Author Archives: davidhencke

Death and rebirth? of Liberal Democrat England

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Nick Clegg - not quite 100 per cent bad news

Today’s humiliating result for the Liberal Democrats -coming sixth with just 8.25 per cent of the vote in Barnsley,Central is a harbinger of a deeper change facing British politics.

Anybody keeping abreast of local  council election results in Labour strongholds will not have been at all surprised to see this collapse of a party  that has broken many of its election promises and got in bed with Labour’s traditional enemy -the Tories.

All that has happened is the Parliamentary lobby has caught up with a dramatic collapse of Liberal Democrats in working class towns and urban areas.

Less than a month ago a Liberal Democrat decided to stand in Worksop for Bassetlaw council and came bottom of the poll with 28 votes. Labour gained the seat from the Tories with 1174 votes. Other pathetic Liberal Democrat showings in the last six months include 67 votes in Bromsgrove, 45 votes in Wednesbury,98 votes in Swindon  and an incredible 10 votes in Rossendale in Lancashire.

 Labour should be pleased because in some of these pathetic showings it is enabling them to take seats from the Conservatives including coming back in Camborne, Cornwall. In other places like Warrington and Liverpool where they are taking seats directly off the Lib Dems they are being returned  with thumping majorities.

But before everybody gets carried away  with the total destruction of the Lib Dems  there is another story going on  in many (not all) Conservative rural areas. Here slowly but surely the Lib Dems are making GAINS against incumbent Tories in their heartland seats.

Examples  this year include two gains from the Tories -in rural Shropshire and Conwy in Wales. While at the end of last year the Lib Dems took a seat on Fareham council from the Tories with a swing of nearly 30 per cent since the May general election.

 Another surprising gain was in rural Newdigate in Surrey where the Lib Dems took a seat from the Conservatives in their Mole Valley heartland. And they beat the Tories to gain a seat on Bodmin Town Council when an independent stood down.

Of course not every result fits in this pattern, the Tories did gain a seat in South Lakeland from the Lib Dems (where Labour got a pathetic 32 votes) and the Lib Dems did take one seat from Labour in Truro in the same period.

But there does seem to be a bit of a pattern from these scattering of results which will be really tested in May. The scenario appears to be that the Lib Dems will be massacred in major cities by Labour and their collapse in other urban areas will probably cost the Tories control.

But in rural areas it looks like the Lib Dems could hold their own and even, if well organised, make gains from the Tories.

 Nick Clegg’s  and David Law’s realignment of the Liberal Democrats as a right of centre libertarian party appears to be giving confidence to Tory voters to trust them in their traditional heartlands while making Labour the only left of centre show in town. That could make a seismic shift in British politics.

Do Londoners want firefighting on the whim of bankers and hampers from Harvey Nicks?

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a london PFI fire engine equipped with tax debt pic courtesy http://www.freefoto.com

April 20 will be a day of reckoning for AssetCo, the company that owns London’s and Lincolnshire’s  fire engines  and was used by the London Fire Brigade to try to break striking firefighters. It has until April 20 to answer in the Companies Court following  a winding up petition from Revenue and Customs  which could lead to the company and its subsidiaries being put into administration.

On that day it will have to answer  a petition from Revenue and Customs to repay anything between £5m and £8m ( we don’t know exact sum – winding up petitions are secret documents) in overdue tax or go into administration. And a banker will move in to own London’s  fire engines.

This scandal would have never seen the light of day if the directors of AssetCo, led by chief executiveJohn Shannon, had not been hoping to pull off a big coup and make a small fortune by allowing their company to be taken over in the wake of the publicity over the London fire dispute.

Whatever company examined their books – we don’t know the name – obviously did not like what it saw  and suddenly talks were over and shares plummeted. They have not recovered and were trading at 17.5 p yesterday rather than 70p at their height. Within days the company admitted it had to repay some £50.6m of debt and find £8.5m working capital including plus a £3.5m urgent overdraft from the bank. Seven days later it announced that it wanted the same shareholders who had seen their investment plummet to give them another £8m.

It stated: “The Directors believe that with the cooperation of the Company’s creditors and banks, the current financial strain on the Company will be temporary, and the additional funding resources referred to above will ensure that a more appropriate capital structure will be in place to support the future growth of the business. ”

What it did not tell anybody was that two days after the announcement it was in front of the Companies Court in The Strand in London pleading for a delay against a petition  from Revenue and Customs to wind up some nine of its companies because of long overdue tax.

I am told that  Revenue and Customs never issue winding up petitions unless a lot of money is owed and there has been a prolonged period when tax due was never paid.

The company now says it has a £120m new contract from the United Arab Emirates and it has hived off London from the any forced administration so no-one should worry.The London Fire Brigade officially appear unflustered. A spokesman  said: “We plan for all events that could affect the fire and rescue service we provide and do not anticipate an impact on London’s fire engines.”

I understand London Fire Brigade are expecting if AssetCo goes belly up that a bank will take over ownership of London’s fire engines. Then either negotiations will start about the brigade taking back ownership of the engines or another bidder – and the rumour is it might be Babcock who already have  firefighter training centres and run Firebuy’s emergency vehicles – could take over.

No wonder Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU, is demanding assurances from Bob Neill, the fire minister.

As he put it: “The safety of Londoners, and of London’s firefighters, is in the hands of a company which could be wound up in six weeks time because of tax debts.  At the least, this will mean that there is no one to maintain London’s fire engines.  At the worst, it could mean that London forfeits its fire engines to pay AssetCo’s debts.
We have all known for some time that AssetCo was suffering from financial problems, though it is only now that I have discovered they are so serious as to put its future in doubt.  I do not know how long Councillor Brian Coleman, chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, who is close to AssetCo’s senior management, has known the situation. ”

To me it is very simple. If this was publicly owned none of this would have happened. And what happens with AssetCo now could be harbinger of what is going to happen on a massive scale when everything else is sold off across the country.

Do we really want something as precious as saving lives dependent on whims of bankers and companies? The owners appear to have built up tax debts while their directors pay themselves huge salaries and get huge sums in dividends?

Londoner’s lives are more important than receiving a £350 Christmas hamper from Harvey Nicks  (as Brian Coleman has) from grateful businessmen busy making profits out of public services.

Update March 3: AssetCo is seeking to place £16m of shares at a knock down price of 10p a share – nearly a 30 per cent discount – onits closing price of 13.8 p a share last night – to urgently raise funds to payu debts ands tax bills. The offer is being underwitten by its own brokers and adviser, Arden Partners, with a promise from chief executive,John Shannon, to guarantee its overdraft. Other directors are subscribing for £116,000 worth pof the £16m shares.

The statement warns: “If the Placing does not proceed, the Directors believe that the Company will not be able to continue in its cutrrent form”.A spokesman for the company yesterday claimed it was already oversubscribed. Meanwhile the shares had fallen a further 1.5p to 12.50p

 

Praise be Pickles: Pity about your party activists

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eric pickles- the bloggers friend; Pic courtesy cyclingsilk.com

 

Lynne Hillan- Barnet Tory leader- Queen Canute rather than Iron Lady. Pic courtesy: Barnet Times

Normally I don’t approve of the judgements of Eric Pickles, the  communities secretary, the man Westminster jokes is so much larger than life that he can be spotted on Google Earth. However in a  blog for Conservative Home last week http://bit.ly/i1cKAV the scourge of local government  bureaucrats penned an article backing the idea that councils should open the doors to bloggers and citizen journalists who should be able to tweet and film  to their heart’s content. He of course cited outrageous Labour councils who had banned this. He also praised the work of Maidenhead and Windsor council .

 He wrote: ” Conservative-run Windsor and Maidenhead recently decided to allow members of the public to video local meetings. This week, I wrote to councils encouraging them to follow suit, opening up public discussions to all forms of multimedia. Citizen journalists have as much right as anyone to attend and to share their views, and council ‘monitoring officers’ shouldn’t hide behind bogus concerns about ‘data protection’ or ‘human rights’.

He goes on to describe this new freedom right back to the Blessed Margaret Thatcher who introduced the right  of the press and public to attend council meeting way back in 1960.Isn’t it then doubly ironic that tomorrow night (March 1) Barnet Council, whose citizens returned the former Tory leader to Westminster, should be doing the very thing that Eric Pickles deplores.

 This Tory controlled council has banned videos by the public of the public council meeting saying it is ” against the council’s constitution” and I am told people can be ejected if they are caught tweeting , even though councillors are free to do so.

Indeed bloggers are not welcome at all. Lynne Hillan, leader of the council,  told the Barnet Times:

“The only thing we will do is consider responsible media requests, and they are the only thing we would allow at this stage. If we had a request I would expect an officer to approach me about it. I do not think we would consider a request from bloggers . Only respectable media would be considered.”

This dinosaur attitude from a Queen Canute  is breathtaking. Her ignorance about how the modern world works is absurd. Presumably her next step as Barnet leader will be to table a motion condemning Lady Thatcher for allowing the public by law to attend council meetings.

The best riposte to her comes from the mouth of Eric Pickles himself. ” When councils make these sorts of petty decisions, at best they look foolish and out of touch; at worst they look like they have something to hide.”

 Need I say more. You can. E-mail her with your views at leader@barnet.gov.uk or phone her direct on 0208 359 2059. Her fax is: 020 889 7464.

Update: Barnet kept its word in blocking bloggers and filming at the council last night by employing some rather heavy looking security guards to limit who could get a seat to hear the council introduce cuts and higher parking. According to Mrs Angry, a blogger who did get in, they appeared to be able to overrule local police officers. See her report and pix of  the heavy bouncers employed by the Tory council on her blog at http://bit.ly/i13ngn 

Armchair Audit: David Cartwright Boris’s bon viveur fireman

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Bon Viveur Tory: From CND to East India Club Pic- courtesy London Fire Brigade

Boris Johnson’s reform of the London Fire Brigade is going to rely heavily on the views of David Cartwright, one of the least known of the Mayoral appointees. This looks into his background.

David,61, is a former assistant commissioner of the London Fire Brigade , a fire consultant, vintner and chairman of  the East India Club, a gentlemen only club dating from Britain’s colonial past and a favourite watering hole for well-connected public schoolboys. He once wore a CND badge: he is now a card-carrying Conservative.

HIS INCOME

From the taxpayer

Mayoral appointee allowance as member of London Fire Brigade                                                                                                                                                       £7750

Firefighters pension ( paid since 1999 retirement at the age of 50,  indexlinked from 2004 )                                                                                                                                                       £37,500 +

Total:                                                                                                                                                      £45,250 +

Private Income:

Consultant to Eurocopter, subsidiary of Dutch defence contractor, Eads

Co-owner of Cartwright Brothers Vintners Ltd

Director, Viaduct Enterprises Ltd who partly own Bedales deli and wine bar in Borough market

Chairman, East India Club (unpaid)

EXPENSES

Commendably Nil.

HOME

Joint owner with wife, Kathyrn of detached home in Mottingham, London SE9 with outstanding mortgage from Bank of Scotland.

LIFE

Son of pacifist Anglican priest,supporter of CND and educated  at Colfes Grammar School 1961-67,. then voluntary aided boys school now public school. Became a fireman rising through ranks to assistant commissioner.Under Ken Livingstone,progressively followed policy of recruiting black and (after qualms) women firefighters. Full interview given to Modern Communications at http://bit.ly/gZoIv2 .

He has growing outside interests. He is consultant to Eurocopter, who are based at Oxford airport in Kidlington and are engaged in leasing helicopters to police forces and ambulance services. His connection with them arose when the London Fire Brigade considered using helicopters in the 199os. See article in Flight International,http://bit.ly/f9ZEng.

On this he says: “The London Fire Brigade have no helicopters and I have not tried to sell helicopters to the London Fire Brigade. ..I have acted properly in this matter and took formal advice from the Clerk to the Authority before I took up the post of Mayoral Appointee.”

His more jolly appointments include his directorship with his brother,David and nephew,Richard, of  the City based vintner Cartwright Brothers. Unfortunately for him the business is more in the red than laying down more red. Its last accounts show losses of nearly £200,000 despite raising £100,000 share capital. Its directors have borrowed over £100,000 from the business between them. He says:”It has not been easy and I sincerely hope it is now turning around, but the recession has not helped. I am optimistic! ”

He has an interest but no management responsibilities for a popular wine bar and deli in Borough Market called Bedales – set up by market traders. But sadly that will eventually be bulldozed to expand Thameslink rail commuter services.

He is chairman of the  male only East India,Devonshire and Public Schools Club, whose  5255 membership dates back to Prince Albert and the colonial East India Company and is based at St James Square,London. Membership depends like the unreformed House of Lords  on the male hereditary principle (father can propose son) or on recommendation from public school heads. Women can come in as guests and David Cartwright has managed to improve the dress code so they can wear smart trousers and are no longer forced to dine on Brown Windsor soup and indifferent meat. You can get a flavour of the club on its website http://www.eastindiaclub.com/ . Past members include Denis Thatcher ( Maggie could only enter as a guest), Randolph Churchill, and Austen Chamberlain. Current members include Lord (Sebastian) Coe, UKIP leader Nigel Farage, Robert Halfon, Tory MP for Harlow, ex West Midlands police chief, Lord ( Geoffrey) Dear and industrialist Professor Colin Seabrook.

Cartwright defends the male only status quo: ” This is entirely within the letter and the spirit of the law. The members can vote to alter this at any time, should there be a sufficient number wishing to do so. Currently there appears to be no desire to do so”

According to the  latest report members consumed £1.2m of food and drank and smoked their way through £661,000 of  alcohol and tobacco. The club has laid down port worth nearly £400,000 and vintage wine worth £335,000.

No wonder one of the guests entertained there twice by David Cartwright was London fire brigade chairman Brian Coleman, never knowingly undernourished at other people’s expense.

VIEWS ON FIREFIGHTERS

Has distanced himself from Brian Coleman’s view about firefighters being ” thick and thugs”.

” I am fiercely proud of the London Fire Brigade, with two serving sons on the uniformed side. I am also proud of my service to London in this regard. 99% of firefighters are honest, decent loyal and committed individuals who provide a unique service to London, often in the face of personal danger. I hold them in the highest regard. I believe the Chairman, Brian Coleman was referring to some of the hotheads on the picket line – some of whom I understand were not actual firefighters.”

Barnet’s new pioneering Tory policy: Curb free speech

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Anthony Finn-permission to speak ,sir? Pic -courtesy Barnet Times

Barnet Council already notorious for cuts as a no frills  Easy Council  – is about to make dubious history as the first borough to curb free speech.

New proposals now sent to a committee  will take away most councillors right to speak at future council meetings unless the Tory mayor, Anthony Finn, gives his permission.

The proposal is part of  a plan to “streamline” debate and procedures  by the ruling Tory group so presumably councillors will have little opportunity to protest at the growing number of cuts and increased parking charges residents have to face.

The Tory group also wants to bar discussion about the work of the Cabinet at the full council and change the scope of debates.

But the most controversial proposal comes from former Barnet Tory mayor Brian Coleman which limits the right even to speak.

His motion says: “To amend the Council Procedure Rules to grant a reserved express right to only the Leader of the Council and the Leader of the main Opposition Group or their spokespersons to speak on Motions, Policy Items and Committee reports at the Council meeting. All other speakers would be called at the discretion of the Mayor.”

The plan from a £128,000 a year  council allowance man  keen to become the new Tory Taliban  follows his humiliating climbdown last month (see earlier blog) when Boris Johnson slapped down his proposal to ban questions to the chair of the fire authority,one Brian Coleman.

Then he was exposed by blogger,Adam Bienkov. This news comes courtesy of another blogger, Mrs Angry, whose Broken Barnet website http://bit.ly/i13ngn  regularly reveals the calamitous state of affairs in the borough.

The proposals mean  as Labour is the official opposition, the government’s coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, could be denied a voice in the borough as could any dissenting backbench Tory. One extraordinary result is that Monroe Palmer, a recently ennobled Liberal Democrat councillor, could have more rights to express himself in the unelected House of Lords than as an elected Barnet councillor.

All this is hardly in line with David Cameron’s promise of more transparency and proper debate.

Barnet Council’s head of media, Sue Cocker, said: ” The council cannot comment on the substance of the report as these proposals have come forward from the Conservative Group. ”

“A review group will be considering the issues and will report back any proposals to a future meeting of special committee (constitution review).”

Richard Robeson, spokesman for the Conservative group on Barnet, would not enlighten people on the proposed curbs. The Facebook friend of Brian Coleman said tersely: ” We do not talk to bloggers or journalists “. If you can do better than me try him at work on 0208 359 2004.

You might ask what is going on by emailing the mayor at cllr.a.finn@barnet.gov.uk.

In future there may be a better way of protesting. The council under legislation will have to provide soon a facility for e-petitions from residents raising issues. How about tabling a motion calling for the council to restore free speech for its own elected councillors.

The Boris appeal: Please give generously….

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Boris launches appeal Pic: courtesy anorak.co.uk

 

Boris Johnson recently told the London Assembly that he simply could not afford to give a 4 per cent pay rise to the lowest paid staff at City Hall because “everyone is feeling the pinch.” He may yet be forced to make an appeal on his own behalf. This is how it might look.

These are hard times. Everyone is feeling the pinch. But it is much worse for those at the top who now face crippling taxes  while having horrendous responsibilities for clearing up the mess left by those nasty Socialists..

What you don’t seem to realise is how badly off I am. Don’t you realise thanks to Dave’s dodgy decision to keep the 50 per cent tax rate which is driving my mates away from the City, I am having to pay MORE in extra tax  on my £400,000 a year than some of you will ever earn in a lifetime.

As mayor I need proper time for r and r and this doesn’t come cheap. While only on New Year’s Eve I needed to shell out over 35,000 rupees a night- £501 in British sterling if you must know – for a camping holiday in the middle of  the Indian scrub.

And while lying in my tent I was about to be upstaged by a load of Russian oligarchs with oodles of cash arriving from Amritsar in a private jet! Fat chance of me travelling from London in the same style, even if I could hitch a lift from Lord Ashcroft. And that was without the cost of flying out by bog standard passenger jet and the prices for big fat Havana cigars and loads of Scottish malt whiskey which any Mayor has to consume to keep up public appearances.

Indeed I was forced to jump back into my personal hot tub to avoid indignity of being outspent by those Russians. Thankfully there was decent Chinese air com and an Italian espresso to calm my shattered nerves.

As you can see from the web brochure, http://www.the-serai.com/the_serai.html, it was a modest place, at least for a mayor.

Fortunately back in Blighty my good friend Fraser Nelson allowed me to recoup a little cash by writing  about my holiday trip for my old  magazine, The Sextator, sorry Spectator. You can read all about it at http://bit.ly/gbhGlx and my views about the Piccadilly line are thrown in for free.

 But this extra cash is not going to be enough. I will need more money to keep the r and r I must have while I battle on. You can help me by contacting me by e-mail at mayor@london.gov.uk . Do give generously. As I told the London assembly everyone is feeling the pinch.

Netroots: Blogger’s victory safeguards public scrutiny

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brian coleman -thwarted by a blogger.Pic courtesy: Evening Standard

Those who went to the TUC’s Netroots conference  last weekend should take heart from the success of one of their active bloggers only days after the event.

Adam Bienkov, aka Tory Troll, spotted that Brian Coleman, chair of the London fire authority, had tabled a paper changing arcane standing orders to abolish the right of any of the elected representatives to ask him a question on fire policy. This was to happen at the same meeting that is expected today to tear up a carefully negotiated settlement with London firefighters over their working hours.

 Brian Coleman, no stranger to this blog, was going against Conservative policy to promote transparency and accountability in public life. He would have probably got away with it without the tenacity of Adam. He published the facts,linked the report on his website and it got taken up – by print media in the London Evening Standard and the Guardian Diary. Soon it was on local radio airwaves and this morning was on regional BBC Breakfast TV.

The result: a complete climb down when Boris Johnson, to his credit, effectively repudiated Coleman, and publicly endorsed the party’s policy of openness in City Hall.

This is worth highlighting because  it  can be replicated with the new Netroots network. Other bloggers can keep an eye on their local council by looking up the agenda of council meetings on the council website  before they take place. And if they see anything nasty, highlight it and get in touch with the local media. Turning sunlight on dodgy council decisions can be really effective. Well done, Adam.

2010 in review

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The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

Healthy blog!

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

Featured image

The average container ship can carry about 4,500 containers. This blog was viewed about 17,000 times in 2010. If each view were a shipping container, your blog would have filled about 4 fully loaded ships.

In 2010, there were 28 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 43 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 8mb. That’s about 4 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was November 15th with 975 views. The most popular post that day was Armchair Audit: Brian Coleman- Britain’s highest paid councillor.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were twitter.com, facebook.com, uk-fire.net, outeverywhere.com, and guardian.co.uk.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for roast beef, roastbeef, beef, roast, and nick clegg.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Armchair Audit: Brian Coleman- Britain’s highest paid councillor November 2010
8 comments

2

Roast beef rebels plan Cameron Stew May 2010
2 comments

3

An own goal investment in England’s green and pleasant land March 2010
1 comment

4

My Career so far… November 2009

5

Nice Try, Guido. Or Not Really. January 2010
7 comments

Armchair Audit: Gareth Bacon – The Tory recruiting public servants for Eric Pickles to sack

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Gareth Bacon - A key ally of Brian Coleman

After receiving some 2000 hits on the first Armchair Audit on Brian Coleman, the Tory chairman of the London Fire Authority, a second right-wing Conservative councillor has been highlighted by readers as sharing the same virulent anti union beliefs while taking lots of cash from the taxpayer.

Gareth Bacon’s  entire income comes from either taxpayers or from the successful recruiting of staff for  quangos and local councils.

The 38 yr old London Assembly member from Bexley ( where he made his name in recycling)  is one of the rising right-wing Eurosceptic stars  in London. He has courted publicity recently by attacking Transport for London for allowing staff to have free travel, backed driverless trains on the tube to end the RMT union’s ” stranglehold” and supported  London Fire Brigade chairman Brian Coleman in criticising  firefighters and the FBU.  Like  Coleman he is no stranger to drawing cash from the taxpayer for the various jobs he holds himself. He also is a member of the Eurosceptic Bruges Group and Conservative Way Forward. See profile on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Bacon

His income from five jobs is:

Member of London Assembly                                                                       £53,439

Cabinet member (Environment)Bexley Council                                  £13,197

Member Bexley Council                                                                                  £9,418

Chair, London Fire Brigade Performance Management Com         Free *

Total income from the taxpayer:                                                            £76,014

* Under rules he has to waive a £5329.50 a year salary if a London Assembly member. Allowance available for first time this year.

Private Income:                                                    estimated between £75,000-£100,000

Director, RandstadFinancial and Professional Ltd, a Dutch owned financial recruitment company. Details of his job are here:  http://bit.ly/eP7PC4 . (look under our people after selecting about us).   His perks include private medical cover, company pension and bonuses.  He makes his money by recruiting highly paid officials to quangos and councils which his party want to curb or abolish. Clients include a string of London boroughs from Tory controlled Barnet and Hammersmith and Fulham to Labour controlled Hackney and Newham. Quangos include the soon to abolished Audit Commission and the 2012 Olympic Authority.

The company had a turbulent two years after the credit crunch. The company did not respond to any inquiries about the future of their recruitment policy  for the public sector.

He admits to a combined income of above £150,000 which means he pays 50 per cent tax or as he put it ” I am in the highest income tax band, meaning that every penny I receive from the public purse is taxed at the maximum rate, which in turn means that more than half of
it does not reach me, indeed in effect it never leaves the Treasury and exists only on paper.”

This was in reply to  Danny Hackett, a 17 year old student who queried his claim for a free travel card after reading this blog.

EXPENSES

Unlike Brian Coleman, Gareth Bacon, hardly claims any. There is one glaring exception. He  claims an annual Transport for London travel pass worth £2016, the very perk he believes should be withdrawn from staff, many of whom earn a quarter of what he claims in allowances from the taxpayer. See the entries here. http://bit.ly/i5OTex

HOMES and INVESTMENTS

Fairly modest. His improving financial fortunes have seen him move from a house in Sidcup bought for £170,000 in 2001  and  sold at a profit of £70,000 last year to a £365,000 home  nearby well set back from the road. Mortgage is with Santander and a restrictive covenant prevents him building another home on the site or extracting sand and gravel. He is also an investor in his parent’s property in the borough.

LATEST CONTROVERSY

Very keen on the police kettling demonstrating students-particularly after the first demo. He would also like  police uniforms to have sown in cameras – so they can monitor every action.

 HIS RESPONSE

He took offence at  me not contacting him directly but checking some of these facts with London Fire Brigade press office before putting this up.

 He said to me: ” I have nothing remotely to say to you.”

CONCLUSION:  ALL IN IT TOGETHER

Gareth Bacon’s views will affect the livelihoods of firefighters and train drivers and the treatment of demonstrating students. But his most extraordinary contribution is his private sector job recruiting highly paid people to councils and quangos – the very bodies his political party wants to slash.

You can contact him to put your own views at both the Greater London Assembly and Bexley Council. His direct e-mail at the London Assembly is  gareth.bacon@london.gov.uk . His Bexley e-mail is  councillor.gareth.bacon@bexley.gov.uk . He is bound to pick up either as Dave Hill reports in The Guardian he has four blackberry devices.

 

Going Downhill fast: The Liberal Democrats bankrolled by RBS

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Nick Clegg-party in dire straits and bankrolled by the Royal Bank of Scotland

In the week when student protest over tuition fees reaches a climax, public support and money for the Liberal Democrats is collapsing all the time. And it is now even more in hock to one of the banks that provoked the financial crisis in the first place

In article in the Tribune  this week http://bit.ly/eC4Xb5 I point out that the party has had a bad time in recent local council  by-elections  getting as few as 10, 45 and 98 votes in some cases. It is also in an appalling financial  situation getting less money in the last quarter than UKIP and  relying on a big donation from the taxpayer via the Electoral Commission  to keep afloat. Only after the 2005 election were the figures worse. 

 A closer look at the party loan book reveals a delicious further irony – the party is actually being bank rolled on a £1m indefinite loan from the discredited Royal Bank of Scotland – the bank of Fred ” the Shred” Goodwin- which itself is being bailed out by the taxpayer and subject to a still secret report from the Financial Services Authority.

 Given Vincent Cable’s high-profile attacks on the banks for the poor lending, the business secretary is much more cautious in lending his party money than RBS. He gave a £10,000 interest free loan to the party on April 13 but demanded his money back, insisting it was repaid on May 25. He was one of only two donors post the election who wanted their money back pronto, the other more understandably being Susan Kramer, defeated by Zac Goldsmith in Richmond.

As for local elections performance the best guide is on this website http://bit.ly/fWKVmT . Although it shows a small overall gain of four for the Liberal Democrats, this can be accounted for entirely by their performance on general election day,May 6, where they made a few gains. Since then, apart from taking one seat from the Tories and a couple from Independents in Cornwall, they have slumped.

And all of this is before the cuts and tax rises have to bite and student fees go through the roof.

No wonder Vince Cable wanted his money back. He’ll need it for his retirement.