Why do the Barnet Tories reward abject failure and despise compassion?

Firstly, apologies. I intended to write this blog yesterday, but I simply couldn't face immersing myself in the sewage that is the behaviour of our local Conservative group. So I had a day off, a pleasant cup of tea at Cafe Buzz, a long walk around Arrendene with the dog and a night on the tiles with my good mate Keith in Blackfriars, discussing football, children and the wedding (his forthcoming one, not all that business last weekend).

Sadly, my blissful day was interrupted by a phone call from Simon Allin at The Barnet Times. My attempts to bury my head in the sand and pretend that everything was fine and dandy in the world was ruined. Simon is the hard working and conscientious local politics reporter for the paper. He suffers all manner of infantile sniping from the likes of disgraced, convicted woman beater and ex councillor Brian Coleman on Twitter, who pedantically relish pedantically correcting Simon on a regular basis, for his lack of understanding of the byzantine ways of Barnet Council.

New mayor of Barnet to be appointed https://t.co/rXeWMcNChO lost count of the number of mistakes in this article. The Mayor is elected NOT appointed. Barnet doesn't have a Cabinet …..

— Brian Coleman (@BrianColeman251) May 21, 2018

It comes as no surprise to me that Coleman was also enthusiastically retweeting the news that Councillor Reuben Thompstone has been elected by the Tory group as the new Mayor. Long time readers will remember that Coleman himself was Mayor in 2009. He has the inglorious title of being the only Mayor of Barnet found guilty of breaching the standards code whilst in office. Coleman revels in being an "ex Mayor", despite the fact that he was undoubtedly the least successful holder of the office and that his subsequent criminal record brings the whole office into disrepute. My own view is that any Ex Mayor who pleads guilty to beating women in court should have his picture removed from the Town Hall wall. There really should be a zero tolerance of such behaviour by the council.

I suspect that one reason that Coleman is so excited about the appointment of Reuben Thompstone is that he knows he may have the title of "worst Mayor of Barnet" wrenched from his sweaty palms. The newly elected Mayor has shown himself to be the most catastrophically ineffective councillor in the history of Barnet. For all his sins, Coleman was at least a mildly competent administrator, when he wasn't falling asleep at the desk or insulting people.

@AlternativeDfT @BrianColeman251 This is him asleep at work at City hall pic.twitter.com/Ou7VzMTGMc

— Paul (@Paulmutantes) February 6, 2015

No one can make such a comment about Thompstone. In 2014 Thompstone was chair of the Budget Overview and Scrutiny Committee. His keynote policy was to cut the budget at Mapledown School ( a highly regarded special needs centre, looking after the most severely disabled children in the Borough). The cut specifically centred on afterschool and respite care, vital for parents with a 24 x 7  commitment to their children. The policy caused outrage. To their credit, three Tory Councillors, lead by Maureen Braun lead a revolt and threw out the cut. As best as I can remember, it is the only time that I've seen the Tories vote down one of their own policies. My blog from the night records the scenes for posterity.

"Councillor Maureen Braun, not a friend of this blog asked Rubes "Who is more vulnerable than disabled children". Rubes tried to string a sentence together, but failed. Braun had summed up the general feeling in the room. Rayner had sensed early on that the Tories were on a loser. He had spent the evening trying to figure out how to extract his reputation from this situation. He clearly didn't want to shaft Mapledown, but couldn't work out how to protect his Tory friend. He moved to a vote and to the amazement of all, Salinger and Braun, to their great credit voted to send the report back to the cabinet. In short a Tory Committee had agreed that the Mapledown cut was unfair and unjust and needed review.
Rayner realised that with an election looming, this presented a constitutional issue. He tried to get a council officer to help him out but no one really seemed to know. Rubes, a large man, seemed to have shrunk and seemed to resemble a demented leprechaun. He looked totally gutted."

It is interesting to note that the two councillors who had the guts to stand up for disabled children have gone. Salinger retired and Maureen Braun was deselected, much to her surprise, before the recent election. Reuben Thompstone is a big friend of the arch Tory plotter Daniel Thomas and it is pretty clear to me that this was payback.

But what of Thompstone (or Rubes as we lovingly call him). What did Big Rubes do next? One may have thought that having made such a monumental cock up, the Barnet Tories might have learned? Clearly not. The man was given the Children, Education and Libraries subcommittee chair (with the big fat allowance that goes with it). Barnet has long had a reputation for good educational services and excellent libraries. What could possibly go wrong? Where shall we start?

As the head of this committee, the first duty of Reuben Thompstone is to care about local children. Given that his former colleague Maureen Braun had noted that he didn't recognise that no one was more vulnerable than disabled children, it is not surprising what happened next. Thompstone embarked on a scorched earth policy with regards to libraries. The library space was halved, with libraries remodelled to create such things as "hubs" where businessmen can drink coffee and access the internet, where children used to read books. Librarians who welcomed people and helped them read were replaced with security guards, who sent them away if they didn't have the right card. Under 16's had access removed, meaning no quiet place for exam revision and no access to books for study. And all of this money saving came at a cost of £14 million. You really couldn't make it up.

That would be a massive scandal in itself. There is currently a challenge going to the secretary of state as there is evidence that it may be illegal. It is certainly discriminatory and many believe not compliant with the Libraries act. However it is dwarfed into insignificance by the failure of Childrens Services. An OFSTED report deemed the council to be failing. Essex County Council were brought in to take over and turn things around. Click here to read the whole sorry tale of woe. It seems that with competent management lead by Essex, things are now improving, but surely the councillor responsible - Rubes - should have been sacked? What organisation on earth would reward someone for such abject failure? The answer is The Barnet Conservatives. Reuben Thompstone has been reward with the Mayoralty. This is normally given to councillors with long service as a reward for doing a fantastic job. The outgoing Mayor was Brian Salinger. He was one of the longest serving councillors, former leader and a man steeped in public services. He was kept waiting nearly a decade for the honour. The difference was that he wasn't mates with Dan Thomas. He wasn't a yes man. The message that the elevation of Rubes sends loud and clear to all of the other Tory councillors is that "failure is fine so long as you put your hand up when we tell you".

Back in 2012 we made a film called "A Tale of Two Barnets". There is a modern update. "A Tale of Two Tories". One, Maureen Braun showed compassion for disabled children. Her payoff? A sneaky deselection. The other, Reuben Thompstone, showing no compassion, cocking up Childrens services and spending a fortune on making libraries less accessible. His reward, the best job in Barnet, a free limo, a big robe and load of bling.

It makes me sick. Over the years, I've always done what I can to support the Mayors Charity. I've given thousands of pounds, logisitical support, attended events etc. I am sorry to say that I will not be doing so this year. Councillor Reuben Thompstone is a complete disgrace and I will not be supporting this vicious charade. It seems I am not alone in this view.

Not ony has the Chair of the Children, Education and Libraries Committee, Councillor Reuben Thompstone, not resigned, @BarnetTories have decided he should be rewarded by being Mayor if they control the @BarnetCouncil

— Julia Hines (@JuliaHines) May 3, 2018

Julia Hines is the former chair of Age UK Barnet.

The Mayor of Barnet is the first citizen of the borough. Reuben Thompstone is wholly unsuited. He failed by leading children’s services to inadequate by Ofsted. Additionally, he oversaw the destruction of our library service. Appalling appointment by Barnet Tories.

— SaveBarnetLibraries (@SaveBarnetLibs) May 23, 2018

I really have only one question for the Barnet Tories - Why do the they reward abject failure and despise compassion?

Mayor of Barnet opens new football scheme at Grahame Park

I've known local football coach Paul Fitzgerald for some time. He used to run a training scheme for young footballers which my son attended. He was also a key figure in the Mill Hill Village Youth football training setup.

I was invited down to Grahame Park to see Pauls latest venture, the Academy of Football Specific Training. Like many people at the grassroots level in the community, Paul is not really one for the limelight, preferring just to get on with his job. So although he was keen for the Barnet Eye to get the word out about his scheme, he was too camera shy to give me an interview! We had a cup of tea and a chat about local football.

Paul has taken on the management of the Grahame Park community football pitch and is using it as his training hub. Until recently the pitch and the training rooms were semi derelict and vandalised.  During my visit I was pleased to bump into the Mayor of Barnet Hugh Rayner, who was down to see how the operation was getting off the ground. It turns out that Hugh knows Paul and is a big fan of his work. Hugh has helped Paul negotiate some of the hurdles and (after a bit of cajoling) gave me a short interview talking about the scheme.


Now we can all be a tad cynical at times, but I think this is an example of the Mayor doing a good job. People within the community such as Paul need all the help that they can get to negotiate the hurdles of dealing with the council, and it is clear that Hugh has been supportive. I've been critical in the past of the council for its poor record of protecting football pitches and other community facilities from developers. That Hugh has recognised the vital role such pitches and figures like Paul play is a very positive development and I sincerely hope that this signals a more general move towards protecting community assets.

So if you know of any young people in the area looking for football training, the full details can be found here - http://afstpase.com/

What is going on with the Mayor in Barnet

Hugh Rayner became Mayor of Barnet in May. One of the jobs the Mayor has to do is raisde money for his chosen charities. The Barnet Eye always makes a point of supporting the Mayors Charity appeal because it is one of the the things which is non political and for the benefit of us all. I am therefore rather perplexed to see that nearly 2 months after Mr Rayner became Mayor, there has been no update of his page on the Council website with details of his Charity.

I took this up with Hugh on Thursday when I saw him and suggested that it should be sorted out post haste. It has still not been corrected. Why can't Barnet Council sort out  the most simple things?

For the record during his mayoral year the Councillor Rayner has chosen to support the Barnet Association for the Blind and the RAF Museum in Hendon.I hope that we all give these charities the appropriate support.

The Mayors page is here

http://www.barnet.gov.uk/info/1001/the_mayors_pages/244/the_mayors_pages

Disgraced Barnet Mayor Hugh Rayner explains how he uses the small print on contracts to make extra profits

Many thanks to Barnet Bugle for this clip of Hugh Rayner, explaining to the council how he uses the small print to make "extra profits" on his contracts. You couldn't make this up, could you?

This story on the Hendon Times explains how Mr Rayner has made £28,000 from Barnet Council, whilst failing to declare a financial interest when attending meetings and casting votes

http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/11315272._Do_you_think_that_s_right____Mayor_of_Barnet_receives_more_than___28_000_in_housing_benefits/?ref=mc

The question is. Do you think that Mr Rayner is a suitable candidate to be first citizen of Barnet.

The NightMayor turning into a Tory train crash

First of all, lets discuss a few things that the British public don't like

They don't like bullies. They don't like rip off merchants. They don't like people who play fast and loose with the rules. We especially don't like people who we perceive to be in positions of authority who take advantage of it.

Why do I mention this? Because I think anyone associated with the Tory Party in Barnet would be well advised to give these principles some serious thought in light of the train crash unfolding around the new Mayor of Barnet, Mr Hugh Rayner.  The story began last week with some rather unsavoury business practices emplyed by Mr Rayner being exposed by Andrew Dismore. He brought the subject up with the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who was none too impressed. Just to recap, the issues Mr Dismore revealed were.



• He drafted 12-month contracts which permit rent increases by any amount during any time of year – and in one case, a mother was slapped with a three per cent hike without warning

 • Turning up to a tenant’s house unannounced at 10pm at night, “pressuring” her to sign a new lease without reading it

• Using tenant’s children as translators

• Fellow Conservative Councillor John Hart was asked to pre-sign a lease without the tenant being present – something which is illegal

• Overcharging residents on housing benefit “to the detriment of the public purse” 

(full story on the Hendon Times here -  http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/11274996.POLL__Should_Barnet_Mayor_Hugh_Rayner_resign_/?ref=mc )


I've often wondered who, if anyone, advises the Barnet Tories on their PR. Whoever it is should be sacked. To my amazement, the Leader of the Barnet Tories, Richard Cornelius came out in favour of Mr Rayners business practices today. He told the Hendon Times. 

“If it’s something that’s illegal it’s something that shouldn’t be done. It depends on what you mean by illegal” Mr Cornelius continued  “Leases should be in line with a statute. If it wasn’t, it would be a civil matter. Market rent is what you can get something for. If that’s the amount of money he can get for the houses, it’s market rent. I don’t see that as overcharging to the detriment of the public purse. No of course he shouldn’t resign over this.” 

(full details here http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/11280338.Council_leader_defends_Barnet_Mayor_s__illegal__behaviour/ ) In short, Mr Cornelius thinks it's OK to overcharge vulnerable people, when taxpayers are picking up the tab. I find this to be an obscene position for  a Council Leader to take.  By rushing out an ill thought through statement, he is now a hostage to fortune. Mr Cornelius may feel that the market rent is charging what you like to vulnerable people, but I doubt this is a widely held view. His prevaracation about what may or may not be illegal is perhaps the most disturbing comment of all. Clearly Mr Cornelius has learned nothing from the sad demise of Brian Coleman. Given that Mr Rayner has admitted all of the charges made by Mr Dismore (see his reponse to the Hendon Times here http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/11274996.POLL__Should_Barnet_Mayor_Hugh_Rayner_resign_/?ref=mr ), you would think that Mr Cornelius would have a bit more sense.

Sadly for Mr Rayner and Mr Cornelius, it appears that the matter has got much worse today. New revealations about Mr Rayner have come out. It now seems that Mr Rayner has failed to declare business interests when taking part in crucial votes in the Town Hall.
 (details here in the Hendon Times http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/11281023.Mayor_Hugh_Rayner_failed_to_declare_interests_when_voting_on_housing_policies/ ). Mr Rayner, as a major private Landlord took part in discussions which devised the Councils housing allocation policy. He failed to declare an interest, when the Councils new policy delares 

“We now house more housing applicants in the private rented sector than in social housing. The draft allocations policy will set out an approach that complements this shift by recognising that an offer of private rented sector housing provides a positive solution to housing need.”

If that is not a conflict of interest for a professional Landlord, what is? It seems that his support is ebbing away. Highly respected (ex)Barnet Tory blogger and ex senior member of the chipping Barnet Tories David "Don't Call Me Dave" Miller commented on the local paper website

 "This latest revelation appears to remove the benefit of any doubt to which Hugh Rayner was entitled. It is still not clear whether he has acted unlawfully, but he has certainly conducted himself in a manner unbecoming of an elected representative and First Citizen of the Borough."

On Friday Mr Miller was saying on the Times website

"There is no legal requirement for Landlords to join the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme so this is irrelevant.  Assured Shorthold Tenancies do not need to be witnessed so, whilst it was stupid (if true) for Cllr Hart to have witnessed a document in advance of it being signed, it is not clear that any offence has actually been committed.   As for multiple rent rises during the year, if the lease clearly allows the landlord to put the rent up multiple times, then no offence has been committed – even if most people would consider such a term to be unfair. And Boris isn’t a Judge, so for him to suggest that something is “prima facie illegal” without knowing the facts is also irrelevant ."

So it is clear that even former supporters of Mr Rayner have lost faith in the man.  By sticking his neck out for Mr Rayner, Mr Cornelius has completely undermined his own authority and yet again shown extremely poor judgement. I tend to think Mr Miller is a fair judge of the prevailing winds in the local Tory viewpoint. He is the voice of the grassroot activist and is someone that on many occasions the elite who run the show should listen to. He started out from the position that Andrew Dismore was simply using the issue to cause trouble for the Tories, but as the story has emerged he's realised that the story is more serious. There was a time when the  Barnet Tories had lots of sensible men such as Mr Miller offering sensible advice behind the scenes. Sadly for the Tories the Party has long since dispensed with their services. Mr Rayner himself organised one such purge after the last general election, which resulted in one of their most effective organisers, Mr Adrian Murray-Leonard leaving. Whilst this secured Mr Rayners position in the Hendon Labour Party, it spectacularly backfired as Mr Murray-Leonard joined UKIP and has spent the last three years organising against the local Tories. This is likely to cost the Tories the Hendon Constituency in the 2015 general election.

The incident with Mr Murray-Leonard cost Mr Rayner many friends in the Hendon Tories. Whilst the more stupid local Tories seem to think this tale has been dug up by Mr Dismore, in actual fact the details have been touted around the Barnet bloggers for several years by certain disaffected Tories, only too keen to see Mr Rayner get his comeuppance. None of these revealations are new to the Barnet Eye. We simply haven't had the resources to verify them, in the way that the Hendon Times has. Following a Tip off back in 2010, we posted this blog and asked some of the questions that are being asked now. Sadly no one took much notice then - http://barneteye.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/can-maureen-braun-shed-some-light-on.html - but as you can see, this train crash has been a long time in coming.

Night Mayor in Barnet Town Hall

Oh dear, oh dear. Once more it appears that the Barnet Tories are determined to drag the role of mayor through the dirt. Once again they've put political expediency before the people of Barnet. It seems that Mr Hugh Rayner, who was recently selected by the Tories  as Mayor, has been a rather naughty boy. He is a professional property developer and landlord and he's been involved in some rather shady practices. These include getting "pre witnessed" leasehold agreements, charging above the market rate and turning up at tenants homes at 10pm at night. He's also admitted to using the childen of non English speakers to translate agreements. When asked, even Boris Johnson thought this was unacceptable.

This has been revealed by the Hendon Times. They have been running a poll asking people whether he should go.

http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/11274996.POLL__Should_Barnet_Mayor_Hugh_Rayner_resign_/?ref=var_0

Of course there is zero chance of this happening. In 2009 Brian Coleman was Mayor and he was found guilty of breaching the Councils own code of conduct. He was not even slapped on the wrists. The truth is that Rayner won't go and the reputation of the Council will once again be dragged through the mud. I discussed the issue with a local Tory Councillor. They told me that whilst many of Rayners colleagues were disgusted, the narrow majority in the chamber meant that they were lumbered with him. I suspect that the situation will come back to bite them on the bum, should this attitude prevail.

Brian Coleman : The saviour of the London Borough of Barnet

Just remember, you read it here first. In the Barnet Eye on December 18th, 2010.

Next year is going to probably be the toughest year ever in Barnet Council. Whatever happens, there will be mass redundancies. Many public services will be closed down, many vulnerable people will be left high and dry. Whilst all of this goes on, many leading Tory councillors will be trowsering huge amounts of allowances, far in excess of any other year. As libraries shut, sheltered housing wardens are sacked, childrens centres closed and care workers for the elderly and vulnerable are made redundant, huge contracts will be doled out to multi national companies as part of the Future Shape/One Barnet program.

If you think that there has been unrest, in the words of the old song "You ain't seen nothing yet". I was talking to Barnet Unison secretary John Burgess on Tuesday night. John is a highly intelligent guy. he was explaining to me that the workforce at Barnet Council have been extremely reluctant in the past to take industrial action. This is all changing. When people realise that their jobs are on the line and there aren't other jobs out there, people suddenly realise it is in their self interest to defend their rights. Barnet Council has made the fatal mistake of thinking that because the staff have traditionally been quite passive, they can kick the crap out of them and they won't fight back. When staff received redundany notices, the penny dropped.

At more or less exactly the same time, Lynn Hillan, Conservative leader of Barnet Council stated "We are all in this together". Given that she's given many of her councillors who chair committees a huge increase in allowance (only scrapping her own rise because of a huge campaign), she couldn't have told a bigger whopper if she'd tried. Hillan only just survived an attempt to overthrow her by Mark Shooter, who had only been in the council for five minutes. You may have thought that Lynne Hillan might have learned and would get her nose to the grindstone. This time last year, Barnet was paralysed by bad weather. Salt stocks ran out and both Hillan and her deputy Harper, were on holiday. This year, as once again bad weather hits, where is Hillan? I got this when I emailed her :-

----- Original Message -----

From: Hillan, Cllr Lynne Conservative

To: Roger Tichborne

Sent: Friday, December 17, 2010 6:38 PM

Subject: Out of Office AutoReply: Extremely Urgent : Library consultation

I am currently on leave until 5 January 2011 .   Please contact the Deputy Leader, Cllr Andrew Harper for anything urgent, em: cllr.a.harper@barnet.gov.uk.  For Brunswick Park Ward issues, please contact my colleagues, either Cllr Andreas Tambourides on 0208 368 5417 or Cllr Lisa Rutter on 07956 858913.  Otherwise I will deal with your message when I return.
--------------------------------------------------------------

She learns nothing. At the one time when it was crystal clear that the Council would need firm leadership and action, she's on holiday. Fortunately Andrew Harper seems to have learned the lesson. In Scotland, a crisis centre has been set up, where rail, road, police, fire and all other emergency services can be co-ordinated from. The top politicians are there day and night to ensure that the situation is addressed. In North London Business park, all we have is an empty desk from Hillan.

So what has this all got to do with Councillor Brian Coleman. As regular readers will know, this blog can, with some justification, claim to be his biggest critic. As far as I know, I'm the only person in Barnet to successfully hold old porkychops to account. As such I was rather surprised to be contacted by a Barnet Councillor, asking me whether I would support a Coleman candidacy for Leadership in May.

My initial reactions was "He's the last person in the world I'd choose. It would be like putting Dracula in charge of a bloodbank". My esteemed Councillor friend then walked me through the likely candidates

Lynne Hillan - Completely Useless and totally discredited.

Andrew Harper - Hillans deputy.  A firm believer in all of Hillans policies, such as future shape, library cuts, scrapping wardens, in short the status quo candidate

Daniel Thomas - A right wing uber-Thatcherite, who believes that Future Shape doesn't go far enough. Thomas is believed to want to pass a whole host of unworkable bylaws and rules to make Barnet an even more unpleasant place to work, study or live. He is an avid reader of bonkers policy documents from obscure right wing think tanks (manned by people like Robert Rams) who devise all sorts of crazy policies, yet have never had a real job or run a real company.

Which brings us to Brian Coleman. What does porkychops have to offer, which the rest of them don't. Well firstly we can be pretty sure that he'll double the Leaders allowance to £70,000 per year (because he's worth it). Unlike Hillan he won't crack when the press start whining. The next thing he'll do is cancel Future Shape and sack all of the consultants. Brian Coleman knows it's a complete pile of crap. He knows the figures don't add up. He knows that by sacking the consultants, he can save £5 million this year. With this he can save the libraries, wardens and a host of other services. Brian is a populist. he knows that if he says "I've sacked all these useless consiltants who write waste of space reports and i've saved the libraries, wardens and childrens centres with the money", people will think he's doing a great job. They will be prepared to look the other way as he hikes up his salary. Once he's sacked all of the consultants, he's going to set about the tiers of middle managers in Barnet Council. Coleman is said to believe that a blank cut of 50% of middle managers would have no effect on front line services and would reap huge savings. Again, he will plough this back into tax cuts and mainating front line services.

Despite our perception of Coleman as a greedy trougher, with no regard for his fellow man, Coleman is a lover of things like Hendon Town Hall, Civic flowerbeds, libraries and museums. I hear he's horrified at plans to cut Church Farm Museum. Coleman has a soft spot for the museum, following an exhibition about gays in Barnet a few years back. Brian believes that he is morally obligated to save the museum for staging this.

The big difference between Coleman and the other three, is that he doesn't care who he upsets. If he believes he's right (which he always does 100%) he's prepared to move Hell and High water to get what he wants. Coleman believes that if the Tories don't sort themselves out, they will lose Barnet in 3 1/2 years and he knows that he's likely to lose his GLA seat to Andrew Dismore in 2012. Unlike the rest of them, he doesn't want to retire from Politics at the next council election.

Brian Colemans biggest fantasy is a blue plaque on Hendon Town Hall saying "Brian Coleman, the Man who saved Barnet Council". Sadly for Coleman, all of this is a pipedream. In reality, most of his colleagues hate his guts and wouldn't elect him unless a gun was put to their heads. The only footnote he'll get in the anals of Barnet history is "Brian Coleman : The only mayor to be found guilty of breaching the standards code". Whilst in some ways I may agree with many of his plans to save the council, the truth is that the man is a complete arse and everyone knows it. That is why Harper will take over in May.

Mill Hill Election special - The aftermath - Tonge is Wrong !

Seriously, what is wrong with these people? What has happened to good manners and good grace? Win or lose, act with dignity. I must congratulate John Hart, Sury Khatri and Brian Schama on their victory in Mill Hill. I must also commend their good manners in how they dealt with it. Don't get me wrong, I'm bitterly disappointed. There were many issues with the way the election was staged in Barnet which were awful and need to be sorted out. I will be writing to Nick Walkley - CEO of Barnet  to demand a meeting to discuss these. Not because they affected my result in any way at all, I accept that with good grace, but because they were wrong and they need to be sorted out. This isn't a throw my toys out of the pram rant. I will leave that to others.I just want to make sure that next time, the good people of Mill Hill, who want to vote can do so in a timely and efficient manner. Even more importantly, the way the count was conducted was a disgrace. This was done in a marquee with no effective heating. The staff, many of whom had only light clothing, as they expected to work in an office environment, were absolutely frozen. They would have been well within their rights to have walked off the job. I congratulate them for sticking with it and I would suggest that Barnet pay them a bonus for the harsh conditions. When people work in extreme conditions, they make mistakes. As I say, I don't believe this affected my vote, but it doesn't make for a good election. Nick Walkley, the CEO seems like a reasonable chap, so I am sure he'll be keen to ensure that next time things are better. We are likely to face another general election soon, so it cannot wait.

On to the vote in Mill Hill. I personally take full responsibility for my defeat in Mill Hill. I was a new boy to the process and as such I took a back seat in the campaign planning and acted as a foot soldier. I believe that we had a good team in Jeremy, Kim and myself, with Wayne as our agent. I believe we had the best proposition for the people of Mill Hill and if they didn't buy it, that was because I didn't sell it properly. I finished bottom out of the three Lib Dems in Mill Hill, by a hundred or so votes.  Someone said to me that I actually had a personal vote of 4-500. Thanks guys for that. I do appreciate it (please note that this is a personal view. My running mate Kim has asked me to state that she believes that it was not an issue with the campaign. She is of the opinion that the huge turnout for the election, with people voting on national issues was the reason for the result. I in no way imply any criticism of the team or the campaign in my comments).

One issue which can't and shouldn't be skirted around was the issue that many people in Mill Hill told me completely put them off voting for the Lib Dems. I was told time and time on the doorstep that people would definately have voted for me, but they couldn't possibly vote for a party which had Baroness Tonge as a member. I believe that she is the reason the Lib Dems lost this election in Mill Hill. I'd never even heard of her when I joined the Lib Dems last year. I know all about her now. I knew we needed to clearly and plainly state our position (ie the Mill Hill Lib Dems) on her rantings and blatherings. I believe we should have put out at least three leaflets during the course of the election to voters likely to be put off by her, completely disassociating ourselves from her comments. Until such time as we do, we will suffer. I don't believe that anyone in a position of seniority should be allowed to remain a member of the party if they make such inflammatory and ill judged statements. We would throw out someone who said such things about any other ethnic minority, so why do we tolerate it? What would I have said "I completely disassociate myself from this woman and If I am elected I will have a platform within the party from which to get firm action taken to remove the party whip". I will still seek to persue this outcome, but as I was rejected at the elections, I have no platform at all within the organisation. I am merely a failed candidate.

I went out for  a beer then a curry in Mill Hill last night. People were devastated that Jeremy Davies lost. He has been an excellent local councillor. One woman said "Tell Jeremy I am so sad he lost" I said "Thanks, I'll tell him, did you vote for us?" She replied, rather shamefacedly "Oh no, I usually do but this time I voted for the Conservatives, because I wanted to get rid of Gordon Brown".  I asked "Did you vote for us at the local elections?" She replied "No I voted Conservative there as well". I asked "Oh have we done something?". She replied "No, I just did, I thought you'd all get in anyway, I'm really sorry". You can't really draw too many conclusions from a single conversation, but I felt deeply sad at this.

One final word. When the result was announced (for those of you who've never been to the count, the candidates are told before they are publicly announced) the Mayor of Barnet, Brian Coleman made his way to the front. As the result was announced he cheered and gesticulated wildly and announced "I've beaten Tichborne again".  As ever this statement was complete B*ll*cks. Coleman didn't stand in Mill Hill. He didn't campaign there. I never mentioned him once in the campaign leaflets or on this blog. The guys who beat me are the opposite of Coleman. They have a bit of class. John Hart gave me his opinion of Coleman a few weeks ago and asked me not to put it in the blog. I won't but it made me smile. Oh and dearest Mayorykins, just remember not only did you not beat me in Mill Hill (you had nothing to do with the result), you lost at the Standards board as well. You will get your chance one day and you will lose again, but as to when and where? That's a secret for now

Not all of the news on the campaign trail is good

On Saturday morning in Mill Hill Broadway. There's revolution in the air. The previous Saturday there was an air of euphoria, with many people coming up and congratulating us on Nick Cleggs surprise victory in the Leadership debate. The atmosphere was different this week. The polls have gone up and stayed up. Rather than euphoric congratulation, people were asking serious questions, raising real issues and telling us that they were on side. Of course not everyone in Mill Hill like the Lib Dems. Amongst the anti mob, there is also a hardening of attitudes. If you are an irrelevence everyone is nice to you. Until last week that was the case. There was a massive dollop of poison dumped on the Lib Dems in the week, so it was inevitable that this would affect some people. As I've spoken to many people on the doorstep and on the street, I can tell you how this has worked. The people who really hated the Lib Dems now hate us even more and they have better ammunition with which to be rude to us. The people in the middle who may or may not vote for us have read this and are really keen to discuss the issues raised. As a candidate for council, this works massively in my favour. As people want to talk to me, I can get the message across.

Another thing which I haven't anticipated is the number of people I've told on the doorstep to read my blog if they wanted to find out about my views. Quite a few came up to me on Saturday morning and congratulated me. That is nice. They asked why the local press didn't cover local issues in such depth. They were amazed at how many issues they'd never heard of. There was one piece of news which absolutely gutted me. I bumped into an old footballing friend, who played in several teams I've played in over the years. He told me he had Kidney cancer and it had spread. He was on an experimental drug and was hoping it would stop the cancer in it's tracks. My friend is not a shrinking violet, he's one of the most full of life people I've ever known. As we chatted, he announced to everyone who passed "Vote for this guy, he's the man". I pondered the fact that he'd make a great politician, a man of great charm, personality and charisma. Barnet Council needs dynamic people who are not stuffed shirts. I've long been of the opinion that it's too full of pomp and ceremony and that puts the man on the street off. If I get in on May 6th, I am going to dedicate the next 4 years to trying to get local people involved and local people making a difference. One of my Lib Dem colleagues joked that following my run in with theMayor last year, if the Lib Dems win, I'd make a great Mayor. Should that happen the first thing I'd do is sell they Mayoral Limo and the second thing I'd do is sell the Mayoral chain. I'd give the money raised to local sports clubs, to help get young people into healthy lifestyles. I asked why the Mayor needs a limo "So when he attends a function, he can have a drink and get taken home". If I decide to get pissed at the public expense, then it isn't work, it's pleasure and I'll pay my own busfare home. We need to make the council work for the people of Barnet and get rid of all of the indulging of public servants.

I hope that in four years time, my good friend is out on the Broadway telling everyone I'm still the man for two reasons - firstly because I pray to god he survives that long and secondly because I hope I've proven his faith in me to be justified. God bless you Gummsy !

The Important questions for the Barnet Council elections in May - Number 5

Today is question no 5 in our series dedicated to looking at the important questions which face voters in Barnet as we approach the Council elections on May 6th.

Question No 5.
Standards of behaviour in public office
Is it important to you whether the people who run for public office maintain high standards of behaviour whilst in office. I am not talking about their sexual preferences or what they do behind closed doors. I am talking about how they conduct their business. This shows whether they are honest, decent and trustworthy. The two highest posts within Barnet Council are the Leader of the Council and the Mayor. Both of these positions were appointed by the Conservatives using their larger block vote. How have these people conducted themselves and their business in the time they've been councillors.


Council Leader Lynne Hillan. In 2006 the company Lynne Hillan ran, Ashurst Direct Marketing Ltd was liquidated, leaving debts of over £100,000. As a result, the creditors were significantly out of pocket. The largest creditor was you and me, the taxpayer. Whilst not illegal, if Ms Hillan cannot run a small company successfully and thinks knocking the taxman for tens of thousands pounds, whilst serving as a councillor is a good grounding for taking over as leader I'm flabbergasted. What is even more amazing is that a majority of her Conservative Councillors don't seem to mind either. It is worth pointing out that Ashurst Direct Marketing went bust before the credit crunch bit and the economy was in good shape and growing. It is also worth pointing out that Lynne Hillan has displayed the same grasp of economics when setting the Council budget. She has raided the council cash reserves to institute a Council Tax freeze in an election year. This means that the Council, like Ashurst Direct marketing is running at a loss under her tenure. If she'd raided the reserves for a genuine purpose to deal with an emergency, such as an emergency road resurfacing program, to deal with the pothole crisis in Barnet, I would have agreed that this is sensible. To raid them purely for an election bribe is scandalous.

Mayor of Barnet Brian Coleman. Brian Coleman is the only Mayor of Barnet to be found guilty of a breach of the Barnet Council code of conduct whilst in office. How did he react to the verdict? He went out celebrating with other Conservative Councillors. Mr Coleman also stated that the Standards Committee was a waste of time, rather hypocritically, given that he had reported an opposition Councillor to it (a complaint that was slung out). Mr Coleman has publicly supported disgraced Brent Councillor Bertha Joseph, who was suspended for using charity donations to buy ball gowns. He was banned from driving for speeding offences. He described Middlesex University as "crap", insulting thousands of hard working tutors and students. He insulted the successful British Olympic team for taking part in the Olympics in China, stating they had "blood on their hands" whilst not saying a dickybird about Mayor Boris Johnsons embassy in Beijing. Everyone in Barnet knows exactly what sort of a person Brian Coleman is. The Conservative group thought he was the best man to be Mayor.

I was talking to a local Councillor last night. He told me that an ex Barnet Councillor now holds office in St Albans. He is an opposition Councillor there. He said that in St Albans, party politics plays very little role in Council politics. People just want to do a good job. He said that after Barnets toxic mix, it was a very pleasant change. Mayors are selected from all parties as recognition of their long service and civic mindedness. Sadly this isn't what happens in Barnet.

Question No 5.
Do you believe that Councillors should have a track record of good judgement and good behaviour, especially in senior positions within Barnet Council?

Barnet Conservatives: The appointment of Lynne Hillan and Brian Coleman to their jobs says it all.

Barnet Lib Dems: The Barnet Lib Dems will support all measures to improve and strengthen the quality of Barnet Councillors, the sanctions for serious breaches of the standards code and the improvement of the public image of Barnet Council. Note : No London Lib Dem MP was found to have claimed second home allowances or flipped property allowances in the recent expenses scandal.

Barnet Labour Party: Sadly the two local Labour MPs in Barnet featured promenently in the criticism of MPs behaviour in the expenses scandal.

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REMEMBER  - WHETHER THE CONTEMPT FOR STANDARDS IN PUBLIC OFFICE CONTINUES IS DOWN TO HOW YOU VOTE ON MAY 6TH

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Other parties and independent candidates are welcome to leave comments outlining their position on this issue. Comments will only be deleted if off subject, racist, sexist or abusive. This is a debate we must have

Give Brian Coleman an ASBO !

The disgraced Mayor of Barnet, Brian Colemans record of shame continues to grow. His efforts to bring Barnet Council into disrepute know no boundary. Not satisfied with being the first serving Mayor of Barnet to be found guilty of breaching the code of conduct whilst in office, he's even managed to upset other representetives on the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services so much that they sacked him as chairman (follow this link for an excellent report by the Tory Troll blog).

The Tory Troll reports that a senior LGA spokesperson said that this wasn't an isolated incident. Mr Coleman has form for not treating his colleagues with respect and dignity.

Mr Coleman admits this - The Local Government Chronicle reports Coleman as saying the following :-

Cllr Coleman said he accepted he had been “extremely rude” at the meeting, but insisted he had been enraged by what he described as fellow councillors’ stretching of business.

Does Mr Coleman think that being so rude to colleagues that they sack you reflects well on Barnet Council and the people he represents. Lets review a few highlights of Mr Colemans career as a Barnet Councillor

* Banned from driving for speeding, whist being Barnet Road Supremo
* Describing the successful British Athletics team at the last Olympics as having hands stained with blood because they competed in China (Hypocricy alert: his Boss Boris Johnson hasn't shut his Chinese embassy)
* Besmirched tens of thousands of students and tutors by calling Middlesex University "Crap"
* Caused uproar at a GLA meeting, resulting in its suspension by hysterically calling GLA rep John Biggs an "Odious Toad"
* Abused Lynne Featherstone MP in sexist terms, calling her an airhead
* Thinks Standards and codes of conduct don't apply to him

Someone recently asked me whether I thought Coleman should be thrown out as Mayor for his many indescretions. I responded "I think that an ASBO would be more suitable". He certainly needs to curb his anti social behaviour. The man is a total embarrassment. What I find incomprehensible is why Boris Johnson has allowed him to continue as the Chair of the Fire and Emergency planning Authority and why our local Barnet Conservatives put up with him at all.

A great idea for funding business, charity and arts projects

One recurrent theme in this day and age is the problems small businesses, charity campaigns and arts projects have in attracting funding for projects. One of my music studio customers today showed me a superb and innovative idea to help with this problem. He's trying to raise money to fund the production of a video for has band. The idea is simple and I think that this could become a major way for business to business contact in the near future.

To check out the way it is working for funding Charlie Hondericks music video click on this link -
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/capblackard/keeping-track-a-music-video-for-your-near-future

To find out more about how this could work for your business, charity or arts project
http://www.kickstarter.com/

This is a great idea and one which I support to the hilt. It never ceases to amaze me how great ideas which change the world spring up overnight on the net. This site gives people the chance to invest small or large amounts of money and gives people who need funding the chance to find partners. More power to it - Maybe Leader of Barnet Council, Lynne Hillan should start a page to get back all the cash her administration has lost in Iceland, or even Mayor of Barnet Brian Coleman could start one to fund a new limo when he looses the use of the mayoral limo when his term is up in May.

Bye bye Brian Coleman - Coleman gets the boot !

I don't normally write blogs on other people's blogs where I can add nothing to the story, but I'll make an exception just this once. The rather excellent Tory Troll blog broke the news that Brian Coleman has got the boot from one of his many "part time jobs". It solved a bit of a mystery as my stats have shown for a couple of days that many people have found my blog by doing a google search on "BRIAN COLEMAN SACKED".

Anyway because so many people are trying to find out what has happened to Barnets esteemed mayor, here is what the Troll has to say.

The LGA confirmed to me this morning that Brian is no longer Chairman of the National Organisation of Employers of Local Authority Fire & Rescue Services.

During the Standards case I launched against Brian Coleman, he stated that the Tory Troll is a proper blog and Adam Bienkov who runs it is a proper blogger (unlike myself, who Coleman described in less flattering terms). On this matter I totally agree, Adam is a superb blogger and if someone else had to break the sad news about  Colemans demise, I can think of no-one better to break it (well actually I can, but you know what I mean).

Tonight was meant to be a non drinking evening, but I may just crack open a Guinness to celebrate.

Brian Coleman and the Barnet Eye - One year on

It is just over a year since Councillor Brian Coleman sent me an abusive email in his official capacity as a Councillor, resulting in him being found guilty of Barnet Councils Code of Conduct, by the Council Standards Committee. It is believed that this breach cost Councillor Coleman in the region of £10,000 in expenses and has cast a massive shadow over his tenure as Mayor of Barnet. Mr Coleman will go down in the anals of history as the only Mayor of Barnet to be found guilty of breaching the Standards Code whilst in office. Strangely enough, after the verdict was announced, Coleman went out with his Barnet Conservative mates, on a champagne binge. For a man who'd been found guilty, wasted £10,000 of his own money on his defence and had his name permanently tarred, it seemed to me like a rather odd response. It was clearly the case that he was relieved, because he was expecting far worse (an indictment of the standards committee??).

To beat the charge, Coleman had lied through his teeth to Standards Investigator, a point not even considered by the committee, odd given that I'd shown this was beyond doubt. I was later told that the committee had limited the punishment as they knew Coleman would most likely appeal had a harsher sanction been applied. This would have incurred more costs for Barnet, which was a consideration.

I was interested to reflect, a year on from the origin of the spat, on how Mr Coleman had progressed. It is without doubt true to say that Mr Colemans influence has been diminished. Even his former allies have taken to winding him up via their Twitter feeds


what happened to toad of toad hall? 12:06 AM Mar 3rd via mobile web

His attempts to oppose the rise to power of Lynne Hillan failed and yet again, he was marginalised. His intervention in the Brent Cross planning decision further pushed him from the centre of power within the Tory party. He has been shut out from the centre of power, subsequently making a fool of himself on the Paul Ross radio show on BBC London 94.9,announcing that "Barnet was full of Grit" shortly before Tory Cabinet member Councillor Daniel Thomas announced that it had run out.
He seems to have been silenced by the Tory hierarchy. His GLA website shows that he's not made a press release since the 11th December (this for a rent a quote like Mr Coleman, is tantamount to joining a trappist order). His recent radio turns have become pantomime affairs, turning up to defend disgraced Tory lackies such as suspended Brent Councillor and Boris ally, Bertha Joseph, who took hundreds of pounds of charitable donations to spend on ballgowns.

What about the Barnet Eye blog. I'll let you into a little secret. Shortly before I got the email from Coleman, I'd actually decided to end the blog. I had become completely dissillusioned with the Labour Party, which I'd been a member of for many years. I couldn't see any way that Labour could win in Barnet, even though Tory Barnet Council was a complete basket case, and I was starting to feel like a dog howling at the moon. We had a trip abroad scheduled for Easter and I'd decided that this would be the date when my blogging days ended. Then Coleman sent his email and I thought "hang on, this guy is a bully, he's not fit for public office. If I back down now, he'll think he's won". I felt duty bound to carry on, even though my heart wasn't on the job. I made the decision to carry on the blog, until the case had been decided and then when I won (which I always new I would), wrap it up with a "Job Done" story.

What I didn't expect was for Coleman to lie through his teeth about me. He made up porkies such as claiming I'd stood for Council before to the Investigator, that I'd insulted his mother (he said this on Radio to Vanessa Feltz, who then backtracked and vindicated me when she saw my comments), he claimed I was "anti-semitic" which given that his lawyers had pored over every inch of the blog and knew that the opposite was true, was a horrible slur. There are many other porkies and deliberate innacuracies in his testimony. On the day of the hearing, I sat and listened, with no right of reply, as his lawyer, one of Londons top lawyers, spent two hours attacking my character.I had no opportunity to refute any of this to the committee. Despite all of this, despite the unfairness of the process, I won.

I was enraged. I reversed my decision to end the blog. I thought to myself "If Coleman is going to lie and say that I'd stood for council before, I'll give him his wish".  A chance encounter with Jack Cohen, leader of the Barnet Lib Dems, persuaded me that I should go down this route. I decided though, that if I stood, it wouldn't be on  a "Brian Coleman" dictated platform. It would be on the values that I believe in and for the principles I believe. I believe in respect, honest open government and value for money. I believe that public service is an honour and that the people of Barnet have been let down. Brian Coleman is a dinosaur in Barnet, he will be around for a while, but he is merely a symbol of all that is wrong with Barnet's Tories.

It has been interesting to talk to people whilst canvassing. Many people have raised the Coleman issue with me. I have heard all sorts of stories about our beloved Mayor. He has been called the "Marmite Mayor" as people love him or hate him. Whilst I've seen plenty of evidence of the latter, I've yet to have the dogs turned on me by a "Colemanlover". One old boy who lives up the road told me "I've voted Conservative all of my life, but Brian Coleman is a bloody disgrace. I cannot possibly vote for the Conservatives in the Council Elections whilst he is Mayor". Over the years I've had much humourous banter with this particular old boy. He used to borrow my drain rods, when his bogs got blocked, sadly now I have to do it for him. He's not the only Tory in Barnet who needs his turds removed !