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News and Comment April 2013

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10 April - Several barrels well and truly scraped

Off topicI am envious of Erith’s Hugh Neal and his Maggot sandwich blog; he can wander over topics of his choosing while I am constrained by this site’s title. When I’ve occasionally wandered off topic I’ve had complaints that people come here to enjoy the exposure of dishonesty and incompetence at Bexley council and are disappointed or even annoyed when they find none. But as I have said several times, the dishonesty gets ever more devious and any semblance of transparency has gradually become opacity.

If I had Hugh’s freedom I might relate how HSBC is the world’s most uncaring bank, how Direct Line should be avoided at all costs - they still haven’t sent out a claim form ten days after an accident - and that Police Commissioners who appoint teenagers on twice the salary that Bexley council pays its care workers without researching their history should be sacked immediately. Ditto the broadcasters who put tearful teenagers on camera and probably scar her for life.


ScamMen who knock on the doors of 93 year old women would certainly get a mention. Impersonating policemen and persuading them that a new Met. initiative involves handing over all their money, jewellery and bank cards for safe keeping deserves being strung up upside down from the nearest lamp post and goolies removed with a blunt rusty knife.

Then there is the rioting seen over the past 48 hours by idiots barely out of nappies. Through the 1970s my job involved negotiating with unions at HQ level and some of the people there were unreasonable in the extreme. I was told by one that even if I conceded all his demands he would still call a nationwide strike and when I asked him why he said the aim was "to wreck the careers of as many senior managers as possible”. Such people were being allowed to run the country - and run it into the ground as quickly as they could. Not that they were all bad, one of them remains my best friend to this day. There was no way the 1970s style of government could be allowed to continue but maybe you have to be 50 or more years old to recognise that.

So as I am not allowed to go off topic when scandalous Bexley council news in short supply I must scrape the barrel. Today’s News Shopper carries a letter in support of traffic wardens. In general terms I do not disagree with the author but last weekend several Notomob members followed an NSL spy car which turned into a cul-de-sac. Once there they were surrounded by NSL traffic wardens who pelted them with eggs. Fortunately Notomob members are not entirely daft and wear head cams so before long I would expect a nice little video to be presented to the local cop shop.


PatronisingToday I shall probably have disappointed readers who expect something better but despite the lack lustre output recently there has been some good site feedback over the past week. Someone who was a Bexley councillor until not all that long ago but now lives elsewhere in the country thanked me for “the entertainment” and encourages me to “keep up the good work”. Another reader says “your blog is nothing short of brilliant”. Not if nothing new turns up soon it won’t be! “Really informative articles. Much thanks. Keep writing” was another. Readers who have contacted councillors sometimes offer comment too but not always using language which I’d be happy to use here. “Patronising twerp” is one of the milder opinions recently expressed.

I was quite pleased to get a message from a political source that recognised Bonkers was “politically neutral“. Not difficult to achieve when you don’t much like any of the parties.

Within the past two weeks two people have sought advice on starting a similar website in other parts of the country. I recommended they didn’t. Some days it seems like very hard work.

Note: Bexley council pays for domiciliary care through an agency. The egg throwing traffic wardens were in Waltham Forest but employed by Bexley’s chosen parking contractor NSL, and the scammers were operating in Newham. The same scam was reported on Page 5 of the current Bexley Times. If you hear of anything similar Detective Chief Inspector Gary Holmes is the man who wants to know.

 

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