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News and Comment December 2023

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25 December - He’s full of Christmas Cheer

Before handing over to @santaofsidcup may I wish all readers and especially the nine Conservative Councillors who speak to me occasionally a very Happy Christmas? They never tell me anything very useful but are OK with checking out a few facts - unless they are about Shenstone School of course. What dirty secrets lurk there?

MozIn what is presumably a traditional Russian celebration our Sidcup friend is providing another of his Christmas Crackers, an unfunny joke and riddle about how Bexley Conservatives broke their own rules while entertaining Mayoral candidates Mozzie and Suzie and how their band of loyal liars rallied to their support.

On a scale of 1 to 10, and in my opinion, this one warrants no more than a 2 or 3 among the litany of Bexley Council funny business but then this one is only No. 7 on @tonyofsidcup’s list and I am not privy to what might be coming next.

Despite a distinct lack of enthusiasm for Susan Hall, the Conservative candidate for London Mayor, she will most likely get my vote in May as being the best - only? - hope of defeating that appalling little man Sadiq Khan.

I might have considered the Reform Party no-hoper Howard Cox as a protest vote but he persists in spouting such utter rot about electric cars. Nobody should be forced into buying them as that other appalling little man Rishi Sunak insists because there is a steadily lengthening list of reasons some might want to avoid them. But Cox’s total rot I cannot accept.

What does @tony have to say about Susan the wallet dropper?


7. The Odd Couple
Moz who? As Susan Hall’s mayoral candidacy ambles from a Tweet ‘Like’ for Enoch Powell imagery to a stolen-but-returned wallet - unlike Liam Neeson’s character in Taken, Susan did not even need to inform the miscreant of her “particular set of skills”. One barely remembers that a few months ago she competed in the nomination race with a colourful gentleman named Moz Hossain. (Earlier, Mr Hossain was mysteriously included in the short list by the Tory HQ, while London Tory heavyweight Paul Scully was passed over. Another contestant, Daniel Korski, a David Cameron flunkie turned fake “tech bro”, was derailed by - what else? - allegations of sexual assault). On July 3, both candidates visited the Bexley Civic Offices and met with a group of Conservative councillors including Council Leader O’Neill.

Was it Ok to use council premises for a Conservative Party event? Bexley’s constitution says that council resources cannot be “used for political purposes unless that use could reasonably be regarded as likely to facilitate, or be conducive to, the discharge of the functions of the local authority”. I suppose one could make the case that hobnobbing with a future Mayor could facilitate the council’s business - but wouldn’t such a broad interpretation accommodate *anything*? Think of a (purely hypothetical) cocaine-fuelled rave in the
Bexley council chamber, attended by Michael Gove - would anyone in good conscience dispute such an event’s possible relevance to the council’s negotiations with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities? A Bexley-council-funded asylum-seeker safari on the Kentish coast, led by Suella Braverman? Completely sensible relationship building with a central-government department. etc., etc.

A FOI request asked the council: “Was use of council premises for a Conservative party event within council's rules?” And this was Bexley’s response: “The role of the Leader as outlined within Part 3 of the Constitution includes providing overall leadership to the Council. The Leader is also the principal spokesperson on Council policy or matters affecting the Borough at local, regional or national level, to include issues relating to the Greater London Authority. The Leader and other Councillors met with the Mayoral candidates to ascertain their plans for London and specifically Bexley residents and businesses. The meeting was not a Conservative party event, but towards the discharge of Council business”. (Emphasis added).

Note the claim that “The meeting was not a Conservative party event, but towards the discharge of Council business”. How does this mesh with the fact that only Conservative councillors were present? The council’s official voice never elaborated, but unofficially, it was reported that Suzie and Moz made a brief appearance at a scheduled meeting of the Bexley Conservative councillor group. A little diversion after a work event focused on council business, a dessert rather than the whole meal. And that made it completely alright.

If I were in charge of Bexley Labour, I just might use the precedent and invite Sadiq Khan into the Tory citadel at 2 Watling Street. Maybe Cllr Borella is saving that surprise for 2024.


The meeting was reported here in August and if you read the blog you will see that I didn’t consider the meeting to be a serious enough breach of the rules to be worth an argument, however the Monitoring Officer’s insistence that it was very much a Council business meeting and in no way political despite the exclusion of Labour may well be another illustration of the calibre of people chosen to fulfil such posts.

 

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