Brian Coleman, The Holocaust and The BNP

It seems that Brian Coleman has boycotted a Holocaust Remembrance Day memorial organised by the GLA because he was upset that the organisers did not want the GLA's BNP member sitting with survivors. The organisers had moved GLA members to the front row of public seating, apparently to separate the BNP member from the Survivors (along with other GLA members). I pass no comment, please read this article for yourself.

http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/world/c-11069/shoah-memorial-day-marred-by-disputes/

Heathrow Runway 3 - Tell us the truth Villiers

One of our local MP's, Theresa Villiers is the Tory shadow Minister for Transport. I guess she's feeling pretty chuffed today. The Tories have been getting the right kind of headlines about their stand against the proposed new runway at Heathrow. They nearly defeated the government, due to a rebellion of Labour MP's, many from London.

Interestingly enough, not a single Tory broke ranks. All good opposition tactics, designed to make Gordon Brown look weak. There's just one problem. Some time in the next couple of years, there's a good chance that Dave Cameron may become the Prime Minister. At that point the fun and games stop and the job of running the country has to start. What have the Tories proposed instead of runway 3? Well Boris likes the idea of a new airport in an estuary. He's missed the obvious risk of bird strikes (we all saw what happened to the Airbus in New York when that happened). As for Cameron and Villiers. They propose a high speed rail network with a hub at Heathrow. They claim that this will remove thousands of short hop flights. Slots will be freed and no new runway will be needed. All very good you might think, but there's a pretty basic flaw.

The easier and more accessible you make Heathrow, the more flights there will be. Airlines will see Heathrow as an even better option for medium and long haul flights. Why would airlines want a base at East Midlands airport when Heathrow will be an easier option for milions more people. If Manchester is just over an hour away, with high speed check in on the train, why use Manchester Airport? The other thing is that even for short haul, the easier it becomes, the more people will travel. With the advent of Easyjet, many people commute from all sorts of strange places to work in London. All the High speed rail link will do is increase this.

Now I happen to support the new runway and the new rail links. It's called progress and it makes the economy more vibrant and stable. Whilst there is a price to pay and we have to minimise the impact on the economy, if we don't protect and develop the economy, then ultimately we'll fall behind. There won't be the money to pay for the NHS, Schools, Care for the Elderly. The jobs will move abroad. What seems bad now with the credit crunch will get much much worse.

I don't know if Villiers understands this and is keeping schtum for political reasons or if she's just not bright enough to have thought it through? Either way, if she isn't careful she'll be digging her own political grave. If we really want a greener future, we need an intigrated transport policy. This means understanding the effect one change has on all of the other parts of the network. One of the reasons the M25 is so overused is because the planners didn't take into account that people would use it to make short journeys of 1 or 2 junctions. It seems to me that the Tories really don't know what they want. Cameron wants to be green and have a high speed rail link. Boris wants to build an airport in a swamp, with all the billions of pounds of investment in new road and rail links, destroying mudland flats etc. Brian Coleman likes Heathrow and hates all tram schemes. As for Villiers, it seems all she wants to do is use transport policy as a stick to beat Gordon Brown with.

I suspect that if Villiers ever becomes the Minister for Transport, even the Tories will be harking back to the golden Age of John Prescott.

Brian Coleman Update : The Pot calls the Kettle !!!

"Do you think the food ambassador, costing us whatever it is costing us, is providing any added value for London taxpayers?" Today a London Assembly member asked Mayor Boris Johnson this question. Now I'm all for a bit of scrutiny of wasteful expenses. There are plenty of serious issues that need cash spending on them in London to solve real problems. How does a mayor decide what his priorities are? What is more important - it seems he's got a job on his hands keeping track of the allowances members receive and reminding them of their responsibility to the taxpayer. Maybe paying for a bit of back up and support to his "ambassadors" i smoney well spent, maybe not? Difficult decisions all. Who are these ambassadors and what do they do? They include former journalist Rosie Boycott, who as his unpaid food ambassador, seeks to encourage Londoners to grow their own food by turning available space into vegetable plots; and James Cleverly, the London assembly member for Bexley and Bromley, who was appointed earlier this month to lead on youth issues following the departure last summer of Ray Lewis, the deputy mayor. This role is also unpaid.

So which virtuous GLA Member saw fit to criticise the cost of these unpaid advisers. None other than the King of Bling, Brian Coleman

Now regular readers will know that I held Mr James Cleverly up as an example of a virtuous Tory and as an example to Mr Coleman. Cleverly published his expenses for the year to the GLA - nothing. He works as an ambassador to youth and gets paid - Nothing. I know Brian Coleman and his friends read this blog - one of the head honchos from Tory Central Office emailed me on his behalf. Can his comments about ambassadors be a bit of payback for James Cleverly making Coleman look foolish over his 2008 £8,500 Taxi bill to the GLA? I've no idea at all. I've been following James Cleverly's blog for a while - http://www.jamescleverly.blogspot.com/. Of all the various Tories who blog, he seems like a genuine guy, he has a sense of humour, he seems public spirited and I suspect he's someone who you could have a pint with and not be constantly checking your watch. I suppose the fact that Coleman is having a veiled go at him, only puts him up another step in my opinion.

As for Rosie Boycott. She's a major asset to Boris Johnson. She founded the feminist magazine "Spare Rib" and has a distinguished career in the male dominated world of Newspapers, being a former editor of the Independent. I've no idea what Coleman is up to, trying to wind Boris up. Has his dislike and fear of James Cleverly's example affected his judgement? I suspect Coleman may have made a big mistake, Boris is currently "The King of the Jungle", Boycott has many friends in journalism, who may well decide that Coleman needs a poke in the eye.

What was the reaction from Boris - The Guardian says :-

Stunned by the question, Johnson said out loud he detected some "disapproval" from his Tory colleague before answering: "Most of the people who have been generous and public spirited enough to work as ambassadors or whatever it happens to be are doing it without any financial consideration whatever.

In the case of Rosie Boycott she does get some support for a programme that to the best of my knowledge has so far produced 400 new growing spaces in London."

When I started this blog I decided on the title "Brian Coleman Update : The Pot calls the Kettle !!!" because it's catchy. From what I've seen, this isn't really fair to Boycott or Cleverly - apologies guys and gals. For the full article :-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jan/28/boris-london

Barnet Eye Round Up - Another victory for Rog T !!!!

Firstly lets deal with the victories. Lets take a visit to the Finchley Conservatives website. We've made mention here several times that Mike Freer has hijacked this site. Far from being a nice potted guide to the works of the Finchley Conservative association, it has morphed into the "Mike Freer" website. Now if it wasn't for the fact that Finchley was the constituency of Lady Thatcher, Great Britains first female Prime Minister, I might understand it. Not a picture in sight, just a single sentence on the homepage. Now if I was running the site, I'd have a page dedicated to this towering figure, but clearly Mike sees himself as a more important figure. If you click on his map of the constituency, you get a map of Barnet. It seems that our Mike has plans !!!! Now proof that Mike Freer is reading the Barnet Eye can be found on the Local Campaigns page. On Saturday I took Mike Freer to task for being lazy. I mentioned amongst other things that one of his local campaigns was a straight link to the Tory Central website with no comment. Another link didn't work. Fine evidence of his much vaunted hard work. Well it seems that unlike "Lazy Mike Freer", hard working Rog T gets results. These two rather embarrassing local campaigns have disappeared !!! It may not be much of a victory, but it shows that we're taken seriously by Mike.

Next, lets take ourselves off to the Barnet Council Press release Library. There is a truly bizarre release from Mr Freer.

A Burnt Oak park received some tender loving care yesterday as part of Barnet Council’s week of action in the ward.

Council ground maintenance teams spent a day at Watling Park off Watling Avenue, cutting back brambles, pruning hedges, tidying flowerbeds and picking up litter. The spruce up was part of the council’s second Clean, Green and Safe Week, in which council officers, along with partner organisations, tackle issues important to local residents such as crime, anti-social behaviour and health related matters.

Following October’s highly successful week of action in Child’s Hill, this week’s programme of events, running from 26 – 30 January, once again includes the removal of graffiti from hotspot areas and Barnet Police working with the council’s Priority Intervention Team (PIT) to remove abandoned vehicles from the ward.

As part of yesterday’s activities, pupils at Barnfield Primary School received a visit from the council’s Trading Standards team and London Fire Brigade, explaining the importance of not playing with fireworks and discussing how to take precautions against fire in the home.

Other events during the week will include the partnership-run mobile youth centres, the Rolling Bass and Rolling Bass Max buses, visiting several locations across the ward along with the handout of free door locks to vulnerable residents and fire safety checks within their homes.

Leader of the Council, Councillor Mike Freer said:

“The week of action in Burnt Oak is not only an opportunity for residents to partake in a number of organised activities but for residents to tell us what issues are important to them and what they would like to see improved in their community.

“Council officers will once again be out engaging with residents to build on the success seen in Childs Hill and ensure Barnet remains a clean, green and safe borough to live and work in.”

For more information on how to become involved in your area contact: Lorna.minney@barnet.gov.uk, tel: 0208 3597726 or visit www.barnet.gov.uk

Now I don't know about you, but I thought "cutting back brambles, pruning hedges, tidying flowerbeds and picking up litter" was what the council was supposed to do all the time in it's parks. If Mike Freer thinks that doing this is worthy of a press release, he's lost the plot. It's called Parks Maintenance and it is one of the many functions of the Council. I find it rather strange that the children of Burnt Oak are visited in February to tell them not to play with Fireworks. Surely November is the time for that? To quote Brian Coleman "Bonkers".

Rog T 1 - Brian Coleman 0

Hard Working Brian Coleman with Former Labour Minister Chris Smith


I've got a rehearsal with the band tonight. I'm going to enjoy it even more than useual tonight. I may even have a glass of nice red wine when I get home in celebration. What am I celebrating. Well it seems my little campaign (with a little help from a few like minded individuals has borne fruit). I was sent a link to the GLA expenses documents for April - October 2008 and it appears that our good friend, Brian Coleman has taken heed of our criticism. Last year his Taxi bill was approx £8,500. For the half year to October it's a mere £195. Although it is the highest for any GLA member, it's only £8 higher than the next on the list.

Now I know Brian and all his friends will deny it to the ends of the earth, but I know, you know and he knows that his bills were outrageous. We all know that it was damaging the London Conservatives and we all know there will be an election some time soon. He also knows that he'd get no peace from this quarter, so he's cut back. Whether this is a temporary change or a complete cure, I don't know. What I do know is this. If it hadn't been for some of us constantly reminding everyone what he's like, then he'd still be at it. It's only half time, but when it comes to Colemans cutbacks, it's Rog T 1 Brian Coleman 0.

Check this link for the full expenses for the London Assembly - April - October 2008
http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/audit_panel_mtgs/2009/jan15/item11a.pdf

RBS mismanagement costs us all dear

There is a report in todays Guardian that the Police are being called in to investigate the rights issue last year at RBS. This involved the bank selling off £12bn of new share capital at £2.00 per share to it's existing shareholders. The rights issue was marketed as being at a heavy discount to the then share price which at the time the deal was first announced was above £3 (I believe). So if you are offered a £3 share for £2 what should you do? If you've got any sense you take the offer. The big question is do you then sell straight away or do you hang on. Well if you hung on your £2.00 would be worth 14p today.

Now you may think "I'm all right jack, I don't own any RBS shares". Don't be too sure. If you have a pension of any sort, chances are that your fund has a few RBS shares in there. If you have a FTSE tracker fund, you own some. Even if you don't have a penny in shares, investments or anything, you own some of RBS because the Government bailed them out. 18 Months ago RBS share price was £5.80.

Now at the time of the rights issue, shareholders were lead to believe that the cash would fix the big hole in RBS finances. This clearly wasn't the case, so the question is this? Did they get the shareholders to part with £12 Billion knowing it wasn't enough and if so why. If they didn't know how big the black hole was, then they shouldn't have launched the refinancing, they should have done more homework - ie they were negligent. If they did then they conned the shareholders. Now I've no idea how much the shares are really worth. I doubt anyone does anymore. The point is that a sensible refinancing at the time or a properly structured Government bail out would have done far more to maintain the banks credibility. It looks to me as if the Royal Bank of Scotland plucked a figure out of thin air and then crossed it's fingers and hoped for the best. I've done that when betting my last £5 on a horse at Kempton Park, but it's not how a bank should be run.

As successive Tory and Labour governments have destroyed the manufacturing base of Great Britain, we now rely on Banking to keep the economy afloat. Those who claim the banks should have been cut adrift and let sink really have no idea what they are really suggesting. London is the worlds major financial centre. Geography, history and time zones are likely to keep it there. No government could afford to stand by and let London's banking industry die. What they can do is ensure that banks are run legally and honestly. It is vital that the police investigate the rights issue at RBS. If the investors were mislead, the CEO Sir Fred Goodwin and his team of directors should go to prison and be stripped of their bonuses. This will send out a clear message to all bank directors that you must treat your shareholders with respect. You must be seen to be completely above board.

I did some digging and this is roughly how much the CEO of RBS - Sir Fred Goodwin has had from RBS in terms of renumeration.

* His compensation entitlement is made up of a £1.29 million base salary as well as £762,000 of pension and benefits.

* Sir Fred was paid £4.2 million in 2007 including a £2.86 million bonus.

* An £8.37 million pension pot that will pay him £579,000 per year when he reaches the bank's retirement age.

* He also owns 2.53 million shares in RBS (as of 12/10/2008)

I have a friend who worked for Nat West /RBS from 1970 until March 2008. Nat West/RBS had a scheme whereby you could take your bonus as shares. He did this every year and kept the lot. I worked out that if his average salary over the 37 years was £20,000 per annum and he got a 5% bonus per year and the shares had gone up at around 5% a year, he'd have had £106,000 worth of shares 18 months ago. Last time I spoke to him (before the big crash) he said he was going to help his daughter buy a house when she got married with the cash. Those shares are now worth approx £2,000 - I guess it'll have to be a shed. His retirement nest egg has been wiped out. This guy isn't a fat cat, just an ordinary bank employee who did the boring things, like making sure your debit card works when you buy your shopping at Tesco's.

Like so many jobs today in Great Britain, people at the top take the money but they won't take the rap when things go wrong. That is left to the poor mugs who are left behind to sweep up the mess. Who are the mugs - you and me my friend, the taxpayer.

I'm Beginning to see the light !!!!!!

As some of you know, who follow this blog, generally at the weekend (when no one annoys me and needs a good kick), I like to take one of my favourite songs and share it with you. Now I never plan these, I just spin a few discs and see what inspires me.

Today's been a strange day so far. Got up early, did the breakfasts, knocked out a couple of blogs, then went and played football at the Burnt Oak leisure centre against my 8 year old son's team - Dads Vs Kids - Dad's lost 11-4 !!! Mind you they had more players and we only were allowed 2 touches.

Off to Waitrose for shopping and cooking the lunch. I started with "Music For Pleasure" By The Damned. A great and much underrated album. The Damned are also studio customers. One of my greatest buzzes ever was listening at the dooor of room 7, the very first time they booked and hearing them play "New Rose". It's fair to say that if they hadn't recorded the song, I'd not be running a studio. For those of you who didn't know, it was the very first Punk Rock single. David Vanian (vocalist) was interviewed on the Garry Crowley show on BBC London last night. A great interview.


Anyway, I'm currently spinning "White Light/White Heat" by "The Velvet Underground". The Velvets are a band that many people claim as influences. It's amazing how many people have heard of them, but how few are familiar with their work. The album is one of many compilations. My favourite track on the album is "Beginning to see the Light". I find it to be a really uplifting track. It reminds me of my good lady.

There is a line in the song "There are problems in these times but, ooohhh, none of them are mine" - whenever I'm with her I feel like that. I always feel that ultimately everything will be OK.

As it plays out with the Coda "How does it feel to be loved?" I always feel warm and happy. It's one song that always lifts my mood - ALWAYS. Check it out if you don't know it.


I'm Beginning to see the light

Well I’m beginning to see the light (x2)
some people work very hard
but still they never get it right
well I’m beginning to see the light
wanna tell all you people now
now, now, baby, I’m beginning to see the light
hey now baby, I’m beginning to see the light
wine in the morning and some breakfast at night
well I’m beginning to see the light

here we go again
playing the fool again
here we go again
acting hard again-alright!

well I’m beginning to see the light
I wanna tell you (oooooooouuu)
hey now baby I’m beginning to see the light
it comes a little softer now
I wore my teeth in my hands
so I could mess the hair of the night (a-ha-ha)
Hey, well I'm beginning to see the light
Now-now-now-now-now-now-now-now baby I'm beginning to see the light now,
it's coming softer
Hey now baby, I'm beginning to see the light
I met myself in a dream and I just wanted to tell ya everything was alright
Hey now baby, I'm beginning to see the light

Here comes two of you
which one will you choose
One is black and one is blue
don't know just what to do, all right
Well I'm beginning to see the light
oh now here she comes, (ooohhh)
Yeah-yeah baby, I'm beginning to see the light,
oh Some people work very hard
but still they never get it right
Well I'm beginning to see the light
oh, it's getting a little softer in the end now
Now-now baby, I'm beginning to see the light
oh, it's coming round again
Hey now-now-now baby, I'm beginning to see the light (one more time)
There are problems in these times but, ooohhh, none of them are mine
Oh baby, I'm beginning to see the light

Here we go again
I thought that you were my friend
Here we go again
I thought that you were my friend
How does it feel to be loved ? (x3)
(oh!)
How does it feel to be loved? (x3)

Barnet Eye - Tour of the Blogs

I love Blogger and the various blogs on it. I find it fascinating to see what gets people going and what people find to write about. I guess I am a relative newcomer to it as I only got into blogger when the Edgware Times canned my "official Blog". "Don't Call Me Dave" Miller started his NOTTHEBARNETTIMES.BLOGSPOT.COM blog (now Barnet Council Watch) blog in protest at the Times pulling one of my blogs. As a result of that I became aware of the wonderful world of Blogspot. Initially I felt as though I'd been relegated from the Premier League of Blogs top the Ryman League. As time has gone on, I actually realised that Blogger is probably a better forum. More people look at it and you find out all sorts of interesting things. I'm a people person and I'm quite nosy in some ways. I appreciate a sense of humour and a bit of honesty. I think if a blog has these it works. If you "censor" yourself you fail. I religiously check the profile of all commenters on my blogs and have a look at their offerings. I generally check their commenters as well. If I see something which interests me I'll comment (no surprise there to those who know me). Strangely enough, the political persuasion of the author really has no effect on how much I like a blog. Occasionally I'll see something which makes me roar with laughter from a source I'd not have expected (CLICK HERE FOR AN EXAMPLE). Sometimes I see an idea I like which I'll put my own slant on (CLICK HERE FOR AN EXAMPLE). Some blogs just appeal to my sense of the ridiculous (CLICK HERE FOR AN EXAMPLE). Some blogs have a stream of comments that end up a million miles from where the author probably thought they were going (CLICK HERE FOR AN EXAMPLE). Finally there are things you read in blogs, which remind you of yourself (CLICK HERE FOR AN EXAMPLE)

Hope You enjoyed the little tour as much as I enjoyed finding them.

Is Mike Freer registered on Second Life?

Mike Freer in Israel working hard

Mike Freer Says
"Anyone who knows me knows I am a worker and that is what this constituency needs."

Rog T says

Unless Mike Freer is registered on Second Life and runs a virtual council where everything runs smoothly and he does a great job, he is clearly a fantasist.

If he's such a hard worker, how com the following has happened when he's leader :-

Barnet lost £27.4 in dodgy investment schemes in Iceland? He says he never checked them (Very hard working).

The latest budget attempted to raise the charges for burying dead children by 10% because neither Freer nor his scrutiny cabinet bothered to read it. They only realised when David Miller started a campaign. Freer's equally hard working lackey, Brian Coleman commented " none of the council officers told me about it"

The Aerodrome road Bridge project went Millions of pounds over budget, gobbling up Council resources. Less than a year ago, on his blog in the Edgware Times, Freer said it was on budget and he'd done a great job. He's in charge of Barnet resource management.

His last job, which he clearly worked so hard at was as a banker. Under his stewardship, Barnet Council borrowed hundreds of millions of pounds. This is now sitting in accounts earning minimal interest, meaning the Council taxpayer has to pay the difference to make up the interest. Even in his chosen field of excellence he fails.

I thought I'd dig a bit deeper and have a look at Mike's website (or Should I say the Finchley Conservatives website, which has morphed into a Mike Freer Hagiography).

Clearly if he's a hard worker, he'd be running lots of local campaigns and have lots of pictures and stories of him standing up for local people. There would be lots of pictures of him with smiling old ladies who'd had their taps fixed through his efforts. So what do we get - Click HERE TO SEE.

Yup, what we get are six campaigns

1. A link to the Central Conservative website urging small businesses to take up rates relief - No input from Mike. Interestingly, elsewhere on his website he has a picture of his launch of the Barnet bond. This is a stealth tax on businesses. I suppose it should also be noted that when I last appealed my business rates, it took nearly three years to be heard. Eventually I got a few thousand pounds back - so much for helping small companies.

2. A note about the Equitable Life scandal. Mike posted a letter on his website. As best I can tell, he seems to say Theresa Villiers has done a fine job on his behalf chasing it up in parliament.

3. A campaign to keep some post offices open. He's asked us to send him an email. Part of the national Tory campaign against post office closures.

4. A few paragraphs saying Mike doesn't like the Council tax revaluation and disagres with the Government on HIPS. Again a national Conservative Party initiative.

5. A few paragraphs about his support for the national Tory campaign against bin tax.

6. A link that doesn't work about Gordon Brown getting his sums wrong.

All in all, whatever you might think about Mike, surely there are real local issues in Finchley and Golders Green he should be campaigning about. If he was, surely he'd post them on his website? Surely he'd have a few testimonials from people he's helped? I don't know if the issue is he's got a rotten website or that he's as lazy as it appears? Either way, given that he's clearly a bright guy, you'd expect a hard worker to be on top of this.

One final example of the hard work of Mike Freer. Check out the LEADERLISTENS.COM blog. Mike Freer got this vanity project set up by the Council at a cost of over £400. This year he's posted one item on it. Not exactly prolific. As a contrast Conservative GLA member and deputy mayor for young people - James Cleverly - has a free blogspot blog, which he's posted to 14 times. Now I'm a Labour member so I don't agree with much of James Cleverly's policies, but it's a good blog (and it's free to taxpayers). I've also got a link at the side to Tory GLA member Roger Evans blog, again worth a look to see how it's done. I should also note that these guys always seem to respond to comments, Mike has not moderated at least 50% of the comments I've left. Now there are plenty of Councillors, etc who don't have blogs, so it's not a "must have". I would however say that if you get one set up at cost to the taxpayer, you should as a minimum a) update it regularly and b) respond to your comments. If you can't be bothered, don't go around boasting about how hard you work.

Mind you he's been recognised for this achievement with a "Banker of the year award" from Private eye, for elevating incompetence to new levels. The only areas of Barnet Council which run smoothly are the ones he leaves well alone, such as education. Everything else is in turmoil due to his "Bonkers" future shape scheme.

Cleverly Coded Criticism of Coleman !!!!

Praise where praise is due. If I see a politician, whatever the party doing something the right way, I'll praise them to the hilltops. There are plenty of decent men and women in all of the parties, doing the job as best they can. I am sure the excesses of politicians like Brian Coleman must privately enrage them. His £8,231 taxi bill last year no doubt caused much squirming amongst his colleagues on the London assembly. It rather looks to me as if one of his colleagues, James Cleverly has had enough of Brian Coleman's excesses and has decided to take a principled stand and send him a powerful message. In his blog http://www.jamescleverly.blogspot.com dated yesterday he says :-

22 January, 2009
My expenses

Jimmy, a regular commentator on this blog, makes a valid request. In my last post I wrote about MPs expenses and he feels it only fair that I'm open about mine. Fair point.

Before I reveal the figure I think it only fair to explain that Assembly Members and MPs expenses work in very different ways.

Firstly because London is a physically tight area none of us need second homes. All our staff, IT equipment and office equipment is paid for centrally rather than being paid by or bought by the MP, as is the case in Westminster. I also get an annual travel card so I can get around London for meetings, visits etc. This all keeps our expenses lower and more simple than MPs.

Now here is the good bit. Based on my expenses since being elected in May of last year I calculate my annual expense claim for the municipal year 2008/9 will be £0.00

I can't promise it will always be this low but I'll do my best.

Well Done James. Another Tory who's style I quite like is Roger Evans. I suspect that he's very close to Brian Coleman politically, but he can make his point without coming over as being arrogant or offensive. Wheras Coleman dismissed the Brent Cross Railway as "A bonkers scheme devised by men with train sets in their attics" (or words to that effect, Evans puts his opposition to Cross London Tram in far more measured and sensible terms in a reply to a question I asked him on HIS BLOG. He says :-

One of these was Brian Coleman who made his presence felt by objecting to the tram proposal, to the extent that his efforts were - I believe - reported by some of the pro tram bloggers, after the meeting. I was also present and I raised an objection on the grounds of cost. I can think of many better ways to spend £1.3 billion...

I don't agree with Roger Evans at all on this subject, but it seems to me that his approach is far more sensible. There even seems to be a tacit acknowledgement in his comment that the Brian Coleman approach doesn't really help move the debate forward.
I don't expect Colemans fellow assembly members to go public with open criticism, but it certainly seems to me as if they have realised that his approach does more harm than good. The James Cleverly attitude towards his expenses is a breath of fresh air and there are many politicians of all parties who could take a leaf out of his book.