take advertising from any major polluters.

I accept that some of that is difficult, but if you are going to make a pledge and blow your own trumpet, you have to suffer pain to achieve it.

5.  We will be transparent with our progress.
Again, this should go without saying. What really grated with me is this pledge finished with the following "We hope you will consider supporting Guardian journalism today with a contribution or subscription — every form of support, however big or small, is so valuable for our future." So the peldge ends with a call for cash. It strikes me that this whole "Climate Change Pledge" is more like a clever bit of marketing with a rather tardy attempt to drum up some cash at the end.

If you are not familiar with this blog, you may think I''m one of the army of Guardian bashers, who despise the paper. The opposite is true. It is one of the two papers I get delivered every day and I read it before I get out of bed. I am a Guardian Top London blogger, and I have written and contributed articles to the paper previously. I thought very long and hard about writing this blog, but concluded that if you can't tell the truth to your friends, then you are not a friend at all. I 100% support the Guardian's ambition which states We want the Guardian to play a leading role in reporting on the environmental catastrophe.  As a friend I want to help them achieve it and I want them to do it in a way that the malicious soul's at large in society can't ridicule and lampoon with ease.

Simon Hoggart RIP - Farewell to our Spiritual Dad ! The end of an era in more ways than one

On the 5th January 2014, Simon Hoggart, sketch writer for the Guardian Newspaper passed away. For me, this is a tragedy. Simon is one of the few reasons I have persisted in buying the Guardian. His sketch was always the first thing I read (except when Manchester City FC were doing well). His style of writing was, to me, the model of what political writing should be. Funny, incisive and to the point. Pomposity was pricked, vanity was ridiculed and the stupidity was lampooned. Simon had a great eye for detail. Whilst many other writers struggled to bring the House to life, Simon always managed to notice something from left field. It could be Michael Fabricants wig or Bernard Inghams brick red face. People who may otherwise have been so dull and uninteresting that they would pass you by, suddenly took on a whole new life. Often these marginal characters seemed more interesting than the main players, who we all knew so well from TV and Radio.

In the early days of the Barnet Eye, I would positively try and copy Hoggarts style. I would look at the various councillors in Barnet Town Hall and in a very Hoggartesque manner, try and pick up on the details of their mannerisms. It could be Mike Freer's twitchy foot, that took on a mind of its own whenever he was under pressure, or Councillor Andreas Tambourides eyes following Councillor Caroline Clappers shapely derrier, whilst wearing a Sid James like leer, whenever she walked across the council chamber, as his wife glared at him. At the meeting after I raised this issue in my blog, Mrs Tambourides continually poked Mr Tambourides and pointed in my direction every time his eyes started to wander. Councillor Tambourides became the Sid James of the Town Hall. Sadly Councillor Clapper went on to greater things in Hertfordshire County Council and these days Mr Tambourides just sits there looking rather glum. 

In the early days of this blog, I rather naively thought that all of the Councillors were pretty much of a muchness and no real decisions were ever taken at the Town Hall. I just thought they were a bunch of incompetents, paid a lot of money to do nothing much. I felt they did nothing much rather badly. Then it became clear that there was an evil Masterplan, called One Barnet. Things became serious and I drifted away from writing in a Hoggartesque jokey style about meetings. I also found I enjoyed writing the blogs less. 

These days I find I enjoy writing about subjects such as Cancer and Dyslexia far more. I have only persisted with the Political blogs about Barnet Council out of a sense of duty to the likes of John Sullivan, who has staunchly supported me over the years and whos disabled daughter Susan has no one to speak out for her. Following the betrayal of disabled people by politicians of all parties in Barnet Council over the Your Choice Barnet task and finish meeting, the final nail had been put in my love of writing this blog in its present form. I have sacrificed several hours a day, which I could have spent enjoying myself with my family and building up my business to keep a daily record of the shenanigans in Barnet. Instead I sit for hours a day in front of my laptop.

And who's fault is this? Well I could blame myself, but that would be no fun at all. Nope, I blame Simon Hoggart! Without his way with words and his example I would have had a great five years. And what a traitor has has been to me, whilst I've blogged about my very under control, low grade, non aggressive Cancer at length, Simon was literally being eaten alive by pancreatic cancer, one of the most virulent and nasty forms of the disease and keeping schtum. I feel truly saddened that Simon did not turn his wicked wit on the disease. 

His death has made me sit and reflect on what I've achieved at the Barnet Eye. I've no idea whatsoever if Simon ever knew of the monster he'd spawned. As his bastard son (in a literary sense), I feel  a great sense of bereavement at his death. I am genuinely overcome with grief. I had noticed that his columns had not been appearing in the Guardian recently, without picking up on the reason. I had hoped that he was having a deeply dirty relationship with a dusky wench, which he was hiding by throwing regular sickies. Sadly the truth was not so happy. 

Simon has passed at a time when I've fallen out of love of writing. It is perhaps the bleakest day in the winter of my career as a blogger. I am doing a non alcoholic January, so I can't even drink to his passing. How cruel a fate at the death of such a close (literary) family member. Especially for someone of Irish?Australian ancestry such as me, who always mourns a family death with an alcoholic splurge. 

I have mourned the passing of young punk rockers, feeling that the world had punched me in the face. It never occurred to me that the death of a middle aged sketch writer and wine critic could leave me feeling so bereft. I feel like a page has turned, an epoch has ended. I was going to attend a Council meeting tonight, but I simply couldn't face it. The death of Simon Hoggart is for me, the end of an era. In more ways than one. 

There is a fantastic obtuary here - http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jan/06/simon-hoggart-obituary - written by proper journalists who actually knew him. I thoroughly recommend it. As Simon also was a bit of a lover of a good bottle of plonk. A man after my own heart, Tonight I will raise a solitary glass of Red wine to Simon Hoggart. He deserves it, even if I don't.

The Glorious 12th - Some Barnet Tories prefer to beat bigger birds than Grouse !

Yesterday was the Glorious 12th. This is a momentous date in the calendar for a number of reasons. It is annual persieds meteorite shower, a major event in the astronomical calendar. It is also the start of the grouse hunting season. On large estates up and down the country, teams of beaters were out driving semi tame, hand reared birds into the air to be ritually slaughtered by the great and good. Apparantly it is jolly good fun and the birds love it! They have a lovely mollycoddled life, compared to the poor old battery hens which are in that tasty KFC you munched on when you came out of the pub last night.

I was amused to read the Guardian today. In the Diary section on page 29, Hugh Muir takes great schaudenfreud in the demise of former Tory bigwig and convicted criminal Brian Coleman. Muir recalls how Coleman went in the space of a little over a year from being one of the highest paid politicians in the country to being a crumpled figure of ridicule in a party of two (him and his mum). As Mr Muir recalls, the major cause of his demise was his penchant for beating birds! Unfortunately for Mr Coleman, the bird he chose to beat up was feisty cafe owner and leader of the local traders in North Finchley, Helen Michael. Coleman rather inadvisedly chose to indulge in his favourite sport outside a cafe packed with her loyal customers, on a busy hight street, in full view of a CCTV camera. (Some people may object to the term "bird" to describe Helen. Coleman prefers more colourful language to describe the local female populace, such as old hags, screaming harpies and Finchley fishwives being some of the playground insults dished out.)

When the CCTV footage was shown in court, there was a visible gasp at the sheer brutality of the thuggish violence of the unprovoked attack, by the odious oaf Coleman. His lawyer rather bizarrely announced that "the video footage is not how Mr Coleman recalls the incident". In other words, he is such a liar that he's even lied to himself.

Brian Coleman was one of the most promenent members of the Chipping Barnet Tory Party. During the period from 2009-2012, the Chipping Barnet Conservative association saw a 43.9% decline in membership.  Whilst it is clear to all and sundry that many people would not wish to be associated with a party that is run by woman beating oafs, Mr Coleman yesterday sought to blame someone else. He posted these rather bizarre tweet

Sunday Times reports Chipping Barnet Con members down from 787 in 2009 to 441 in 2012 This is the period when Richard Cornelius was Chairman
— Brian Coleman (@BrianTotteridge) August 11, 2013

@BrianTotteridge it has since fallen further over Europe,Gay marriage and supporters of mine leaving . Whole branches have ceased to exist
— Brian Coleman (@BrianTotteridge) August 11, 2013

Only Brian Coleman could claim that whole branches of the Conservative Party have ceased to exist in protest at him being thrown out for being convicted as a criminal ! Coleman clearly failed to spot the fact that during the period he chose, he was flying high for most of the time and was still technically a member at the end of 2012, as he was suspended awaiting a criminal trial. What is also rather bizarre in his tweet was the observation that people have left over the Tories policy on gay marriage. The Tory MP leading the parliamentary charge on this issue was Mike Freer. Mike Freer came to promenence as Leader of the Barnet Council. His takeover was engineered by his buddy Brian Coleman in a palace coup 24 hours after the 2006 council elections, replacing popular Brian Salinger as leader. As both are high profile gay politicians, it is perverse to assume Coleman was unaware of Freer's views when he thrust him to the helm of the Barnet party. As ever Coleman conveniently forgets his own role in the promotion Mike Freer and thus giving his views a wide platform. Mike Freer has gained much respect nationally for his honest and compassionate views on the subject. Coleman doesn't mention the dire position of the Hendon Tory, where Matthew Offord has come out against his old buddy Freer as a staunch opponent of gay marriage. Surely if his analysis were correct, the Hendon party would be seeing surging membership.


Whilst I am not exactly impressed with the policies of the Tories under Council Leader Richard Cornelius, I doubt a single person resigned as a member of the Chipping Barnet Tories because they were appalled at the behaviour of Richard Cornelius. On the other hand, I've spoken to dozens who were deeply shocked at the way oafish Coleman has conducted his business. He still seems to be in complete denial as to what a pariah and laughing stock he is becoming. As Hugh Muir wryly observes of Coleman "A twerp is still a twerp".

My disgust at an ill informed and misleading article on the Guardian website

Yesterday, campaigners in Barnet had a bomb dropped on them. I have yet to establish with this was simply a case of "friendly fire" or whether a fifth columnist has stuck a knife in our back. I was alerted to the issue by an email simply saying

Apologies just seen this article we need a mass response
http://www.theguardian.com/local-government-network/2013/aug/09/one-barnet-decision-democracy-alive-and-well

The Guardian has historically been supportive of the One Barnet protest campaign and has written many well informed articles exposing the lack of democracy at the heart of the project. To then read an article stating that the whole thing is good for local democracy was, to say the least, incredible. At around 6pm, that slight tremor in the ground people felt in Barnet was not a mini earthquake or the start of fracking in Totteridge. It was my jaw hitting the ground. I cannot believe that a national paper allowed such an artcile, written by Hannah Fearn,  a jobbing journalist, to appear without even bothering to ask her if she'd checked her facts or spoken to anyone in Barnet who had been involved with the protest. My gut feeling is that Ms Fearn realises that Barnet has a well organised protest movement and she took a conscious decision to write an inflammatory article, in the hope of raising her profile and perhaps getting a payrise.

I am working on a more considered response. Here is what I wrote to the Guardian editor responsible for placing the article.

Dear Ms Marsh,

 

The article on the Guardian Website today http://www.theguardian.com/local-government-network/2013/aug/09/one-barnet-decision-democracy-alive-and-well claims that the fact that the failure of the One Barnet Court case proves local democracy is alive and well. Nothing could be further from the truth. I write a blog called "The Barnet Eye" which has attracted over 1 million hits. I have also produced to documentary films on the subject, both featured on National TV and radio. My fellow bloggers in Barnet have also covered the subject tirelessly. I cannot believe that such an ill informed article has appeared in the Guardian. The extreme ignorance of the circumstances of the case to the author beggars and does the Guardian no favours at all.

 

How can it possibly be claimed that the One Barnet process has anything to do with democracy? The project was deliberately hidden from public gaze in the 2010 Tory manifesto. I stood for Barnet Council against the Tories in 2010 and their campaign deliberately mislead the public about their intentions. No mention was made of it anywhere in the Tory manifesto. As if it wasn't bad enough to mislead the public during an election, the Council deliberately mislead the public about its intention to consult. This was a legal obligation, but using the expensive City law firm mentioned in your article, the Council rather cunningly got around this. Both the High Court and the Court of appeal ruled that Barnet had failed in their duty to consult. The only reason both struck out the challenge of Maria Nash was because the councils clever strategy of deception had circumvented the opposition and Maria was ruled out of time.

 

There is no aspect of what has happened that is commendable. Perhaps the most laughable and ignorant comment in tour article is

 

"Much has been made of what the One Barnet affair means for local democracy. Some will claim that the decision of the Court of Appeal flies in the face of the ideals of democracy, as the local authority ploughs ahead with its plans despite the visible objection of so many residents. Rather, I'd argue that the campaign against the contracts has re-ignited local interest in local government and public services, and what they mean for us all. Local democracy is alive and well: if they don't like what they see, the people of Barnet will make their voices heard at the ballot box next year."

 

This shows supreme ignorance of the situation. The contracts have been signed. Voting for a new administration is meaningless. The contracts cannot be broken, they last for ten years and whoever is in power is lumbered. Worse than that, due to the Outsourcing and the redundancy program, with departments located out of Barnet, there is no prospect of inhousing the departments if One Barnet fails. Whatever message the voters of Barnet send, they can change nothing. How can your correspondent describe this as democratic?

 

I would suggest that in the interests of Balance, the Guardian allows the Barnet bloggers to submit  ajoint article explaining the situation from a position of knowledge, rather than one which seems to have no bearing on reality whatsoever.

Regards

Roger Tichborne

www.barneteye.blogspot.com

You may or may not be pleased to know that the Guardian has agreed to publish a response from the Barnet Eye.

Barnet in the eye of a media storm

Six weeks ago, I asked two officials from Barnet Council whether they were aware that more people involved in local, regional and national media lived in the London Borough of Barnet than any other area in the country. They smirked and asked what relevance this had as to whether Barnet Council should negotiate over the Friern Barnet Library reopening.

I suggested that this was the reason that Barnet was the battleground for many policies and this was why they would find themselves under the spotlight, if they were unreasonable. This week we've had yet more national press coverage. Today the Daily Mirror covered the issue of Friern Barnet Library

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/friern-barnet-library-as-cuts-close-1434695

On Monday we had the Guardian covering One Barnet

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/11/local-government-democracy-outsourcing-barnet

What astounds me is the fact that most of the Council officials championing these bonkers plans haven't twigged what this means for their careers. Even more astounding is that the companies such as Capita and BT haven't twigged that Barnet is toxic and it will cause them immeasurable reputational damage if they persist with their plans. They may well make a few quid in Barnet, but unlike the other outsourcing failures in Local Government, Barnet failures will be big news. 

The former CEO of Barnet, Nick Walkley recognised how damaging Barnet was to his CV. That was why he left for a lower profile, less well paid job in Haringey. He is clearly hoping that by legging it from Barnet, he will be able to repair his reputation and say "Not on my watch guv'nor" when he gets quizzed as to why he let One Barnet fall to bits. Doubtless he'll say "I tried to warn the numpties on the Council, but they just wouldn't listen and I've been vindicated". Those of us who live here know better, but slippery Nick is no mug. Sadly the mugs have been left behind to try and implement a discredited and unpopular policy. 

Who is driving it? It was 100% clear that it isn't Richard Cornelius, The Leader of the Council. He seemed to barely understand the issues when quizzed at the BAPS question time last week (check the video footage if you don't believe me). My sources tell me the stand in CEO, Andrew Travers is a sceptic. Which leaves the question WHO? My sources tell me that the man behind all of this is still Mike Freer MP. He has control of the local Conservative association and is the back seat driver, pushing us over the cliff. 

Of course this is speculation. Maybe Mr Freer may like to enlighten us? If he thinks it is such a good idea, I'm sure that  there are many people in the media who'd like a chat. If he thinks it is a bad idea, he has a duty of care to say. 

Barnet is in the spotlight again

Once more, the London Borough of Barnet finds itself in the National spotlight. The Guardian has a large article about how Barnet Council are completely disengaged from the community - http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/oct/12/friern-barnet-library-cuts-fight?commentpage=last#end-of-comments - Yesterday I attended the Friern Barnet Peoples library with Charles Honderick to film a couple of interviews for the film Barnet - The Billion Pound Gamble. We interviewed a refugee from Rwanda named Alfred who told how the library had literally saved his life when he arrived as a refugee with his children. His moving story is one of success and hope. His eldest children are at University. He told how he was able to recommence his own studies and how how was thrilled to find books in Latin and Greek at the library. The right wing press demonises Asylum seekers. Alfred dispels the lies and shows that as a nation we are lucky to have people from all around the world, who see Great Britain and the London Borough of Barnet as a safe haven.

You can find out more about the film at the film website  -  billionpoundgamble.co.uk - please make sure you come to the World Premier on Monday 22nd October at 6pm, at the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley. It is only £1 and the Cinema would be worth a visit even if there wasn't a great film about Barnet being shown!

At a recent meeting with Barnet Council officials, I explained that Barnet will always find itself in the media spotlight, due to the huge numbers of journalists and other media people who live locally. This prophecy is proving true.

Friern Barnet Library lives to fight another day

I've just returned from Friern Barnet Library. What a morning. We were down at Finchley Court earlier for the eviction hearing for Barnet Council in their attempt to evict the local groups which are now running the Peoples library. We had a top gun judge. He walked in and it was clear from the first second that he sat dowbn, he was none too impressed with the Council case. The council had asked for a half hour hearing. It was clear that the case could last a day or even two days. Judges have better things to do than preside over pointless hearings. 

He outlined a timetable and stated that the council must give the opeople who they are trying to evict "full disclosure". What this means is that when the Council say they haven't been in negotiations, they have to prove it. It also means that they will have to disclose the deeds to the site, which may well hold a little problem. It also means that the Peoples library will be open until Xmas.

The Council had used the argument that the occupiers had no case whatsoever and should be summiraly dismissed. The judge commented that it was clear that there was a case and it should be heard in full court. He had the air of a man mildly irritated thata  Council could prepare such a slapdash argument. 

I know a couple of judges (not particularly well, but well enough to have shared a few boozy evenings with). Their job is to impart the law with credibility and common sense. When a case is presented which lacks these issues, it discredits the law. The subtext of what the Judge was saying to Barnet Council was "If you want a possession order, you have to present a very credible case, because the eyes of the world are on us and if we apply the law badly, it will reflect badly on the legal profession".

The judge also made sure all accredited press had their passes checked. He knew that National papers were represented. Whatever is written about the procedings, I am pretty sure it will reflect well on the learned judge and his wisdom. Councillor Daniel Thomas, the cabinet member responsible for the commercial portfolio was in attendence, hoping to make a triumphant victory speech in front of the camaras as the judge administered the death sentence for the library. The Barnet Eye introduced him to the 40 odd people in attendence and suggested a round of applause for the Deputy Leader of Barnet Council. Everyone duly obliged. Mr Thomas was clearly taken aback by this good natured response. When it became clear that the judge was not going to give him the photo opportunity he craved, our gracious deputy leader legged it. He departed the room with Tirza Waisel, the Leader of Barnet Alliance for Public Services. One of the assembled journalists asked if she was his partner. As Tirza came back in after about 30 seconds, I hadn't stopped laughing by the time the question was answered. For me that was the cherry on the cake of a rather good morning. 

After the hearing, a group of us adjourned to the Library for a cup of tea. A German TV crew arrived as well as a team from the Guardian (keep an eye on Saturdays edition) including Robert Booth and a photographer. My fellow bloggers Mrs Angry and Citizen Barnet also attended. Robert seemed fascinated by the sheer bonkersness of Barnet politics. Every seemingly innocuous question opened up a whole dismal catalog of intrigue and broken promises. All of this whilst children played, old ladies dropped off books and elderly ladies sipped tea and ate biscuits. People dropped in and out, borrowing books. I hadn't been to the library for three weeks. In that time, the shelves had filled up. It is quite amazing to see the transformation. 

The tragedy is that the Cabinet member for libraries, Robert Rams, hasn't been down  to Friern to see what is going on. If he had, I suspect he may change his opinion. It really isn't too late. Maybe he should come down with Councillor Thomas. Rather inexplicably and completely unrelated to the Tirza incident, one of the Ladies of the left in Barnet Politics confessed that she thought Councillor Thomas is rather handsome, if a little dim. Maybe he's in the wrong job and should consider a career as a male model. I'd suggest he specialises in non speaking parts. With his charisma, he'd excel at those. 

G4S - A lesson for BT and Capita

This morning it was announced that G4S's share price has continued to plummet. The companies share price has lost £700 million as a result of the Olympics fiasco. There is an important lesson for the bidders involved in the One Barnet program from all of this. G4S will not loose £700 million as a result of the Olympics cock up. As I understand it, they will still get their £50 million management fee. The reason the share price has dropped through the floor is because they now have a national reputation of non delivery.

If you are working for any organisation and G4S are bidding for the contract, would you hire them now? It may well be that they would do a fine job, are far cheaper than the competition and have put the best bid in, but they have lost trust. If we analyse why, the reasons are fairly obvious. They were blinded by the glow of a large contract and didn't think through whether they had the skills or resources to meet the needs of it.

You may ask, where are the similarities between the Olympic security and the One Barnet program. They are clear to see. Barnet is now the largest London Borough. The CEO Nick Walkley has committed the Council to be the first to become "a commissioning council". In other words the scale of what is being attempted in Barnet is way beyond any other outsourcing. The complexity of the contract is such that they've already spent £9 million on consultants reports and want another £10 million to finish the work. That is £19 million pounds just to figure out how to do it. The project has ground on for four years, delivering nothing,.

The money spent so far could have saved every shut library, day care centre and paid for the continuation of sheltered housing wardens. In short, all of the cuts in Barnet have simply paid the fees for One Barnet consultants. What have they produced? Reports recommending more reports, done by themselves. The fact that this wasteful project has gobbled up £9 million so far is a scandal in itself, but merely shows the difficulty of what is being attempted. Mr Walkley and Conservative cabinet member such as Councillor Robert Rams claim there is "no alternative", but their quiet clearly is. The Association of Public Service Excellence have demonstrated this. Mr Rams tried to describe  APSE as a "left wing organisation", without actually bothering to check what they are and who they work for. They have delivered real savings to councils of all political flavours up and down the country.

Anyone who has bothered to look (and trust me, Barnet bloggers have), know that Barnet Council is riddled with inefficiency. Yesterday, three Barnet bloggers went to see the Borough auditor to discuss concerns regarding the procurement process in Barnet and to discuss specific contracts. The response of the auditor? He sent one home, because he could only cope with two people at a time.

Yesterday evening, at the Cabinet resources committee, Councillor Jack Cohen gave an impressive speech detailing how Barnet Council had rejected a bid for Hendon Football Club's old ground of £3.5 million in favour of a lower £2.8 million bid from a property developer. Councillor Cohen rightly asked why the council, in a time of desperate financial need, was not trying toa chieve the highest price?  He also detailed all manner of shenanigans going on with the property company which is buying the ground.

This is yet another example of waste in Barnet, which the council clearly lacks the organisational abilities to deal with. So lets sum up the situation. BT and Capita are bidding (as G4S) did, for huge contracts, of great complexity, on a previously unprecedented scale. Barnet Council (as it is now clear with the London Olympics) do not have the track record or the management skills to successfully administer the project. This has been demonstrated in Barnet by Metpro, Aerodrome Road, the SAP fiasco, RM Countrysides to name but a few. Perhaps the one thing which BT and Capita think may be different is the level of public interest in Barnet Council compared to the Olympics. If this is the premise they are working under, they should think again. The list of national, regional and local TV, Radio and press coverage of various Barnet issues is endless. I have personally been involved with the following over the last few months, the BBC One Show interview, ITV Tonight used my film footage, I wrote an article for th Gaurdian, I was interviewed by the Evening Standard, and have been featured in a weekly basis in the local press (so much so that when I wasn't in the paper a few weeks ago, my aunty rang to see if I was alright).

If BT and Capita think "well that's only a few stroppy local bloggers", think again. Every major news organisation has offices in London, as well as hundreds of independent documentary makers and other freelance journalists. More live in Barnet than anywhere else in the UK. The power of such people can be demonstrated by the Stephen Lawrence case. Stephen's father Neville knew the editor of the Daily Mail. As a  result Stephens case was kept in the public eye until justice was done. If BT and Capita think that a massive story on the doorstep of the worlds media will be ignored, think again. The first cock up which hits a major news producer or editor in the pocket, or affects their parents, children or friends, will result in a media frenzy, which will make G4S look tame.

I produced this graph to help illustrate the possible effect on the shareprice of BT and Capita if OneBarnet goes TU.

Having seen £700 million wiped off G4S shares as a result of the Olympics cock up, I do wonder if I was a tad optimistic? Still I don't own shares in BT or Capita anymore, so what do I care?

The Friday Roundup - 2/3/2012 - Salacious stories, lazy Tories and Jackanory

The Barnet Eye weekly Roundup

Welcome, one and all, to the Barnet Eye Friday roundup. There are two good news stories about Barnet in the Hendon/Barnet Times online edition today.

The first is the calling in of the decision to close Friern Barnet Library. This means that local Tory Councillors have recognised the worth of the library and the loss of amenity to local residents if it shuts. There is plenty of mileage left in this story, but at least it shows the council is starting to listen to residents. The Hendon Times covers the story here :-


http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/topstories/9565503.Campaigners__thrilled__library_closure_referred_back_to_Cabinet/

The second story is that Award winning film director, Ken Loach, has given a resounding thumbs up to A Tale of Two Barnets, the documentary film made by US Director Charles Honderick about Barnet.

http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/9564591.Barnet_film_given_thumbs_up_by_Loach/

You can check out the film website here - http://ataleoftwobarnets.yolasite.com/ - You can see a rough cut of the Ken Loach interview on the Gallery page here - http://ataleoftwobarnets.yolasite.com/gallery-and-trailers.php - well worth a look.

And on to the Press group of newspapers. Their big story is the fact that Councillor Brian Coleman is YET AGAIN up before the standards committee. Yet again he has failed to treat people with respect and yet again he's been sending people insulting emails. This despite the Standards committee ordering him to have training, which he has not done, to learn how to write polite emails to taxpayers.

http://www.edgware-today.co.uk/news.cfm?id=7859&headline=Standards%20committee%20set%20to%20rule%20on%20councillor%E2%80%99s%20conduct

Perhaps the saddest story is that of Ryoji Ogi, 35, from Finchley, who was convicted of using a shoe camera to film up schoolgirls skirts. I took particular interest in this story, because a friend of mine apprehended a pervert doing this on a local bus last year. The person in question was filming girls of primary school age. I personally would like to see Mr Ogi get the harshest sentence possible for his crime. It is clearly pre-meditated and I believe it is a violation of innocent youngsters for the sickest form of personal sexual gratification. The longer Mr Ogi is kept away from vulnerable younsgters, the better.


http://www.edgware-today.co.uk/News.cfm?id=7798&headline=Shoe%20camera%20pervert%20guilty%20of%20filming%20up%20skirts

So on to the blogs of Barnet.

Broken Barnet has found yet another dodgy arrangement, a year after the Metpro Scandal and the assurance from Barnet council audit department that there were no other such contracts.

http://wwwbrokenbarnet.blogspot.com/2012/03/friday-joke-one-year-after-metpro.html

Mr Reasonable talks about the One Barnet project and the "preferred bidders" for it, BT and Capita Symonds. He notes the high quality of debate on items of huge financial importance.

http://reasonablenewbarnet.blogspot.com/2012/02/hello-bt-and-capita-what-barnet-expects.html

Citizen Barnet is also delighted with the news about Friern Barnet library. She reproduces in full the the letter of thanks from the Friern Library Campaign. This pays tribute to everybody's favourite Conservative Councillor, Kate Salinger. Kate is universally respected on all sides for her honesty and integrity and her willingness to engage with local people and groups, such as the library group. We need more councillors like her on all sides (Mrs Angry even pays tribute to her in the film A Tale of Two Barnets). Kate's integrity and high esteem has been recognised with her appointment as Deputy Mayor. Mill Hill Councillor, Brian Schama has got the job of Mayor. Brian beat me to the job of Councillor in the Mill Hill Council election, two years ago. He's a top bloke and I'm pleased at his selection. He's one of the good guys.

Labour Councillors, Barry Rawlings and Pauline Coakley-Webb are also mentioned.

http://citizenbarnet.blogspot.com/2012/03/real-lifeline-thrown-to-friern-barnet.html

I was also going to list the latest exciting story from the Barnet Bugle, Ex Councillor Daniel Hope's pro Barnet Tory blog, but lazy old Dan hasn't bothered to post anything since Theresa Villiers fell off her bike on January the 26th. Mind you, compared to Councillor Robert Rams, he's a workaholic - Sheepsjacksie hasn't posted to his blog since December the 22nd - http://robertrams.wordpress.com/ sadly, Councillor Ramsbottom would never make Jackanory with the standard of his prose and appreciation for the English Language - If you are interested in the Barnet Tory point of view, I'd suggest you follow Daniel on Twitter. His tweets are absolutely fascinating, here is this weeks finest example :-

https://twitter.com/#!/barnetbugle/statuses/175290871753871360

KFC in Muswell is no more! Don't rejoice just yet... it's now become "Kennedy Chicken".

Retweeted by The Barnet Bugle Ltd

And finally from our roundup, the best of the week. Mr Mustard exposes a Barnet Council secret paper. Sadly, the paper reveals nothing at all. As to why it's secret, I've no idea whatsoever, apart from the fact that Barnet Council has an overbearing secrey culture, which is to the detriment of a well run organisation.

http://lbbspending.blogspot.com/2012/03/why-was-this-dpr-top-secret.html

Before I sign off, here is a call to arms for everyone in Barnet with a story to tell.  As someone who has seen first hand the power of guest bloggers, I can give testament to the value of telling your story. I subscribe to "Metropolitan Lines" the Guardians online newsletter for London. This arrives every Friday. They are asking for Londoners to contribute their stories. Metropolitan Lines is edited by Dave Hill, who has been a staunch supporter of this blog. - Here is what the Guardian want.

Coming up: special announcement
From Monday for two weeks the Guardian will be inviting its readers to participate in a unique crowdsourcing project about London and its forthcoming mayoral election. Each day at Comment is free and my London blog I'll be inviting you to contribute policy ideas to our very own Manifesto for a Model Mayor, which will be published in e-book form by the end of the month. 

An article telling you more about this exciting exercise in Guardian open journalism will appear on Sunday morning at 11.00. The aim is to paint a picture of a dream mayoral candidate and the policies to bring his or her vision for the capital to life. What sort of London do want a mayor to help build? Get thinking now. We need your help!

You can sign up for Metropolitan Lines here - http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/signup/2009/may/08/london?CMP=twt_gu

Sometime today ?

Sometime today or if traffic slows down (we've had 400+ hits already at 12:16) tomorrow, the little blog hit counter in the top right hand corner of this blog will hit 400,000. For me, this is a stunning achievement. As a dyslexic who couldn't read properly until I was 12 years old, having so many people read what I have to say is mindblowing. In actual fact the number is somewhat higher, as Blogger stats started in May 2009 and I'd been running the blog for eight months then. As it is the only number we have, then I guess we'll have to make do.

I can't take all of the credit, in fact I take very little. There are the guest bloggers, the "sources" within Barnet Council, the Councillors (of all sides) who take the time to have little chats and tell me where to look for the things I need to know, the people who tell their friends about the blog, the other bloggers who have linked to me. A special thanks to Dave Hill at the Guardian for making me one of his first listed London bloggers. It has given me a veneer of respectability I really don't deserve.

What has the blog achieved? It is quite hard to say. We've not managed to make too much of a dent in the madness of the One Barnet project, despite the foolishness being their for all to see. We have however managed to scupper the Councils plans to turn libraries into branches of Starbucks. We have, mostly through our guest bloggers, given the disabled of Barnet a voice which cannot and now is not being ignored. We have had many small victories. I believe we even changed the outcome of the Conservative Leadership Election, in backing Richard Cornelius. Whilst I think Richard has been far from perfect, he is a decent man and I suspect he is a far better choice than Andrew Harper who was seen as the favourite at the time.

But mostly I just wanted to say thank you and I hope that there has been something in this blog that you have enjoyed (if that is the right word). Here's to the next 400,000 !

Mike Freer MP & Mobile phone questions

I am intrigued. If you click this link - http://www.theyworkforyou.com/search/?pid=24934&pop=1#n4, you'll see literally dozens of questions from Mike Freer about mobile phones. They all ask the same thing :-

Mike Freer: To ask the XXXXXXXXXXXX what the name is of each contractor or supplier of (a) mobile telephone and (b) mobile data services to his Department.

The XXXXXXXXXXXX is the bit that changes, on the first page of answers we have the following ( I got bored after then).

Chancellor of the Exchequer
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Secretary of State for Health
Secretary of State for Wales
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Secretary of State for Scotland
Secretary of State for the Home Department
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Secretary of State for Transport

Why does Mike Freer have such a fascination with which mobile phone provider these departments use? It is a matter of public record that Mike Freer received an honoury MBA for his participation in the BT Vital Vision program. It is clear that his work on the program resulted in a deep fascination with telephone networks. As many people in Barnet read this blog, I'd like to ask Mike Freer to write a guest blog here and explain exactly what he's deduced from his enquiries into which firms supply which departments with mobile phones. I'm sure the information is highly useful. To someone, somewhere. I'd like to know who, purely out of curiosity

Why Toyah Wilcox owes me a shag !

There is a brilliant article today in the Guardian written by Deborah Orr. She discusses whether wearing of provocative clothing is an "invitation to rape" and whether demonstrations such as Slutwalks are a sensible form of protest. Read it. She sums up with an extremely sensible parargraph on sexual politics.

But men, generally, are not the problem. Considering the flood of fantastical sexual messages they are fed by the media, they show themselves to be notably resilient and sensitive. That unlocked door? Hundreds or thousands will walk right past. But some bastard might come along who won't. Door locked, door unlocked, burglary is burglary is burglary. And only burglars, by definition, commit it.

As I read this on the 07.46 train this morning, my mind was cast back to 1978, when I was a sixteen year old teenager on the lookout for a good time. My interests were punk rock, chasing women and enjoying myself in all manner of illegal and immoral ways. The pursuit of these pleasures took me to the Nashville in Kensington to see Toyah Wilcox perform with her band. Someone had read a review that said she had a "raunchy show". I went with the then bassplayer of my band Pete Conway, who shared many of my interests in such things. My memories of the show are hazy, as is much of that period of my life, but I vividly remember what happened at the end of the show. I'd been rather disappointed as Toyah was neither as Punk as I'd hoped (she was clearly into drama, I was into anarchy) or as raunchy as I'd fantasized. It was a fairly average set from a fairly average band. As the band departed the stage after the obligatory encore, a roadie went up to the mic and shouted "Anyone who comes backstage can shag her". I was standing at the bar with Pete when this announcement was made. It seemed like too good an offer to turn down. I didn't really fancy her that much, but it was the best offer I'd had all night.

Now Toyah's kind offer had prompted a stampede for the door to the backstage area. There was a crush of eager, sweaty blokes and a team of burly bouncers telling them all to piss off. Pete Conway looked rather dejected. I suspect he was rather more keen to take up the offer than I was. He said "We'll never get through them". Of course, I came from a family where such an invitation was a challenge. I said "Of course we will, we just jump up on the stage and nip through the stage door. No one is guarding it. At that we leaped up, onto the stage and ten seconds later, we were face to face with Toyah in her dressing room.

She looked rather startled to find these two herberts standing there "Do you want an autograph?" she asked. I responded "No, I want a shag, your roadie said anyone who wanted a shag could come backstage and you'd sort them out". Toyah looked rather nonplussed. "Oh, erm well I've got a boyfriend, he'd be upset". I persisted "But your roadie said.....". At this, the guitarist of the band, realising that the situation had the potential to be rather embarrassing for all intervened and said "Listen guys, you ain't getting a shag but you can have a few beers with us". To me this sounded like a more than reasonable compromise. We sat down with the band and hepled them demolish the crate of stella's or whatever the rider was that night.

Once Toyah realised we'd been successfully bought off, she relaxed and we had a pleasant chat. As we were in the process of getting the False Dots together, the band offered us a few tips and exchanged numbers, saying "when you get a set together, give us a bell, we'll see about a support gig" (By the time we were ready, we'd lost the number). As we chatted and Toyah realised we were actually quite nice she said "Did you really think you'd get a shag?". I replied "We just did it for a laugh, I didn't know what we'd get". She told us that the roadie had said it a few times and no one had ever jumped up on the stage and come through the back door before, she said she'd been a bit frightened at first. She said she thought that it was probably time to think of a new gimmick (or words to that effect).

As we sat on the tube home, we discussed it. Pete informed me that he thought that she was really up for it when the roadie announced it. I said "No, I realised straight away that it was just a publicity stunt". Pete said "She should be careful, one day someone will take her seriously and it could all go wrong".

And that is why I thought back to the incident when I read what Deborah Orr had to say. Of course how you dress or whether you wear perfume is never an excuse to rape or sexually assualt someone. As grown ups we have to learn to distinguish between fantasy and reality. The type of female singers and the shows we have today are a million times more raunchy than the show Toyah gave us at the Nashville. Young girls today get themselves horribly pissed, wearing virtually nothing. It seems to me though that the vast majority of men respect the fact that it is up to them. I'd urge all girls to display a modicum of common sense in what they wear and where they go. Not because I think people ask for it, but because I think the world is not a perfect place and there are bad people out there.

What I do passionately believe though is that if a woman says no she means it. Any man who doesn't accept this and assaults or rapes a woman should face harsh penalties. If a man thinks he's been lead on, and a woman has subsequently refused him, he is entitled to nothing. Not even a free beer from the band. Get over it and behave.

Congratulations to Mr Reasonable

Congratulations to fellow Barnet blogger Mr Reasonable. He has received the highest accolade available to London Bloggers and been selected by Dave Hill at the Guardian as a Top London Blog. It is a well deserved accolade for some really good work. Barnet is hugely over represented in this list, which shows what a great blogging community we have (or what a crap Council, take your peak).

The full list of Dave's Top bloggers is here :-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/davehillblog/blogosphere

And my list of top Barnet Bloggers is in the sidebar (+ a few others I like)

Rog T on the Londonist !

And now for something completely different. I was recently asked by Londons top online listings magazine, The Londonist to contribute a guest article. The only brief was to do something of interest on a cross London level. Anyway, I doubt they expected what I came up with CLICK HERE TO SEE. When I was first asked by the Hendon Times to do a blog, this was the sort of stuff I really wanted to do. Sadly the ineptitude and stupidity of our local Conservative Council got in the way. When the local Tories finally succeeded in persuading the Times to stop the blog ( for exposing the council for putting Nazi propoganda on their Youtube site), I set up the Barnet Eye and all thoughts of a generally entertaining blog about life in Barnet and London went out of the window. It is great to receive some recognition from the wider media world. Dave Hill at the Guardian has long been a friend and a supporter of this blog, having chosen us as one of his very first Top London Blogs - http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/15/barnet-eye-london-blog - Every blog I write gets linked to the Guardian.

When I started writing blogs, I seriously doubted that anyone would want to listen to the rantings of a left leaning, dyslexic Punk rock guitarist. On Sunday, I took to the Podium at the Arts Depot and addressed a crowd of 500 or so local residents who cared enough about the council to give up a few precious hours of their Sunday afternoon. Having spoken after people such as Tariq Ali, Frances O'Grady and Yvonne Hossacks, I wondered for a moment if the audience thought "Who is this thick, big mouthed C**T" or similar things. Having been a performer all of my life, I know when I have the audience and I realised they were with me. I'm nowhere near as educated or clever as Tariq Ali and I've made nothing like the contribution of Yvonne Hossacks or Frances O'Grady, so why should anyone be interested in what I have to say?

As I looked out at the audience, I realised that there is a very simple reason. What I say in this blog and what I said on the rally needs saying. Afterwards people thanked me for "everything I've done". I feel like a fraud, I don't think I've done anything except speak my mind. How can that be commendable? All I really want is for everyone else to do the same thing and bombard our local Council with their views. I really want to write blogs about football, three legged dogs and Ashtanga Yoga, but I'll write about Barnet until there is no longer a need.

As to there being a need, here's a joke which a local promenant local Tory told someone I know whilst canvassing :-

My Friend : What are you going to do if you get elected?
Tory : The first thing I'm going to do is set up an advice centre for Asylum Seekers
My Friend : Really ??? What sort of advice will you give them
Tory : I'll tell them to go home

Ho Ho F*****g Ho. They are funny guys these local Tories.

Have a good evening, I'm off to see Wire at the Scala in Kings Cross.

The Guardian disses twat boy Robert Rams and future shape

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/23/barnet-easycouncil-costcutting-plan-criticised

Quote of the day from the Guardian -

Mike Freer, the former council leader who championed the reform, has since been elected to parliament and the leadership of the project passed to Rams, a less senior figure. Labour believes this may indicate a lack of belief in a project.

The Barnet Eye concurs  - Don't forget to vote in the poll - today is the final day. It seems that the Guardian, having read all the evidence has concurred with The Barnet Eye on the abilities of Robert Rams and the value of Future Shape.

The Guardian also mentions the plan to sell off the Boroughs Librarys (another of Twatboys masterplans) - If you don't want to see this happen, visit us tomorrow (Saturday) on Mill Hill Broadway between 10am and noon. Here is the second quote of the day

The council is considering closing some of its 16 libraries and relocating them with other services. A council paper this month discussed selling off libraries, because like allotments and sports clubs, they are now a "lifestyle choice" and said there is "a genuine case with safeguards to make disposals". The paper admits such a sell-off would invite "public opprobrium".

This madness can be stopped, by a concerted community campaign. It won't be easy and it will take work. The important thing is that is we fight this idiocy every inch of the way and that we name and shame those who champion it.

If I were Richard Desmond, I'd back the Lib Dems

The Daily Express used to be the newspaper with the largest circulation in Great Britain. It used to sell four million copies a day. Today it sells just over half a million. Why? Because it has lost touch. Earlier this week Leo McInstry wrote a whole page of comment explaining why the Lib Dems are a bad idea. Now whilst he's entitled to his view, if I was his boss, proprietor Mr Richard Desmond, maybe I'd take a different view. There's no shortage of papers spouting right wing nonsense, most of whom do it far better than the Daily Express and to a far wider audience. I wonder if Mr Desmond has considered how many people vote Lib Dem, either in Council or general elections. There are many millions. None of these have a newspaper which supports their views. There is a whole mass market which is being ignored. There's a chance (increasing every day) that the Lib Dems will play a massive role in the new parliament. It is a copper bottomed, once in a generation opportunity. If I was the owner of a national newspaper and I wanted to catch the public imagination, what better way to become the story and set the agenda. What better way to show that you have reconnected?

There was an interview in the Guardian on Monday with David Yelland, former editor of The Sun. This details how the national papers ignore the Lib Dems. Given the millions of supporters, I just can't believe that it would be bad business for a tabloid to give these voters the choice of a paper which reflects their views.

How to become a famous blogger

Hat tip to Roger Owen Green, one of the band of Rogers who blog. Dunno if it counts as famous, but Dave Hill at the Guardian seems to like some of my blogs. (Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.)

Barnet Council War Graves snub - Guardian Exposes Easycouncil Link

Following my blog on Tuesday about Barnet Council shamefully snubbing our local war heroes, The Guardian contacted me to find out more. I am pleased to say that they have done some more investigation and today have today reported the issue as part of a wider report into the whole Easycouncil farce - http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/feb/18/barnet-easycouncil-privatise-planning - a report every Barnet resident should read.

The issue is quite simple. If you serve in the armed forces and you come from Barnet, you should be added to the local war memorial, if you are killed. Full Stop. The concept of a cut price, dodgy memorial, tucked away miles from most of the population is quite frankly insulting. I can think of nothing more inspiring for our youngsters than a public unveiling of the addition of names on OUR LOCAL HIGHSTREET MEMORIAL. Anything less is an insult. If Councillor Lynne Hillan, Mayor Brian Coleman and their dodgy colleagues cannot see this, they are not fit to run the Borough. I can see this, you can see this and the Guardian can see this. Seems like the only people who can't are Barnet Council.

Shame on them.

Cowardly Cameron takes the 5th on superdatabases

The last resort of crooks and cheats is the right to silence. Whilst it is a fundamental principle that no one should have to incriminate themselves, the rest of us can draw conclusions as to why they chose to say nothing.

On the 3rd February, a promenant local Conservative had a full page article in the Guardian, detailing amongst other things the benefits of "Superdatabases" linking health, police and local authority databases. I felt that this was a huge threat to our civil liberties and along with other comments about allocating gatekeepers to the families identified as the "300 most expensive to the Borough", I felt that it was a matter requiring urgent clarification at the highest levels of the Conservative party. As such I sent Mr David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party an email requesting clarification. Does he agree with the concept of local Authorities such as Barnet implementing "Superdatabases"? Does he agree with his own candidates comments?

The email was sent on the 3rd February. I have not received a reply from Mr Cameron. I have written to many MP's on many subjects over the years. I have always received a reply. You may say "Oh well, Cameron is busy, he hasn't got time to respond to every email". This is complete nonsense. Mr Cameron has an office, staffed up specifically so that he can reply. If it is a trivial matter it will be delegated to one of his staff. If it is a serious matter he should reply himself. If he thinks the email is frivalous, he would respond to say so. He has the whole of the Conservative Central Office apparatus to help him.

Well I still have no idea what Mr Cameron thinks of Superdatabases. What I do know is that he is quite clearly a cowardly man who ducks important questions. Does anyone really want a coward who cannot even comment on whether big brother databases are desirable or not running the country. I can only assume that Mr Cameron is fully supportive of his candidates position on this matter, but knows it won't wash with the more enlightened libertarian Conservatives who make up the backbone of his party.

If we end up with a Conservative Government and they introduce a big brother state, where Councils can take over your life because you cost them too much money, don't say I didn't warn you. Mind you, given Governments record with IT projects, it is more likely just to be a few more tens of billions of pounds down the drain, that is the only solace I can take.

Recognition indeed !!!!!

Just a quick note to say that Dave Hill at the Guardian has added the blog to his role call of top London Bloggers. If any of the readers of this blog, old or new, want to come down and say hello, I'm doing a gig with my band, The False Dots, at the Market Bar, Lock 17, Camden Town (above Jongleuers) tonight. It's free entry and we're on at 10pm (there's a host of other bands on as well). You can listen to a few of the songs to learn the words etc at our myspace - http://www.myspace.com/falsedots - If you want to say "Hi", I'm the tall guitarist who's not Portuguese !

Thanks Dave - Dave's other top bloggers are here