Are you some kind of retard?

Victorian values. A maxim often used by Conservatives to hark back to a mythical golden age of behaviour in Great Britain. I've never bought into this. I guess in some ways I'm lucky that I'm one of the last generation of people who's parents had a living link to this "golden age". My mother was born in 1925 in Oldham, Lancashire. Her father was an Irish immigrant who'd arrived to find work and escape the troubles and ended up being conscripted into the British Army, fighting in the trenches of the Somme.

My mother and her siblings often went to school with cardboard in her shoes, to mask the holes. Her father was regularly a victim of anti Irish racism, despite having his health ruined fighting for King and Country (Ireland was part of Great Britain then). My mother remembered times before the NHS, when medical treatment was a luxury. Her own mother had a "special" birthday present aged 18, all her teeth were pulled out. This was a common practice for poorer people. It meant avoidance of expensive dental treatments later in life.

As for unmarried mothers, they were complete outcasts. If your daughter was up the duff,out of wedlock, in our community (Roman Catholic working class), she would be shunted off to a convent and the baby would be given up for adoption at birth. Cover stories such as "recuperating from consumption" were invented. One of my mothers elder sisters apparently underwent this awful process. This was done to "spare the family shame". These attitudes are discussed in the song Embarrassment by Madness.

Embarrassment

Received a letter just the other day
Don't seem they wanna know you no more
They've laid it down given you their score
Within the first two lines it bluntly read
You're not to come and see us no more
Keep away from our door Don't come 'round here no more
What on earth did you do that for?
Our aunt, she don't wanna know she says
"What will the neighbors think,
they'll think We don't, that's what they'll think, we don't"
But I will, 'cause I know they think I don't
Our uncle he don't wanna know
he says "We are a disgrace to the human race",
he says "How can you show your face
When you're a disgrace to the human race?"
No commitment, you're an embarrassment
Yes, an embarrassment,
a living endorsement
The intention that you have booked Was an intention that was overlooked
They say, "Stay away Don't want you home today
Keep away from our door Don't come 'round here no more"
Our dad, don't wanna know he says
"This is a serious matter
Too late to reconsider
No one's gonna wanna know ya"
Our mum, she don't wanna know,
she says "I'm feelin' twice as old",
she says "Thought she had a head on her shoulder
'Cause I'm feelin' twice as older I'm feelin' twice as older"
You're an embarrassment

Then there were the Victorian attitudes to mental health and handicap. People were locked up in asylums, medicated. Those with Downes Syndrome were "put in homes". Often these homes were places where all manner of physical and sexual abuse would occur. Parents of Downes Syndrome children were told "it will be the best for everybody, they will be happier". Of course no one every really stopped to consider the person who was being incarcerated. In Victorian times it wasn't unknown for these institutions to throw open their doors and charge the public to laugh at the inmates.

When I was growing up in the 1960's many of the insults commonly bandied about in the playground,, had their roots in the Victorian attitudes to mental health and disability. If you answered a question in class incorrectly a teacher would bellow "Are you a retard". If you missed an open goal for the school team, making an air shot, the call would go up "You Spastic". I even worked at a major financial institution in the 1980's, where one particularly vicious member of staff would continually set little traps for a member of staff and then ridicule him when he tripped up and made a fool of himself. He coined the nickname for this member of staff, who wore a hearing aid, lovingly calling him "Mong". As with all bullies, this person had a little clique. As I was a contractor at the company and not on the permanent staff, I behaved in a cowardly fashion and allowed what I saw to pass. I knew that said individual was vindictive and I knew it would result in the end of my employment if I commented. As with all cowards, I got my just deserts. The individual decided to have a go at me and started some extremely unpleasant rumours about me. When I left, he had a special T shirt made, with a very vile and obscene statement of a personal nature on it. I was presented with this and like all cowards, took the punishment, pretending to laugh along with it. I met another member of staff, a few weeks later for a drink. They were amazed that I'd laughed along and not taken him to task. I responded that "It was all just banter". My friend stated "It isn't, he's making everyones life intolerable and we're all sick of his disgusting behaviour, we have been trying to get him disciplined for the way he goes on". Shortly after that, he was made redundant and given a decent pay off.

The incident gave me reason to question my own behaviour. I realised that such things can't be tolerated. If I had said something at the outset, then the whole thing could have been nipped in the bud. As it was everyone had to suffer for months at the hands of this idiot. Even worse, it seemed that everyone thought they were the only person who found the behaviour repulsive. Even if the worst had happened and I'd been sacked on the spot, I doubt that I would feel worse about what happened than I do now.

When it comes down to it, I believe that society today is better for our rejection of bullying, rejection of racism, rejection of sexism and rejection of discrimination against the disabled. Of all these, discrimination against the disabled is the one that is still tolerated. Perfectly intelligent people are treated like second class citizens, just because they need a wheelchair for mobility. People who have learning difficulties are treated in an even worse manner. By and large as a society, we accept this.

I have been exchanging emails this week with several disabled rights campaigners in Barnet. I must say that sadly, many of the attitudes I describe in this blog seem to prevail in certain corridors of Barnet Council. It seems that people with special needs are not treated as human beings with dignity. It seems that their rights and needs are not considered when decisions are made. The primary driver for all decisions seems to be financial, rather than the needs of the human being in question. Sometimes it seems that rather perverse decisions are made that neither save money, nor cater for the individuals need. It seems they are made to make life easier for certain senior people within the organisation. Often no thought is given to long term costs. Decisions are made to save pennies today, which in the long term will cost thousands of pounds.

What is never considered in the care programs for people with needs, is that the more active and engaged they are, the better their general health. If they have better general health and are happy, the cost of the care package will ultimately be far cheaper. I was discussing the way men and women with care requirements are different. One statement (this is anecdotal and may well not be true, so please don't be offended. I know it is a generalisation) was made that when men with disabilities are left with nothing to do, they are plonked in front of the telly and will sit and watch it all day. With women in the same situation, they will sit in front of the telly all day whilst eating biscuits and chocolates. This means that often they are far heavier and have all manner of other issues which aren't so commonly seen in men (diabetes, heart conditions, etc). I'm not a carer so I don't know if this is true. What I can say is that having stimulating activities is a far better solution.

Two weeks ago I spent a week abroad with my cousin, she's my age (49) and has Downes Syndrome. She had a week in a very interactive group. What I can say without doubt is that at the end of the week, she was far more with it and far less withdrawn than she was at the start of the week. She actually has a resonably full program. Her sister, who liaises with Barnet Council, was told she has the fullest program of any Downes adult in their care. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I know for a fact that if it is true, there are a lot of people in the care of Barnet who's needs are being cruelly neglected.

This is a long and rather rambling blog. I felt I had to write it, because I have been troubled to understand where our attitudes as a society to caring for people have come from. I believe they are seated in the same place as the attitudes that saw blameless children labelled "Bastards" because of their parentage. I believe that as we've grown up as a society, to dump such cruel stigma for perfectly blameless people because of their parentage, we also need to move beyond the victorian attitudes to people who are in some way different.

It is a national, if not global issue. We can't necessarily change the national or global issues, but we can have a damn good stab at trying to change the way Barnet Council treat the disabled people. The best place to start would be for the Leader of Barnet Council to apologise for a Brian Colemans comments describing the disabled as "These people" and criticising the requirement for the council to provide transport for them

Courses for Bloggers - Frustration and heartache is what you've got

What is a blog? What sort of person writes it? Do they have anything interesting to say for themselves or do they just spout the brown stuff?

I saw an advert for a course on how to be a blogger today, advertised in the Guardian for £400. I can't for the life of me think why anyone would ever want to become a blogger. I most certainly didn't. I still don't. I rather think that none of the famous five Barnet bloggers ever wanted to be bloggers. In fact when I started blogging, I didn't even know what a blogger or a blog was.

I am an accidental blogger. The whole blogging thing started because I felt the Hendon Times was not covering the local music scene. I emailed the then editor, Phil Crowther and suggested that if he gave me half a page of the paper, I could write a column on the local music scene. I also used to regularly leave comments on stories on the papers website (I still do). Phil Crowther said no, but suggested I might like to contribute a blog on the Hendon Times Website. If you search hard enough, you can still find these lurking in the outer reaches of their website (here's an early example - http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/picture_gallery/2008/08/14/Rog+T+Blog+%28Imported+from+blog+module%29/3567158.Education__Education__Education___I_don_t_think_so/ ).

I also used the blog to criticise Barnet Council. Barnet Council bit back and persuaded the editor of the Hendon Times to sack me as a blogger. One of my readers, David Miller, emailed me and suggested I start my own blog on this site as he felt it was a complete travesty that the Times had sacked me. I duly did this. For the first six months of the blog, I sort of assumed about five people were reading it. I didn't install a stats monitoring package or even really care. I felt that if I started trying to chase blog hits, it would sully the purity of my writing and thought process. People kept asking me "how many people read your blog?" I would proudly tell them I hadn't got a clue. I then decided to make my blog look more like a real blog. I added Google Adsense advertising. Not because I wanted the cash, but because I felt it would make my blog look like a proper blog. This had rudimentary stats and I was shocked to find that a couple of hundred people looked at the blog every day. At this point, I installed a stats package.

The next thing that happened was a reader who designed websites emailed me. I didn't know them, but they felt I was not making full use of the blog and some things I was doing were preventing people from reading the blog. They explained how to embed videos, link to other blogs and why the colour scheme was important. If the screen is "too loud", people can't slyly read it at work, because it is obvious they are skiving. After two years, I finally met my trusty advisor and bought him a beer. I also acquired a free legal team. Again someone I didn't know, emailed me and said they really admired me and if ever I had any legal issues, get in touch and they would give me some advice. I have thoroughly abused this generous offer. Again after a year or so, I thought I should buy them a beer. When I tried to offer they said "no, I should buy you one, you are the one who takes all the risks, we need people like you". I got a free slap up meal for my efforts.

Then there are the people who have tried to intimidate me, trolls as we call them. In the early days of the blog, they would leave anonymous comments. I couldn't really be bothered with all that, so I changed the blog settings so they had to be a registered user of Blogspot. For some reason the trolling virtually stopped.

The next big innovation was the concept of "guest blogs". I guess millions of other bloggers probably do this, but I'd not seen it. I got an email from someone who wanted  me to write a blog for them. I said "nope, just write it and I'll post it as a guest blog". This concept has taken off in a big way. Some of the most popular blogs on this site have been guest blogs. We've had hundreds of them now.

The next thing to happen was the explosion of Barnet bloggers. When I started at the Hendon Times, my blog was the only thing of it's kind in the London Borough of Barnet. It would be hugely arrogant to say that without my blog the others would not have come into existance, but I think that it certainly gave a few people a few pointers. I also think that maybe my style of blogging has in a small way inspired some of the other local bloggers (although I too have learned from them over the course of time). As the other blogs developed, we started to communicate and work together. We exchange all manner of info. We also compete in a friendly way. It is a Barnet bloggers tradition that when we cover council meetings, we adjourn to the pub after for a pint and a chat. This has allowed us to hugely magnify the power of our blogs.

Another big development was thanks to Dave Hill at the Guardian, who has been a champion of the London blogging scene. He soon picked up that Barnet was a blogging hotspot and five of his "Guardian London Blogs" are based in Barnet.  This gave us Barnet bloggers credibility - http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/davehillblog/blogosphere -  the fact that a National newspaper website linked to us.

As the Barnet bloggers developed, we became more effective. This blog gets over 1,000 hits on average every day. We have had just under 600,000 hits to date. I've written articles for the Guardian, done podcasts for the Londonist and been interviewed on the One Show on BBC as a direct result of the blog.

You may ask what my "secret of success" is? I don't really know. I originally thought that it was simply because no one else was doing anything like it. Now there is a team of bloggers, it can't just be that. I believe it is because it is patently clear that the Barnet bloggers are trying to do the right thing, that people respect us.

Strangers regularly say "I read your blog" these days. After big demonstrations such as the recent march through Finchley, dozens of people came up to me and said "I really appreciate what you are trying to do".

For me personally though, most of the time blogging is sheer frustration and heartache. All of the things I blog about are to me quite basic and simple cases of right and wrong. I don't need to be clever to write my blogs, most of it is just stating the bleeding obvious. Most of the scandals we've uncovered are not tiny little things on the margins, but huge cases of incompetence. Many of the things us bloggers report on are just unfathomable, such as why councillors are letting such a hugely risky project as One Barnet proceed without proper scrutiny.

I hope the day will come when the Barnet Eye becomes obsolete, the issues we raise cease to exist and no one reads it. I don't hunt for stories to cover, the leap out. I hope that any vaguely decent, sane and intelligent person who reads the blog realises that it is motivated only by the desire to improve the place I live.

What is interesting is how often I've written really harsh and nasty things about certain people in Barnet. Many times, months down the line, people have come up to me and said "when I read that I thought you were completely out of order, but now I know the facts, I have realised you were actually too nice".

I once read a blog on how to write blogs. I realised I broke most of the rules. Being a dyslexic punk rock guitarist, this comes naturally. Here's one of the sites - http://weblogs.about.com/od/bloggingtips/tp/TipsWriteBlogPosts.htm - I am pretty sure I completely screw up on rules 1 & 5. I hope I pass on rule 2 and 3. Rule 4, I try to, but I'm pretty lazy so don't always. Then again I do far more than the local papers  regularly nick my stories without so much as a by your leave.

So there you go. Everything you need to know about how to be a famous Barnet blogger. It hasn't cost you £400. It hasn't cost you a penny. If however you value this blog and want to help us there is one thing you can do. CLICK THIS LINK and email me with your details. I am trying to raise the funds to make a follow up film to A Tale of Two Barnets - To do the job properly, we need £3,000 and we've got £750. Every little bit will help. I hope you can in some small way assist us and keep the Barnet spring alive. The money is being used to purchase some specialist microphones for interviews, to pay for our travel costs and to cover the cost of other technical issues we have to address. In making A Tale of Two Barnets, we intwerviewed 43 people. Each interview used up approx half a day of Charles Hondericks time. The editing took Charles 119 hours. We got no financial benefit from the film at all, in fact we were out of pocket by the end of it. We're not complaining, because we are proud of the film we made. We are only making the follow up because people have asked us to, having seen the first film. There are many things we couldn't cover and people we couldn't interview. These stories need to be told.

One Barnet - An article on privatisation that Richard Cornelius really should read.

What newspaper do you think the Leader of Barnet Council reads over his Shreddies in the morning? I would doubt that Richard reads The Morning Star, or even the Guardian. As such, it is unlikely that he gets too much input on the dangers of outsourcing and privatisation as he munches away and sips his Earl Gray.

So what newspaper would Richard read? I'd put him down as a Daily Express man myself. He doesn't really seem to do detail, so that means the Times and the Telegraph are unlikely. He doesn't seem like a Daily Mail man to me either. If he does, I sincerely hope he reads the article on page 12 by Ross Clark, the political commentator. As we all know the Express is rabid right and it's commentators are not socialists. Mr Clark is no fan of unions or nationalised industries. He starts his article in true rabid right form

I briefly worked for British Rail. It was hard then to imagine a worse way of running the railways than this bloated, state-owned monolith. Its trains were rattling, dirty and 30 years out of date. Its bolshie, unionised workforce used every excuse to go on strike and its defeatist management saw its job as managing decline in the least painful way it could.

Expecting a bum for brains article, I read on. What Mr Clark then went on to say, made me realise that even the most rabid Tories are seeing through the myth of private sector efficiency. He later says

In 1995, the last year of BR, the taxpayer paid £800million in subsidies. By 2006/07 that had mushroomed to an astonishing £6.8billion. It has since fallen back to £3.8billion but it is still a ridiculous figure given the efficiencies which privatisation was supposed to bring. We are paying through the nose twice over as passengers and taxpayers while fat-cat rail bosses grow rich on the proceeds.

As the article goes on, it says many things which have been written by the Barnet bloggers about the One Barnet project. Where have we heard this statement before?

One of the main purposes of privatisation was supposed to be the transfer of risk from the taxpayer to companies. The profits have certainly been transferred yet all risk seems to remain with the taxpayer.

Perhaps the grimmest statement, is what happens when private firms find they cannot make any money from contracts

Surprise, surprise, the company then realised that it could profit by accepting the subsidies then surrendering its franchise before the repayments became due. It has just saved itself £800million in this way. Astonishingly no one in government saw it coming.

The privatisation of the rail industry was an unmitigated disaster. Commuters have suffered from terrible service performance. Ticket prices have gone through the roof. As Mr Clark shows, the government is aying through the nose in subsidies and yet the private companies make ever more profits.

All of this is something which Richard Cornelius wants to impose on the people who elected him. Why? Because CEO Nick Walkley thinks it's a good idea and Richard lacks the cojones to argue with him. In an interview in the Hendon Times, Richard says "I'm a natural Conservative, I believe in doing nothing". My advice to Mr Cornelius is this. Turn your Daily Express to page 12 and read Mr Clarks article. Then ask yourself whether you still think One Barnet is such a good idea. I suspect that unless he gets off his backside and starts doing his job, after the next council elections, Mr Cornelius will be able to exercise his "natural conservatism" to the full as he'll be out of a job.

Here's the full article.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/339804/The-rail-industry-keeps-letting-its-passengers-down

One Barnet - Barnet Council believes program is not a concern to the public

Yet another dodgy DPR being snuck through today. This one is dealing with the transformation (ie Outsourcing of the revenues and benefits department of Barnet Council.

Here is the link

http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s5245/1770%20-%20Transformation%20of%20the%20Revenue%20and%20Benefits%20service%20and%20transfer%20of%20staff%20to%20the%20Customer%20Contact%20Centre.pdf

The most interesting section is the Risk Management Issues in section 3. Here is what it says

3. RISK MANAGEMENT ISSUES

3.1 Failure to implement the proposed transfer of these services will have a significant impact on the successful delivery of the One Barnet programme’s overarching aim, to create a customer-centric council and deliver a fiscal saving.

3.2 To mitigate the risk presented through the outsource of a service that is not appropriately resourced, the proposed change will enable the establishing of a stable service, realising improved performance and financial savings pre transfer and presenting a suitable platform for the strategic partner to make agreed further improvements post transfer.

3.3 Careful consideration has been given to whether this transfer is likely to raise significant levels of public concern or comment or give rise to policy considerations. It is not anticipated that any concern or comment will be raised or that the transfer gives rise to policy consideration.

3.4 The transformation of the Revenue & Benefits operating design, including the realignment of resource and improvement in process, presents significant risk to mid term recovery rates. This risk will be mitigated through the retention of management resource in the form of a Transition Team (as set out below). This team will be made up of the four displaced senior managers who will project manage the transition process over the mid term to ensure sustained improvement can take place.

This is a wonderful piece of Barnet Council Doublespeak. They say in section 3.4 that the transfer is highly risky, with potentially a potentially disasterous impact on "mid term revenues" if it goes wrong. In section 3.3 it says that they don't expect this to raise any concern or comment.  Well here's one little bit of concern and comment. If it poses a risk and the service is working well at the moment, why on earth expose the taxpayers of Barnet to any risk at all. When the council say they don't expect public concern, have they actually bothered to ask? They are clearly being dishonest, because I see a thousand hits a day on my blog (and they can see that from the blog statistics on the right hand side of the page). In short, they are lying.

In short, what the document highlights is the inherent risk to council revenue posed by outsourcing the department. Their solution is to set up a team of "displaced managers". It sounds rather like one of Baldrick's "cunning plans" to me.  "Yes Blackadder, we'll take four displaced managers and set up a team to manage the transition. They will be really motivated, knowing they'll be on the scrapheap when it's all done!"

Are there really no sane and rational people in Nick Walkley's empire any more, who can see the obvious flaw in the plan? Does the Council Leader Richard Cornelius really believe that this is a sensible scheme? Lord help us all if he does.

Barnet Council sneak through plans for a new Highway through the heart of Mill Hill

As ever, if Barnet Council want to sneak through a highly contentious and divisive issue, they do it on the sly. Typically they will do this as a Delegated Powers Report, which doesn't require discussion by the Council, which is done by officers with no democratic discussion. Secondly, they will do it in the middle of August, when no one is looking. Thirdly they will give the DPR a very neutral name, which disguises the real meaning of what is being done.

So it is again this year. I happened to notice this DPR -  http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=4259 - entitled "Highway Improvements to Bittacy Hill". Who could possibly think that such a DPR, signed off by Pam Wharfe, Interim director of Environment, Regeneration and Planning could possibly be in any way contentious? Nothing in there to worry about?

Think again. Behind the bland title, there is a huge scheme being implimented, by stealth and with no democratic debate or accountability. This scheme will effectively divide Mill Hill in two halfs and threaten a nature reserve. It will blight many homes and will have a huge effect on traffic levels through the Borough.

The real intention of what is being done is only mentioned briefly in section 8.3. It says

The proposed highway works will entail the reconstruction of the existing Bray Road access to the proposed development as part of the proposed East-West link road at its junction with Bittacy Hill

If you look carefully at the map associated with the plan, their is a big arrow at the edge of the development, directing traffic down Sanders Lane. If you look at Google, this road is shown as one long road. The road actually becomes a footpath, through a nature reserve shortly after Brownsea Walk. Barnet Council Highways department have long dreamed of making a highway from the Mill Hill East development, down Sanders Lane, into Tavistock Avenue, across Pursley Road, Down Ashley Walk, across Copthall Open Space and down to the A1, making a major intersection. This road would effectively divide Mill Hill and Mill East in two. Traffic would proliferate and huge numbers of homes, which are currently quiet roads in cul-de-sacs would become blighted by constant traffic.

The fact this is being snuck through is typical of the way Barnet Council operate. I will be writing to our local Councillors to insist they call this in and get the Highways department to explain their true intentions. I will also be notifying the Mill Hill Preservation Society and other local pressure groups.

If the council persist with this plan, I would suggest that this would spell the end of the Conservatives in Mill Hill and the end of Mill Hill as a nice place to live. I will publish the response from Councillors Hart, Schama and Khatri in due course. I will also be emailing Councillor Brian Coleman and Dean Cohen. I wish to know the true intentions of the Council in this respect and I suspect only Brian Coleman really knows. Finally, I will be emailing Pam Wharfe for the full details of the plan. As ever, nothing surprises me with Barnet Council. The Email to Ms Wharfe will be under the auspices of a Freedom of Information request.

1742 - Highway Improvements at Bittacy Hill


Map Bray Road

Book Review - Mammoth Boy by John Hart

Of all the Barnet Councillors, perhaps the most colourful is John Hart. John doesn't mince his words and one suspects that he started his career in Barnet when the minutues of meetings were transcribed on parchments, using quill pens and only the finest octopus ink. Unlike many of his colleagues, John is highly educated and used to be a lecturer. He also has a keen interest in literature and has recently written a book. I bumped into John a couple of weeks ago in Waitrose car park. I was off to buy some fish fingers for supper and pulled up next to him, just as he was loading a couple of cases of the finest Ruby Port, a side of venison and a dozen of the finest quails eggs into his 1957 Armstrong Siddley (actually I've rather egged this up, but if the meeting were a Hollywood film, that is most certainly how it would happen).  Anyway, as ever we had a brief chat. I asked John how his book sales were progressing and he said "I'm down to the last few". He then gave me a copy and I promised to review it. I cannot think of another Barnet Conservative Councillor who's prose I'd bother to read. For a bit of fun I thought I'd construct a list of possible books they could have written :-

"Brian Salinger - My Part in his downfall" by Brian Coleman
"Sheep farming in Barnet" by Daniel Thomas
"101 Uses for a dead Twat" by Robert Ramsbottom
"50 Shades of Grey" by Helena Hart
"Smoking is Good for You" by Thomas Davey

Interestingly, I googled "Book about a friendly Parking Warden" for a book for Dean Cohen and not a single title came up. Anyway, as far as I know, John Hart is alone in being a published author amongst the Barnet Councillors. I took the book away to France with me, to read on the plane. Knowing John, I expected it to be a decent read. I rather suspected that as the subject was a boy growing up in Stone Age Spain, there would be much ravishing of fulsome blondes from the tribe next door along with the decimation of the liberal namby pambies who ran said tribe. I expected a bit of neolithic capitalism, with red blooded heros getting the girl and the loot (or at least a few Mammoth steaks) !

In actual fact, the book is a very gripping read. Sadly, there is no ravishing of fair maidens. Mammoth Boy Urrell is struggling to survive in a very harsh world of nomadic tribes. He is taken under the wing of the mysterious Agaratz, who has various maladies and many mystic powers, which would in this day and age entitle him to a free disabled parking ticket in Barnet (oops sorry just read that they are going up to £10). Agaratz teaches Urrell that you must respect nature to survive. When you take a birds egg to survive, only take one, so that the bird will have a chick to hatch and carry on the breed. When berries are plentiful, don't kill animals for food. When food is scarce, share it with the animals. Agaratz also teaches Mammoth boy the beauty of art and music and introduces him to the joys of psychedelic drugs, in the form of mysterious magic mushrooms., used by the shamen to see ancient times (I wonder if John's own experiences were drawn from ;^) ).

As Urrell grows stronger, he is taught how to fight and defend himself, but always with honour and dignity. Eventually Agaratz and Urrell set off on a mission (with Urrell's wolf and an old, starving and dying lion, who they have befriended during the harsh winter months). They visit magical places and see strange things (Blind fish, Geyzers). They arrive at the gathering of the clans. Urrell has many tasks to prove himself a man. His prize is a maiden fair (although one who he respects rather than ravishes).

I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in stories of ancient times. It is well written and researched and vivid in it's storytelling. It would make a great Disneyesque story (although they'd probably ruin it). You can get the book from Amazon here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mammoth-Boy-ebook/dp/B008MZJ63C - and you can even download it onto your kindle.

Fair play to John for proving not every Barnet Tory is a complete philistine (in fact he's probably the only one who actually knows what the classical definition of a  philistine really is).  I was left wondering if  deep in Johns true blue soul, there is a liberal lefty screaming to get out. I read the book effortlessly and like all entertaining books, I was left wondering what happened next and wishing it was a little longer. Recommended.

Is Richard Cornelius really Santa Claus?

You may have noticed a little change in this blog over the past fortnight. The Barnet Eye likes to try different things, be innovative and also to encourage other people to get involved. That was why we declared it "Crowdsourcing Forthnight". I invited anyone who was interested to submit as many guest blogs as they felt fit.  I got rather more than I expected, which is why I published one from Linda Edwards today. The experiment was so successful that I will be actively seeking even more guest bloggers. I sometimes worry that the blog is becoming stale. I worry that people will tire of reading of the unending stream of stupidity from Barnet Council. I worry that I am becoming jaded and miss things which are really important, just because I've developed a resistance to it and I feel I've written it all before. I have now been blogging about Barnet politics for over four years. It seems like four hundred.

Anyway, enough of my musings. I haven't looked at the local papers as I have been doing some intensive research for a new film I'm putting together. Being dyslexic and thick, I can really only focus on one heavy piece of research at a time. I have three film projects on the go. These are as follows

1. A follow up to "A Tale of Two Barnets". It has been six months since we finished the film and nearly eight since we finished the interviews. Much has happened.

2. A film about Cancer. There are all sorts of films on this subject, but I believe that there is one important aspect no one has covered. I can't say any more at this stage, but I have read two fascinating books as part of my research. One of them over the last week and the other six months ago. I am now ready to start storyboarding the film.

3.A film about social exclusion of people with disabilities. This will only commence when the other two are completed.

Anyway, having picked up the local press, I read almost identical articles about the leader of the Council, Richard Cornelius. I was rather chuffed to read the article in the Times. It appears that Santa Claus is real ! Is he Richard Cornelius, I don't know, but if he isn't then they are clearly good friends. Maybe the tooth fairy is also part of their club. What important facts did I learn?

* That One Barnet will be fine if the contract is written "robustly"

* That all of the Boroughs problems with Parking will disappear because traders can now sell 4 hour parking permits at a 5% discount or keep the money if they choose

* That the Pay and Display machines were "perpetually breaking or being vandalised".

* That the death of the High Street is the fault of the traders for drawing attention to the charges, by starting a campaign against them

* That the only people who have complained about the parking charges are "vocal" campaigners such as Helen Michael at Cafe Buzz.

Does Richard Cornelius really believe all of this rubbish? Does he actually inhabit the same planet as the rest of us, or does he really live at the North Pole with Santa and the Tooth Fairy? I wonder if Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer will get ticketed when Santa is delivering presents?

 So lets do some analysis of the claims (my response is the bit in red italics)

* That One Barnet will be fine if the contract is written "robustly"

Barnet Council has a long history of badly drafted contracts, which they only realise are flawed when they try and get contractors to perform. The contractors have huge legal teams who deal with such contracts all the time, Barnet doesn't even have it's own in house team anymore. As no one is allowed to even see the contracts, we can only sit and wait. Barnet will claim they've employed the finest legal brains, but I ask this question. If the contracts have problems for Barnet, who will they employ and who will cash in? The same law firms that they are getting to draft them now. If that doesn't ring some alarm bells when a billion pound contract is at stake, what will?

* That all of the Boroughs problems with Parking will disappear because traders can now sell 4 hour parking permits at a 5% discount or keep the money if they choose
So the likes of Helen Michael can sell a £2 parking permit for £1.90 and keep 10p. That does not solve the issue that it would cost someone wanting a cup of tea at her cafe, more for the right to park than for the tea. For some traders, such as hairdressers etc, this may be a good option, where there is a high spend, but this doesn't address the issue of someone who just needs to buy a pint of milk, or stop for a cuppa on the way through.

* That the Pay and Display machines were "perpetually breaking or being vandalised".
Presumably these issues were raised with the machine vendors and the SNT schemes in the hotspots for vandalism. My staff used the machines on a daily basis in Mill Hill Broadway for banking and getting lunch. They were unaware of these reliability problems. As to the vandalism, if this was happening, it was in certain hotspots. Barnet has a far lower crime rate than other London Boroughs, so it should not have been beyond the wit of the council to address these issues.



* That the death of the High Street is the fault of the traders for drawing attention to the charges, by starting a campaign against them.
This is quite frankly insulting to our intelligence. Does Councillor Cornelius really think that people would see a £2 charge for parking for half an hour as anything other than extortionate. As to the issues for people who don't have mobile phones or don't have time to register, how on earth can he have the chutzpah to blame traders.

* That the only people who have complained about the parking charges are "vocal" campaigners such as Helen Michael at Cafe Buzz.

Thirteen thousand people signed the petition against parking charges. To claim that only a few vociferous opponents have complained is an insult to every one of these voters. Has Richard Cornelius not got the courtesy and good manners to recognise that they have a genuine concern with the cost of parking.

In the title of this blog, I asked the question "Is Richard Cornelius Santa Claus?" I suspect that the one group of people in Barnet who will answer "YES" are the Labour Party.  It appears to me that his policies are buidling, day by day, a situation where only the most hard core and ideologically driven Tories would vote for them in the 2014 elections.  No one else will touch them with a bargepole !

Guest Blog - Diary notes from a Family Carer by Linda Edwards

 By Linda Edwards,

When my daughter Rachel was first diagnosed as having a learning disability nearly 40 years ago, people we had known for many years crossed over the road to avoid speaking to us.  Although this was a painful experience, I recognised that it was their inability to know what to say and how to respond to us that made them look the other way.  What I didn’t know was how these small experiences of community exclusion in the 1970’s would follow us throughout my daughter’s life and change my own life journey.  Exclusion of vulnerable people within the “care industry” is also endemic, but this is separate issue that requires another blog post, another “alternative view.”

On Saturday 21^st July 2012, Rachel, and l, together with her support worker, participated in ‘Our Barnet - Not “One Barnet” community torch relay and parade against privatisation of services in Barnet, organised by Barnet Alliance for Public Services (BAPS).

On the way to the march and whilst having an unplanned and frustrating ‘tour’ around Finchley trying to find the BAPS bus, I explained to Rachel and her support worker that I participate because the main purpose of BAPS is to make the lives of residents in Barnet the best that it can be, and because this group does not support any one political party and, does not attempt to indoctrinate.  Being a broad and inclusive organisation, it often means supporting various campaigns that don’t necessarily affect everyone directly or immediately; but the reality is that we are all connected somehow and whilst the withdrawal of services to the elderly for instance may not affect us now, it will in years to come.  Once services have been removed, it is unlikely they will be reinstated. Once a service become privatised, and run for profit, the community will lose any accountability for which the council is currently responsible.  Research from Prof. Dexter Whitfield shows that with 25% risk of failure, the consequences for Barnet residents’ quality of life could be very grim.

Eventually we found the balloon decorated bus and Rachel and her support worker travelled with other BAPS member’s in the bus whilst I followed behind by car.  The main objective for BAPS members to have the bus was to ensure EVERYONE was able to participate in the parade.  The need to use wheelchairs, walking sticks, frames and prams created no barrier to inclusion! The bus was brill!

Unlike with Rachel’s previous service provider, I had no concern that because I was not with them, Rachel’s support worker wouldn’t speak with her.  On the contrary, Rachel’s new support service staff have developed a relationship with her by communicating through speaking, listening and responding to her with the same connection, intimacy and respect as they would with you and me.  Rachel thrives through her relationships with people.  Rachel has flourished since her new service provider took over her support in August 2011.

When we arrived at Victoria Park, Rachel and her support worker sat on the grass to eat their lunch and listen to a variety of speeches from people representing disabled people, family carers, Barnet traders, elderly people, Barnet youth, library users, a rabbi, a well known local blogger and some politicians who oppose the One Barnet Programme of privatisation. 

After the speeches we all went to Buzz Café in North Finchley to enjoy yet another lunch, wonderful weather and good company.  The real bonus for us was the bands playing music, including one BAPS member.  They had moved ad hoc to Buzz café because the council had banned the party planned by BAPS in Victoria Park.  We invited a BAPS member to join us and soon a few other people had joined our table for their lunch.  The afternoon felt like being on holiday and we extended the day with tea and cake when more people from BAPS and from the Campaign for the Destruction of Disability Support Services (CADDSS) and The Space Group (TSG) joined us throughout the afternoon. 

Whilst having lunch, the BAPS member who had been the chairperson at the previous weeks BAPS meeting said to Phillip “I have a bone to pick with you”.  Phillip pretended to look worried and jokingly asked her “What kind of bone?  Is it a thigh bone or a hip bone?”  She responded that when she had been Chairperson at the last BAPS meeting, Phillip had not kept the orderly flow of the discussion as he usually did by shouting “Order, Order” when people were speaking out of turn.  She continued that when she looked at Phillip to call “Order”, he was the person disturbing the meeting.  I added that I agreed with her and we shall have to call him “Mr Speaker” in future so that his role is clear. 

Rachel turned to me and said, “Leave my friend Phillip alone.  I am on his side.”  Silently I marvelled at her assertiveness.  Such assertiveness is not often seen in our society from people who have learning disabilities, and so it is to be encouraged and not taken for granted. Yet, this was all so natural and relaxed!  I bet you will not guess why I marvel at something so natural as a grown up woman siding with her friend against her mother…

In stark contrast, two years ago Rachel and I, together with “Mary” her support worker from the previous Supported Living Service Provider, attended a Barnet Community Fair in the park where the Mayor of Barnet was the guest of honour. 

You may remember articles where I refer to the previous Supported Living Service Provider as “bullying, lying, intimidating cowboys.”  In spite of continuous evidence and pleas, the Director of Adult Social Care and Health (ASCH) Kate Kennally continually refused to remove them.  

On that day, when Rachel and “Mary” got into the car I could clearly see that “Mary” was angry.  I kissed Rachel and in an unusually high-pitched nervous voice said “Hi ladies.  Hope we all have a fun day!”  “Mary’s” response was “I don’t know why you need me to come.  I could have stayed in Rachel’s flat.  She is your daughter and you should be with her and I shouldn’t have to come too.”  

This miserable ‘lump’ was supposed to be a role model, not bring her anger and resentment to work with my vulnerable daughter.   Instead, she had been thrust to work with my disabled daughter who is extremely sensitive to other people’s moods and feelings.  Unlike you and I, she doesn’t have the choice of who she wants to be with.  I ignored the outburst and changed the subject knowing that if I showed my upset, Rachel would react to this.  I explained that I am attending the community fair in the park in my role on behalf of the charity I work with, and as it has been selected as the Mayor’s Appeal charity, I need to be there as part of my job as well as us all having fun!   

That day turned out to be utterly exhausting for me: Throughout the day, whenever Rachel chose to do something, “Mary” wanted to do the opposite.  When Rachel wanted tea and cake, “Mary” said she wanted to go to another stall at the opposite side of the food area refusing to sit with Rachel and me.    Instead of having a support worker whose role it was to support Rachel, who by the way, was being paid via London Borough of Barnet, it felt like Rachel and I had a petulant child accompanying us for the day.  Having experienced this kind of behaviour many times over the years, I often wonder who really has the learning disability, Rachel or her support staff!  What is unforgivable is that the London Borough of Barnet Director of Social Care and Health Director Kate Kennally continually refused to remove these “cowboys” in spite of numerous complaints relating to my daughter’s safety and well being.  I wonder if she would have tolerated this sulky behaviour around her own family in the way that she forced Rachel and I to suffer!

That other day two years ago, there was no question of “Mary” and Rachel spending leisure time together as her present support staff had done throughout the day at the recent BAPS march.  I could not have invited anyone from our stall or the community to join us, as Rachel would have liked, because “Mary’s” behaviour was too unpredictable and by this time I was feeling weary of trying to keep the peace for Rachel’s sake.  You may see now the stark contrast between this day two years ago and the recent BAPS march when we invited BAPS members to join us and when more people have naturally continued to join us at our table.

That day was certainly not like being on holiday as we felt at the recent BAPS march, sitting outside Buzz Café with Barnet community residents and workers.  Two years ago on that day with miserable “Mary” I couldn’t wait to get home and once again, my feelings of guilt and impotency having to leave my vulnerable daughter alone with such a miserable and negative person left me continually unwell.

What is inclusion and what does it take to include everyone?

Inclusion is accepting everyone; building on each person’s strengths and abilities whilst addressing any difficulties or disabilities that may prevent participation, whilst offering the practical support that will enable everyone to fully participate.

The proactive act of inclusion means fighting against exclusion and all of the social diseases exclusion creates - i.e. racism, sexism, disability, etc. Fighting for inclusion also involves assuring that all support systems are available to those who need such support. Providing and maintaining support systems are a civic responsibility, not a favour. We were all born included and society will immediately improve when we honour this truth.

In the 50’s United States of America, a weary Rosa Parks, whose only reason for being excluded in society was the colour of her skin, was tired of being excluded.  She wanted social justice and to be included in society.  She dared to sit down in a bus in the section reserved for white people.  The authorities told her to go to the seats reserved for black people at the back of the bus.   She refused to move and was arrested.  The status quo was challenged and eventually change happened. By sitting down and refusing to be excluded, she stood up for inclusion for everyone!

In the UK various legislation has been introduced for society to become more inclusive and whilst people no longer openly cross over the road to avoid us, in many parts of society families with adult disabled sons and daughters experience very little real inclusion.

We play the game of inclusion because thankfully the legislation forbids us to exclude; but rarely is there sufficient ‘accommodation’ to welcome someone who cannot read or write or who struggles to follow what is being said by someone who is speaking too fast with too many unnecessarily complicated words. 

Does Inclusion mean I like everyone?  Certainly not!  Does Inclusion mean everyone must like me?  Most definitely not! Inclusion doesn’t mean that everyone must love everyone and we should all pretend we are one big happy family – that would be false and artificial.

Inclusion begins with the intention to be decent to everyone, and an openness to acknowledge and change our own behaviour when it is demeaning, even when unintentional. 

The intention to be inclusive manifests by tackling the small ways in which people are being excluded:  inaccessible venues, planning activities with only able-bodied participants in mind, and assuming everyone has the same level of literacy, speech and understanding. Addressing hearing disabilities by using amplifying technologies, sight disabilities by offering a guiding hand, accommodating mental health disabilities by accepting instability of mood or changing ability to participate as well as any emotional barriers for it, and addressing mobility issues by ensuring disabled access and remembering to find out whether wheelchair accessible toilets are available. Similarly, sticking to plain and understandable language in meetings and ensuring publicity materials are accessible in design is acting inclusively towards people who have learning disabilities.

We see inclusion through very small things.  Intention is the beginning and   conscious awareness is the next step towards building inclusive communities.

It happened at the BAPS march on 21^st July 2012 in the natural and ordinary way that included Phillip and Rachel who have been excluded most of their lives.

Thank you BAPS members and all the community who shared our Inclusive day.

Linda Edwards

Family Carer

July 2012

PS. 

I have not used names in previous articles.  It is not within my comfort zone to shame and blame.  However, as senior managers who abuse their power continue to climb their ‘professional’ ladder mainly on the backs of vulnerable people, it is now time for me to extend my comfort zone to disclose names whenever appropriate.

I hope that when these people seek employment elsewhere, their prospective employers will search to find out if vulnerable people who use the services they are responsible for mismanaging were satisfied under their regime.   As a family carer I will be very happy to provide a reference for the senior managers who betrayed my daughter, put my life on hold for many years by forcing me to make continual complaints resulting in ill health and cost Barnet rate payers many, many thousands of pounds by unnecessarily defending my complaints using expensive consultants. 

The most productive part of my reference will be that these people have not learnt anything and continue to violate vulnerable people’s lives.

And finally as a short reminder to people who are supposed to be professionals in the field, here is a short description of the values of inclusion. Whilst it may seem obvious to many readers of the Barnet Eye, sadly those who are charged with providing a care service would seem to need reminding.

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

   

The Values of Inclusion

Everyone is born in

We are all born as equal citizens as part of a community, we are only later excluded.

All means all

Everyone capable of breathing, even if breathing requires support, is entitled to be included. No one is too difficult, too old, too poor or too disabled to qualify.

Everyone needs to be in

If people are physically excluded, they have to be physically included. Presence is the foundation for inclusion – if you’re not there, no one will know you’re missing.

Everyone needs to be with others

Being there is necessary – but being with takes time and effort. A community is not just a locality – it is a network of connections and relationships. We have to help people be and feel part of and belong to communities, not just be lonely residents within the community or providing people with visitors to sit with them.

Everyone is ready

No one has to pass a test or meet a set of criteria to be eligible. Everyone is ready now to be part of community and it is community’s task to find ways of including them.

Everyone can learn

Even the people who don’t think they can.

Everyone needs support and some need more support than others

No one is fully independent and independence isn’t our goal. We are working towards interdependence and differing degrees and kinds of support at different times.

Everyone can communicate

Just because someone can’t or won’t use words to communicate doesn’t mean that they don’t have anything to say – everyone can communicate and we have to work harder at hearing, seeing, understanding, and feeling what people are communicating to us and communicating back.

Everyone can contribute

Each person has their own gifts and strengths – and each person has a unique contribution to make. Our task is to recognise, encourage and value each person’s contribution including our own!

Together we are better

We do not believe the world would be a better place if everyone is the same. We are not dreaming of a world when all differences are eradicated and all disabilities are cured – we believe that diversity brings strength and that we can all learn and grow by knowing one another.  

Marsha Forest and Jack Pearpoint

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

Linda Edwards is a regular guest blogger at the Barnet Eye and is a carer and Barnet resident. Guest blogs are always welcome at the Barnet Eye

The Saturday list #10 - One Barnet Olympic Sports

Barnet Council has been criticised for it's anti sports policies, buildding over playing fields, evicting football clubs etc. There are some things they would excel at if they ever become Olympic Sports. Here's a list of a few.

1 Closing libraries. Robert Rams would certainly get a medal for shutting Friern Barnet.

2 Bullying decent people. Conservative councillor Kate Salinger was a victim of this when she opposed giving councillors a pay rise

3 Abolishing sheltered housing wardens. Barnet lead the field in this spiteful policy.

4 Decimating the High Streets. Barents parking charges have driven dozens of local businesses out of the Borough. The architect of this policy,  Brian Coleman has toured the borough claiming it was nothing to do with him.

5 Racking up legal fees. Whilst budgets everywhere are chopped, Barnet seems to lurch from one court case to another. The only pattern is that lawyers earn a fortune.

6. Employing consultants on tax avoiding schemes. Two words - Andrew Travers. The Deputy CEO of Barnet.

 7. Bad Press. Is there a more Pr useless council in the land.

8. Pork pies. The Barneteye has had countless examples of porkies from the council. The worst examples are those regarding Friern Barnet library, where campaigners were strung along for months. A new word has entered the Barnet dictionary. To be "Ramsbottomed" this means being misled by an organisation for months on end.

9. Corporate Ineptitude. Google "metpro" if you need to know more.

10. Marvellous people. I really couldn't finish this list on a low. If all of the above are terrible, if nothing else it has brought the best out of our community.

The Friday Joke - 10/8/2012

I thought I'd share a couple of drummer jokes with you. In rock and roll bands drummers are a breed apart.

Knock Knock

Who's there?

It's me Paul, the drummer

Come in

Knock Knock

Who's there?

It's me Paul, the drummer

I said come in

Knock Knock

Who's F***king there?

It's me Paul, The Drummer,

Why don't you, just F***ing come in

I wasn't sure whether it was the third or fourth bar

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

What do you call a bloke who hangs around with three musicians in a band?

The drummer

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

Why do you always make sure the bass player accompaines the drummer to the pub?

Because that way he'll come in on the right bar