It always seems a shame to me when a month’s worth of blogs disappears from view so here is a brief summary of the past month to get May off to a flying start.
• Council scores massive own goal by reporting this blog to the police
for “alarming” them leading to local press coverage, massively increased
readership and not unconnected to today’s coverage in
The Independent on Sunday. The Bonkers team was happy to play its part in that.
• Council plants its own questions at meetings to deny residents the opportunity to ask their own.
• Leader Teresa O’Neill states publicly that she does not agree that councillors
should “cut their allowances so as to suffer the same pain they are inflicting on the public”.
• Council changes its Constitution to confirm its ad-hoc
decision to have nothing to do with the government’s plea to local councils to allow greater
transparency including recording of meetings for use on blogs etc.
• Council changes its Constitution to restrict residents’ ability to ask questions at council meetings.
• Council initially refuses to provide electoral registration papers for councillor Alex Sawyer
to frustrate enquiries as to why they were so keen to keep secret his marriage to the MP Priti Patel.
• Bexley council lost the first round of the Industrial Tribunal case brought by a whistleblower
who was sacked for voicing her concerns to her manager who was subsequently charged with paedophilia offences
but supported by Bexley council throughout and beyond both his arrest and charge.
• Bexley council approved refurbishment of the old Woolwich Building
Society HQ building for use as Civic Offices at a cost of £36m.
• Bexley Conservatives harass and alarm two Labour councillors by telling outrageous lies about them on
a Conservative party website.