The Saturday List #227 - Ten Laws I'd pass tomorrow if I was doing Boris Johnson's job

When Boris was four years old, his ambition was to be World King. When I was four years old, my ambition was to have a model of Thunderbird 3. When I was about seven, I was asked at school what I wanted to be when I grew up. I said "I want a dog and a pond". It didn't occur to me that having a pond wasn't a job. I guess I've over achieved as I have two dogs and two ponds. Sadly neither pay the bills. But I digress. Whereas I've overachieved by 100%, Boris has massively under achieved. He's risen to the heady heights of Prime Minister of a United Kingdom that his policies are likely to dismantle. I wonder if it is all part of a cunning plan to oust her Majesty and at least get to be King of South East Grinstead, as the UK fragments into a million pieces, each with a different policy towards the EU. I spent the day at The Great British Beer Festival yesterday and if nothing else, I am pleased to report that the UK is still able to organise a pretty good booze up in a Brewery. As I made my way home, trying to work out whether the Coconut Porter was actually the finest tipple sampled, a thought occurred to me. What if Boris offered to swap dreams with me. He could have my two dogs and two ponds and I had his job. What laws would I pass? It occurred to me that on reflection, Boris had a more interesting ambition than my own. So here is my collection of laws.

1. Make all elected politicians personally liable to be sued for any losses incurred by anyone in the event that they can be shown to have knowingly lied about a policy. So if Boris and his mates say that the NHS will get £350 million a week extra in the event of a hard Brexit and we get a hard #Brexit and no cash for the Health service, they should be personally liable and sued for every penny. Not just Brexit, any porkies.

2. Pass a law so that anyone who is made a minister of state has to be able to demonstrate their competence for the post. Far too many are simply given the job because they tow the party line and are being rewarded for brown nosing. Many of them are completely unfit for the job they are given.

3. Pass a law so that any MP or Councillor who is elected, actually has their primary residence in the area they are elected for, be it council ward or constituency. In my ward, Mill Hill, not a single councillor is living in the ward. That to me is plain wrong. If they subsequently move, I would give them a year and then they would have to leave and a by election would take place, unless that was less than six months before a council election. If parties can't find someone local to stand, too bad.

4. Pass a law which sets a minimum fine of £500 for littering. I would also require some of this to be used to put up name and shame posters of Litter louts in their streets, if they do it more than once.

5. Pass a law that anyone who drives down a street with their windows open and the car sound system playing at more than 90 decibels should have their car taken away and crushed. Especially the bloke who did that at midnight last night, woke me up and set the dogs off.

6. Pass a law that any consultant who works for the NHS and cancels an operation on an NHS patient to perform surgery on a private patient would have to pay the NHS patient a fixed compensation of £2,000. We get compensation from airlines when they delay our flights, so why not apply the same rules to NHS consultants.

7. Pass a law stating that anyone who has been on an NHS waiting list for any procedure for more than six months is given compensation of  £1,000 for every subsequent month. Part fund this by fining the directors, senior managers etc of the NHS trust responsible up to 50% of their wages.

8. Pass a law that any train company that fails to deliver its agreed performance target for reasons other than acts of God, will have its directors and senior managers fined up to 20% of their salary package. The money raised would be used for a fund for good causes in the locality that their bad service operates in.

9. Pass a law that nobody in the country can receive an honour unless it can genuinely be demonstrated that they have worked for the public good or have been an outstanding sports person or musician.

10. Pass a law guaranteeing that every Ex Service person who served more than five years in the armed forces, or who saw active service in a war zone, or had a life changing injury, will receive a guaranteed living pension,  appropriate accommodation and medical treatment of a standard available to those with the best private health plans by right.  I would also award all such people a gold star, so that, if they chose to wear it, we can see that they deserve our respect and thanks.

None of these measures would solve the problems facing the UK. I would never claim I could solve them. But I absolutely believe they would make the UK a far better, fair, cleaner and more fair place than it is at the moment.

Barnet Council - Why 'They don't know what they are doing' - The Barnet Council training scandal

Contracts signed but no proper scrutiny

I've been writing this blog for over ten years now. of all the things that I've come across, I can honestly say that what I am writing today is the most alarming. I've long wondered why so many bad decisions are made in Barnet. I've long wondered how Councillors can seem so ill informed and badly briefed when performing tasks of scrutiny. I run a business and I know just how important it is to ensure that people doing important tasks (many far more trivial than what Barnet Council does, which affects peoples lives and livelihoods) are properly trained. I take no delight in writing this, but this is a very serious matter.

Yesterday, I received a long awaited response to a couple of Freedom of information requests. Barnet council seem to have a policy of always responding on the last possible day to such requests. A third request they have apologised for not meeting the deadline and promised a 'prompt response' once they've checked the facts.

The requests concerned the training of councillors to fulfil their roles on the various committees they participate in. Councillors receive an allowance of over £10,000 a year and my assumption is that in return for this, they should be properly trained.

I was surprised to find that only the Planning and Licencing committee require mandatory training.  I would have thought staff dealing with children and money would require training. I used to work in the Financial Services industry, providing IT Services and we had quarterly required training, as it was recognised that we had access to all manner of information. Barnet have no such requirement for their councillors to understand their roles. The initial reason for the enquiry was that before the last Council election, Councillor Hugh Rayner, who was the departing chair suggested that the Audit committee had woefully inadequate training to perform the role. It seemed to me logical that the council would address this issue.  I am a fair minded person, so I thought it only right that I allow a reasonable length of time for the council to ensure all councillors are up to speed. As there are many committees doing important work, I thought I'd ask for all of the training completed. What I found had shocked and disturbed me. This should be a national scandal. 

So lets start with the Audit committee. It's members currently are:

Chairman: Councillor Rohit Grover 

Vice Chairman: Councillor Peter Zinkin 

Councillor Laithe Jajeh Councillor Alison Moore 

Independent Members Geraldine Chadwick Richard Harbord 

Councillor Kathy Levine Councillor Alex Prager Councillor Arjun Mittra 

Substitute Members Councillor Melvin Cohen Councillor Lachhya Gurung Councillor Anne Hutton Councillor Reema Patel Councillor Lisa Rutter Councillor Alan Schneiderman

So how many of these have received training and when according to the FoI request?

4.07.18 Statement of Accounts 

Cllr Levine, Cllr Moore, Geraldine Chadwick [Audit Independent Member] 

17.07.18 Audit 

Cllr Finn, Cllr Zinkin, Cllr Gurung (sub), Cllr Jajeh, Cllr Moore, Cllr Hutton (sub), Cllr Levine, Cllr Rawlings, Cllr Edwards, Cllr Prager, Cllr Mittra

To my amazement, it appears that despite the fact that he chaired the last meeting, the chair has not had the recommended training. Only Councillor Kathy Levine had the training to understand the Statement of Accounts. As you can also see, several of the substitute members have not received the training. Why is this important? Well the Audit committee is the most important committee of all, ensuring that the Council has proper oversight. Given that lack of training was highlighted by Hugh Rayner as a major weakness, surely this should have been addressed? Councillors are supposed to take their role seriously. Although I have no doubt that Councillor Grover is a sensible chap and will work diligently, appointing a chair who wasn't even a member of the committee previously is, in my opinion, a mistake. Audit needs a deep understanding and a background. There are far too many things that require attention to detail, to learn it on the fly. 

When I looked through the list, there were plenty of other rather disturbing things that I noticed.

One item that leapt out at me was this

20.06.19 Government Scrutiny Guidance Symposium

Cllr Hutton

Levels of scrutiny and how it is done in Barnet is a huge issue. One of the reasons myself and the fellow Barnet bloggers have dedicated so much time to our work is because the levels of scrutiny by councillors is appalling. The fact that only one Councillor, who is a member of the opposition, attended the Government Scrutiny Guidance Symposium is highly disturbing. Who within the governing group has responsibility for this?

And what about this? The regeneration of Cricklewood/Brent Cross will have huge implications for the whole of the Borough. The Council organised an 'All members briefing'. How many attended this

3.06.19 All Members briefing - Growth Strategy and Brent Cross Cricklewood 

Cllrs Ryde, Longstaff, Teare, Roberts

Not even all of the councillors in the wards affected bothered to turn up to this. What does this tell you about how much they are interested.

Then we have the Pension Fund Committee. There are some very serious issues with this, as readers of the Barnet blogs will doubtless be aware. So who attended the training?

29.05.18 Pension Fund 

Cllrs E.Simberg, P.Zinkin , A.Hutton, A. Moore, A.Finn, Mark Shooter, J Marshall and Danny Rich

16.10.18 Pension Fund 

Cllrs Shooter, Finn, Marshal, Zinkin, Hutton and Moore

22.1.19 Pension Fund Committee Training

Cllrs Shooter, Finn, Simberg, Hutton and Moore

26.3.19 Pension Fund Committee Training

Cllrs Rich, Moore, Shooter, Marshall, Simberg

30.05.19 Pensions Training: Assessing the performance of illiquid asset mandates

Cllrs Zinkin, Hutton, Moore, Marshall, Finn, Rich

I find this fascinating. There has clearly been a lot of training for the committee. I had a look at the attendence for the last meeting

Chairman: Councillor Mark Shooter 

Vice Chairman: Councillor Elliot Simberg 

Anthony Finn Anne Hutton Danny Rich John Marshall Alison Moore 

Substitute Members Stephen Sowerby Eva Greenspan Peter Zinkin Ross Houston Reema Patel Arjun Mittra 

A few things are immediately obvious. Firstly John Marshall only attended the 'Assessing the performance of illiquid asset mandates'  training. It also appears that none of the substitute members had received any training at all. If you are one of the people who receives a pension from Barnet Council and you want to know why there are problems, I would suggest that you ask your local council why they allow people who don't know what they are doing to be making decisions. While it is clear that some Councillors are taking their duties seriously, some are quite clearly not in the least bit interested.

Now, like me I'm sure you will be a bit surprised by all of this. But there is something that surprised me far more. We all know that Barnet is a commissioning Council. They outsource everything. We all know about the issues with Capita. We all know that Barnet has made a dogs breakfast of monitoring the Contracts. I was absolutely flabbergasted to find that there is no training at all for Councillors in Contract monitoring, supplier management and supplier oversight.  The Council gives no training at all to the Councillors who have the role of oversight and scrutiny in how it's done. This explains to me two things. The first is why Councillors never seem able to concoct even the most obvious and basic questions about the various proble, contracts. The second is that it demonstrates that Barnet Council is not interested in getting Councillors to provide proper oversight and scrutiny of these contracts. If I was a councillor I'd be demanding training in how to discharge my responsibilities to the people who elected me and pay my allowances.

So next time you read that there are problems with Barnet Council, why not write to your local councillor and ask if they've had adequate training to do their job. Whether like me you think Outsourcing is not the way to manage public services or whether you agree with the Uber Thatcherite Barnet Council boss Daniel Thomas that it is the best thing since sliced bread, surely you'd want your councillors to be able to provide proper scrutiny. They do not have the tools, so they can't. It is quite clear that Councillor Thomas and his Conservative regime have failed in their duty of care to the people of Barnet to ensure that our Councillors, who get massive allowances, are fit for purpose and trained to do their job.

And as for the Leader, what training has he undertaken? Am I surprised that the leader of an organisation such as Barnet Council has not had any training to do the job? I would be if I wasn't living in  the London Borough of Barnet.

23.10.18 Treasury Management 

Cllrs R Cornelius, Thomas, D Cohen, Houston, Longstaff, McGuirk, Mittra, Moore, Rawlings, Zinkin, Rozenberg, Hutton,

13.05.19 ARG and Local Plan Members Advisory Group

Cllrs Thomas, Prentice, Rozenberg, Zinkin, Houston, Cooke, Prager, Wardle, Edwards, Smith, Ryde, Roberts

6.06.19 All Members briefing - Growth Strategy and Brent Cross Cricklewood Cllrs Zinkin, Mittra, Thomas, Ryde, Gurung, Hutton, Cooke, Grover, Houston

Here are the complete responses.

----- FoI First response

7 August 2019

Our ref: 5447228 Thank you for your request received on 8 July 2019, for the following information: For various committees at Barnet Council, there is recommended training. Please can you supply the following details

1. Details of current training courses recommended for each committee

2. Details of which current councillors have attended these training courses

3. How many times have councillors not attending training been reminded since the Council election in May 2018 of this requirement

We have processed this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Response The council holds the information requested and it the answers to your questions are below For various committees at Barnet Council, there is recommended training.

Please can you supply the following details

1. Details of current training courses recommended for each committee

Please see table below.

2. Details of which current councillors have attended these training courses

Attendance is listed below for each session .

3. How many times have councillors not attending training been reminded since the Council election in May 2018 of this requirement Zero. Reminders are only sent for Mandatory training session for Planning and Licensing and all Members have attended training.

DATE SESSION ATTENDEES

08.05.18 All Member Induction All except Cllr. Jajeh

21.05.18 Planning

Cllrs A. Clarke, R .Weeden-Sanz, F. Byers, J. Cooper, J. Grocock, L. Gurung, L.Jajeh, J.Teare, G.Bokaei, T.Smith, S.Don, P.Coakley-Webb, G.Cooke. C. Farrier, E. Simberg, and Cllr. Gill Sergeant

23.07.18 Planning - Repeat Session

Cllr Danny Rich, and Cllr Kath McGuirk

24.07.18 Planning - Repeat Session All Planning

Members as of Cllrs H.Richman, W.Prentice, D.Longstaff, L.Rutter, P.Zinkin, B.Gordon, A.Naqvi, V.Duschinsky, M.Shooter, P.Edwards, J.Grocock, R.Patel, N.Fluss, Z.Zubairi, and E Simberg this date trained

24.05.2018 Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee

Cllr Alison Cornelius, Cllr Golnar Bokaei, Cllr Geof Cooke, Cllr Saira Don ,Cllr Paul Edwards, Cllr Linda Freedman, Cllr Anne Hutton, Cllr Alison Moore and Cllr Felix Byers

29.05.18 Area Committee & Resident Forum

Cllr A Cornelius, P Zinkin, R Grover and A Hutton 

29.05.18 Pension Fund 

Cllrs E.Simberg, P.Zinkin , A.Hutton, A. Moore, A.Finn, Mark Shooter, J Marshall and Danny Rich

31.05.18 Corporate Parenting, Children's Safeguarding and the Role of the Ofsted Improvement Plan

Cllrs G.Sargeant, Z.Zubairi, P.Zinkin, L.Freedman, N.Fluss, F.Byers, J.Teare, T.Smith, S.Ryde, A.Prager, D.Longstaff, R.Grover, G.Rozenberg, C.Stock, N.Narenthira, A Naqvi, A.Clarke, G.Cooke, K.Levine, A.Moore, A. Hutton, S.Don, H.Richman, S.Conway, R.Houston, L.Gurung, J.Cooper, D.Cohen, and C.Farrier

04.06.18 Adults & Safeguarding

Cllrs R.Weeden-Sanz, A.Clarke, F.Byers, J.Cooper, J.Grocock, L.Gurung, N.Fluss, G.Bokaei, T.Smith, H.Richman, A.Prager, C.Stock (NEW) Cllrs J.Brayne, M.Cohen, G.Cooke, P.Edwards, A.Hutton, D.Longstaff, N.Narenthira, S.Rajput, B.Rawlings, C.Stock, Z.Zubairi (Returning)

05.06.18 Environment  

Councillor Dean Cohen, Councillor Peter Zinkin, Councillor Elliot Simberg, Councillor Thomas Smith, Councillor Laithe Jajeh, Councillor Alison Cornelius, Councillor Alan Schneiderman, Councillor Jo Cooper, Councillor Geof Cooke, Councillor Sarah Wardle, Councillor Roberto Weeden-Sanz, Councillor Nizza Fluss, Councillor Tim Roberts, Cllr Richard Cornelius, Cllr Don and Cllr Gurung

06.06.18 Early Years

Cllrs A.Hutton, T.Roberts, D.Longstaff, F.Byers, B.Rawlings, A.Cornelius

07.06.18 Licensing (& Sub-Comm)

Cllrs L.Freedman, L.Gurung, A.Cornelius, J.Marshall

19.07.18 Licensing - Repeat Session

Cllrs D.Rich, A.Cornelius, V.Duschinsky, C.Farrier, J.Hart. W.Prentice, B.Rawlings

7.08.18 Licensing - Repeat Session All Licensing Members now trained

Cllr. Zubairi 11.06.18 Resources (P&R) Cllr Zinkin ,Cllr McGuirk, Cllr Longstaff Cllr Moore, Cllr Rawlings, Cllr Finn, Cllr R Cornelius, Cllr Rich, Cllr Mittra, Cllr Rajput

12.06.18 Community Leadership & Libraries Briefing (Community Safety)

Cllrs A.Hutton,,S.Conway, R.Thompstone, L.Gurung, F.Byers, D.Longstaff, B.Rawlings, J.Grocock, N.Narenthira, D.Rich, J.Teare, and G.Sargeant

4.07.18 Statement of Accounts 

Cllr Levine, Cllr Moore, Geraldine Chadwick [Audit Independent Member] 

17.07.18 Audit 

Cllr Finn, Cllr Zinkin, Cllr Gurung (sub), Cllr Jajeh, Cllr Moore, Cllr Hutton (sub), Cllr Levine, Cllr Rawlings, Cllr Edwards, Cllr Prager, Cllr Mittra

06.09.18 Media Training

Cllrs R Cornelius, Cllr Ryde Cllr Longstaff (Note: Cllr Thomas previously received training and Cllr Rozenberg declined)

12.09.18 Education & Skills

Cllrs Anne Clarke, Pauline Coakley Webb, Julian Teare, David Longstaff, Felix Byers, Anne Hutton, Rohit Grover, Linda Freedman, Val Duschinsky, Nagus Narenthira, Reuben Thompstone

20. 9.18 Performance Indicators and Care Act Duties

Cllrs Anne Hutton, Claire Farrier, Sachin Rajput, Anthony Finn, Jo Cooper, Jess Brayne David Longstaff, Caroline Stock, Reema Patel 

16.10.18 Pension Fund 

Cllrs Shooter, Finn, Marshal, Zinkin, Hutton and Moore

16.10.18 Media Training - MediaFirst 

Cllrs Rajput, Stock, Thompstone, D Cohen 

17.10.18 Member Briefing of CCGs Cllr A Cornelius, Duschinsky, Bokaei, Cooke, Don, Freedman, Hutton, Moore, Longstaff, Rawlings, Stock 

23.10.18 Treasury Management 
Cllrs R Cornelius, Thomas, D Cohen, Houston, Longstaff, McGuirk, Mittra, Moore, Rawlings, Zinkin, Rozenberg, Hutton, 

21.11.18 Prevent & Counter Terrorism Cllrs Byers, Freedman, Moore, Rich, Teare, Hutton, Conway, Gurung, Duschinsky, A Cornelius, Cooke, Rawlings, Thompstone, Longstaff, Grocock. 

26.11.18 Adults & Safeguarding (repeat session from June) Cllrs Houston, Edwards, Moore, Rich, Roberts, Farrier, Williams, Naqvi, Stock, J Hart, Wardle, Zinkin, Rozenberg, Teare, Ryde, Longstaff, Weeden-Sanz, A Cornelius

29.11.18 Planning: The nature of Planning Permission

Cllrs M Cohen, Farrier, Ryde, Simberg, Bokaei, Fluss, Freedman, Grocock, Moore 

06.12.18 Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association - Trustee Conference Cllr Anne Hutton 

18.12.18 Adults and Safeguarding Repeat Session Cllrs Patel, Duschisnky, Coakley Webb, Conway, Zubairi, Schneiderman, Mittra, Hutton

22.1.19 Pension Fund Committee Training

Cllrs Shooter, Finn, Simberg, Hutton and Moore

4.2.19 Planning Enforcement

Cllrs Simberg, Hutton, Zubairi, Moore, Rawlings, Gurung, Duschinsky, Roberts, Farrier, Weeden-Sanz, Fluss

12.03.19 Scrutinising Council Performance

Cllr Hutton

26.3.19 Pension Fund Committee Training

Cllrs Rich, Moore, Shooter, Marshall, Simberg

27.3.19 Planning

Cllrs Hutton, R Cornelius, Rawlings, Fluss, Richman

13.05.19 ARG and Local Plan Members Advisory Group

Cllrs Thomas, Prentice, Rozenberg, Zinkin, Houston, Cooke, Prager, Wardle, Edwards, Smith, Ryde, Roberts

30.05.19 Pensions Training: Assessing the performance of illiquid asset mandates

Cllrs Zinkin, Hutton, Moore, Marshall, Finn, Rich

3.06.19 All Members briefing - Growth Strategy and Brent Cross Cricklewood 

Cllrs Ryde, Longstaff, Teare, Roberts

6.06.19 All Members briefing - Growth Strategy and Brent Cross Cricklewood Cllrs Zinkin, Mittra, Thomas, Ryde, Gurung, Hutton, Cooke, Grover, Houston

20.06.19 Government Scrutiny Guidance Symposium

Cllr Hutton

20.06.19 Briefing for Area Committee Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen

Cllrs Don, Prentice, Grocock, Duschinsky

24.06.19 Planning (for new committee Members)

Cllrs Teare, Narenthira Fu

Foi

2nd Response - 

1. Full details of all externally provided courses, paid for by Barnet Council, attended by Barnet Council since May 2018

Date         Councillor             Training session                                                     Cost + VAT
22.11.18   Cllr Tim Roberts   Policy  Forum for London-
                                               The Future for Housing and Planning in London             £276
28.11.18   Cllr Anne Hutton   Tackling Health Inequalities in London                           £294
12.03.19   Cllr Anne Hutton   Scrutinising Council Performance                                   £230
20.06.19   Cllr Anne Hutton   Government Scrutiny Guidance Symposium                    £85

Career advice - The worst advice I ever received

Back in February 1978, I was called in for some careers advice by the careers officer at Finchley Catholic High School. I was a punk rock obsessed 15 year old. The master asked what I wanted to do with my life. I said "Something in music". He said "why haven't you done a music O'Level?". I replied , "I'm not interested in classical music". The career master laughed and said "you have to be realisitic". Here are his suggestions.

.

His suggestions? Electrical contracting, driving trains, working for London Transport, an apprenticeship in garages or working as a panel beater.  Anyone who knows me would absolutely p*** themselves now reading this. All of the things suggested are things I have no interest in, no aptitude for and wouldn't touch with a barge pole. A year later, I started Mill Hill Music Complex. By then, I had decamped to Orange Hill Senior High School and started The False Dots. My Dad had very kindly given me the keys to the derelict caretakers cottage at Bunns Lane Works, to use as a music rehearsal space. I paid him a fiver a week and charged other bands a couple of quid for a session. It took a very long time for the studio to become my main income, but it has always operated at a profit and put a few pennies in my pocket.

Many young people will soon be receiving their GCSE and A Level grades. I was talking to a friend who's daughter is getting her grades soon. She was saying how stressful it is. For me it wasn't. I always assumed that as I'm thick, I'd do really badly. I realised that if I wanted to do anything, I'd have to find my own path and that careers advisers would be no use at all. Sadly, no one ever explained to me (and possibly the school) that the reason I was at school was to be given the tools to forge a successful life. I do understand that Mr Bannister had to interview 180 pupils and in 10 minutes set them on the right path, but really, why bother if that is all you will do. He didn't listen, didn't want to know.

What made me start Mill Hill Music Complex? I needed to. I've often wondered what I'd have done, if my Dad hadn't had somewhere to rent me to start a little studio business. I discussed it with my band mate, Pete Conway, before my Dad made the suggestion. We discussed finding a squat where we could live and rehearse. As with most conversations then with Pete Conway, he saw the scheme as a great way to attract pretty young girls to our den. When we got 'The Cottage', the need for a squat disappeared. Ironoically, a bunch of my mates started renting the bedrooms in the cottage from my Dad, we kept the front room for rehearsals. It was the nearest thing middle class Mill Hill got to a squat.

I soon realised that this wasn't really ideal. In 1985, we moved into one of his lock ups and the Cottage reverted  to being a dwelling. That is now what is studio 2.  I realised that we needed a proper plan. I raised a loan and we bought equipment. The first lesson came when a bunch of herbets smashed down the door and nicked all of our gear. I was lucky, my Dad had given me good advice and we were insured. We got a whole lot of new gear and we fitted a better door. TWhen the insurance company tried to knock us, he got us an independent loss adjuster who made sure we got what we wanted.he thing was, if I'd not had a Dad who was a businessman, I'd have not known about insurance and we'd have been finished.

My education largely came from my parents. They always gave good advice. Business advice, investment advice and from my Dad, lots of sensible advice on dating girls (don't eat Spaghetti on a date, you'll make a mess on your shirt and look stupid). I always listened, although sometimes didn't take the advice. But most of what he said was sensible and practical. I do wonder why schools don't teach about buying houses, laws on renting, how to set up a business, how to do all of the things life needs. Not everyone will use the advice, but far more people will use it than will ever use particle physics or osmotic pressure measurements. Life skills are precious, if you haven't got a Dad like mine, you are at a severe disadvantage.  That is not really fair.

Coping with chronic back pain

So how did my back pain journey start?  Back in 1988, I was run over by a driver who jumped the red lights at Burnt Oak Broadway. Anyone familiar with the junction, knows that there are three lanes on the Edgware Road, with the left one turning down the Watling. I was attempting to cross at 7.30am, to withdraw money from the ATM in the Nat West Bank on the corner of Stag Lane. There was a bus turning down the Watling in the left hand lane, and a green man saying safe to cross. I was in a hurry. As I got past the bus, I realised my mistake. A car was heading at speed, straight for me. As I recall, it was blue Ford Escort estate. They say that when you are about to die, time slows down and you get a moment of great clarity. I experienced this. Rather than being scared or frightened, I was actually quite pleased. I thought I'd be seeing my Dad soon, who had died the previous year. I also thought 'I never expected it to end like this'. Then I thought to myself, if I jump, maybe I might survive. So I jumped, the bonnet of the car smashed into my right thigh. My feet went through the car windscreen and I rolled over the roof, landing on the floor, breaking the little finger on my left hand. A group of horrified onlookers gathered. To their amazement, I jumped up and demanded that the bloke who had run me over, drive me immediately to casualty at Edgware General Hospital. He did this and was highly apologetic, explaining that he 'knew the sequence of the lights and didn't expect anyone to be crossing'.

I walked into casualty, head drenched in blood from cuts, to be greeted by a nurse telling me to sit down. I said 'I've just been run over, I am in total agony, I need some pain killers'. I then said I thought I was going to pass out. Immediately I was ushered through. By this time my thigh had swelled to twice its normal size, the pain was excruciating. I was given pethidine and sent for x-rays.

They X-Rayed my thigh, my head and my finger. The thighbone was fine, amazingly, although there was huge bruising. I couldn't walk, but they said  'you'll be fine in a month'. My head was also fine. The finger was broken in five places, but I was told that there isn't much to be done. As I was lying in bed, doped up to my eyeballs, being assessed by the doctors, the Police arrived. The driver had driven to Mill Hill Police station, admitted jumping the lights at 40mph and made a full statement. The Policeman asked if I wished to press charges. I said no, I was happy to be alive. The doctor queried the policeman. "Was he really doing 40mph?". The policeman said "that's what he told me and he had no reason to lie.". The doctor said "I've never seen anyone survive a crash at 40mph, let alone walkaway". This confirmed, in my doped up state, that I was blessed and lucky.

The timing was unfortunate, in extreme. The day before I'd left BT for a job at TSB in their IT department. I was due to start on Monday, ironically replacing a member of staff that had been run over. As I wasn't an employee, I would not be entitled to sick pay. At around 3pm, the doctor said I was OK to go home. I was issued with crutches and some codeine tablets. They said that there was nothing much to be done in hospital. My Brother came and drove me home. My then girlfriend (now wife) came down on the train from Manchester to look after me. Two weeks later, I struggled in to TSB at the Monument to start work, on crutches.

To be honest, I've not been the same since. At the time, I was in training to run a marathon. I could run 5km in around 17 minutes and played football twice a week. I found that when my leg could bear weight, I couldn't kick ball properly with my right foot and I couldn't run properly. An X-ray revealed my fibia had been broken. The pain in my thigh had masked this. As these recovered, I found I started getting lower back pain. The doctor explained that I'd taken a massive wallop and it was to be expected. It may take a year or two to subside, but stay active. I started doing Yoga, which seemed to help. After two years, the pain was no better, but I could cope. I saw Dominic Eglinton, the local Osteopath, who I found would alleviate the pain for a few days when it got bad. I saw the doctor several times. He'd say 'on a scale of 1-10' how bad would you say the pain is, with 1 being none and 10 being unbearable agony. Having experienced unbearable agony, I said 'It's 5 most of the time but 7 or 8 at its worst'. He asked 'How often is it that bad'. I'd say 'occasionally if something irritates it'.  So he'd say 'Take a paracetamol and keep moving'. I left it at that. One of the problems I have is that due to a stomach disorder, I can't take anti-inflammatory drugs such as neurofen, which is usually the recommended pain relief for such pain.

In 2005, I was with a group of disabled people as part of the charity volunteering I undertake. A teenager with Downs syndrome in our group, who had a death wish, decided to throw himself in a river. I had to Rugby tackle him and drag him back, from the rivers edge. I really hurt my back. Following this, the pain was almost constantly a seven. I went again to see the doctor, who referred me to a specialist. An MRI was done and this revealed that when I'd been run over, I had suffered a stress fracture of the back on the L2 vertebrae. Where the fracture had healed, this had formed a nob that was pressing in the nerve. This explained the pain, the pins and needles and the numbness. I asked the consultant what could be done. He explained ' There is an operation. It would mean 12 weeks in bed, a 5-20% chance of paralysis and probably a 60% chance of fixing the problem'.  I was horrified. I'm self employed and can't afford such a break. So I asked 'what are the alternatives?'. He was rather surprised. He told me that everyone who he'd seen previously with such a problem was begging for the surgery, as they couldn't cope with the pain. I explained that whilst it was bad, I could live with it. He said 'Try physiotherapy, that may help manage it'. I contacted a family friend, Jill Dean, who is an excellent physio based in Mill Hill, who set me up with One of the physios who worked for her, Julie Gear. Julie looked at the MRI and said "Yeah, I can do something with that'.

She proceeded to make me sit on my knees (what in yoga is the pose of the child) and massaged my lower back for 15 minutes. I found it to be excruciatingly painful.  When I got up, I literally couldn't believe it. The pain had gone completely. For the first time in nearly 20 years I had no pain at all. It was like taking the best drug ever invented. Julie asked me how I was. I was elated. Then she gave me the bad news. 'You will be a Ok for a few days, but the pain will come back'. She then explained that we'd work out a way t manage it. I had 22 sessions in total. Each time the pattern would be repeated. No pain for a few days, then it would gradually come back. But with exercise, weight loss and Yoga, it was back to a constant 5. It was manageable.

Julie gave me a series of exercises that would to some degree relieve it when it started to creep up again. But the holy grain was a pain free existence. Sadly, the excellent Yoga teacher I had moved back to New Zealand and the gym I used closed. Whilst keeping the weight off is the best way to keep the back pain at bay, alcohol allows me to sleep. This tends to put the weight on. This is one of the dilemmas I face on a daily basis. If I could keep my weight at or below 14 stone, then it would be almost fine. Sadly that proves an ever more elusive dream. Last year, during the council election campaign, it got really bad. The worst thing is standing up, still. Talking to people on doorsteps for hours on end really irritates the problem. I found it had got unmanageable. I was advised to try acupuncture and recommended a clinic in Northwood. This managed to get things in check, and all of the walking actually brought the weight down. I've also found that regular Thai massage helps. I have one every couple of weeks at Siam Sanctuary in Mill Hill.

As I write this, the pain is at a 6 today. I will shortly go and do some exercises that will bring it back down to a 5. My wife has repeatedly asked why I don't start Yoga, but to be honest I've not found a local class doing Ashtanga Yoga to my taste. The consultant back in 2005 advised that I'd probably be back in a couple of years for the operation, as it would only get worse. The strategies I've developed have kept that at bay. I would definitely have an operation if it was a 95% chance of success and two weeks in bed. The odds aren't good enough to warrant it as described in 2005.

So my advice to anyone with the same dilemma. Try physio, listen to what they say. try non invasive complementary medicines and if they work, add them to your toolbox. In some ways, I am glad that my pain relief options are limited. My wife feels that red wine is worse than pharmaceutical pain killers. I disagree, but I try and have three days a week off the wine/ beer. I believe most pain is holistically manageable and that the NHS could save a lot of money if they invested more in physiotherapy and rehabilitation. All of the treatments I've had have been privately provided as the NHS just doesn't do such things. If I'd had the operation in 2005 and I'd lost use of my legs, how much would that have cost the NHS? When I hear about NHS budgets, I always wonder how much we waste because the NHS is only really good at acute care?

I'd be interested to hear of your experiences and ways to cope.

Environment Monday - Is Amazon really worth more than the Amazon?

Did you know that Amazon is the 28th largest company in the world? It is worth $916 billion. It was incorporated in 1994, so is only 25 years old. It is the worlds largest retailer. My guess is that there are few households in the UK without some sort of product procured from Amazon. It has changed the face of shopping. One of the reasons that the Brent Cross shopping centre expansion was put on hold was because of the decimation of the retail trade by Amazon. Whatever you may or may not think of Amazon, the simple fact is that in 25 years, it has become a huge, cash generating monster. It doesn't only flog stuff, it has its own TV channel. It has its own Film/TV studios. It even owns Ring, the company that make the video doorbells that are the scourge of political wannabees knocking on doors. It's rate of growth is explosive, having doubled in size since 2015.

Amazon Rainforest area

You may wonder why I have chosen Amazon for my Environment Monday series? Well I was clearing out some cupboards over the weekend. I found an old diary of my mums. She was an avid diarist and this was for 1994. I hadn't realised at the time that this was the year Amazon was founded, but rather oddly, it was the year she took cruise from Southampton that lasted six weeks and took her up the Amazon river. Her account is fascinating. She was amazed at the sheer size and scale of the Amazon.  It made me think that if you mentioned the Amazon in 1994, there would only be one thing you would think of. That would be the worlds largest river. On Saturday, the FT published a story detailing how under the government of Jair Bolsonaro. the deforestation of the Amazon is starting to rapidly accelerate. The FT reports

'The rainforest have long been coveted by the agribusiness sector and other industries. Many Brazilian farmers relish the prospect of an end to what they view as state interference by previous leftwing governments.'

I cannot help think that a government that cannot see the importance of such a resource is a very dangerous regime indeed. We have imposed sanctions on countries such as North Korea and Iran as we view their governments policies as dangerous, but what could be more dangerous than destroying the lungs of the planet? If Amazon (the retailer) is worth just a tad under a Trillion dollars, what is the value of the Amazon jungle? The answer is surely that it is priceless,a s without it, there will be a massive increase in carbon dioxide, global warming and ultimately a lack of oxygen for the citizens of this planet to breathe?

But our society has no way of assigning value to the things that we need most. There is no measure for valuing oxygen, which is the most vital commodity of all.  I was thinking about the way we apply taxes. It is completely illogical and unfit for the age we live in. We impose punitive taxes on cigarettes and alcohol because we can harm ourselves, however we don't apply VAT to food products that are unhealthy. We tax petrol at punitive rates, because the government wants us to use more environmentally friendly fuels, but we don't apply the same logic to battery production, which is highly polluting and destructive. The unfortunate and not often mentioned damage caused by the mining of products used in such batteries is a dirty little secret that we don't want to talk about. We don't want to face up to the difficult truth that if we really want to address the Global Climate Crisis, we don't just need to drive electric cars instead of petrol cars. We need to change the way we live. We need to want less stuff.

As I thought about the way Amazon has changed the way we live, it brought home to me that we really need to buy stuff that lasts. We need to move away from all of the packaging that fills our bins. Back in the 1970's, our family had one small dustbin. Now Barnet Council supplies us with three large wheelie bins. A recycling bin, a green bin and a Rubbish bin. I am ashamed to say that all three are full. We need to revisit the way we used to do things and the way we value things.

The reason that Amazon are so successful is because they have cornered the market in selling us stuff we don't really need. Every bedroom has a telly, a radio, wardrobes are stuffed with clothes, some of which will never be worn. We have three different vacuum cleaners and two different coffee makers. All of this stuff has come from Amazon. All of this stuff contains products that have to be mined, all of these have a carbon footprint to get them to my front door. All of these things are produced by people working in factories on the other side of the world, being paid virtually nothing. Our prosperity is built on the inherent unfairness that as we are citizens of a rich country, we can live lives of luxury on the back of poorly paid workers in far flung sweatshops and miners toiling in the heat in huge open cast mines that destroy the local environment.

As I mentioned, Amazon is worth nearly a trillion dollars. If you owned a company called Amazon that was worth a Trillion dollars what would you do? Of course it is up to Jeff Bezos what he does with his trillions, but as he's purloined the name Amazon, surely he should consider his responsibility to the planet. I read an article that stated that the annual worth of the Amazon rainforest is $8.2 billion. That is less than a hundredth of the value of the company. For Jeff Bezos, that is small change. Surely with his huge financial clout, Jeff Bezos should pick up the phone to Jair Bolsonaro and say "look I've got very rich on  the back of the name of Amazon, I'd like to invest in your economy and help revitalise the Brazilian economy, but I would like to fund the protection of the Amazon rainforest and set up a trust so that we can ensure that it is not only protected, but we can start undoing some of the damage".  Jeff Bezos is one of the few people who could actually give the Brazilian government $8.2 billion a year and not feel the pinch.

But it isn't just Jeff Bezos. We all have a responsibility. We should favour companies that care, even if they are a bit more expensive. We should buy fairtrade where we can. We should buy from retailers who sell loose products and put the products in the string bags of old. But most importantly, we need progressive governments that pass enlightened tax legislation. If the likes of Mr Bezos are minded to use their money wisely, I'd be perfectly happy if they paid less tax. The super rich have teams of accountants that ensure they pay as little as possible. To my mind a more sensible quid pro quo would be to offer them incentives to do the right thing. Just suppose that Mr Bezos spent $8.2 billion a year on saving the Amazon. Great, give him a big tax credit against it. As citizens, we get no incentives at all to reduce our carbon footprint. We pay the same council tax whether our bin is full or empty when collected. Councils pay a fortune to deal with waste, it is lunacy not to charge residents accordingly.
We pay the same road tax on our car whether we drive 100 yards or 100 miles a day. The less you drive, the more you subsides those that do. Personally, I'd abolish road tax altogether and adjust the taxes on petrol and diesel accordingly. It would save a fortune in the collection of the tax as well. I am always amazed at just how slowly our establishment adapts to change. The Tax system has not been shaken up since the end of Poll tax. It needs a radical overhaul and we need to ensure that it is fit for purpose to fund our society.

We have a collective responsibility. Those who have the most, have the greatest responsibility. When you die, you can't take your money with you. The wise man leaves a legacy. In Mill Hill, we have St Pauls Church, built by William Wilberforce. Wilberforce used his money and influence to end slavery. That is a legacy to be proud of. I wonder what the likes of Mr Bezos want to be remembered for?

The Tweets of the Week in the London Borough of Barnet - 4/8.2019

I was in Malta for the week for the Malta Beer Festival and some sunshine!

As such I didn't keep my normal beady eye on Twitter, however, these gems have caught my eye!

Don't forget to follow any Tweeters of quality and distinction that come to your attention.

1. This is probably my fave tweet this week. The next generation of Rockers to emerge from our little corner of heaven. This lot are amazing!

Thanks @Nirvana and @foofighters for rocking our world! Really looking forward to our next gig, just waiting on confirmation from Chris! @achrisevans @MillHillMusicCo @TheArcherN2 @EastFinchFest pic.twitter.com/e0FJKEs8fN

— Nameless (@heftymetalyouth) August 2, 2019

2. I've only been away for a week, but it appears that the Burnt Oak regeneration has gone far batter than anyone expected. Extending the Welsh Harp to Montrose Avenue and building those flats on the hill of recovered spoil was genius!

Burnt Oak, London pic.twitter.com/pBQxiqch6t

— DaFetus (@s1_kwasi) July 31, 2019

3. A great slice of local history here.

The huge Airco factory at Colindale (where Asda is now). Built as an aircraft factory in WW1, it was bought by General Motors in the 1920s. Chevrolet trucks were assembled there until the late 1920, it then became the Frigidaire factory.

(Aerial image via Britain from Above) pic.twitter.com/QFyC3BMcaN

— NW London TimeMachine (@time_nw) August 3, 2019

4. And here is this weeks public safety announcement

A fire in #Colindale #thisweek is believed to have been caused by a cigarette which was put in a plant pot and caused the compost to self heat. Always make sure your cigarettes are stubbed out properly, preferably in an ashtray https://t.co/HpIJokhvWL pic.twitter.com/WHbmdeb0Tv

— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) August 4, 2019

5. This is something I must do!

Another six miles of the #London #CapitalRing walked today with the completion of Section 10 from #SouthKenton to #Hendon. Lots of pleasant #parks, #hills and #woods on this walk. pic.twitter.com/417hpaYrN5

— William Kennedy (@willk_london) August 3, 2019

6. Nice post from Emma East in Finchley

Joyous park walk yday in Victoria park, Finchley. #wildflowers pic.twitter.com/s6NH2Vxx7o

— Emma East (@EmbobEast) August 4, 2019

7. A great start to the season for our local football team, one of the few still in the Borough

Great start to the season for The Bricks with a 5-0 win. Blinkhorn MOTM is Alfie for his hat trick - but also a great team performance pic.twitter.com/u848dYyfPy

— Hadley Bricks (@HadleyBricks) August 3, 2019

8. There's still time to get your plants and vegetables in Cricklewood!

The garden is open until 2.30 today. Stop by for your plants or vegetables. Or pop by to paint some children’s furniture 😀 pic.twitter.com/O8JoyzBcDd

— Clitterhouse Farm, Cricklewood (@clitterhouse) August 4, 2019

9. As ever we support our local litter pickers

A great mornings work by Mill Hill volunteers and the @MHLitterPickers, we worked on the alleyway down the side of the sorting office in Dawes Lane

Here are some pictures of the before and after of the work carried out,love the community spirit!

As we say take action, not words pic.twitter.com/PsLzZ5oKym

— Mill Hill Litter Pickers (@MHLitterPickers) August 3, 2019

10. Lest we forget......

Today 1988

Lance Corporal Michael Robbins,23, of the Royal Engineers was killed in an IRA bomb attack on Inglis Army Base, Mill Hill, London.

Last year, Michael was honoured in a street naming on the site of the former barracks. Well done Taylor Wimpey 👏

Lest we forget too 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/qqmWfUe2AA

— KeyserSosse (@KeyserSosse) August 1, 2019

That's all folks!

The Saturday List #226 - 10 long gone Mill Hill companies of note - A guest list by Richard Wilkinson

As Roger is away in Malta for a week, I suggested I could help him out in his blogging duties by compiling one of his beloved Saturday list for him. I thought I'd put together a list of a few well loved Mill Hill businesses which have departed our town and why I miss them.

Pic http://mempics.jalbum.net/Mill%20Hill%20Memories/

1. Pestons Groceries - Hale Lane. Pestons used to be the only shop that opened after 5pm in Mill Hill. If you needed a bag of sugar, teabags, a loaf of bread or a pack of ciggies, Pestons was the only place to go. Locals lovingly referred to it as "The Nutty Man's shop" as the owner would serenade you and tell rather bad jokes. He also sold beers and as the licensing laws forbade sale at certain times, would deliver them to you, which wasn't banned. But only if you told him to deliver them to the flowerbed outside the shop.

He sold up the week after Budgens announced they were opening until 9pm.




2. H.A. Blunt and Sons - Mill Hill Broadway. AKA The Model shop. It was a paradise for young boys in the 1950's and 60's. The shop supplied Hornby train sets, Airfix and Revell models, various gliders made of balsa wood and Humbrol enamel paint. Later on they did radio controlled planes and cars. The shop also sold magazines for enthusiasts about trains and planes. It was run by two brothers, who seemingly knew everything about everything when it came to models. They were based on the small parade under Clarence House by Mill Hill Circus. I suspect the shop was responsible for a generation of engineers in Mill Hill, fascinated by the the mechanis of train sets and aerodynamics.

A flood in Mill Hill in the early 1960s.

The line of shops behind the bus were demolished in the early 1970s and replaced with a Budgens supermarket, and is now @marksandspencer

Photo from @memorieshendon pic.twitter.com/VLGSB3RvMO

— NW London TimeMachine (@time_nw) May 27, 2019

3. Callis bike shop. When we grew out of train sets and balsa wood gliders, we got into bicycles. Callis was a ramshackle shop on the site of what is now Budgens. In the late 1950's/early 1960's boys would buy a basic bike and then slowly upgrade them, improving the brakes, adding gears, perhaps doing a snazzy paint job. I suspect that he was kept in business selling me puncture repair kits. I had one inner tube with 14 different repairs. These days, we just buy a new tube and be done with it! As much as he loved selling you his wares, he always had time for a chat and like many engineers, was keen to pass on his skills and advice. I see the modern day cyclists in their lycra with their £1,000 carbon fibre bikes and wonder what old Callis would make of it all. He'd love the engineering integrity of the new machines, but I'm not sure he'd be so keen on the snazzy lycra. He was very much a bicycle clips sort of chap.

4. The Pet shop at The Green Man. I'm sorry to say I can't recall the name of this. Please leave a comment if you can. I was never allowed to keep pets, but we loved fishing and this was the place I bought my first floats, fishing line and maggots. I had acquired a fishing rod at a local jumble sale, one of the old bamboo style efforts, with a cork handle and rubber bung on the end. It came with a Hardy reel, which I soon found out was a fly fishing model. I traded this for a more suitable coarse fishing model, having restored it to working order. I recently saw a similar model on sale for nearly £200. I think I didn't get the best of that deal!

Mac Fisheries in the 1950s. pic.twitter.com/8DVnix77X4

— Mill Hill Hist Soc (@MHHistSoc) August 4, 2019

5. Mac Fisheries - The Broadway. This is where Mani and Nicks are now based. As a keen fisherman, this shop always intrigued me. The Broadway in the late 50's and early 60's had three butchers and a fishmonger. The butchers would have various game birds, pigs trotters, tripe and all manner of delicacies in the window. Mac fisheries would have a tub of live eels and crabs that would occasionally move. For those of us who had journeyed as far as Stanmore Common ponds on our bikes, these aquatic lifeforms seemed impossibly glamorous. It is strange how, these days people are almost disgusted by the notion that their food had ever been alive.

6. Acceleration. At some point around 1970, Acceleration opened its doors. For those of us who'd dumped the bike and moved on to cars, this what quite something. Around that time I'd managed to procure an almost new Ford Escort ( a mere 3 years old). Acceleration sold extras such as steering wheel covers, spray paints, oil and all manner of other gadgets for the car buff. It had a  snazzy mustard yellow chequered sign, with a steering wheel. In those halcyon days, a good motor was an extension of your libido and for a few years they did a roaring business as people had money in their pockets. As the 70's turned into a decade of recession and shortages, we spent less on our cars and more filling them up. I think they finally packed up in the mid 1980's but I'd long since stopped buying seat covers and driving gloves.

7. Granada TV Rentals. I'd rented a flat, I had a bit of cash to spare and I wanted a TV, not just any TV, but a colour TV. I couldn't afford to buy one, but Granada rentals allowed me to rent. It was a good deal as they would repair it if it broke down. Once a month I'd trudge down to the Broadway to rent. I finally stopped renting from them in the mid 1990's, buying always seemed an extravagance. I think they closed in the Broadway in the late 1990's.

8. Perry's wine Merchants. This was based where Boots opticians now is located. I owe them a debt of gratitude. I'd rented my own flat, I had a car, a TV and I had met a lovely girl, a bit posher than me. I wanted to impress her and tempt her to visit my flat. As I couldn't cook, I thought the offer of fish and chips from the King Neptune at the Green Man and a bottle of wine might do the trick. The only trouble was, I didn't know anything about which wine to buy. Luckily, the guys in Perrys were more than helpful. They suggested a white, maybe Liebfraumilch or Blue Nun. I asked if these wines  were any good, as I wanted to make a good impression. They suggested that if I wanted to spend a few pennies more, maybe an Italian Frascati. Whilst my tastes have developed, a fish and chip dinner from King Neptune and a bottle of Frascati is still a guilty pleasure for us. These days we buy our wines from Mill Hill Wines, but I've not seen a bottle of blue nun in there for a few years!

9. Budgens. Am I the only Mill Hillian who misses Budgens? Much as I love Marks and Spencers, Budgens was a shop where you could seemingly get anything. They had a deli counter, where you could get thick cut ham. They sold many different brands of teas and tinned fruit. The staff were always friendly and most were old school Mill Hill. When Marks opened it seemed that my weekly shopping bill doubled. Not only that but you couldn't buy PG Tips or tins of custard in the Broadway for a while. Thankfully they now sell various brands and delicious tubs of custard. For a while, we used to shop at Sainsburys in Edgware, as that was the only place you could get everything you need.

10. Barry Edgars plant shop. On the site of where El Vaquero now stands. This was the place to buy your bedding plants and peat in Mill Hill. The family were locals and you could tell their house in Woodcroft Avenue as it had the finest bedding plants in the front garden in Mill Hill. Our garden has many fruit trees bought from Barry still filling our bowls with apples and pears. When they closed down, we moved our trade another fine Mill Hill institution, Finchley Nurseries. Phil and the team have celebrated their 90th birthday as a business this week.
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Many thanks to Richard for his list. If you've got a Saturday list or a guest blog, please sent it in.

Brecon and Radnor By-Election shows the way for Barnet

Last night, we saw an amazing result in the Brecon and Radnor by-election.

Brecon and Radnorshire, result:

LDEM: 43.5% (+14.3)
CON: 39.0% (-9.6)
BREX: 10.5% (+10.5)
LAB: 5.3% (-12.5)
MRLP: 1.0% (+1.0)
UKIP: 0.8% (-0.6)

— Britain Elects (@britainelects) August 2, 2019

Although I am a member of the Lib Dems, I am not going to claim this as a Lib Dem victory. It was a victory for progressive, sensible politics. The reason I say this was because much credit is due to the Green party and Plaid Cymru, who stood down to maximise the possibility of a pro remain victory.  The reason this is so important was graphically demonstrated when the Chancellor announced that billions are being spent '#Turbocharging' no deal preparations. This is money that could have been spent on housing, hospitals and education. Instead it is being spent to allow Boris to claim he has large cojones. It is a complete waste of money and a leaked government document explained what this money will buy us, if the ERG and hard #Brexiters get their way

EXC: On Sky News now: we’ve obtained a “sensitive” internal Whitehall slide which makes sober reading about the first month of a no deal brexit. It warns of
- “consumer panic”
- “law and order challenges” in NI
- security gaps
- Brits abroad return

Produced before BJ became PM pic.twitter.com/2liueLqqeE

— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) August 1, 2019

It is not easy for progressive parties. This tweet shows the huge disparity in spending power that was faced.

Few hours away from #BreconByelection #BreconandRadnorshire result, but here are the party's Facebook ad spend figures for the last 30 days.

The Tories outspent the Lib Dems by more than 4 to 1.

(Haven't seen evidence of local Brexit Party spending, which I'd expect to see) pic.twitter.com/2pa3uOJDZv

— Darryl Murphy (@darryljoemurphy) August 1, 2019

Now we can all bury our heads in the sands, we can all pretend that there will be a glorious revolution and everything will be fine. Or we can do what the Greens, Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems did. We can say "We don't agree on everything but there are enough important issues that unite us to put our differences aside and fight for our core beliefs". The challenges facing Great Britain are daunting. Besides #Brexit, we have a climate crisis, a housing crisis and we lack food and fuel security, as the #Brexit briefing and the crisis in Iran demonstrates. We have a Navy that can start a suicidal nuclear war with Russia (assuming the Yanks let us wipe ourselves off the face of the planet) but which can't escort our ships effectively through the Straits of Hormuz. We have a Police force which is so chronically understaffed that we've got a knife epidemic on our streets, sex slaves being traffic'd to work in brothels in our high streets and burglars driving around our streets, seemingly robbing with impunity. If your house gets burgled, it seems that the role of the Police is now simply to give you a crime number to claim on your insurance. It doesn't need to be like that. I know many serving Met officers and they are sick of the strains and constraints they work under. They want to catch criminals, but every single one I've spoken to over the last few years has told me they are under funded. It is not just officers that are short. To try and maintain the pretence that we have enough, back room staff have been dispensed with, so highly trained officers have  to do filing, typing and admin tasks. It would make far more sense for admin assistants on £16, 000 a year to do this than trained officers on £48,000 a year. When Boris threw out his 20,000 new officers announcement, it demonstrated his lack of understanding of the issue. If he'd said 16,000 officers and 4,000 admin staff, it would have been cheaper and freed up 12,000 existing officers for front line duties. Not only that, but admin staff would be available immediately, whereas officers need training. The reason Boris didn't was because it just doesn't sound sexy.

In the London Borough of Barnet, we have an amazing group of people across the political spectrum. They have worked together to save libraries, oppose gagging by the council and to fight for social justice. This week we've seen why now, more than ever, with the Tories  telling residents that they don't want to listen to them, why a change is needed urgently. There are Mayoral and GLA elections next year. It very much looks to me as if the Labour plan to shore up there vote is a full frontal attack on the Lib Dems and Green parties. My great fear is that this will simply open the door for the Tories to walk through. I know Anne Clarke from Labour, who is up for selection for the GLA and Marisha Ray for the Lib Dems. Both would make fine GLA assembly members. As a Lib Dem, as it stands I will be voting for Marisha, but I would have no hesitation doing the same for Anne in the event of a pact. I am not sure who the Green candidiate may be at present, but I know many of the Green's and I can say that a Green presence on the GLA is not a bad thing. They raise hugely important issues and have the welfare of the planet and the people on it at heart.

As to the race for London Mayor, I have to say that I cannot I can support Sadiq Khan. I am a proud Mill Hillian and his two interventions to pass monstrous developments in Mill Hill has shown that he has no respect for my community. Every major organisation representing Mill Hill campaigned against both the NIMR plans and the Pentavia development. Sadiq Khan chose to ignore this and side with the big developers. I cannot call to mind a single policy success in over three years of his Mayoralty. Both Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson had big successes in their first terms, but Sadiq has not demonstrated that he has what it takes for the job. I wanted to be fair and try and see if I'd missed anything. I googled "Sadiq Khan successes" and the most sympathetic article was a year old from Left Foot Forward. Don't; get me wrong, he's a decent man and the Tory campaign against him was enough to persuade any reasonable person to vote for him last time, regardless of party allegiance, but he has done nothing with his term to justify re-election. I rather hope that someone can make a convincing case as to why I'm wrong, but the Crossrail debacle is a graphic demonstration of what is wrong with his Mayoralty. I've overseen big building projects (clearly not on that scale), and the first rule is that if you are the boss of such a scheme, you regularly walk around and talk to the people on site building it. You track the reports and look for the problems. When Sadiq Khan said that he was taken by surprise when he found that none of the things necessary to open were anywhere near complete last year, I lost faith in him. I spend much of my life in the West End and you don't need to be in the tunnels to know it was not going to be ready. Last May, I was in a pub and  couple of Crossrail workers told me that it would be three years late. I asked why and they said "Half the stations aren't built". It turned out that they were spot on.

I am sure that this will cause howls of outrage, but if anyone on the left can give me a good reason to vote Sadiq apart from Tribalism or Sentiment, they are welcome to submit a guest blog. My view is that as the Lib Dems won the vote in the Euro's, London should unite around the Lib Dem candidate Siobahn Benita. After sixteen years of the Mayoralty, it is time for a female Mayor. I am sure she will be far more in tune with the concerns of all Londoners. For any Labour readers who are horrified by this sacrilege, I'd like to remind them of the 2000 Mayoral elections. Tony Blair foisted loyalist Frank Dobson on London, who was soundly thrashed by Ken Livingstone, who stood as an independent. Livingstone's first term was a remarkable success, not least because he worked with Labour, The Lib Dems and The Green party to deliver good things for London. He brought in the Congestion charge and the Oyster card, both of which revolutionised the lives of Londoners. Baroness Jenny Jones of the Green party was appointed Deputy Mayor for a year, fullfilling  a promise to work with other parties. Livingstone's second term, as a Labour Mayor was notably less successful. The reason I raise this point is because it shows that when it is justified, good things can be delivered by putting aside tribal loyalties.

What I would love to see is an open meeting of Labour, Lib Dem and Green activists, councillors and voters to see if there is any way that some sort of consensus could be agreed on to ensure we get the right results in our area. We are one of the most strongly remain areas and we need representatives that reflect that. My suggestion would be to have a Labour candidate in Finchley and Golders Green,  a Lib Dem in Hendon and a Green in Chipping Barnet for a general election. If any of these were successful that would be one less Conservative than we have at the moment. For the GLA election, there is proportional representation for the list, so I'd recomend everyone vote for their relevant preference. For the Barnet and Camden candidate, I would be prepared to accept some sort of accomodation, or maybe even a joint candidate. I know this is heresy, but I was raised a Roman Catholic and if you look at figures such as Galileo, you soon learn that some times it's the heretic that is right and the bone headed establishment that is wrong.

Has this blog upset you? If it has, then put together a sane, rational riposte and explain why. You will have the ears of Barnet at your feet. My view is that Tribalism is for football, when it comes to decision making, rational thought should rule. There is not enough of it at the moment, but the Brecon and Radnor By Election showed what you can do if you are prepared to act like grown ups who want change.

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Barnet Council votes to gag residents and reject a climate emergency

2010 Conservative Election Laeflet

Last May, Barnet Council re-elected the Conservatives with a much increased majority in the council chamber. Popular leader, Richard Cornelius proposed a whole slate of policies that appealed to the Barnet public and the public responded by putting their 'X' in the Conservative box. Although many readers of this blog are not fans of Mr Cornelius, it has top be acknowledged that he was always prepared to be open and transparent. He attended a question time event staged by the Barnet Alliance for public services, taking open questions from the floor. Whilst his answers were not necessarily to the taste of many present, he was more than prepared to take them and answer them as well as he could.

At last years council election, under his leadership, whole bunch of new, young Conservative councillors were elected in places such as West Hendon that had not previously been Tory. The Tories had widely been expected to lose control of Barnet Council. This blog was almost alone in stating that we thought the wind was blowing the other way. Not because we agreed with Mr Cornelius or the Tories, but because we recognised that for ordinary Barnet voters, the Tories election message was working. This centred around the threat of Jeremy Corbyn taking over. The idea that a 'Marxist' would be in charge of Barnet Council was most unappealing to the majority of ordinary voters. The tactic worked spectacularly well and Mr Cornelius romped home.

Sadly for Mr Cornelius, in his hour of greatest triumph, his sidekick, Councillor Daniel Thomas saw an opportunity. Thomas has long had ambitions, some would say they far exceed his talents. He started a charm offensive with the new Councillors, and having managed to get several long standing Cornelius allies deselected before the May elections (Joan Scannell, Sury Khatri, Maureen Braun), he had the votes in the bag to tell Mr Cornelius to pack his bags. Mr Cornelius stood down in May and Dan Thomas became leader, unopposed. The new councillors were lead to believe that Dan Thomas would be a new broom and transform Barnet from being a rather fuddy-duddy, pedestrian organisation, to a dynamic, driven council, inspired by the ghost of Lady Thatcher, who looms large over all things Barnet. This was dramatically shown in a tweet from Councillor Gabriel Rozenberg this week.

Cllr Cornelius called for a sculpture of Margaret Thatcher which would be a great plan. There are many women we could and should celebrate. More suggestions welcome! https://t.co/RnxibhyRrL

— Gabriel Rozenberg (@rozgab) July 30, 2019

They were in for a bit of a shock. The very first policy initiative of Dan Thomas was one which, rather ironically, was straight from the "How to run a Marxist Council" textbook. A motion was raised to restrict public interaction with the council. An arbitrary limit of 100 words per question was adopted, along with strict limits on the number of questions that members of the public can ask. It is worth pointing out that this was never mentioned in the Conservative manifesto. Bloggers like myself, Mr Reasonable, Mrs Angry and Mr Mustard have managed to save Barnet Council millions of pounds worth of taxpayers money by uncovering waste and asking questions. The most spectacular of these was the Metpro scandal. The net savings of this are in the region of £2.5 million since 2012.

We have also used the questions to expose cases where the council was actually breaking the law, such as the Freedom Pass debacle, where the council illegally withdrew Freedom Passes from disabled people.

Statue of Lady Thatcher

The spurious justification for the changes was to save £42,000 from the budget. Anyone reading the council papers will know that this is a complete red herring. £42,000 is the equivalent of the cost of a member of staff for one year. There was no mention of deleting a member of the team. They know full well that all that will happen is the officers will just work a bit less hard and a few less savings will be uncovered. It is strange that the money for a statue of Lady Thatcher can be found (cost of approx £100,000) but public questions which can save money and ensure a well run, open council cannot be afforded.

Several of the new councillors contacted me privately. They were horrified by the proposal. They stated that they believed it was not what a Conservative Council should be doing. They told me that there divisions in the group. Mrs Angry contacted Lord Pickles, a former Local Government minister, who also agreed that transparency should be paramount. Sadly none of this counted for anything. The Conservative group on Barnet Council voted through the changes on Tuesday. What saddens me is that the new councillors, who privately told me that they were opposed to the scheme fell into line. It seems that they have put party allegiance and the promise of a job in the future before the people who elected them and pay their allowances. Who needs Labour Marxists, who slavishly follow a bad leader, when you have Tory ones?

Perhaps even sadder was the rejection of the proposal to declare a climate emergency in Barnet. The Labour group had proposed this, but the Tories, again displaying an almost Marxist zeal towards politiking, inserted clauses attacking Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London. The motion fell. The Barnet Conservatives posted this tweet. Does this strike you as sensible politics by grown ups?

Labour just voted down their own motion to declare a climate emergency, simply because they won't accept any criticism of the Mayor of London.

While Conservatives take action on the environment, Labour tonight proved their claims are little more than hot air.

— Barnet Conservatives (@BarnetTories) July 30, 2019

What really disturbs me is that we've seen two cases of Mayor Khan giving Barnet Council a punishment beating for its motions criticising him. The first was when the Mayor passed the NIMR development and the second was last week when the Pentavia Retail park development was passed. in both cases, the Mayors team took great delight in pointing out the many failings of Barnet Council. It would be laughable if it wasn't serious. Climate change needs to be addressed and across the planet, local authorities need to take local action. Instead they are 'fiddling whilst Rome burns'.

Do you remember the cry from the Tories "We're all in this together". It is true. But some of us are on the good ship planet Earth in first class and some are in steerage. What the local Conservatives don't seem to appreciate is that when you are on the Titanic, headed towards an Iceberg, it doesn't matter if you are in the first or third class cabins, you will be just as dead when the ship sinks.

Once more, the Barnet Eye finds itself having to write blogs that should never have to be written in a democratic society. When we started writing blogs, back in 2008 on the Barnet Times website, we had a blog removed for pointing out the Stalinist tendency of then Tory Leader Mike Freer. David Miller, former chair of the Chipping Conservatives leapt to our defence.

Under the leadership of Richard Cornelius, there was a degree of openness and so the Stalinist/Marksist label was clearly not appropriate, but Dan Thomas has clearly dug out the manuals on how to control a council and the subjugation of all opposition is in full swing (well at least until the next election).

The thing that saddens me the most is that from my private conversations with some of the new Tory Councillors, I know they are better than this. They have been fed the line that voting against your own party is akin to treachery. It is nothing of the sort. Over the last eleven years that I've written blogs, there have been several notable cases where Tory councillors broke the whip. They did this to save the Mapledown School respite care service, most notably. The Councillor who voted against the whip stated "If we are not here to protect people such as the parents of disabled children, what are we here for?". I ask all of the new Conservative Councillors to ask themselves "what are you here for?". I know if I'd been elected, I would have known the answer. "To serve the best interests of the people of Barnet".

I invite any Conservative Councillor who has the guts to write a guest blog explaining how either of the decisions taken on Tuesday has best served the interests of the people of Barnet". Let's see if any can.