12 March - Is there no integrity anywhere?
Katie Perrior who is adorning the front cover of the current issue of the magazine PR Week was Bexley’s
Cabinet Member for Children’s Services until 2014 spanning the period when both six month old Ndingeko Kunene
and three year old Rhys
Lawrie were neglected by Bexley Council to the extent that they died. For
good measure OFSTED awarded Bexley an Inadequate rating for children in care.
Presumably
Ms. Perrior is a better PR Guru than she was a Councillor.
While being paid £22,615 a year for failure in Bexley she
contributed to the letters pages of the now defunct Bexley Chronicle. She
said she was juggling her job as mother and Councillor and really needed that
£22k. to survive because she was “not rich”.
She was heading the same PR company then as she is now.
One has to wonder about the judgment of Prime Ministers. Last Friday’s blog
reminded readers that David Cameron employed the former and now convicted editor
of the News of The World as his Director of Communications and Theresa May
put Katie Perrior into the role. Drawing parallels would be absolutely wrong. If
putting Councillors who spin a line to a local newspaper was criminal there
would be few not behind bars.
What concerns me about Theresa May is something that Alastair Morgan (see last Friday’s blog) told me yesterday,
something that he didn’t seem to be particularly shocked by. Perhaps
30 years dealing with bent cops and cowardly politicians has desensitized
him but what he told me makes me think that despite it being Theresa May who set up
the Daniel Morgan Panel, she is still prepared to condone a dishonest and related cover
up when it suits her agenda. I suppose I had better play safe and keep my mouth
shut, but I don’t think I will ever trust Theresa May again.