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News and Comment January 2019

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3 January (Part 2) - Following Elwyn

Long term readers may remember that Elwyn Bryant was the man with whom I was falsely accused on a blog of having homosexual relations in Bexley’s Civic Centre and leaving the place in a sticky mess. Our accuser was Cabinet Member Peter Craske and the police traced the source of the story to his IP address as well as finding the text on his computer along with another similar in nature.

Craske may have behaved in a disgusting manner but what is far more concerning is that his judgment can be so poor and that we have in Teresa O’Neill a Council Leader who thinks it is perfectly OK to appoint someone like him to a senior position. Some might question why he passes the Conservative Party’s candidate selection process.

For new readers I should add that Craske was arrested and the source of the offensive accusation was proved to be his internet connection and the same blog was found on his computer. There was also clear evidence that Bexley Council and Bexley Police conspired to ensure no charges would be brought. Both the Metropolitan Police and the Independent Office for Police Conduct refused to comment on that, to do so might have confirmed the view of the Detective Sergeant in Bexley, that the case was mired in political interference.

But enough of that, where does Elwyn fit into this blog?

A couple of months ago he had a nasty fall and it will be a long time before he recovers sufficiently to actively engage with Bexley Council. To help pass the time, a mutual friend, Mick Barnbrook, suggested he participated in Twitter. Mick is a bit of an expert at Twitter and has rapidly attracted 8,000 followers through criticising various authority figures, notably Theresa May and Cressida Dick, while making the most of his retired police officer status.

After several nudges in the right direction Elwyn found an eleven year old willing to set up a Twitter account for him and @elwyn211 was born. Twitter added the numerical suffix, there must be more Elwyns than one might guess.

Elwyn lives in James Brokenshire’s constituency and I am probably not misrepresenting him if I say that his opinion of his MP has been on a downward slide for several years. It may have started when Elwyn was trying to get the police to take his complaint about Peter Craske’s obscene blog seriously and James Brokenshire said it would be “inappropriate” for him to offer assistance. I suppose doing something that could have put a political colleague behind bars might be difficult and dishonourable members must always put party before constituents.

By contrast my MP Teresa Pearce twice gave me the use of her office in Portcullis House to meet with police officers.

TweetElwyn has not yet become a prolific Tweeter like @sleazebuster Mick but he did vent his annoyance at James Brokenshire’s Conservative Association website backing Theresa May’s EU surrender plan for which he received far more likes that BiB’s Tweets ever do.

He has a good point that Old Bexley and Sidcup Conservative Association backing May’s Brexit In Name Only agreement pokes two fingers up at Brokenshire’s constituents who voted 63% in favour of EU withdrawal however in the spirit of fairness I would guess the Association didn’t have much say in the matter.

A click on the OBSCA web link will take you to the nonsense posted on their Central Office website for which one cannot entirely blame James Brokenshire.

The same link may be found on every other local Conservative Association website I have checked including that of David Evennett in Bexleyheath and Crayford who has taken a far more democratic position on Brexit than his constituency neighbour.

The summary of the Withdrawal Agreement to which OBSCA links contains at least two phrases which must surely must make it totally unacceptable. “Commits both sides to use best endeavours to ensure the backstop is never used” and “Either the UK or the EU can trigger to review the arrangements, which could ultimately lead to the backstop ceasing to apply”. Could and best endeavours. Ugh!

If I was to be generous towards Theresa May’s betrayal of the referendum result I might say it could be the best we were likely to get from a Remainer who undermined successive Brexit Secretaries for two years but her agreement relies too much on the goodwill of European politicians who will act only in the best interests of themselves and will not give a thought to the well being of Great Britain. Only people with no pride in themselves or their country could possibly want to belong to such a club.

I might question whether the EU Withdrawal Agreement has the full support of the OBSCA, their members include Councillors (perhaps they should think about updating the list) who are just as much in favour of Brexit as Elwyn is.

However it is hard to disagree with Elwyn’s final point; unless the Conservatives show themselves to be in favour of democracy within the next few weeks it will certainly be a case of ‘Never vote Tory again’.

 

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