12 June (Part 1) - Secrecy comes as standard
There
was a meeting of Bexley council’s Standards Committee last Thursday evening; I
was unable to go but a couple of my colleagues did. It started late because
councillor Alex Sawyer was said to be stuck in traffic, well the journey from
Witham can be difficult, and when it did eventually start, the public, consisting
of just two people, were thrown out. So much for it being a public meeting!
From what could be seen a kangaroo court had been set up to ‘try’ councillor
Munir Malik for ‘crimes’ unknown. He was represented by a Labour Party official
solicitor, at least that is what things looked like. Before the ceremonial
eviction of the public took place one of our number asked councillor Malik if he
would be happy for the public to stay. He said he had no objections but this cut
no ice with the Committee, councillor Malik’s alleged misdemeanour will have to
remain secret. What did the Committee need to hide that Munir didn’t? It’s yet
another example of Bexley council’s enthusiasm for keeping the public well away
from its questionable policies and operations.