The Saturday List #51 - Sibling rivalry gone mad - Tales of woe from my youth & adult life

Sharp eyed readers of this blog will know I am the youngest of six siblings. I was born in 1962, at the time my eldest twin brothers Laurie and Frank were 16, Cath was 14, Valerie was 9 and Caroline was 4. From the very beginning, I was at a disadvantage. All of my brothers and sisters had been whopping great babies weighing several stone at birth (well not quite, but you know what I mean). I was a skinny little runt, born six weeks premature and weighing in at a tad over 5lbs. As soon as I appeared, I was deemed to be  "Blue Baby" (the reason I support Manchester City) suffering from the Rhesus factor (something to do with monkeys I believe). I was whisked away from my mother, given three blood transfusions and stuck in an incubator for three days. My mother told me that she thought I'd died and they were simply not telling her. Back then, hospitals kept mums away from babies whilst they did their business. Welcome to Edgware General Rog. I suspect that this rather rude awakening to the real world set me in good stead.

Anyway, I arrived home to find an environment governed by what we call "sibling rivalry". One where the best thing in the world was to put one over on your nearest and dearest. It wasn't long before I found out what a harsh world I'd entered. This list contains some of the finest examples of Sibling rivalry from our home. Here is this weeks Saturday list, the ten greatest sibling wind ups from our family archives. 

1 - Flushed down the toilet. I'd been home a week or two. I was frail and weak. My mum was also frail and weak. She was resting when she heard a pitiful scream. She rushed out to find my four year old sister Caro dragging me up the stairs. She quizzed "What are you doing?" Caro replied "I don't like this baby, I'm going to flush it down the toilet". Needless to say, my mum explained the error of her ways.

2. Wee Wee. I learned revenge is a dish best served cold. I didn't however learn that you need to cover your tracks. My sister Caro became a successful child model. My parents had a professional portrait photo of her blown up to a 4' poster size. I cunningly added a voice bubble saying "Wee Wee" on it. Despite my protestations of innocence, no one believed me, to this day I've never figured out why!

3. "Laurie". Of course girls are far cleverer than boys. My sister Cath, when she was 2 was fed up with my Brother Laurie, who is the worlds biggest wind up merchant. She plotted a cunning plan (unlike mine) to ensure he got a good clobbering. My Dad had just painted a wall and was highly pleased with it. Cath watched Laurie writing his name and hatched a scheme. She practiced and practiced writing "LAURIE" and when it was perfect, waited until no one was looking and wrote it in big letters on the wall. It had the desired effect. Dad was livid and Laurie was suitably chastised. His protestations of innocence were met with inceredulity "Who else would write it". Cath only recently owned up !

4. The Wall. As I mentioned, Laurie was the worlds biggest wind up merchant. My Dad built a wall at the end of the Garden. He announced to us all that it would survive a nuclear bomb blast. Laurie decided to put the theory to the test. He got a huge rock and tied it to an overhanging tree branch. He rigged it up so that when it was released, it would swing down and smash into the wall. He then told me to pull the rope when he called my name. He then ran up and told Dad to come down the garden. As we approached, he shouted my name, I released the rock and the wall was smashed into a thousand pieces. I got a good hiding and Laurie got a good laugh. 

5 Vomit. Perhaps my brother Lauries greatest ever wind-up on Frank was initially accidental. The ensuing years of sniggering hasn't been. When my brothers were teenagers, they shared a room with bunk beds in. Laurie took the top bunk as he is the elder twin by ten minutes. One evening he went out for a few beers with friends. The evening developed into a little bit of a session. Laurie eventually made it home to find Frank tucked up in the lower bunk. Laurie quietly climbed the ladder and lay down for some much needed rest. As soon as his head hit the pillow, the whole world started to spin. Laurie was overcome by an overwhelming sudden sense of nausea. Unable to control it, he thought he'd better alert his sleeping brother to the imminent danger. He yelled "look out Frank". At which Frank awoke and did just that, to receive a multi coloured shower. My Dad was awoken to the sound of the two fighting. He came in to intervene. Frank immediately explained the appalling behaviour of his brother, but sadly my Dad just found it hilarious and the incident entered into family legend.

6. Wet Knickers. Perhaps one of the more alarming traits of our family was the way we'd take a few blows if it resulted in our siblings getting a greater humiliation. We all attended St Vincents Roman Catholic Primary School. At the time it was run by merciless nuns and an even more merciless teacher called Miss O'Donovan. Anyone who attended St Vincents would attest to the fact that Miss O'Donovan was the scariest person ever to live. If I ever get the time I will write a film script called "Nightmare on the Ridgeway". I suspect that it will be the most terrifying horror film ever. Miss O'Donovan used the a mixture of every type of torture ever devised by mankind, to keep 30 odd 4-5 year olds in line. Violence, paranoia and fear were used, along with personal discomfort. One of the worst things you could do in Miss O'Donovans class was ask to go to the toilet. You were expected to go before the start of the lesson or at the end, no matter how discomforting that was. Should you crack, you would suffer a terror and humiliation beyond the imagination of anyone who didn't experience it. Lessons usually ended with a mad dash to the loo. Sadly for my sister Val, one day she got caught out and wet herself. She was in what was called the "Baby class" (Now called reception) under Miss O'Donovan and her reign of terror. She could no longer hold on, but was too terrified to ask to be excused. Needless to say, she had a small accident. She was subject to a complete humiliation, but as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. What happened next would be unimaginable in todays educational system. Her big sister Catherine was summoned to clean up the mess. Catherine was not only humiliated in front of the baby class but also in front of her own classmates. In the strange logic of St Vincents at the time, it was all her fault. The lesson wasn't wasted on Val. She now had a surefire way of winding Cath up, that was well worth the personal hit.

7. Petrol. Having a brother 16 years older, who is a serial wind up merchant is a bit of a problem. Anyone who has met my brother Laurie, will attest to his intelligence and wit. He left home when he was 24 for good, so I only was on the receiving end for a while, but it proved to be a challenge. Getting one over on Laurie has never been easy, especially when I was young. Whenever it happened, it was always met with a foul retribution, often months in the planning. So the secret was to find a wind up that he wouldn't suspect the perpetrator of. One day when I was about six, Laurie announced that he'd spent all day running around in his van for his mates, because a garage was opening at 6am the next day and they were giving the first ten customers a free tank of petrol. He wanted as empty a tank as possible, to get the full value. Laurie had a cunning plan to get up at 5am and be first in the queue. He had an even more cunning plan to go to the pub with his mates, the preceding evening. Realising that he may forget to set the alarm clock on his return, he carefully set it before he left, explaining the whole cunning plan. Of course, this presented a once in a lifetime opportunity. I switched the alarm off. Laurie got back at midnight and had a very pleasant nights slumber, helped by the seven pints of Guinness consumed. I got up for school in the morning to see him still snoring away. I spent the whole day sniggering. When I got home, he was skulking around. "How much petrol did you get?" I innocently asked. Laurie sullenly replied "I must have switched the alarm clock off".

8. Smelly feet. Of course that was a rare victory. If you ask Laurie his favourite wind up, he'd probably mention the one perpetrated on Frank for his smelly feet. Frank has always been most festidious over his personal hygiene. Fresh socks and undies every day. The only time he ever had a fight with my Dad was triggered by him staying in the bath too long! Laurie on the other hand, was not quite so bothered. Frank would regularly berate Laurie for his smelly feet and bad hygene. In the end, Laurie decided to sort Frank out. He wore the same socks for a week, then put them inside Franks pillow case. Laurie made a big point of having a bath, using all of the hot water, so Frank couldn't. As they settled down to go to sleep, Laurie said "Frank, your feet smell". Frank immediately agreed and went and washed them. On his return, Laurie repeated the accusation. This went on for some time. After that Laurie would regularly remind Frank of his foot odour problem.

9. Bindweed. Now you may think the wind ups would stop when we all grew up. Not a bit of it. Happily the violence has gone from the wind ups. One of the best of recent years was when Laurie gave Frank a plant for his birthday. It was in a nice pot and a bag from the Garden centre. Laurie explained that this was an exceptionally rare and unusual variety, which needed tender TLC. After several months of such love, Frank realised he was probably the only person in the UK to nurture a bindweed plant!

10. Lancia Drivers. As I said, getting one over on Laurie as a kid was difficult. It isn't that easy as an adult, but occasionally such an opportunity presents itself. Laurie runs a very fine car welding business and is a master craftsman. If you have anything you want welding, call 020 8959 8046 and he can fix it. Pots, pans, alloy wheels, subframes. He also gives a lifetime guarantee. When I was in my early twenties, one of his customers brought a Lancia in to be fixed. On the passengers seat was a magazine from the Lancia Owners club. I was reading this as Laurie came in for tea break. He said "Are you interested in Lancia's?" I said "Yeah, they are great cars". Laurie sneered "They are complete rustbuckets. Every time I mend one, it ends up costing me money. There is always five times more work than you realise and they are horrible to work on. Not only that but the people who drive them are all W4NKERS !!!! They are the most horrible bunch of car owners of all. They are always trouble". I was shocked by this vehemence. However I realised that it offorded a one off opportunity for some fun. As he was saying this, my eyes affixed on the classified ads page in the Lancia Owners magazine. It said "want to advertise in the Lancia owners magazine. Call us for special rates." So first thing monday I rang. "How much for an advert in your magazine?" There was a bit of haggling and they agreed that I could put an advert in for £20. So in the next issue, purely to help my brother, as one does, the magazine had the following advert "Bunns Lane Welding Lancia Welding Specialist. Call 01 959 8046 for free advice". In the bad old, pre computer days, such adverts came out about three months later. I'd almost forgotten about the advert when I noticed that Laurie had three Lancia's in for repairs. I commented "You seem to have a lot of Lancia's in at the moment?" Laurie replied "For some reason they seem to think I like working on them and they keep sending their mates down". I replied "You should stick an ad in the Lancia Owners mag saying you are a specialist." This was meant with a stream of expletives and disparaging comments about Lancia Owners. To the best of my knowledge, Laurie never twigged the cause of the upsurge. Best £20 I ever spent. Doubtless Laurie will read this and at some point in the next 18 months will enact a suitably subtle revenge. I will keep you posted.

Of course, we all love each other dearly, despite the decades of wind ups. 

Guest Blog - How Not To Spend Fifty Million in four years - By John Sullivan

By John Sullivan,

The NHS affects us all, including Barnet residents whose MPs have all willingly voted for the privatisation of the NHS, and our local Tory councillors will support said privatisation, because they privatise everything that moves.

http://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2014/jan/08/nhs-extinct-government-policy-privatisation

They have a housing policy for the haves but no housing policy for the have nots, which applies in many aspects of government policy, they have a policy to protect the perks of councillors and bankers and the exorbitant salaries of senior management, but no such policy to protect the wages of the actual front line workers. In fact Your Choice Barnet are about to once again savage the wages of front line workers attending disabled people, a deliberate attack on the quality of life of the most vulnerable people in Barnet, because they can't fight back. Whilst retaining the excessively high wages for officers and the unearned perks for our lazy councillors.

Basically they are creating a two tier system and are aiming for the same policy in the NHS, in effect a first class NHS for the haves and a second class system for the have not's, the whole conservative approach is about a two tier system.

Which is affecting Barnet residents like a cold creeping up on you, you ignore it until it is to late. But the NHS is not the only threat to Barnet residents. We are sailing towards a financial Iceberg with the Tories at the Helm. ( see the recent report from Barnet Eye http://barneteye.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/the-barnet-council-corporate-risk.html) On the subject of the number two, two is a relevant number in Barnet with the film  A Tale of Two Barnet's, now we have A Tale of Two Tiers in Barnet, in Health, housing, employment rights, and disabled rights.

But let us not forget the One Barnet Programme, a good film title for OBP would be" How Not  To Spend Fifty Million " in four years  ( with your fingers crossed) , in the hope you will save a hundred million over ten years with no guarantees you will save a penny. For example the first promised One Barnet saving was to be the Capita investment in IT, an in-house comparison was refused on the grounds we desperately needed this investment in IT from Capita. But the reality is that was either an error or an untruth, because Capita have not invested those promised millions in IT, you the Barnet taxpayer have, so hundreds of jobs may have been lost to local people for no good reason. The worrying thing is no matter which Tory councillor you approach on the handling of this indirect £16.1 million investment in Capita all you get is a wall of silence  They say silence is golden, but so were those hundreds of jobs now lost to local people and their families, along with revenues lost to local traders. How can these useless lazy councillors (to clarify I believe they are lazy/idle because they have admitted they didn't read the contract and useless because they seem not to realise that is a problem) sing the praises of the OBP contract with Capita, when they thought Capita were going to invest the millions in IT that you the Barnet taxpayer have now funded,  they got that very important point wrong, that has potentially cost hundreds of local residents their jobs.

The worst of it being that Capita will gain the most from your multi million pound investment in IT, because by the end of the Capita contract be it 10 years or 15 years, the IT you have invested in for them to use for that period of time will not be worth two bob at today's money. The real question is, if we could find the investment after signing the contract with Capita, why could we not find that same money prior to the signing of the contract with Capita, and I repeat potentially save hundreds of local jobs, and protect hundreds of local families from the misery of unemployment , many of whom no doubt now having to make the choice between heating & eating .  

It is vital that the local blogs keep doing the job our local press no longer appear to have any interest in, because they unlike the bloggers appear to be in the pockets of the Council (presumably because the council keep the papers afloat with large advertising spending).  Contrary to the Conservative spin machine (funded by donations from multi millionaires with deep pockets), Baps and the Fantastic Five Bloggers represent the ordinary people of Barnet, and not as the conservative spin machine suggests, trade unions, crackpots, reds under the beds, cranks or anybody else. Baps like the bloggers are of many political opinions and none, furthermore the majority unlike our lazy idle councillors, are far to intelligent to have signed contracts with Capita without having read them , discussed them , consulted with all interested parties on the content and been sure of what they were signing before they signed it. The Tory spin machine which appears to be spontaneously  supported by our local press can brand them crackpots, but the reality is it is only crackpots that sign contracts without having read them.

These so called Barnet Alliance & Fab Five blogger crackpots were trying to engage in meaningful consultation with the council  on the One Barnet Programme, concerned with what was happening elsewhere in the country between local authorities and Capita and the fact it could happen here in Barnet.. But rather than engage with them in constructive debate consultation and discussion, our local councillors chose to ridicule bad mouth and abuse these folk, the fact they were Barnet residents with the right to be heard was irrelevant to these ideologues. However time has shown that had our incumbent councillors engaged in consultation with these so called crackpots now proven to be far wiser than our councillors, they might not have got things so badly wrong, and blindly committed every Barnet resident to a ten year contract with Capita they had not even read. For example would you have been so stupid so irresponsible so reckless, as to sign  the One Barnet contract with Capita, when you were being made aware what was going on in Birmingham ( http://www.theguardian.com/local-government-network/2014/jan/06/birmingham-council-capita-contract-open-cuts )and other areas of the country with Capita, particularly without reading it.

This crass act of folly and stupidity beggars belief, and the consequences are yet to be fully realised as they are now being realised in Birmingham and other parts of the country, where Capita has its greedy fingers in the public sector  cash register.

The human cost of the ongoing privatisation and decay of the NHS is there for all to see, no matter what spin the conservatives and Lib Dense put on it they have made a complete balls up of the NHS and blaming everybody else but themselves, and repeatedly misrepresenting the facts as is there want. I for example have now waited six months for a prognosis on a cancerous tumour, six bloody months yet under the last government 8 years ago when I had cancer I waited six weeks for a prognosis. A wonderful system being split up to line the pockets of the Tory donors, like British Gas and all Utilities, The railways, BT ,and now our public services and virtually anything that moves the most recent rip off of the British people being the cut price gift of the Post Office .. When I look back on all these privatisations I ask, who has benefitted? have the benefits we the people were promised been realised, and we all know that the answer to that question is a definitive "NO". So I did a couple of rough sums on the question of the One Barnet Contracts with Capita , how true are the local Tory claims the signing of these contracts will save Barnet residents £120 million over ten years.

As with much of this, I can but estimate. Capita  have taken a minimum of 300 jobs out of Barnet and that is a very  conservative estimate, it is probably nearer 500, an average wage (I believe) of £28K a year. It is estimated that of that 60% would go to the local economy from the 75% of staff living locally. That means that £3 million has been removed annually from the Barnet economy, or £30 million over ten years. £30 Million taken away from shops, High Streets, cafes, pubs and local charities. £30 Million that used to be spent in Barnet, that should be spent in Barnet as it is paid by Barnet taxpayers will no longer be spent here. Barnet traders or their staff are in the main Barnet residents, I therefore consider that to be a loss to Barnet residents of a minimum of £30million due to the signing of the contract with Capita..

Next we have " Le Silente "£16.1million, the figure that is not spoken of by our Tory councillors. The millions that Capita were supposed to invest in IT prior to the signing of the OBP contract has subsequently become £16.1million invested on the Qt by Barnet residents, naturally Barnet residents have not been consulted on this use of their money. Because as the high court Judge was advised by counsel for Barnet at the recent Judicial Review, it is none of Barnet residents business what the council do , even it would appear when it comes to spending £16.1million of our money. However as I have stated it is Capita that will be using the new IT and other systems for the next ten years, and we all know with technology, that in ten years time it will be obsolete and worth nothing, it is tantamount to an indirect investment in Capita from where I am standing.  I therefore respectfully suggest that this is also an expenditure that can be added to the cost of signing the Capita contract

 Then we have the massive cost of the One Barnet Consultants to consider which I am advised by a specialist in this field, has probably reached the staggering total to date of £10 million . Now staff redundancy payments are a different kettle of fish as they are paid I am advised by Capita, but Capita are reimbursed via their fees to the council and this information is hidden from Barnet residents. However I am again advised that a conservative estimate of the cost of staff redundancy is £7million..Then of course we have the legal fees which I am again advised a conservative estimate for legal fees to date is £1.75million.

After allowing for all of these outgoings and expenditure and losses to the local economy, how can our town hall incumbents claim OBP was a sign or bust contract that we had to sign. We have effectively sold our souls ( to the company store ) into Capita slavery, for when you consider the size of the LBB budget, a fist full of dollars. The Birmingham Council experience along with other councils across the country, proves the promised savings are pie in the sky, and Capita are already like Oliver demanding more.

 Furthermore most of the so called savings are going to be realised in procurement and will be realised by increases in prices such as those for burials and social support services, cutting service quality and staff wages, as is proven by the Capita demand for more regarding housing benefit services, that I refer to below.

Residents paying the bills are not allowed to be consulted or to know how their money is being spent, so much for transparency and democracy, and by the way there is not much of that £120million savings Cornelius bragged about left is there.

30mil+ 16.1mil + 10 mil + 7mil + 1.75 mil

Accumulated cost of Capita contract to date  = £64.85 million and rising, to be deducted from the promised pie in the sky saving s of £120million, doesn't look so rosy now does it.

 More importantly our incumbent ideologues repeatedly claimed we could not afford and in-house comparator that could have retained services and jobs in house. How can they possibly justify spending these huge sums of your money, yet have nothing to compare it with, an in-house comparator would have done exactly that. But this was never about saving Barnet taxpayers money from the outset, this was is and always has been about ideology and dogma and an  in-built hatred of public services. That matches their hatred of social housing, a problem they continually choose to ignore, that will eventually like the Capita contracts come back and bite us on the butt.

But the reality is the costs of the Capita contracts continue to rise by the hour.

Only this week we saw Capita asking for more, perhaps they should re-name the company " Oliver " instead.  Capita are already asking for more money for face to face housing benefit registration because they say the service has changed after December 2012 and they are entitled to more money to keep the service at the same standard or alternatively cut the standard of the service. The problem being, that given so many of the experienced council staff/consultants who negotiated the Capita contract have now left there is no continuity, and I am advised this is something Capita could possibly exploit. So already Capita are demanding more and we are only five minutes into the contract, but the question is what can our councillors do to curtail the craven demands for more. Sadly it would appear the answer is very little, as our councillors no longer have the staff or facilities in place to do anything other than bow to the demand for more, or  undermine the quality of the service.

The Capita gun now held at the head of our councillors that they were warned about by the so called" crackpot Fab Five bloggers and Baps members, quite simply says, more money or worse quality services, take your pick, our profits come before the quality of services end of story.

As the Barnet Eye has pointed out in recent days, the incumbents in the Town Hall,  by their own admission have done a terrible job of managing the needs and finances of Barnet and all its residents . They have had 11 years to get it right and by their own admission they have got it badly wrong on so many fronts, you cannot run a council on ideology and dogma, common sense and balance has to play a part if all residents both the haves and the have not's  are to be properly and democratically served.

The same message applies to the NHS which is where we started out on this journey, a service for all free at the point of use will soon be a thing of the past , along with public services and the public service ethic unless we collectively fight back against these ideologues.

 And all this destruction of public services that provide for folk of every political persuasion and none, in the name of ideology and dogma, driven by a handful of undemocratic ideologues. Like everything else that has been privatised over the years, the ordinary working people will lose out and they will pay the price, for lining the pockets of the millionaires buying up our public services and health service on the cheap.

However the one thing we have all learned in the last few years no matter your political colour, our town hall incumbents have no time for democracy, in fact in many ways Barnet has become a democracy free zone under their ideological dogmatic rule, and for the benefit of all we need a change. Even if it means replacing an incompetent Tory administration with a potentially incompetent Labour administration, after all Capita is running the show any way so it will make little or no difference, but there is a glimmer of hope. That hope being an incoming Labour or Coalition administration might once again start to listen to and represent the views and opinions of the Barnet residents, and end this ongoing period of Tory dictatorship ideology and dogma. Where the views of residents have been repeatedly and continually ignored, and if they remain in power will continue to be ignored.

Just to remind people of a couple of salient facts. Not only did counsel for our incumbent Tory councillors make it clear to the high court judge at a recent Judicial review, that in the opinion of our incumbent councillors ,Barnet residents have no right to be consulted. I repeat because it is worth repeating, in their opinion " we Barnet residents have no right to be consulted "

Furthermore they dishonestly tried to claim in the high court, they had consulted the residents of Barnet on the One Barnet Programme ( OBP ), which implies they were aware they should have consulted us. However the high court judge made it clear to our incumbent Tory councillors, that not only did they not consult Barnet residents on OBP, they made no attempt to consult Barnet residents on OBP. He further pointed out that by doing so they had  "acted unlawfully " , and but for the fact the case was out of time he would have found against Barnet council.

Barnet councillors dishonestly bragged that they had won the argument, but the reality is they had lost the argument, the only thing that allowed them to get away with acting unlawfully was a technicality. Was the fact the case was not called within the timescale laid down, therefore the Capita contract you /we are now lumbered with was in effect albeit indirectly arrived at it would appear by unlawful means, on top of everything else.

It is time for a change of administration. It is time the voice of the people of Barnet was once again heard and shown some respect, it is time to reinstate democracy in Barnet , to instil some integrity and honesty once again in local politics that is currently in my humble opinion rotten to the core, it is time to save our NHS from the precipice of full blown  privatisation before its to late.

 After all it is the Barnet residents thanks to our current town hall incumbents,that are paying the bills, and keeping the Capita shareholders in the comfort they have become accustomed to. Even if you were not ware until now, that is precisely what you are doing.

The Friday Joke - 17/1/2014

Time is like a river. You cannot touch the water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Enjoy every moment of life. As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the North Wales.

 

As I was not familiar with the area, I got lost and, being a typical man, I didn't stop for directions.

 

I finally found the church arriving two hours late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch. I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late.

 

I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.

 

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I've never played before for this homeless man.

 

And as I played "Amazing Grace", the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together. When I finished, I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head was hung low, my heart was full.

 

As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen anything like that before, and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

 

Apparently, I'm still lost....it's a man thing.

Are UKIP really a political party?

An almighty row has broken out between the Hendon branch of UKIP and the Barnet Alliance for Public Services (BAPS). BAPS has organised a public hustings meeting and asked representatives from the four main political parties (Labour, Lib Dems, Tories & Greens) to discuss local issues. The public will have a chance to grill the politicians in a question time format. On Monday the vice chair of UKIP, Adrian Murray-Leonard rang the Barnet Eye to ask why UKIP had not been invited. As we are not on the BAPS executive and were not on the organising committee, we didn't know and suggested Mr Murray-Leonard should speak to Barbara Jacobson who was acting as chair.

Mr Murray-Leonard was incensed that UKIP had not been organised, especially given his view that UKIP could surpass the Lib Dems in becoming the third most popular party in Barnet at the Euro Elections in May. It appears that Mr Murray-Leonard spoke to both Barbara Jacobson and Tirza Waisel of BAPS and was told that whilst UKIP would not be offered a place on the panel, they would be welcome to attend as members of the public. Mr Murray-Leonard responded by stating that this was unacceptable and that UKIP would attend en mass to ensure their point of view was put across.

Tirza Waisel contacted the Barnet Eye to explain why UKIP were not being invited. BAPS are specifically interested in Barnet Council and issues relating to public services. In the four years that BAPS has been in existence, UKIP have not once made a single intervention or participated in the debate on One Barnet or any local issue in any way shape or form. In the opinion of BAPS, on a local level, UKIP are not a political party, but a well organised pressure group, with a single aim of securing the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. They have no published policy on any Barnet related issue, therefore it is logical to conclude that they have nothing to offer for a public husting dealing with issues related to Barnet.

The Barnet Eye has covered Barnet politics for five and a half years and we can confirm that we are unaware of UKIP having any interest in Barnet politics. Given the huge debate over public services, we feel that it is rather late in the day for UKIP to start demanding a seat at the table, when they have left an empty chair for the debate for the last  four years. The reason that they want to participate in the hustings is to boost their campaign to win votes at the Euro elections, also taking place in May. In effect they appear to be looking to turn a debate which is designed to discuss issues of importance to local people regarding their local council, into a debate about the European elections, which is there raison d'etre.

The Barnet Eye has no doubt that supporters of UKIP feel very strongly about the issue of European membership. We also have no doubt that the party will poll a large number of votes, perhaps becoming the third most popular party in Barnet. That does not mean that UKIP are a political party in the true sense of the word. To qualify for that, they would need a local, national and international agenda. At a Borough level, they would have a full raft of policies, proposing a budget for Barnet and involving themselves in the debate on issues such as One Barnet. They would have participated in campaigns about NHS, Student Loans, protection of the Green Belt, Closure of Church Farm Museum etc. As far as the Barnet Eye is concerned, they haven't, therefore they should not expect to be able to pitch up at the hustings and expect a seat at the top table.

Should BAPS be organising a similar husting to discuss the Euro Elections, I would have far more sympathy with UKIP if they were excluded as they clearly have been raising this issue locally on a regular basis. The trouble with UKIP is that as far as I can see, they do not really know what they are. If they want to be a real political party, they need to have a manifesto for Barnet and participate in the debate. If they want to be a pressure group that stands at elections, then fine, but don't pretend to be something you are not. When it comes down to it, they have not done anything for local people in regards to the debate on Barnet Council, therefore they can't expect to be treated seriously, just because an election is in the offing and it suits them.

In the interests of fairness, we are offering Hendon UKIP the opportunity to submit a guest blog detailing their policies and activities in local Barnet issues. We will publish it on condition that it refers to these and not the European Union membership issue. If they can illustrate that the Barnet Eye is wrong and they have been active on local issues for the last four years, we will support their application for a seat on the panel. If, as I suspect, they cannot demonstrate that they have any interest in Barnet politics, then I'm afraid that on a local level, we will have to conclude they are not really a political party, but a pressure group dealing with EU membership.

What has changed under the Barnet Tories 2002-2014

How has Barnet changed since the Tories got in back in 2002

1. Average car speeds in sidestreets have increased as a result of road humps being removed

2. Homelessness and rough sleeping has increased massively

3. Front Gardens have all but disappeared to be replaced by carports in all but the largest houses

4. Back Gardens have started to disappear under new dwellings

5. High Streets have declined as parking charges have shot up

6. Moggies have disappeared from side streets as car speeds have shot up

7. We have a proliferation of rubbish bins

8. There are ever fewer sports fields and recreational facilities

9. Potholes have become far more prevalenton the Borough's streets

10. You can film council meetings

11.  Pubs are vanishing at a rate of knots

12. Nail bars are springing up everywhere

13. Car parks are hugely more expensive

14. You can't get a train from Mill Hill East direct to central London outside rush hour. 

15. Council tax has risen faster than inflation

So the Barnet concludes that if you are  car driving advocate of large shopping centres, moggie hating, non drinking, non sports playing person who likes to get your nails done, and you are not bothered by rough sleepers then you will probably be voting Conservative in May. 

Should migrants wait two years for benefits?

What sort of a society are we turning into. There seems to be a bidding war at the moment as to who can kick immigrants the hardest. There is a lot of talk about how long immigrants should wait before they can claim benefits. There is a groundswell amongst Tory ranks to go well beyond the 3 months proposed by the coalition. It seems to me reasonable that economic migrants from other parts of the EU should come here to work and have a job lined up. The idea that people can move to wherever the benefits are most cushy is not a great idea. This begs the question of how long an immigrant should have to wait.

There is talk of a period of two years, but as far as I am concerned this is a ridiculously long period. Most people, after a period of a few months would take on commitments with properties. If there was no prospect of getting rent paid if tenants lost their job, Landlords would not be prepared to rent accomodation. Like it or not, this would be bad for the economy. I think that a period of three months is quite a reasonable period. People moving to a foreign country should make provision and have the finances to get settled in. Are we really saying that someone who has come in good faith, worked for a company for eighteen months and then finds the company has gone bankrupt, should lose all means to pay the rent. Most will find jobs quite quickly, but sometimes people get unwell or have accidents. Are these to be excluded? If a migrant has been a hard worker and gets mown down by an indigenous drunk driver, should they receive no benefits as they recuperate?

Another argument is that migrants haven't paid anything into the system, so why should they be able to take benefits out. Apart from the obvious fact that we are a civilised country and we don't simply let people fall into destitution, one has to say that most migrants who end up on benefits have not done so out of choice. Benefits should be a safety net. Contrary to much right wing press propoganda, life on benefits is not cushy. Most immigrants have a strong work ethic and have come to the UK to better themselves. You only need to look at your local high street to see how many small businesses are owned by people from other countries.

I am not saying that there are no cases of abuse, but I have yet to see anything which shows that immigrants are any more like to be workshy than the local population. You only have to see how many do menial, low paid jobs to know the opposite is true.

The simple truth, that most right wing politicians are either too dishonest to tell you or too stupid to realise is that without the labour of people who have moved to the UK, the economy would collapse. Next time you go to a hospital, travel on public transport or buy some fast food, try and visualise that running without the efforts of people who weren't born in the UK.

I am not saying that mass immigration is the answer to all the worlds problems, but I believe we should treat everyone with fairness and dignity. To throw people onto the streets because, through no fault of their own, they have become unemployed, with no safety net is simply wrong.

Guest Blog - Moving into council accommodation has proved expensive for me - By Wyndham Clampett

By Wyndham Clampett,

I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Spincoerebellar Ataxia in June 2012, but have unknowingly had the condition since pre-teen years. Ataxia is an incurable progressive condition that initially affects mobility, making walking difficult. I currently need the use of a walking stick, and also use a mobility scooter.

Recently my Ataxia symptoms have extended to weak ankles which give way without warning accompanied by strong pain. (The ankles are not actually weak, it’s just the nerves failing). This means that ankle braces are needed most days.

Unfortunately I also have problems with my spine (trapped nerves, etc) which means any jarring usually causes severe pain. Even standing for a while or walking can lead to severe discomfort. And of course the back pain aggravates the balance issues, and vice versa.

I am a ’new boy’ in the sense that it is only in the last year that I have started to experience for myself what it is like to be disabled. I find walking unpleasant and often difficult. I can no longer use public transport for travel, and with my mobility scooter, find all sorts of obstacles to access. Generally also, I find very patchy information, even from organisations who should be leading the way, such as the NHS, and even the government. 

Being single and alone, also makes everything just that little bit more difficult. I think my initial contribution to this group may be to encourage thinking about the needs of the newly disabled. Having to deal with this, with (usually) minimal support, can make matters worse than they need be. I no longer work, but was an experienced Management Consultant, having specialised in Programme and Project Management, with over 24 years in IT and business leadership roles, covering a broad range of sectors from Finance to Manufacturing, and the Public Sector, including both central and local government.

I did not spend my days in high school dreaming of living in council accommodation, and certainly did not dream of ending my days in council managed sheltered housing. Unfortunately however, I fell ill and what with one thing and another, found myself unable to work, and not fully able to look after myself. Initially, Barnet Council Housing department declared that it was okay for me to be homeless. They didn't use those words, but that is what they meant.

As anyone who has tried to find rented accommodation in Barnet can tell you, there is almost nothing available for anyone receiving housing benefit. Something which is now acknowledged by all, including the council. For a variety of reasons, landlords have decided they no longer want to take part in providing social housing in this area and so I was not able to find cheaper housing. I did try... really.

Consequently, I had to pay the balance of the rent from my savings as the housing benefit did not cover the full amount due and the council refused my pleas for help. After a while my savings were gone, and I had to sell my Premium Bonds, ISA, and even the largest of my Pension Funds (at a cost of fifty percent of its value). I even started selling my books, CDs and DVDs, although gave that up when I realised just how little I was getting for them. Eventually though the council accepted that my medical condition was severe enough and offered to provide a home for me.

Before I forget, let me make it clear that I am very grateful that I am being housed at a time when I can't look after myself. I really am grateful, but I don't believe this should stop me from pointing out some difficulties I encountered.  I won't go into detail about the process of finding council accommodation through Barnet Homes, beyond saying that I was quite unprepared to be thrown into this world of social housing, and the council offered me no support whatsoever.

The nightmarish process should have ended when I finally moved in, but it took a great deal of persistence and effort over several weeks before I got all the finances sorted out. It was at this point that I discovered that Barnet Homes is effectively subsidising the rent by pushing up the cost of the utilities.

In my privately rented two-bedroom flat I had been paying £58 per month for combined gas and electricity, and £11 per month for water, making it £69 per month for these utilities. In my new council accommodation, I am paying £58 to the council for just heating and hot water, and another £40 to a utility company for electricity. The council also takes about £36 per month for water (up from £11...), making a total of £134 per month, an increase of £65 per month - which has to come out of my benefits (ie my food budget).

Given that I no longer have a washing machine, and only have a shower in my new flat, both the water consumption and the electricity should have gone down, not almost doubled.

It seems to me that it is quite simple. Part of the reason for the higher costs, is probably the burden of having to pay for communal lighting and heating - although I can't see where the communal water costs get to be so high. Surely though, such communal costs should be included in the rent which already has charges for service and support.

Again, it seems simple to me. If these charges were included in the rent, then the council would have to pay for it through the housing benefit. By keeping these charges out, and payable by the tenant, the cost is not passed on to the council, but has to be carried by the tenants, who is some cases are already suffering difficulties.

Towards the end of my stay in private rented accommodation, the council did grant me additional financial assistance to cover the rent shortfall, although it took until all my savings and other resources had dried up completely and when I was really desperate. The same financial assistance is now not available to cover the excessive utility bills, so I find myself financially worse off now that I am in council accommodation; sheltered housing no less.

£65 a month may not seem very much if you are earning a good salary, but for someone who is genuinely unable to work, and is struggling to make ends meet, this seems rather unfair.

About Wyndham Clampett
I have experience includes implementing Programme and Project governance, and methodologies. I used to be a confident delivery manager, experienced in successfully turning around failing programmes and projects.

I have previously served on numerous committees, including some charities.  My different activities in the community over many years have included founding a church, starting a local newspaper (both in South Africa), founding (and conducting) a choir in Reading who recently celebrated their 10^th anniversary, providing counselling, and leading a church group, manning a drop-in-centre and a helpline. I was actively involved in setting up an Opening Doors Conference (in 2003) with Age Concern (now Age UK) where I also gave a short address. See below for more on ODL.

I have been a regular studio guest on BBC radio and, was commended in parliament by my MP at the time (in Reading) for my work in the local community. I was awarded the John Chard Decoration for service with the Prince Alfred's Guard in the South Africa version of the Territorial Army. Hobbies used to include walking, singing (and conducting), and amateur theatrics (mainly musicals). I am an avid reader and aspiring writer. I have a vision to widen the knowledge of Ataxia in the general public arena, as well as medical, local and central government. I am a member of Ataxia UK who support and encourage Ataxia research, lobbying the government for increased recognition and support, and also to find new ways of either providing support or engaging with other organisations for the benefit of Ataxians.

I am also an active member of Opening Doors London which is a charity (with AgeUK) providing information support services to older gay men and women. As part of ODL, I am a member of the Older LGBT Housing Group, sponsored by Stonewall. More info here - Go to Exploring older LGBT housing.

Barnet Council - At war with the Moggie of Barnet !

"In every war, their are unintended casualties". That was the response of my Father when I asked him about what we now call the collateral damage of the RAF bombing raids in which he particpated as an RAF pilot. His view was that the bombing campaign was necessary to end the evil NAZI regime of Hitler and that there was no way this could be achieved without some level of collateral damage.

In the case of the war against, Hitler, I have to agree that the stakes were high enough to suspend some of our normal sense of morality. I am not sure the carpet bombing of German cities was the right thing to do either morally or strategically, but I can see why the pilots who executed the raids felt that they were doing the right thing at the time.

But what about battles and wars where there is not such an overarching purpose? What about the collateral damage caused by decisions which are purely made to score a few political points with a particular small subset of voters for a particular party? Well the devastating effects of the car friendly policies were dramatically brought home to me in a conversation with an elderly neighbour yesterday. We were chatting over the garden fence and I happened to mention the fact that none of our neighbours seemed to be keeping cats anymore. Just a few years ago, the road was full of them. On a sunny morning, you'd see at least half a dozen sunning themselves in front gardens as you walked up Millway. One of our neighbours, Bob had a lovely old moggie called Sparky, who lived to the ripe old age of 23. So has the population of Barnet turned against moggies?

Sadly my old neighbour explained that there was a far more mundane explanation. "Since the council ripped out the road humps in Millway, all of the cats have been run over". Wheras cars would pootle up and down at 20-30mph, now cars zoom up and down at 50-60mph. Even the most cautious cat cannot cross the road in safety with cars travelling at these speeds on narrow suburban roads, lined with cars. He is a cat lover and former cat owner, he said that he couldn't bring himself to get another one, having had two splattered since the humps were ripped out three years ago.

He said he'd actually spoken to a Tory Councillor who advised him to move if he wanted to keep a cat. He was told that Barnet Council wouldn't change its parking policy because a couple of cats had been run over. There is a big difference in policies between Barnet Tories and Labour on road safety. in the 12 years of Lib/Lab coalition, traffic calming measures were installed across Barnet and the roads started to become far safer. Accidents rates in Barnet dropped faster than elsewhere in London. The Tories got in at the 2002 Council elections and set about reversing the policy, making the borough friendly towards speeding motorists. Barnets accident rates are once again amongst the highest in London. Sadly there are no statistics about how many cats have been run over. All we can see is that ratruns and cut throughs such as Millway, where I live are now cat free zones.

If you are a cat lover and a Tory knocks on your door, asking for your vote, you may wish to ask them their views on the collateral damage which their policies have inflicted on the moggies of Barnet.

Here is a video of Pussycat singing Missisipi, this is about the only place you'll see a pussycat, if like me you live on one of Barnets rat runs these days !

The Saturday List #50 - The All Time Top Ten blogs on the Barnet Eye

The vast majority of visitors to the Barnet Eye simply click on the http://barneteye.blogspot.co.uk/ to visit the blog and look at what rubbish I've written on that particular day - over 90% of people usually visit the main page and see whats there. Of the blogs people have individually selected to read, these are the ones that have had the most hits, according to the stats on the blogger website. I suppose that given that only one of the top ten was written in the last year, I must conclude that the quality of my blogging has got worse !

Thanks to all of you who have thus far contributed to the total number of blog hits of  1,197,608 !!! 
as of today at 09:45

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