Elwyn
Bryant has asked that I pass on news of what he has been up to since Bexley
council refused to listen to the views of his 2,219 signatories.
He had a meeting with his MP, James Brokenshire last week and came away from it
feeling he had gained an ally. That is not all that surprising;
James
is already on record as saying, “In these extremely difficult times senior managers in
local councils and elsewhere might consider agreeing to a voluntary cut in pay and conditions
as Ministers have done”. Mr. Brokenshire considered that Bexley council might be in
conflict with the Localism Bill and indicted he would have more to say on that matter.
For my part I asked my MP Teresa Pearce if she would consider putting the facts
before Eric Pickles to make sure he knows that whether the case be citizen
journalists, armchair auditors, weekly bin collections, council propaganda sheets
or the Big Society itself, councils like Bexley will raise two fingers. My view
is that Eric Pickles has proved to be nothing but a bag of wind and I suspect Teresa might
agree but she has offered to do the deed anyway. Rumour has it that there are three MPs
within the borough of Bexley; can that be true?