Exclusive : Brian Coleman Smear campaign exposed !

As regular readers of this blog will know, one of the main sources of new stories for the blog is unsolicted emails received from people I don't know. As I'm not a "professional blogger" I don't publish my email address on the blog, but it's easy enough to get in touch for people who want to. I've recently received an email from a very upset person who claimed that there are people running a vicious smear campaign against our beloved Mayor of Barnet, Brian Coleman. My informant informs me that Mr Coleman is a much loved local politician who brings joy to all. He is the hardest working Conservative London Assembly member and is loved by the ordinary people of Barnet. My informant also points out that if he was as bad as the "smearers" claim, he wouldn't have been appointed by Boris Johnson to be head of the London Emergency Services and he wouldn't have been appointed to be Mayor of Barnet in a unanamous vote by the Barnet Conservative group.

Well, as I believe in fairness, I thought I'd investigate. What I've found in my investigation is a plethora of websites and blogs printing all sorts of stories about Mr Coleman.

Here are a few with a brief description
http://isbriancolemanatediouscock.co.uk/ - This nasty site is a fairly simple jobby. It simply asks a question and attempts to provide an answer.

http://torytroll.blogspot.com/search/label/Brian%20Coleman - This is run by a "Journalist" - Adam Bienkov. Mr Bienkov has an unhealthy interest in our beloved mayor's expenses. It seems he's nothing better to do than sift through old expense claims, in the vain hope of finding outrageously high taxi bills or expensive gifts from people supplying services to the Fire services. Surely Mr Bienkov should realise that Mr Coleman would never do such a thing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/davehillblog - This is an official Lefty blog on the well know Stalinist rag "The Guardian". Mr Hill is a Labour apparatchik, who quite clearly never has a good word to say about Brian Coleman. My correspondant notes that Mr Hill clearly wants to get rid of Mr Coleman because Mr Hill knows how popular Mr Coleman is and how the Labour party is scared to death of him. As my Correspondant notes "If Councillor Coleman is really damaging the Conservatives, why would Dave Hill be trying to get rid of him?"

http://colemansgottogo.blogspot.com/ - This mischievious single issue website is dedicated purely to getting rid of Mr Coleman. Amongst the vicious smears it, it has stooped as low as to compare Mr Coleman to the Dickensian character Mr Bumble. As you will see from the pictures at the top of this blog, the comparisson is completely unfair.

http://www.notthebarnettimes.co.uk - It also seems that Conservatives are involved in the conspiracy. This website, run by "Don't Call Me Dave", has also joined in on the feeding frenzy. Whilst my correspondent doesn't mention this site, it would be most unfair to you the reader to think it is merely the lefties who are "having a go".

As you can see, there's quite a motley collection in this conspiracy. Of course, the Barnet Eye would never take part in a vicious, unwarranted, politically orchestrated campaign such as that described by my correspondent. As my correspondent tells me Mr Coleman is a "tireless public servant", who is a "caring son to his elderly mother" and a "tireless campaigner for good causes" - let us look at his contribution in a cool calm collected light.

The charges against Mr Coleman:-

He's a freeloader - it is true that he has taken more free gifts/ hospitality than the rest of the GLA members. His list takes up approx 1/4 of the list. He also has another list on LEFPA site. Is he a freeloader? Well I have been assured by a local Labour activist who works in McDonalds that he is partial to a McDonalds and he does pay for it himself. I have also seen him buy himself a glass of wine at the Mill Hill Music Festival. I guess you'll just have to see what he has to say about the subject HERE and make up your own mind.

He's taking the mickey with his expense claims - Since his appointment to the GLA he's claimed more for taxi's than the rest of the assembly put together. To be fair to Mr Coleman, he has had a driving ban and he did have to carry around his chain of office, which he simply feels totally naked without. Is it unreasonable to leave a cab running meter running for hours, whilst eating a banquet at the public expense? According to Oxfam, this figure (approx £400) could provide a basic meal for 1,600 starving children. Make your own mind up.

He is less than transparent with his expenses - He was the last GLA assembly member to put his expenses on line and claimed that it was "none of the public's business". Well we the electors are the boss. I don't know about you, but I always thought that the boss had the ultimate say on our expenses. I think that all expense details should be sent out so that we can decide if we are re electing people who stand for what we want. Incumbants have a huge advantage. If they have been reasonable with their expenses then they'll still have a huge advantage.

He looks like Mr Bumble - Well, I personally can see no resemblance whatsoever. You have the picture, you decide.

So in answer to my correspondants claim that there is a "shameful campaign of smears" against Mr Coleman. The defintion of smear in the Cambridge online dictionary is

Definition

smear (ACCUSATION)
noun [C]
an accusation which is unpleasant, unreasonable or unlikely to be true and which is made publicly with the intention of harming a person's reputation:
The prime minister has dismissed the allegations as smears and innuendo.
She claims she was the victim of a smear campaign (= repeated attempts to damage her reputation).

At the Barnet Eye, we don't want to tell you how to think. We just present the evidence and let you make up your own mind. What do you think? Is he a saintly figure who has been treated in a beastly fashion or is he an arrogant mickey taker who deserves everything he gets?