Goodbye to Mike Freer, the man who laid waste to Barnet Council service

Finchley MP and former leader of Barnet Council, Mike Freer announced last week that he will not be standing for election again. In a personal statement, he cites his worries about death threats, an arson attack on his office and the repercussions of only avoiding being stabbed by the maniac who stabbed Southend MP DavidAmess, as he was out of the office when the murderer visited.

Statement from Mike Freer MP pic.twitter.com/SIAP0EpCkN

— F&GGConservatives (@Finchleytories) January 31, 2024

I don't think any fair minded, decent person can be anything other than horrified that an MP has been forced out in such circumstances. This blog has never been a fan of Mike Freer. We believe he has a huge responsibility, which he has spent a decade side stepping, for the mess that became the One Barnet outosourcing project. There are many times when we have crossed swords with him, however we have never wished any personal harm on him. Death threats and arson attacks are totally abhorrant. I refrained from commenting last week on the matter, as I felt, given the circumstances, I had nothing to add. However I had an interesting conversation with a Conservative councillor, who wishes not to be identified, who said the following, and agreed that I could say this.

"What Mike has had to go through has been appalling. We really have to look at the way we protect people in public office, be it MP's, Councillors or other high profile community leaders. The idea that an MP can be forced out is a very unfortunate signal to send. Of course Mike is quite right to speak honestly about what has been going on, but there is a risk that it will encourage those who seek to undermine democracy"

We then had a discussion as to what could be done. If we are to have openly accountable MP's, councillors and other public fears, there will always be a threat and a determined assailant is hard to stop. However, it is rare that those who indulge in such behaviour come out of nowhere. They generally have a long history of such behaviour, that generally ramps up. We discussed the point at which general criticism becomes something more sinister. He told me that he didn't feel comfortable with the principle that MP's and councillors are required to publish their addresses, as an example. I told him I was not sure this was really a problem, as someone serious about harming a public figure will find out soon enough if they are serious. He replied that it's not nice for the family to see threatening, anonymous notes and dog poo through the door. These are all things which have happened to people he knows in public office. I agree that no one should have to put up with such things.

However, when it comes down to it, being an elected MP is a privilege. They vote to send our armed forces to war and die, to defend our democracy. No one asks you to become an MP, you put your head above the parapet and part of the deal is that you stand up for democracy. You shouldn't have to face threats, but when you do, I do not believe that you should give those making them the encouragement which resigning and saying they hounded you out gives. I personally feel that Freer has let democracy down. Of course his fears need to be addressed and his statement has put the issue of MP safety in the spotlight, but given that whathappened to David Amess, surely this should already be a priority. I am starting to fear for democracy in the UK.

I am disappointed that Mike Freer is standing down before the election. Freer has implied the only reason he is going is the threats. I have no idea whether the thought that it would be a massive shock if he didn't lose was another element.  One of the most unfortunate effects of Freer's decision is that there has been no proper scrutiny of his career in politics in the Borough of Barnet. No one has discussed this, but it is perfectly fair to ask what the legacy of Freer is in the Borough. 

His record has been appalling. He laid waste to Barnet Council's services. This blog was started as a result of a cocked up outsourcing contract, that lead to my Mothers meals on Wheels food deliveries becoming inedible and systematically late. He also abolished warden assisted living, causing mayhem in the Barnet care sector. He initiated the One Barnet program, which lead to a disasterous outsourcing contract with Capita. He oversaw the Aerodrome Bridge development, which overspent by £10 million pounds. He was responsible for dodgy investments in Icelandic banks, that nearly lost Barnet Council huge sums in reserves. He also was in charge when the Catalyst scandal hit, with a contractor successfully suing Barnet Council, when they didn't make enough profit on a contract to manage care homes. Those same care homes later were found to have Legionella in their systems.

 As a pro remain MP, he took a job in Boris Johnsons team, helping to push through a policy that he knew was a disaster. He only backed away from Johnson, when dozens of other ministers had also resigned. As to being a good constituency MP? He never gave any support at all to The North Finchley Festival in his own constituency. Even Theresa Villiers from Barnet bothered to turn up. He didn't stand up for the parents of children with disabilities, when Barnet Council threatened to remove their after school respite sessions. He never spoke out about Capita, when it was clear the council was being taken to the cleaners. 

Sadly, this tale of woe is not what he'll be remembered for. He will be the MP forced out of office by threats. I wish Mike Freer well in his new life. We have to look forward and it's a win/win. It sounds like it will be better for the Borough of Barnet and better for his health and wellbeing. That is as magnanmous as I can be.

There should be universal condemnation of the arson attack on Mike Freer's office

 This morning, I woke to hear Finchley MP Mike Freer on the radio. He was speaking about the arson attack on his office on Xmas eve. I was horrified to here of this. Let me be honest, I personally cannot stand Mike Freer. I consider him to be duplicitous, dishonest and divisive. He is also rather abusive. In a press interview, as leader of Barnet Council, he called me a "One Handed Blogger", clarifiying that I write with one hand, as I masterbate with the other. In a column for the Barnet Times, he stated that I was an armchair critic, living on my inheritance. He published this a couple of days after my mother passed away, in a clear attack when I was grieving. I reported both to Barnet Council standards committee, Freer lied and stated that he wasn't referring to anyone in particular and it was a general comment on critics.

To some extent, his mate Brian Coleman exposed the lie on the one handed blogger claim, when he emailed me (and the rest of the councillors in the Borough of Barnet) to say Freer was right and added abuse of his own. As he'd copied the rest of the council, using his council email, I took him to the Standards committee and won, making Coleman the only standing Mayor to be found guilty of abuse by The Standards Committee. Freer got away scot free. Amusingly enough, his claim about me living on my inheritence was rather wide of the mark. My mum left her estate to Charity, and a significant chunk went to the Mayor of Barnet (Tony Finn) Charity, the Noah's Ark Childrens Hospice. Unlike Freer and Coleman, I got on rather well with Tony. But I digress.

Violence and attacking people's property is always wrong. Much as I personally dislike Freer, he was democratically elected by the people of Golders Green. He can only be got rid of by them. The Conservative party has every right to have an office and the people of his constituency have the right to see their MP, so he needs an office. Anyone who firebombs an MP's office is by definition not a democrat and they force me to stand with a man I can't stand. 

I've had the misfortune to have to spend time in Freer's company on many occasions. I am always polite to him. He has not always returned the compliment, but that's his business. I believe that honesty, hard work and reasoned arguments always win in the long run. Violence always fails. My argument with Mike Freer was not personal (until he embarked on a string of personal insults), it was a determined attempt to prevent him damaging the Borough of Barnet with his bonkers One Barnet outsourcing scheme. I have been 100% vindicated as the scheme fell apart costing tens, if not hundreds of millions. Freer, long since abandoned any links to the failed scheme. As an MP, he has kept a Trappist vow of silence on the matter. The electorate will have their say on this weak and rather unpleasant man next year. That is how it should be done. If you know who took part in the attack, please report them to the police. My Grandfather was killed in a fire, so our family knows that fire is dangerous and indiscriminate. If you believe in the democratic process, that means standing up for it, even when it means defending people you can't stand. So lay of Mike Freer except for exposing his failures, bad policies and ineptitude. 

Questions that the Barnet Conservatives have to answer about the HAMAS boss's council house in Colindale

 I was amazed to wake up on Saturday and read a story on the front page of The Times (Metro picked up on the story, which is not behind a paywall), stating that a HAMAS boss was living in Colindale. Not only that, but he was living in a former council house that he'd bought without even needing a mortgage, saving himself £112,000 through the right to buy scheme. He'd been housed in the property by Barnet Council in 2003, a year after the Tories took control of Barnet Council. There are many levels on which this story is mind boggling, but there are a few points that must be asked of Barnet Council.

Lets put aside the rights and wrongs of whether or not the person should be here in the first place. That is an emotive issue and I have no idea about the background to his case or why the Home Office granted him a passport and residency. If he has a legal right to be here, then that is where we are, whether people like it or not (and I'm sure there will be strong opinions). What I am interested in is the spotlight this shines on the due diligence that Barnet Council are doing in regards to housing applications.

1. If a man is rich enough to buy a property outright after five years, without a Mortgage, why was he in a Council House in the first place? I know dozens of people who have been unable to secure a council house for decades, despite having proven need. Recently, I've been trying to help a man with learning difficulties in a private dwelling that has been deemed unsafe by Barnet Council's own housing department three times in the last year, to secure a council house. Thus far completely without success, despite medical support as he is deemed a suicide risk. 

2. What vetting did the council do of his application? Did they check his background? If not why not. Having seen the hoops a young man with all of the paperwork to convince any reasonable authority has to provide, I cannot understand how this occurred. Was the paperwork correctly and honestly filled in?

3. Was the Conservative leaderr of the Council or anyone else at the Council made aware of the background of this character by the Police or security services? Was he on a watch list? 

4. Do the council run anti money laundering checks on transactions involving council homes? If someone is able to pay for a council house without a Mortgage, has the council satisfied themselves that the cash has been acquired legally? 

There must be a lot of people who desperately need a council house in Barnet, who will have read this and be totally perplexed. I note that Tory Mike Freer MP has notably silent on the matter on his website. He was leader of the Council from 2006-2009 and must surely have been made aware of the situation. 

Barnet Council - failing and unable to do even the basics

Barnet Council have been committed to the concept of outsourcing since 2006. Back then, Barnet were well run and one of the best councils in the country. They were highly rated by the audit commission, etc. They boasted of how good they were in 2009, even giving staff an extra day off to celebrate being a four star council. Barnet was judged the best council for education by OFSTED. 

Fast forward 15 years where are we? In 2018 a government inspectors report from OFSTED resulted in Barnet having to get another council in to run childrens services for them.

Today I had to look up something on the Barnet Council website, there were not one but two apologies today from the Council for being useless.

We have a council that can't answer it's phones and can't fix the roads. Luckily for Barnet, the Govt abolished the Audit commission, so there is no body to keep an eye on them.  Strangely enough, these apolgies are not on their twitter feed. 

The phone system is now run by Capita and the roads were being fixed by Kier (the construction company not the Labour Leader). I hate to say "I told you so" but this blog warned of the dangers of mass outsourcing from day one. The Council has got rid of so many staff that it simply cannot effectively manage its contractors. A senior Tory member of the adminstration told me this, he asked that I didn't name him. I'd strongly suggest that if he wants to still be running the council this time next year, he pulls his finger out big time and sorts this mess out. He also confided that he thought it was highly unfair when Barnet Labour claimed that the Barnet Tories don't care about the Borough. I'd suggest that if he wants to show that he does care, he gets to work and fixes the structural problems that have allowed this crazy neglect to get to this state. Over the next six months we will see a lot of councillors campaigning. I suggest that you ask them what they are going to do to get Barnet Council to be able to effectively manage its contractors. Next time you are stuck in a traffic jam in Barnet beacuase of badly managed road worksor need to phone up to sort out a problem with your council tax and can't get through, just remember that this situation has come about because Barnet is not managing their contractors properly. 

Tory bungling that could turn your local streets into open sewers

If Mike Freer MP or Matthew Offord MP come knocking on your door, asking for your votes, you may care to point out to them that their One Barnet Scheme has put your street at great risk of becoming an open sewer, with sewage running down. This might sound like an absurd and outrageous claim, but this is exactly what a recent Freedom of Information response reveals.  Freer and Offord were the Council chiefs who dreamed up teh One Barnet schem, which has put Capita in charge of the London Borough of Barnet and removed all democratic accountability.  A recent FOI has shown just what a disaster this is threatening to be. A local resident asked

"please could you give me the details of all correspondence for the past 24 months relating to the following site: Re: The land to the rear of 7-35 Victoria Road, Mill Hill, London NW7/https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/osmaps/51.6184169883,-0.2446588115,17. On or around 23rd December there were 2 operatives from Barnet Council/Capita taking photos and referring to plans for a proposed "flood alleviation scheme to the rear of 7-35 Victoria Rd NW7".

 The council response was truly shocking.

Response
The council holds the information requested and it is attached/ the answers to your questions are below please could you give me the details of all correspondence for the past 24months relating to the following site: Re: The land to the rear of 7-35 Victoria Road, Mill Hill, London NW7/https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/osmaps/51.6184169883,-0.2446588115,17. On or around 23rd December there were 2 operatives from Barnet Council/Capita taking photos and referring to plans for a   proposed "flood alleviation scheme to the rear of 7-35 Victoria Rd NW7". As part of the Drain London Tier 2 package of works, London Borough of BarnetCouncil (LBB) commissioned a Surface Water Management Plan (SWMP) outlining the preferred surface water management strategy for the entire borough. As part of the strategy, Critical Drainage Areas (CDAs) were delineated in order to establish locations identified as being at high risk of surface water flooding (i.e. from sewers, drains, run off from land, and small watercourses and ditches that occurs as a  result of heavy or intense rainfall). Following a prioritisation exercise undertaken by LBB, 12 high priority CDAs have been identified, which will require detailed investigation. Of these 12 high priority CDAs, two of the top ten highest risk CDAs were already under investigation (Mill Hill CDA – Barnet_26 and Decoy Brook CDA-Barnet_018). These were excluded from further consideration. Following CDAs and Ordinary Watercourses are selected to undertake a  further investigations: 1.CliterhouseStream (CDA Barnet_20 - Childs Hill), 2. Folley Brook (not contained within a CDA), 3. Barnet_09 - Friern Barnet, 4. Barnet_15 - Bittacy Park, 5. Barnet_29 -   Oakleigh Park, 6. Barnet_14 - Muswell Hill, 7. Barnet_04 – Barnet, 8.Barnet_19 - Hendon Way, 9. Barnet_07 - Longmore Avenue, 10. Barnet_05 - Hadley.Capita submitted a proposal to LBB for the Barnet Critical Drainage Areas & Ordinary Watercourse Investigation on 23rd August 2016.  Barnet accepted the Capita’s proposal on 11th November 2016.However, the project has not been commissioned by means of a Workshare Agreement (WSA) therefore Capita have not officially started the study at this stage.

In other words, a HIGH RISK of overflowing sewers has been identified across the Boroug, but due to chaos in the councils work commissioning process, they have not even managed to commission Capita to start a study to address the risks, as of the time of the FoI response, nearly six months after the the initial investigation identified the issue. As far as we are concerned, this is a major scandal and our bungling MP's should be called to account for their role in setting up a scheme which can't even do the most basic public health tasks.

Compassion - Barnet Tory style

Harriet Connides contacted me yesterday. She had been in touch with Mike Freer, her local Tory MP in Finchley. This is what she had to say.

 I have Multiple sclerosis and had an unrelated brain haemorrhage in 2012, all of which has severely affected my mobility. 

So you see, I have a personal interest in writing to my MP about the Bill ( Incidentally, next week I will be  one of about 8  disabled people giving evidence at the APPG MS Employment Review at the House of Commons).

The bill she is referring to is one that will have huge financial implications for her. Here is Mike Freers reply. I have highlighted a key passage
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: mike.freer.mp@parliament.uk
Subject: RE: Welfare Reform and Work Bill, Clauses 13 and 14
Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2016 13:23:40 +0000

Mike Freer MP

Conservative Member of Parliament for Finchley & Golders Green

House of Commons

London SW1A 0AA

Thank you for contacting me about people with Multiple Sclerosis and the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), and its Universal Credit (UC) equivalent.

In the Summer Budget 2015, the Chancellor announced that, from April 2017, the rate of benefit paid to new claims for ESA and Universal Credit (UC) with limited capability for work will be aligned with the standard rate of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA). This change only affects new claims made after that date. Importantly, this reform will not affect people in the Support Group in ESA or claimants with limited capability for work and work-related activity in UC.

Those in the WRAG currently receive additional cash payments but little employment support appropriate for their needs. The Government is proposing to recycle some of the money currently spent on cash payments, which are not actually achieving the desired effect of helping people move closer to the labour market, into practical support that will make a genuine difference to individual's life chances. This new funding will be worth £100 million by 2020/21.

Those with the most severe work limiting health conditions and disabilities are placed in the Support Group in ESA and have been assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity in UC. In both cases, these claimants will continue to receive an additional payment in their ESA or UC. These additional payments are also exempt from the freeze on working-age benefits and the Benefit Cap.

The vast majority of people with Multiple Sclerosis are placed in the Support Group. In fact, the most recent figures showed that of 20,800 MS sufferers who had been assessed for ESA, 19,600 were in the Support Group as of February 2015, which means around 95 per cent of claimants who had been assessed are getting the maximum financial support for claimants out of work due to a health condition or disability.

For those ESA claimants who are placed into the WRAG and UC claimants determined to have limited capability for work, a trained professional has advised that they are capable of some work-related activity. However, if an individual's condition deteriorates they may have their eligibility reassessed. On this basis they may then be moved into the Support Group in ESA, or the UC equivalent.

I believe that the Government's proposed reforms to ESA, WRAG and the UC equivalent are the right thing to do for claimants because it is a duty of government to support those who want to work to do so. I would also reiterate that those already claiming ESA or UC will not be affected by the change.

I hope this has also gone some way to explaining the ways the Government is ensuring the system protects those with the most serious conditions, such as [insert relevant condition], including exempting the Support Group component in ESA and its UC equivalent from the benefits freeze and the Benefit Cap.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Mike Freer MP

Conservative Member of Parliament for Finchley and Golders Green
020 7219 7071 (Westminster)
020 8445 5875 (Finchley)

www.mikefreer.com

As you can see, this is a standard draft letter and Mike Freer couldn't even be bothered to [insert relevant condition] and Mike Freer had no interest in speaking to his constituent and finding out how the changes would affect her or listening to her story. He simply wanted to spout the party line and put his fingers in his ears. Personally I think MP's should stand up for the most vulnerable people in our society. I think they should stand up for people like Harriet. Even if they can't support them, they should at least take the trouble to listen to their story and give them the decency of a reply that meets their circumstances. Harriet doesn't need a lecture on what the bill does. She knows far better than Mike Freer as unlike him, she is directly affected.

Harriet emailed Mike Freer to state that she was not impressed. Mr Compassion replied as follows

From: mike.freer.mp@parliament.uk
To:  Harriet Connides
CC: freer.admin@parliament.uk
Subject: Re: Welfare Reform and Work Bill, Clauses 13 and 14
Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2016 09:26:43 +0000

Dear Ms Connides

Thank you for your emails. I note your comments about a standard  response but of course this is to be expected when responding to standard campaign emails.

I take the point on proof reading but mistakes do happen especially as I receive 250 emails a day and I respond to most personally.

Sincerely

Mike Freer MP

So as you can see, Mike can't even be bothered to apologise for his error. He clearly thinks Harriet doesn't warrent a proper reply. She added

He wrote back a paragraph saying that there was nothing he could do. A few days later my husband got a entirely unsolicited three page letter from him about Europe!

That is compassion for you, Barnet Tory style. Personally it makes me sick