Today a Gurkha broke my tooth !

Saw into a Nepali mate of mine today. He's just back from a holiday seeing rellies in Kathmandu. He bought me a couple of presents. A copy of the Himalayan with a cart being towed by a couple of goats (don't ask why) and a bag of the local delicacy. This is dried fermented Yaks cheese. Go on have one he said. Not wishing to seem ungrateful for his kind gift, I discovered something new about the Gurkhas. Even there confectionary is well hard. I now have a broken tooth and he had a damn good laugh.

(note : Spellings duly corrected and apologies for dyslexia)

Barnet Council : Metpro Rapid Response, Jeff Lustig and the war on truth

I am going to post two things here. Firstly, I'm going to post an email from Barnet Councils head of Legal, Jeff Lustig. I've highlighted a key passage in Red. I'm also re-posting some video evidence taken at the recent Council meeting where residents were denied access to the meeting.

You can decide for yourself whether Mr Lustig's statement is an accurate representation of what happened. Personally, I am rather disgusted.

Jeff Lustig Email
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Lustig, Jeff <jeff.lustig@barnet.gov.uk>
Date: 4 April 2011 11:29
Subject: Response to e-mail regarding the Council Meeting on 1 March 2011
To: adamlangleben

Cc: Leader <Leader@barnet.gov.uk>, "Moore, Cllr Alison Labour" <Cllr.Moore@barnet.gov.uk>, "Walkley, Nick" <Nicholas.Walkley@barnet.gov.uk> 

Dear Mr. Langleben,

The Chief Executive has asked me to respond to your e-mail. 

The Council will shortly be responding to your recent Freedom of Information requests but I note that the statutory period for response has not yet expired. Likewise, the Council will also shortly be responding to all of the further issues you have raised in your latest e-mail.

I do want to clarify that the security arrangements at the Town Hall on the night of the Council budget meeting were arrived at through careful preparation and liaison between Council Officers and the Police. I was personally involved with and represented the Council in some of the preparatory discussions. The Police and the Council in turn had responsibility for different elements of the security arrangements. The security company’s staff provided some support for the arrangements. A number of Council Officers were involved in implementing the arrangements for which the Council had responsibility. Contrary to your assumption, the Mayor and the Leader of the Council were very directly involved in the Council budget meeting itself and were not, therefore, involved in overseeing the security arrangements. Likewise, the Chief Executive was present in the meeting for the most part and was not giving specific orders to the security company’s staff as has been claimed.

It is worth reiterating that, unlike some other London boroughs, the business of the meeting was completed without interruption, all members of the public who wanted to listen to the debate were accommodated, either in the public gallery or the overflow room with audio link, and there were no incidents of disorder or violence.

As indicated, we will be in further contact with you as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Jeff Lustig
Director of Corporate GovernanceLondon Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London N11 1NP

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Youtube footage of residents being denied access to the meeting by Metpro & the Police on the instruction of Barnet Council nosses
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One point I will make. Do the people discussing access with the police and the guy from Metpro sound or look as if they are "violent"? Do they look aggressive? Mr Lustig claims the meeting passed without violence, the implication was that keeping these people out was the reason. As one is a Barnet Council employeee and another is an ex councillor, I think this is highly insulting.

Mr Lustig also rather cleverly claims the following :-

Likewise, the Chief Executive was present in the meeting for the most part and was not giving specific orders to the security company’s staff as has been claimed.

If you read carefully, he uses the word "specific". This is a legal get out. If he told whoever was running security "I don't think you should let any more people in" this is not a specific order, but it's effect would be pretty clear. It is high time that Barnet Council, it's leader, it's CEO and it's legal department started telling the truth. It seems that the only way this will come out is with an Independent Public Enquiry. Mr Lustig's response makes it crystal clear that this is the only way that this awful mess can be cleared up and trust restored.

Oh and one other fact of interest, here's a few visitors to my blog today :-

British Broadcasting Corporation (132.185.240.124)
Houses Of Parliament (194.60.38.10)
Associated Newspapers Ltd (195.234.243.2)

(and yes, I've had a couple of telephone calls as have my fellow bloggers who carried the Press release)

Sadly because I'm on a free stats package, I can only see the detail on the last 500 hits, so I missed the really busy time when the press release was posted before lunch. It is clear that there is massive media interest in this story. I guess there will be even more when these media outlets see what Barnet are saying and what actually happened.

Barnet residents call for a public enquiry into Barnet Council Big Brother firm

Press release — 4 April 2011

Call for a public inquiry into the relationship between

MetPro Rapid Response/MetPro Emergency Response and Barnet Council

Barnet Council has been engaging private security firms MetPro Rapid Response/MetPro Emergency Response to control residents’ access to council meetings, in particular the council meeting on 1 March 2011. One of the company directors claims the company has also monitored blogs by Barnet residents, and filmed Barnet residents at Council meetings.

Despite holding contracts worth several hundred thousand pounds with Barnet Council, MetPro Rapid Response collapsed recently owing around £400,000, including £245,000 to HM Revenue & Customs. The firm is now in the hands of liquidators; however, MetPro Emergency Response, a company recently set up by the same company directors associated with MetPro Rapid Response, continued for a while to be employed by Barnet after the collapse of MetPro Rapid Response.

As well as providing security for Council meetings, these firms provided security at several council locations, including some housing vulnerable people.

At the meeting on 1 March, it appears that MetPro security staff did not wear visible identification, breaching Security Industry Authority (SIA) regulations, whilst working for Barnet Council.

Statements made by directors of the company regarding the scope of their work for Barnet have been contradicted by executive officers of Barnet Council.

The full facts regarding Barnet Council’s contract/s with MetPro Rapid Response/MetPro Emergency Response must be revealed to the public. We need to know about the use of data collected by the company (with full consideration for data protection and human rights implications). We need Barnet Council to reveal the extent of the MetPro companies’ activities on behalf of the Council. Residents and Council staff have a right to know what activities their Council undertake. They have a right to expect the Council only to engage firms with a proven track record for such activities and to monitor such, ensuring, for example, that they comply with legislation, eg, SIA regulations.

The only way that trust can be restored in Barnet Council, following the MetPro debacle, is to hold a full public inquiry. We the undersigned call on Nick Walkley, CEO of Barnet Council, and Lynne Hillan, Council Leader, to immediately engage an independent investigator, enjoying the confidence of Barnet residents, to look into the relationship between MetPro Rapid Response/MetPro Emergency Response and Barnet Council. We demand to know what Barnet Council asked MetPro Rapid Response/MetPro Emergency Response to do and what Barnet Council has done with any information about residents it has had access to as a result of MetPro’s work.


Signed:

Alexander Clayman (N12)
Derek Dishman (EN5)
Adam Langleben (HA8)
Vicki Morris (NW9) (click on name to email)
Theresa Musgrove (N3)
Maria Nash (EN4)
Julian Silverman (N12)
Roger Tichborne (NW7) (click on name to email)
Adele Winston (EN5)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are interested in this campaign or want more details, click the above links to Vicki Morris or myself. Please email Vicki if you wish to add your name to this list.

The Barnet Eye weekly Roundup - Doom and Gloom **** Updated 4/4/2011

Photo courtesy of Vicki Morris

Before I start with the round, a little trailer ......

Keep you eyes on the blogs of Barnet this week. There is going to be a very important piece of news launched.

Onwards to the local news. First the sad news that Barnet Council, in an act of Philistinism and stupidity, closed the Church Farmhouse museum. A team of activists from the Barnet Alliance 4 Public services marked this with a demonstration as the museum doors shut for the last time. Church Farmhouse museum Curator Gerrard Roots said...
Church Farm received 9,000 visitors in 2010. Since 3rd January 2011 to its closing date it has received 3,500 visitors, all of whom wanted the museum to survive. RIP to this fine museum.

Many staff at Barnet Council were also made redundant. The head of legal services, Jeff Lustig, took the unprecedented step of emailing all councillors to draw their attention to the fact. This email was leaked to the Barnet Future Shape blog and you can view it here - http://barnetfutureshape.blogspot.com/2011/03/barnet-council-risk-to-democracy.html - either Barnet haas been hellishly overstaffed for the last eight years of Tory misrule, or it now lacks the number of staff to function effectively - make your mind up.

Other news in Barnet. 57 local citizens were honoured by the mayor for their outstanding contribution to Borough life. The council put out a press release to mark this -
http://www.barnet.gov.uk/press_releases.htm?id=2337 - now I happen to know one of the winners of the award who attended. A lavish buffet was laid on, a photographer took pictures, the Mayor made a fine speech and every winner was given a glossy booklet detailing their outstanding work. Now, I don't begrudge these citizens their day out, even in these tight times. What I think is bizarre is that the press release makes no mention of the winners, what they did or why they won the award. As a glossy book was produced, why wasn't this loaded onto the council website for display as a PDF and why didn't the press release link to it?
I rather suspect that we need details of such inspirational citizens. The fact that 57 peoples outstanding efforts warrants only a four paragraph press release is an insult to these hard working citizens. The press release is extremely patronising -  the final line of the press release :-

“It is heartening to know that we can count on so many wonderful people.”

Other news. I've just been called by a local Tory Councillor who told me Matthew Offord was on the BBC at lunchtime saying that the Jewish School in Mill Hill - Etz Chaim - will be opening in September. Now I was under the impression that this was subject to planning consent. Does Mr Offord have some inside information that the process has been in some way knobbled? Offord Twittered he was on the Politics Show, so I guess this is what he meant. The most damaging thing about Etz Chaim, which in many ways is a good proposal, is the fact that there is a perception that Barnet Council has in some way subverted the normal process to ease it through. Offord making announcements such as this surely cannot help. The school would be well advised to steer clear of political controversy, or jumping into bed with local politicians. Schools are community resources.
******** Updated 4/4/2011 -  I was contacted by a representative from Etz Chaim School who suggested that I may have misrepresented what was said by Matthew Offord. Thanks to the Barnet Bugle, who have provided a clip of Mr Offord's contribution on the show. Please watch the clip (in sidebar at the top) and decide for yourself. Many thanks to the representative of Etz Chaim as we are always happy to print corrections and clarifications where necessary ******** Ends ********

Another interesting mystery is the fact that Partingdale Lane was closed to through traffic yesterday (Sat 2nd April). No one seems to know why. This country lane was famously re-opened by Brian Coleman following legal challenges which cost Barnet Council nearly £1 million. It had been closed by the previous Labour/Lib Dem adminstration on safety grounds. Since Coleman reopened it, there have been a string of accidents.

Oh and congratulations to Councillor Hugh Rayner. Seems to me (having read the Business management minutes, special committee) that he's just given himself a promotion and he's now the most powerful man in Barnet politics. Well done to Hugh for promoting himself - No one else would !!!!!!

Mrs Angry joins the premier league

Congratulations to Mrs Angry for her promotion to the premier league of London Bloggers. She is now one of the Guardians Top London Bloggers. Well deserved. Great to see a former SVOG / SMOG getting on. I reckon it was her picture demonstrating her unique technique for cleaning bannisters wot dun it !

The list is maintained by Dave Hill, who writes an excellent London Blog, as well as a the weekly Metropolitan Lines column.

The Barnet Eye, always the best and most innovative blog in Barnet, if not the whole world has noted that whilst Dave Hill has identified a market for the best blog, there is a definite hole in the market. As a response to Dave's best London blogs, we're pleased to announce the launch of Crap London Blogs - CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO VIEW

CRAP LONDON BLOGS

Naked Lesbians in the bath the Daily Mail !

Of all the places I might want to go to if I was in the mood to look at naked lesbians in the bath, the Daily Mail wouldn't feature too near the top of my list. Imagine my surprise when I noticed whilst perusing an article featuring Theresa Villiers, a link in the sidebar to a picture of two lesbians frolicking in the bath. I must confess that I immediately lost all interest in the Villiers article and clicked the link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1372491/Coronation-Street-lesbians-Brooke-Vincent-Sacha-Parkinson-bath-sexy-photo-shoot.html

Now as regular readers of this blog will note, the Daily Mail is not renowned for it's support of feminist issues, lesbian adoption rights or just about anything to do with advancing issues to do with women. Why then, does it suddenly stick a picture of two drop dead georgeous actresses frolicking in the bath? Hmm, I wondered. Has the Daily Mail suddenly had a Pauline conversion to the cause on the road to Damascus?

Generally stories in the Mail have a slightly different angle

MELANIE PHILLIPS: A dopey judge, a lesbian teacher and an insidious bid to lower the age of consent

'Sinister' lesbian stalker broke into lawyer's home armed with rope and a knife

How I went from committed lesbian to a happily married mother of four

The general theme is that lesbians are insidious,deranged weirdos, but they can be cured with a good shag if they are really lucky. So does the the two naked lesbians in a bath story represent a sea change in attitudes at the Mail? It doesn't look like it to me. As I read the article, I was rather surprised to find that "the nations two favourite lesbians" don't actually discuss their sexuality at all. In fact it is less than clear from the article whether they are actually lesbians at all.  After all, they are actresses and their job is pretending to be somebody else. They talk about their personal friendship, but make it clear they are mates. There is a big plug for DIVA! magazine, which is a lesbian magazine, where you can read the full article.

So does it matter? Well yes, actually it does. You see, the Daily Mail is the leading bellweather of the right in this country. It forms the opinions of middle England. The one thing which the Daily Mail ruthlessly persues is it's agenda. Articles such as this are no accident. They are a smokescreen and a figleaf for the wider agenda. They are printed soley so they can see "Oh no, of course we are not a buinch of raging homophobes". They are actually quite exploitative. Red blooded heterosexual males such as myself will have a sneaky peek, purely for the titilation value and for a good snigger. I'd hazard a guess that at least 50% of the people who hit on the story, didn't read it, they just had a good letch at the pictures.

So when does the Mail like lesbians? Here's a short list

When they are drop dead geourgeous
When they are pretending to have a romp
When they are celebrities

When are they "less keen"?

When they are ordinary people, going about their daily life
When they campaign for equality and fairness
When they express strong political opinions

In short, the Mail is quite happy to exploit sexuality to tittilate its readership, sell papers and as a smokescreen for it's right wing agenda. The article does as much for the rights of lesbians to lead normal lives as the "lezza porn" mags on the top shelf of the newsagents, in fact given the overall agenda of the Mail, it's probably far more harmful to society. Oh, and if you want to know whether the Mail is getting it's message and it's agenda over, read the comments on the article. This is what the ordinary Mail readership had to say. Bear in mind these are two grown up actresses in a posed picture shoot, not axe murderers or puppy stranglers :-

-----------------
Daily Mail Comments :-

These picture shoots will come back and haunt these silly girls. Don't they get enough money in Coronation Street? I can't understand their parents either, I'm sure they wouldn't be comfortable with it, I know I wouldn't.
- Dolly, Northwest, 02/4/2011 09:21

I'm sure with all this stuff 24/7 I'm turning.......good job I'm 59 else I might..!!!! No chance for the 5 year olds though I suspect...when they are asked AT SCHOOL...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Mrs. B, G.B., 02/4/2011 09:18

This is just one of the many reasons I don`t watch The Street anymore!
- Sandra, Nottingham, 02/4/2011 09:00

oh dear, can they possibly stoop any lower?
- Sheep, UK, 02/4/2011 08:53

Totally inappropriate pictures of pretend lesbians in a lesbian magazine wouldnt have let my daughter pose for these photos they will both regret it in years to come.
- chillipepper, chester, 02/4/2011 08:37

So very very wrong, shame on you Diva Magazine at least use real lesbians - utterly pointless, inappropriate article.
- ****Oscar*****, Oldbury, 02/4/2011 08:25
-----------------
As I sign off, I'll leave you with this thought to ponder. I wonder if  Dolly, who suggested the pictures will come back to haunt them, thinks John Hurt's career was overly damaged by playing Quentin Crisp in "The Naked Civil Servant"?

Councillor Andrew Harper Special Edition - The April Fool story that didn't make the cut

I've been planning my April fool Story ever since The Deputy Leader of Barnet Council, Andrew Harper announced that he "Was going for Model X". The idea really got legs when we found out about the Barnet Council Private Security Force Met Pro Rapid Response. It was all ready to go, when I found out two things. Firstly, all along I've assumed that Andrew Harper was being lined up to take over from Lynne Hillan when she's finally knifed in May. This week, supporters of Councillor Dan Thomas, within the Conservative Group told me that Harper is dead in the water and Thomas is a shoe in. It was suggested that Councillor Thomas is a bit more receptive to some of the suggestions that this blog has been making than his predecessors.If there is any truth in what I've been told, I would most certainly suggest that Thomas would make a big improvement. It seems that it is well known that Harper is toast, so the "Leader in Waiting" jibes fall a bit flat.

The thing was, it hardly seemed worth lampooning Harper, as he's enough on his plate to deal with coping with the abject failure of his political ambitions and deep down I'm not really a nasty person. Secondly, the other strand of the wind up, Met Pro Rapid repsonse were sacked as Council contractors. As the story involved the sensational news that they'd been sacked, it was not really relevant anymore. Anyway, I showed the ill fated blog to a few mates and they said "That's actually quite funny, so you should share it with your readers".

Anyway, here it is. The April Fool blog that never was.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Barnet Council Leader in waiting sacks Met Pro Rapid Response and announces new team.

Today Barnet Council Leader in waiting, Councillor Andrew Harper sensationally announced that Met Pro Rapid Response Security Services have been sacked as security providers of choice by Barnet Council. Harper stated "I've been doing lots of research into alternative service providers and I found just the company on Page 69 of the Barnet Press. I spoke to Model X and she can offer many of the services provided by Met Pro at a fraction of the cost. She can provide services all over the Borough, she can wear black clothes on request and she can come equipped with handcuffs or a whole range of other correctional equipment. She can even film all the action for an extra fee"

Harper continued "She assurred me that some of my male colleagues can provide excellent references"

Editors Note : Please note that the picture is not actually model X, like many of the adverts in such sections, the reality is never quite as appealing.

New Jewish School in Mill Hill - Etz Chaim - video presentation of new school plans

Here is a video presentation, knocked up by the Barnet Eye technical crew of the plans for the New Jewish School - Etz Chaim - in Daws Lane. We've deliberately put no comment and no commentary on it. We suggest you use the pause button to view & review it. This contains all of the displays at the display on Weds night at Daws Lane.

You didn't fall for that one did you ??????????? Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

Nothing like a good April fool wind up !!!!!

Rog T announces the formal closure of the Barnet Eye blog

Dear reader,
Thank you for all of your support since the inception of this blog. Much as I would love to continue it, I believe I can serve the population far more effectively in my new job. Please see the attached press release from Barnet Council. I have been asked by the boss to close down the blog, this will be the last post and all content will be deleted in 14 days time, when my employment formally commences. Once again - thanks for your trust and support. Please click on image for more readable format.