22 November - Bexley Council’s excuse machinery goes into overdrive. A Temple of Lies
Brian Barnett who was
tragically killed in a road accident last month was a
gentle soul who would not hurt the proverbial fly; on the other hand I did hear
that he was rather proud of breaking the arm of Roy Whiting when he and Brian
collided during a bike race but he never mentioned that to me. Roy Whiting was
arrested shortly afterwards for murdering eight year old Sarah Payne in West Sussex.
Brian never had a bad word to say about anyone and if he had a fault it was
expressing his justifiable dislike for Bexley Council and what he called the
political police in terms I occasionally found to be a little obsessive, but who am I to talk?
Councillor Philip Read said that Brian was a racist.
Chris Brown took a leading role in derailing Bexley Council’s plans to build on
the green spaces of Wilde Road. Like me, Chris was not particularly political
until he found himself up against the ruthless ambitions of a senseless Council.
Whilst mounting a defence to their wanton vandalism of a much loved park he took
advice from the few Councillors who publicly opposed those plans.
He spent time in the company of both Labour Leader Daniel Francis and his ward Councillor John Fuller.
John Fuller is a Conservative Councillor but for meeting Daniel, Councillor Philip Read called Chris Brown a Labour Troll.
Councillor Philip Read regularly calls me a cretin and sad old blogger. Maybe he
has a point. Bonkers keeps limping along mainly in revenge for various
Councillors, including Philip Read, reporting me and others to the police for
revealing some home truths about their unsavoury activities. However the cretin
is Philip Read and he and his colleagues must learn that lying and bullying does not pay.
In April 2018 Poisonous Phil libelled all three of us in a single Tweet
despite me taking no part in the relevant Twitter conversation.
Vivienne Waters who is unknown to me thought the Tweet was “awful” and there
have been similar comments from Philip Read’s Conservative colleagues. “It is
both unnecessary and unacceptable to insult and offend on social media. When, by
association, I am implicated, I feel the need to apologise” and more simply "I am mortified".
To me Philip Read’s insults are like water off a duck’s back and a badge of
honour; if I am getting to him then that’s what it is all about and it makes
continuing with Bonkers worthwhile. On the other hand, that might encourage
Councillors of little intellect to continue in the same vein - but it provides
another story. Every cloud has a silver lining.
Chris Brown decided to submit a formal complaint to Bexley’s Code of Conduct Committee.
The Code of Conduct Committee in Bexley is basically bent so there was no hope
of his complaint being heard. Every complaint submitted this year has been
dismissed out of hand by a Council minion before ever going to the Committee.
Chris Brown’s complaint was one of those dismissed out of hand. Bexley Council
is absolutely content with having a dishonourable scoundrel within its ranks
even if some of his colleagues think otherwise and apologise on his behalf.
Chris’s complaint was based on the Conservative’s pledge for the last election.
“Condemn supporters who engage in intimidatory behaviour.” “Refrain from making abusive or offensive attacks.”
Fine words but in Bexley, utterly meaningless.
Councillor
Read was surely banged to rights. An open and shut case if ever there was one.
But that would be to ignore Bexley’s track record for dishonesty and shady dealing.
What happened? Well obviously the case didn’t go before the Code of Conduct
Committee, that would risk the complaint getting into the public domain and on to Bexley Council’s website.
The rebuttal of the complaint came from Mike Summerskill. I know that I shouldn’t
have done so, but when I read it I laughed out loud. The manufactured excuses
are ridiculous and are the product of a tortured mind. That mind is not Mike’s,
he is a decent man under orders and like all Bexley Council officers in fear for his job security.
The tortured mind will be that of his boss, the temporary Monitoring Officer, Nick Hollier.
I once complained to Nick Hollier that his Legal Team Manager
had lied about me in support of the lying Councillor Cheryl Bacon. Four
Councillors from both parties wrote to me to confirm that Cheryl Bacon is a liar
so Hollier’s excuse manufacturing capacity was tested to the limit.
He turned the whole thing on its head by saying it was me who was "hostile,
abusive and offensive" for once using the word lie in
a complaint about lying. He warned me that to accuse any of his staff of
lying was “unreasonable and could be considered vexatious”.
Mr. Hollier is absolutely the right man to be the Monitoring Officer of a Council renowned for its dishonesty.
What did Hollier tell Mr. Summerskill to say?
The excuse letter goes on to say that Chris Brown was not the Labour Troll to whom Councillor Read referred and that he has no idea who the sad old blogger is. Both claims are preposterous and yet again
offer the proof, if further proof were needed, that Bexley Council is a temple of liars.
It is interesting that according to Bexley Council it is perfectly acceptable
for its Councillors to behave in an unacceptable manner so long as its victims are
not Bexley residents. Someone was desperately scraping the excuse barrel.
According to Nick Hollier, unjustifiably calling someone a racist, a troll or sad is not in any way insulting.
The letter drones on saying that Councillor Read was not in breach of Bexley’s Code
of Conduct and his words were neither derogatory or offensive. By Bexley
Council’s lamentable standards, maybe not; but anyone with any decency at all,
like many of Read’s Conservative colleagues, will recognise him for what he is, a thoroughly unpleasant little man.
I feel for decent people working under duress within Bexley Council who are
required to put their name to such drivel. It’s no wonder that the previous
Monitoring Officer resigned within a few months of her arrival.
The three pages of
Hollier’s drivel may be read here.