27 November (Part 2) - Should I be worried?
Councillors can be sensitive souls. Steve Curran, the leader of Hounslow
council (tax rate 7% cheaper than Bexley’s) refused to consult residents or
answer their questions when their recycling service was revised. They
stacked some bins outside his house. It is reported that Curran told the residents to “piss off”. The police showed up and they
arrested one man. Not the council leader.
He was not arrested at the time, things could not have been too bad then, but he was a couple of days later.
Presumably someone thought it was an opportunity to have a go at a resident who
had displayed a rebellious streak.
It was perhaps going a little too far to block the councillor’s front door and
the protestors were naive to expect any council leader to see the funny side.
I have been reminded that the last time a Bexley resident took a picture of a
councillor’s house and put it on the web, he was arrested and prosecuted with
evidence that can best be described as
a bundle of lies. Among it the ’fact'
that he had posted on BiB, which was total fiction. Not that that stopped the
police and others repeating it under oath in court.
The liars at Bexley council claimed the house had been identified on Twitter
which was also totally untrue, and the resident was found guilty of malicious
communication (†). Crikey! I have just taken a picture of a councillor’s house,
given the address and told you who lives there. I could be in big trouble.
The good news is that the blog reports on the earlier picture and the court case
resulted in web hits nearly six times higher than yesterday - it became a
national issue and I doubt that Burr Farm will.
Such things are a godsend to bloggers. BiB is sustained through thin times by
frequent references back to Bexley council’s more extreme acts of stupidity.
There is no such thing as bad news.
† The conviction was overturned on appeal.