21 April (Part 2) - What a shambles!
In July last year
news broke that Bexley Council had handed a
Community Centre to the Rose Bruford college and it seemed that no one had
been consulted beforehand. Blackfen & Lamorbey Councillor James Hunt got a
load of ccomplaints and enquiries about it. I know because he told me so at the time.
Naturally
the Conservatives were unhappy to be faced with a probing James Hunt so they
put out a cover story. Click the image alongside to read it in full.
As the truth was hard to come by, Bonkers did not say much more about it. Just
a little follow up on 14th July.
Thanks to some FOI enquiries a little more has come to light.
It begins on 6th January 2025 when former Council Leader Baroness O’Neill
expressed surprise at the news that the Community Centre was going to Rose Bruford and then the trail goes into redacted mode.
One Cabinet Member said to another in March that he was not going to do
anything until the Finance Director had offered an opinion. Nothing more
happened until late in April when a meeting was arranged. Two weeks later a
lease had been drafted. Six weeks later the responsible Cabinet Member
admitted to not knowing to what use the Centre might be put. “Could you
please remind me what the usage of this site was and what is the deal with
Rose Bruford.”
The reply said it was known as Sidcup Youth Centre and managed by
Children’s Services. The five year rental deal is redacted.
On the 30th June 2025 the Cabinet Member begins to worry about the way the
transfer is being perceived publicly and whether
Sidcup Lions
are still using the Centre. The Chief Executive suggests that “Comms puts the record straight”. The Cabinet Member says “someone is stirring”.
On 1st July the draft response is ready to counter “the activity on Social
Media”. The Leader asks that it goes out on Facebook, X and Nextdoor as well
as the Council’s website. In the event it went out on Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Blackfen & Lamorbey Councillors said “Thank you for giving some clarity,
it has caused a lot of residents concern from reading the planning
application which had sparse but conflicting information. Residents in B&L
are wary now after the Old Farm Park sell off for housing. There are still
worries about noise but that has been sent to Planning for conditions of
closing windows etc. Maybe next time there should be consultation before
issues like this. Transparency is a good thing.”
There is then a press enquiry about a new roof recently fitted to the Centre
and the clubs using the sports fields. The response confirms the new roof
and that the Youth Centre has not been used - apart from the playing
fields - since December 2024. Baroness O’Neill asks for some paragraphs to be
changed for greater clarity and when they are for a few more changes.
The responsible Cabinet Member then queries whether the rent should go into
the Capital program. No one seems to know. Six weeks later a contractor went
on site to see what is needed to be done to the building. The answer is more
roof work, a gas boiler and removal of a dead tree. The Leader asks how much that will cost
but there is no answer.
Rose Bruford College asks for the Centre’s name to be changed.
What does the foregoing show? It shows that the Leader was initially kept in the dark; the responsible Cabinet
Member was not completely on top of his brief and that the Council Officers
are not as efficient as we are so often told they are. What you cannot
see here is that the FOI resonse is an absolute mess. It is 41 pages long with much
of it being repetitive and out of sequence. There is nothing of note omitted
from the above summary.
It proves that James Hunt and his colleagues were right to probe his
residents concerns. Nobody had bothered to tell them anything and it only
suggests the level of Council incompetence is as bad as most of us suspect. There is no
evidence that the College was in any way at fault nor that James Hunt was “stirring” anything at all.
Another Bexley Council omnishambles.
21 April (Part 1) - Council Questions from MoPs
More
than an hour before Councillors began
their love-in there were the
usual questions from Members of the Public (MoPs) and Councillors.
Mr. Shvorob asked if the Conservatives were going to continue with their
somewhat dishonest practice of planting their supporters in the gallery masquerading as MoPs to ask questions.
The Council Leader David Leaf implied that Mr. Shvorob was himself a ‘plant’
for his own Working for Sidcup Party and that the two questioners following
Mr. Shvorob were
Labour ‘plants’ standing in Crayford. You have to
admit that Councillor Leaf always has his wits about him.
Both Nathan Ogunleye and Colin Chin are Labour election candidates.
As David said, the question sort of answered the question. (Good answer, they
are all as dishonest as each other.)
Mr. Shvorob’s second question was dismissed as “an absolute load of rubbish
that has just come out of his mouth. He comes to the Council to waste people’s
time”. Councillor Leaf is both too clever and far too rude. Mr. Shvorob said "“he had no shame.”
To Mr. Ogunleye, Councillor Diment said it remains to be seen what the
effect of the return of the Crayford loop services would be and implored
people to use it. “Use it or lose it.” Mr. Ogunleye said the Conservative
decision to cut the loop line service was wrong but Richard Diment reminded
him that “usage fell off a cliff” at the time of Covid. The service was
unviable and has not yet fully recovered. “It made absolutely no sense to run empty trains.”
On roads, Mr. Chin was told what Bonkers’ readers know already. Bexley spent all the
government’s money and it was only 14% of what Bexley spent on roads while TfL
cut its Bexley road funding of around a million pounds a year to nothing.
Mr. Chin then asked why, if so much money was spent, there are still
dangerous pot holes in Crayford? He was told that all reported pot holes
meeting the [40mm deep] criteria are fixed very quickly. More than 300 roads have
been resurfaced over the past four years.
Election
leaflets are still in short supply. The only source is the Leader of the
Working for Sidcup Party who unfortunately doesn’t own a scanner! Hence the
less than perfect image of
a recent Conservative leaflet delivered to his
Sidcup home.
It still strikes me as odd that the Conservatives set up their own company
dedicated to building on any scrap of land they can find; at least two parks built on
so far; and they then go on about Reform UK wanting to do the same.
The latter is a another Tory lie. I met Reform people last year - both now
candidates in Bexley - who were very much against building on parks. I
have several year old emails from them saying exactly that. The Tories in Bexley have
always been liars and there is no sign of them changing. We have liars in Westminster; we do not want them in Watling Street too.
Note: While Sidcup Councillor June Slaughter was personally
against building on Old Farm in her ward she nevertheless voted for it
because Bexley Conservatives are not allowed independent thought. The UKIP
Councillor, now a Reform UK candidate, voted against building on Old Farm Park.
If you think Councillors should vote according to their conscience and/or the
wishes of residents, then a Conservative vote is not for you.
19 April (Part 2) - The love-in continues
This is an ongoing time intensive project which will be augmented as time permits. The first five eulogies below are from the first 15% only of the overall run time. This blog will take several days to complete.
Councillor Wendy Perfect (Labour)
Two and a half hours into last week’s Council meeting it was
retiring Labour Councillor Wendy Perfect’s turn to speak. It is not easy to
become a Councillor she said. Getting selected and getting elected and then
serving the electorate. “It is not easy when Local Government is starved of
cash” but she believed “that Councillors on both sides of the Chamber wished
to serve residents well”.
She said she had been a Labour Party supporter since the age of twelve and
never changed although she did once stand for the Charlton Athletics
supporters party in Greenwich. “Charlton needed help more than Labour in
Greenwich. 290 votes for a one issue party. The highlight of the past four years has been the election of Daniel Francis MP. A fantastic MP. I am very
proud of him. It has also been a joy to work alongside Councillor Baljeet Gill in Northumberland Heath.”
Councillor Lisa Moore (Conservative)
“Tonight we say farewell to 14 Councillors plus one. {Esther Amaning who is seeking election in an unwinnable ward.]
They have shaped this borough in ways that will be felt for many years to
come. I will speak about four remarkable women”.
“Cheryl Bacon because she is the reason I am standing here. We met and
became friends at a children’s poolside and before I knew it I was out
canvassing at weekends. Thank you Cheryl for encouraging me to take the leap into local politics.”
“Baroness O’Neill who has given 28 years of service to this borough. You
welcomed me with warmth and generosity and your commitment to residents has
been extraordinary. Your kindness will stay with me for ever.”
“Councillor Sue Gower. What a privilege to be part of your Mayoral team,
your warmth, authenticiy, leadership, integrity and unending energy sets a
standard for all of us. I am honoured to have had you as my friend.”
“Councillor Perfect and I served together on Committees and she asked
questions that needed to be asked and came from genuine care.”
“My ward husband Andy Dourmoush, a steady source of support and I am
grateful for the partnership we shared. Thank you.”
Councillor Zainab Asunramu (Labour)
“I speak of my dear friend Mabel Ogundayo. We first met at University in the
East Midlands. Focused, determined, grounded and a lot of fun. Her impact
cannot be ignored. We met again while both working for Amnesty International
UK. The same values, the same passion, the same unwavering belief in
justice. And then we found ourselves as Thamesmead East colleagues which
I will always be grateful for. She has given over three terms and so much of
herself to Bexley, not for recognition and titles but because she genuinely
cares. She fought Peabody and fought for families and has been governor of three schools.”
“Mabel is a true friend and ally in both words and actions pushing for change
even when it is not popular. She will make a difference wherever she goes.”
Note: This is but a short sub-set
of the accolades showered on Councillor Ogundayo. F om what I have seen, all well deserved.
Councillor Anna Day (Labour)
“Ward colleague Stef has been great and will be missed and we have not had a
cross word in four years. He concentrated on his beloved trains and buses and I
on housing, health and community safety but I absolutely won’t miss him as a
passenger telling me the routes I should have taken and gesticulating at anybody
who gets in the way. We message each other umpteen times a day and I will
continue to send him photos of my cats.”
She thanked Council officers and urged them to join a union.
Residents were asked to remember that May 7th is a local election and not a
verdict on the Labour government. “Vote for local Councillors on what
they have achieved, not on sound bites. Make sure you vote based on positive
messages and for Councillors who can be trusted to put residents to the forefront of their decisions.”
Councillor Chris Taylor (Conservative)
Councillor Taylor wished all Conservatives “the very best in their future
endeavours but I want to particularly pay tribute to Baroness O’Neill, one of my
closest friends. She has dedicated 28 years of her life to the betterment of
Bexley residents. She has been instrumental in putting Bexley on the map. Bexley
is a special place. The Leader has delivered the new Civic site and much needed
family housing [the monstrosity on the old Civic site].”
She has regenerated Thamesmead and Sidcup High Street and saved the Queen Mary
Hospital site. A leading part in saving Bexley’s police station, I could go on and on.
“As Boris Johnson’s Outer London adviser she put Bexley’s interests front and centre
and we have all benefited. We are rightly proud.”
“I couldn’t have asked for a better ward colleague. Her commitment to residents
of Crook Log has been second to none. We will miss her greatly but her biggest impact is as a friend.”
“When I lost my seat in 2014 [to UKIP] I was devastated. Being a Councillor had
been so much part of my life and I felt I could not see the light at the end of
the tunnel. Madam Mayor, Baroness O’Neill was there for me. She doesn’t realise
how she kept me going at a very difficult time in my life and I will be forever
grateful. There will be others here with similar stories. She gave me the two
best jobs I have ever had. Cabinet Member for Adults’ Services and latterly of
Children and Families. I thank her for her faith in me.
“Baroness O’Neill is one of those rarities in politics who chose to step away
from power at a time of her own choosing. She can now add value to Bexley in the
House of Lords. She can protect our green spaces. Bexley Council’s loss is the
Upper House’s gain. We will miss you Teresa.”
Councillor Mabel Ogundayo (Labour)
“It has been the honour of my life to serve the residents
of Thamesmead for twelve years. My first aspirations were to change how people
saw politics. What politicians looked like, what they sounded like and where they came
from and I hope I have been able to do that. There are some things I won’t
miss, like sending emails in the middle of the night or taking on case work that
should take a day and instead takes up two years. I will miss the
community and the people I have been able to have a positive impact on.”
“I must thank great Council and ward colleagues like Zainab Asunramu who was
chair of the Afro-Caribbean Society when we met at university and it has been a
pleasure to know you and you will continue to do great things for this Council. Thank you so much.”
“Councillor Esther hear hear Amaning, we joined the Council at the same time and I want to thank you so much, We didn’t
understand what we were getting ourselves into but it has been amazing and
when you were my ward colleague we ran the Keep Thamesmead Tidy campaign and
we picked up lots of rubbish and did great stuff together. Esther has not
had the easiest couple of years but your resilience has inspired me. I don’t
know if you have seen Esther drive, but she recently gave up driving and
that is the best thing she could have done for anybody - and for Bexley! Me
driving you to meetings etc. has been one of the most pleasant times I have
ever had and I look forward to driving you to future lunch dates.”
“I would like to thank Stef, my fantastic Leader, while we may not always
agree, we do talk things through. I’d like to thank Officers and Peabody the
biggest landowner in Thamesmead and who made the greatest investment. When they
first arrived in Thamesmead I was very sceptical but over the years they
proved themselves to be a genuine partner and committed to Community focused
investment. They have done a really great job and with the DLR on the
horizon there are really great things to happen in Thamesmead. And to Peabody, if they are listening, please bring back the Youth Club.”
“To Councillors, thank you for making me the person I am today whether I
wanted it or not. You have helped me grow and I look forward to seeing a
Labour Council after May. Thank you everyone.”
Councillor Caroline Newton (Conservative)
“I’d like to take a few moments to thank all Members for putting
yourself forward for election in 2022 and for everything that has followed
since. The role is not easy and not always recognised. We serve our residents
with integrity, dedication and commitment. We have worked to run this borough in
the best interests of those we represent and it is something we should all be
proud of. Secondly I want to thank Officers who play a vital role in that day in and day out.”
“To Members who are not standing for re-election, thank you for your service
whether your time here has been short or long. Your contribution should not be under-estimated.
“Some colleagues I should like to recognise, firstly the three
amigos of West Heath. Councillor Davey, a long standing Councillor and party
activist always ready with an unfiltered view cutting straight to the heart of
the issue. To Councillor Read, someone I have worked closely with both in
Scrutiny and in Cabinet. His passion to care for young people has been clear
throughout and his leadership delivered an outstanding record in children’s
social care. And to Councillor Reader, a quiet supporter who always has a word
of encouragement or comfort and a capable and diligent chairman.”
“And Councillor Diment, I am sure Councillor Diment during his two terms has had
fuller work days than he ever had when in full time employment. His forensic
attention to detail, drive and professionalism have been evident in every role
he has held. I am personally grateful for his work in Education, helping to lay
the foundations for the progress we are now seeing. I wsih him a happy
retirement and lots of fun with your new grandson.”
“And finally but not last and not retiring in any sense, Baroness O’Neill. A
Leader, a mentor, a friend and above all a tireless advocate for our residents.
Another Leader of this borough often said being Council Leader is a lonely and
tough role. Any Officer I speak to, talks about her ability to master detail, to
challenge constructively to ensure everything we do delivers the right outcome
efficiently and effectively. It is her passion for doing her best for children
and young people that stands out. Her commitment and expertise has always been
clear. On a personal note I am deeply grateful for the support, guidance and
friendship she has shown to me and my family over many years and I echo
Councillor Taylor’s comments earlier. I am not sure she knows the impact of that support.”
“Her time as Leader of this Council has been truly remarkable, record breaking
in length amd significant in impact and I have no doubt that in the years ahead she
will be a powerful advocate in the House of Lords for this borough, for young
people and for local government. To those standing again, good luck and to all
of those stepping down, thank you. Your services mattered. Your work has made a
difference and this Council and this borough are better for it.
Note: The foregoing is not absolutely verbatim. Whole sentences are occasionally omitted and what remains
is edited for brevity, that is, some redundant words are dropped. It may be regarded as verbatim with omissions.
There is a lot more of this to come.
19 April (Part 1) - Blackfen & Lamorbey again
I
have been hauled over the coals - no that is putting it far too strongly -
for not noticing that Graham Holland is standing for Reform UK in Blackfen &
Lamorbey. It does of course throw my reasoning two days ago into total disarray
He was a Conservative Councillor in Bexley.
Graham has an interesting history. He had been a successful
and popular Councillor for
24 years when in 2001 it was discovered that he was two months
behind with his Council Tax payments. It was no big deal and his local party
chairman said he must set up a standing order and that would be the end of the matter.
Councillor Holland did that and went on to win the selection process preceding the 2002
election. The one that saw the Conservatives defeated by Labour.
Graham beat and displaced the Council Leader Mike Slaughter in that selection process
which upset the faceless goons who run local political parties. What could
they do about the loss of their Leader?
Easy for a duplicitous Tory apparatchik. Renege on the agreement with Graham
and sack him for missing a Council Tax payment. An early example of Never Trust a Bexley Tory.
The foregoing history lesson is a combination of
an old Bonkers’ blog, the
News Shopper and
Wikipedia
- which has not yet caught up on the fact that David Leaf is Leader - until May anyway.
I am sure that Independent Councillor James Hunt will lose no time in pointing out that
behind the scenes, Bexley Conservatives have been run by a bunch of untrustworthy wrong ’uns.
18 April (Part 2) - Why are banks so bloody awful?
The weird and slightly disappointing thing about writing this blog is that
off-topic rants usually get
a bigger response than a laborious Council meeting report. (Another is due tomorrow.)
So here I go again. It involves my friend in Bromley who is very deaf. She gets
by on her current hearing aid (Boots, about £2,000) which she finds to be much better than all their
predecessors. She can hear conversation with the assistance of a bit of lip
reading when directed straight at her, but the telephone is a total
no-go area.
These days she tends to let certain things slide a bit and when helping her tidy
up old papers a couple of weeks ago I found a letter from the Kent Reliance Building Society dated
July 2021 which told her that as she had not used her account for more than six
years they were going to deactivate it unless they heard from her. She ignored it.
Kent Reliance Building Socety
A
further search of the old papers turned up what looked like log-in details
from 2013. At the second attempt I managed to log in and reactivate the account. It was paying a decent rate of interest, nearly four times as much as she
was getting from a Santander ISA so using the on-line facilities I initiated an ISA
transfer. Unfortunately the website said that Santander transfers were not
automated and I must download a form and post it to Kent. The link was broken
and an apology popped up so
I sent an email to Kent Reliance on 10th April to ask what should be done. Not as easy as it
sounds because the email address on the Contact page provoked an instant bounce back.
I found another but to this day I have not heard a word. On Day 5 I asked the same question via the
on-line chat facility. There was no reply so yesterday
(Day 7) I tried a phone call.
The security questions were a nightmare because I had to listen to them and
relay each one to my deaf friend and ask her to speak the answer. Account
number, name, date of birth, address etc.
Sometimes I pointed to the answer on her documentation to try to speed things
up. At the end of the rigmarole she was told that she had failed the
security checks and not allowed to ask why. She has a very significant sum
invested in the Kent Reliance Building Society but they were happy to pee
everyone off and risk an account closure. The operative appeared to be going out
of his way to be obnoxious.
My suspicion is that when my friend stumbled over her address and I pointed to it printed on the
Society’s letter and prompted, “the line beginning with 23” it was against the rules.
The ridiculous thing is that if I had dragged some random woman off the
street and put the Kent documents in front of her, there would be no problem.
Impersonators are acceptable, the genuine article isn’t.
My friend’s deafness is registered with Kent Reliance and
only a week ago they assured both me and her that she will get extra assistance. A worthless promise.
By coincidence I opened an account with the Kent Reliance in March and sent an
opening deposit of £5 to test the system. It never arrived. After many phone
calls the Kent Reliance admitted that they had given me the details of someone
else’s account. The sixth, or thereabouts, person I spoke to had a brain and got
to the bottom of it. How in Hell can they issue me a wrong account number? All is well now.
In further proof of banking incompetency, the ISA has now been transferred. The
form they said must be filled in and sent to them never has been, nor did
they send the promised transfer documentation or acknowledge the email or the follow up ‘chat’ message.
Maybe we should have cut our losses and left such an incompetent bunch.
My current account provider is much cleverer. They use voice recognition on the
very few occasions I have to call them.
Santander
There
was too much money with Santander earning 1% in two accounts (three including
the transferred ISA) and nothing at all in
another. Time for some transfers. I set up a payment to a third building society which
offered a much higher rate of interest and sent the customary £5 test payment.
It arrived OK so I went back to Santander to transfer some more. I had to raise
the transfer limit but that was OK too.
Thus encouraged, I set up a second payment authority but when I attempted to
transfer more money the website said I was blocked and I must phone. Both payment
authorities were to bank accounts in the same name as the Santander customer and
verified as such by the Santander website. It had also sent the
log-in codes to my friend’s phone - eight times in total!
The talk to a deaf person routine all over again?
My friend does not want to be subjected to the trauma. So now I have to go to
Santander on Monday to get things back on the road and transfer most of the
money from their 1% and 0% accounts to something better. Another bank which
delights in scaring away good six figure customers.
To everyone who thinks ‘Power of Atorney’; there is one registered but when did
any bank take any notice of one?
MBNA Credit Card
This
is nothing to do with my Bromley friend,
it is all mine. Last year I spent more than £30,000 on my MBNA card. Not all my
money I hasten to add. Among other things, I built several high specification
desktop computers for friends and relations. So the money was a long way from being all mine.
On the Saturday before Christmas I arranged for a local tradesman to deliver
goods to my door with a price tag of circa £1,500. When he arrived and installed
the goods I went to pay by card as pre-arranged. It was declined. I then found a text message
on my phone which said that if I opened the MBNA phone app I could authorise the
payment. I did so and another text message said that if I repeated the same transaction it would go
though. It didn’t. Not another word was heard from MBNA.
Somewhat embarrassed by the man waiting patiently at my door for payment I
thought I would phone MBNA only to discover that they do not allow phone
contact, only the chat facility which would not be answered until the following Monday.
I have not used my MBNA Credit Card since. Various traders’, Amazon etc. default
payment options all changed. I don’t know how much MBNA earns on £30,000 of purchases
but you have to hit these customer disregarding cretins where it hurts.
18 April (Part 1) - The Independent candidate for Blackfen & Lamorbey
At least someone responds to
the plea for more election leaflets; The Man from Lamorbey.
Actually that isn't quite fair, a Conservative source has promised to send
some; or one. I understand that all Conservative leaflets are much the same with faces changed.
Archive of old election leaflets.
17 April - Blackfen & Lamorbey
The
election
in Blackfen & Lamorbey looks like it will be interesting. We have
five current or former Councillors standing for election. Peter Craske,
Brian Bishop and Frazer Brooks for the Conservatives, Lynn Smith for Reform
UK and former Conservative, fed up with not being able to do his unrestrained best for residents, James Hunt.
Peter Craske needs no introduction;
pretty much barge pole territory for me. The driving force behind the revamped Broadway and all its strange traffic priorities. Maybe you like it…
Brian Bishop has not done a lot in all the years I have known of him, if he has I must have missed it. A bit too close to
pub
wrecker Kulvinder Singh for my liking. Is it right that the then Chairman of the Planning Committee was so
keen to be seen hobnobbing with the man himself?
Frazer Brooks is the all-round nice guy who is employed by Joy Morrisey, MP
for Beaconsfield. Frazer is one of the few Councillors to have visited me at
home, but only in an electioneering role. He was once very helpful to me in the
Council Chamber under the stony gaze of Teresa O’Neill. That takes guts and
makes him one of a select half dozen.
Lynn Smith was the UKIP Councillor for Blackfen from 2014 to 2018. We never
totally lost touch with each other and whilst she is not a home
visitor we have met socially a few times. One of the few people I am happy
to trust with my innermost political thoughts and ideas for getting the country out of
the mess it is in. You may assume she is in the same political ball park as
I am and if you are looking for an old school Conservative, then Lynn will be a safe pair of hands.
Which brings me to my oldest political friend in Bexley, James Hunt. Very
much an Independent who will do what he thinks is right without fear or favour.
My choice in Blackfen and Lamorbey would have to be James, Lynn and Frazer.
If you want someone who will turn off his Council chamber microphone to
spite a deaf man in the public gallery, then Peter Craske is your man obviously.
If only the Belvedere ward offered such talent. Maybe it does, but I have no
leaflets and no inside information. Things might be different if I was a Labour
supporter but that party has tried my patience - and robbed me rotten - just
a little too often since July 2024. That comment will no doubt ensure I never
get a Labour leaflet through my letter box.
Note: This blog was outdated by information that came to light two days later.
16 April (Part 3) - Bexley Council’s end of term Love-In
After the early morning tease about yesterday’s ritual back slapping festival
it is probably justifiable to stand chronology on its head and begin with a
summary of the final 135 minutes of interminable self-praise. So as briefly as possible…
David Leaf said 230 years’ worth of experience had elected
for not being
re-elected. 48 years from Nigel Betts down to four years each from Felix di Netimah and Patrick Adams.
The names of Labour Councillors had apparently slipped his mind. He
said that despite the bickering everyone respected each other even the
“politically misguided and naive cousins sitting opposite”.
He will miss the relentless heckling of the “engaging” Wendy Perfect. Similarly
he will miss the twelve years of Mabel Ogundayo, champion for Thamesmead and Black History Month.
He thought that Esther Amaning was to retire but then discovered she was his
Labour opponent in Blendon and Penhill ward. He was therefore unable to wish her well.
Cheryl Bacon and Richard Diment were praised for their diligence and good advice,
Richard being “absolutely outstanding. A great politician.” Roads, bins and fly tipping all being improved on his watch.
Andy Dourmoush was similarly praised for his Chairmanship. Sue Gower who did
such a good job in Housing where she delivered underspends, and a successful Mayor.
John Davey has been a Councillor for 20 years and a strong defender of the
environment at Planning meetings. Occasionally forthright; “John stepping down
should allow savings in the Corporate Complaints team.”
Peter Reader was an excellent Chairman of both the Audit and Planning
Committees. Both he and his ward colleague Philip Read were first elected in
1968. “A strong advocate of free speech” and a success in his role as Cabinet
Member for Children’s Services. (From Inadequate to two Outstandings.) “A great champion of Erith.”
Teresa O’Neill was thanked for her outstanding public service in Bexley and
across London. She was the the longest serving Leader in Bexley and led Bexley
through the financial crash of 2008, Covid and the Ukraine War. “She is owed a debt of immense gratitude.”
Labour Leader Stefano Borella seconded the idea that all Members got on with
each other but also referred to “throwing hand grenades at each other”. He
praised everybody’s favourite, Sue Gower, and said she was one of Bexleyְ’s best Mayors. “You did a great job.”
While remembering Cheryl Bacon, Stefano referred to the
notorious meeting of 19th June 2013 when
Cheryl was advised to move it to a private room to the exclusion of the public.
“A night I won’t forget” said Stefano. It resulted in the police sending a file
to the CPS for Misconduct in Public Office. It would be embarrassing to list the names of
Councillors who provided witness statements against Councillor Bacon to
the police which helped prove the case. (I still think that Cheryl was
relatively innocent, having been wrongly advised and the lying statement issued
over her name was likely to have been a forgery by Bexley’s legal team that she
knew nothing about. Whatever possessed Stefano to bring that up 12 years later?)
Seeing Teresa O’Neill on his television was “a bit of a nightmare. She is in my
living room now!” He wished Councillors Diment and Dourmoush well.
“The fabulous and wonderful Mabel Ogundayo” was the subject of a little good
natured bedroom banter who “held Philip Read’s feet to the fire” when she was
first elected. (I remember it well and his responses were less than kind.)
Wendy Perfect was gently chided for preferring to be in bed by eight than attend meetings.
Esther Amaning had championed mental health and Stefano hoped she would defeat the
Leader in Blendon and Penhill.
Anna Day who acts as Stefano’s chauffeuse had been a great help as his ward
colleague and he forgave her for not taking his preferred routes.
With just two speakers done and a quarter of the
duration of the festival of
self-praise elapsed it is time to wrap up the first part of this report.
Fortunately the remainder of the speakers were much less verbose.
Note:
Commitments elsewhere are such that this report is unlikely to be extended
before Sunday.
16 April (Part 2) - Leaf’s last Cabinet?
With
the obvious implications for Finance it was reported at the Cabinet meeting on 9th April that the demand for
Children’s Care had fallen and there was a decline in the number of care leavers able to enter Education or
Training, presumably reflecting the state of the national economy.
At the end of January the finances were overspent by £1·361 million, less than
0·5% of the total budget and better than at the end of the previous quarter.
Cabinet Member Richard Diment reported that Bexley is one of the very few
boroughs to see a reduction in fly tipping. Bromley has twice as many incidents,
Greenwich four times and Croydon more than ten times as many as Bexley. Bexley
is the only London borough to have improved recycling rates last year and is now only
one percentage point behind Bromley who only a year ago were 5% ahead.
Councillor Diment confirmed that he had “spent every penny” of the government’s
road repair grant and already begun “to dip into this year’s allocation”.
£899,000 was spent against the grant total of £895,000. The grant was less than
15% of the total expenditure on road repairs. The Mayor of London, as in the
previous ten years, failed to provide any money at all to maintain principal
roads. Sixty major resurfacing schemes are scheduled for the coming year.
Richard was far too polite to suggest this made a monkey of the MP who told the
Prime Minister that Bexley wasn’t spending its grant and asked that funds be
withheld from his own constituency.
Council Leader
David Leaf was less reticent about those who “deliberately spread
misinformation about our borough”. The Labour Leader protested. Councillor Leaf
rubbed salt into the Labour wound with his usual array of statistics. Among them
that Councillor Borella had himself calculated that Bexley was 34th best in
England for the condition of its roads. The Conservative calculation put them in 7th place.
The Leader said he was disappointed and frustrated by the fact that the Mayor
Sadiq Khan was the only Police and Crime Commissioner in the country not to take a share of
the additional funds provided by the Conservative government in 2024 which led to the
loss of about 1,000 police officers in London.
Labour Leader Borella said that Prime Minister Theresa May cut police numbers too.
The meeting was commendably short at 44 minutes precisely.
16 April (Part 1) - The last Full Council
I made a big mistake last night, I decided to listen to the Full Council
meeting live and it dragged on for more than four hours. 11:40 is well past my bedtime!
It seemed to be more of a back slapping fest than usual but I briefly listened
again to the last pre-election meeting and it was
much the same but an hour longer.
It sounded a bit like a party of friends some of whom were due to undergo a
life threatening experience the next day and probably never to be seen again.
The speeches were variously interesting, amusing, sad, pointless, cringeworthy and in my view,
wholly untruthful. How can the former Leader get so much praise for being a
cry baby who runs to the police when faced with the first sign of criticism? A
quick check of April 2022 suggests the back slapping was not reported in that
pre-election year and maybe that was a mistake. Last night should keep BiB occupied until the election comes.
15 April - The one Councillor who did put residents before party
One of James Hunt’s comment on X yesterday reminded me of how
anti-democratic Bexley Council has been under the Conservatives and how much they hate
criticism. When the Maggot Sandwich blogger Hugh Neal said in 2011…
…and his remarks were referenced on Bonkers, Council Leader Teresa O’Neill was up the cop shop like a shot to ask them to arrest me. Not Hugh. Me.
The police later admitted to me in the presence of my MP that the Council’s preferred charge was arson.
At about the same time she ordered that my blog be banished from all Council web
servers and the libraries. They still are. She also ordered all her Councillors never to speak
to me. I have an email of apology from the occasionally flirtatious Maxine Fothergill to whom I had been
chatting in the Civic Offices and who scuttled off abruptly the moment O’Neill appeared.
Or Fat Controller as Fothergill referred to her.
When blogger John Kerlen made a very rude comment about a house he knew belonged to Councillor Melvin Seymour, Seymour signed a statement to the
police claiming that Kerlen had put out a request to his followers on Twitter to
put dog faeces through his letter box. Neither dogs, faeces or
letterboxes were ever mentioned in the Tweet or anywhere else. The statement was
nothing other than the product of a vivid imagination. The police knew that and had a copy of the original Tweet, as I have, but
Councillor Seymour did not. He was not on Twitter. Someone else put him up to making the false statement.
Every critic of Bexley Council was fair game. (For the record John Kerlen
was found not guilty of Malicious Communication on Appeal to the Crown Court.)
And
what has this to do with Independent Councillor James Hunt? He quietly rebelled against the persecution of residents.
He was the first Councillor to come to my house for a friendly chat, soon after O’Neill reported me to the police
for being, as the police said, personally critical of her. When the Queen’s bust was
unveiled on the Clocktower on 9th
June 2013 James broke from the ranks of assembled Councillors to shake my hand. Here is a photo of him doing so.
Probably he got a good bollocking from the Leader. None of Bexley Council’s Leaders have ever spoken to me or
written to me except to acknowledge receipt of my complaint in 2011 about the Craske blog.
(Correction; it was the Chief Executive who acknowledged my complaint.)
James Hunt is for residents not puerile rules and party whips. A true Independent. For the record two Labour Councillors
(only one current) have visited me at home.
Bexley went a long time without much in the way of critics until Dimitri Shvorob
appeared on the scene. For asking too many questions Bexley Council declared him
vexatious. A judge overturned that decision and Dimitri set up his own political party. His leaflets
may be seen in the
archive. An extract from the latest appears below.
If you read the whole thing he expands on his complaints. One of his criticisms
is that Bexley Council “simply threw out” a 2,218 signature petition. That is not
strictly accurate as it implies that they heard the petition. It never actually
got that far. The Council called a meeting to decide whether the petition should be
accepted for debate. It wasn’t.
Democracy? Bexley Council doesn’t know what it is!
Bexley Council has been a deeply undemocratic organisation owing their continuation to
constant lying to a gullible public and attacking all critics. Not
every Councillor has been a bad ’un, there are seven sitting Conservatives I
woud be happy to vote for, but their leadership has been ruthless in their quest for power. A change in May may improve things.
Note: The word ‘metaphorically’ was added by Hugh after I was
threatened with arrest for referring to his blog. Pitchforks etc. is a quotation from Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein.
14 April - Which Councillors might put residents before party? Not many
After arguing that when voting at a local Council election
one should take responsiveness
to enquiries from the public into account I looked back at my own correspondence records
to see if the Councillor wheat could be extracted from the chaff.
I had in mind rating current Councillors on a percentage scale based on whether
they replied to emails or not with some shading between 0 and 100%. It did
not work out too well and proved not a lot. For the record I have exchanged emails with 42 different Councillors
over more than 16 years but half have left the Council, hence only the 22 shown below.
In an attempt to rejuvenate a failing idea I added a + sign to the names who had at some point or another
initiated a conversation but that too failed to provide an interesting story.
A possible improvement was to add a second + sign to those who had initiated the very first conversation. A surprising eleven of them meaning that conversations
between me and Councillors are more often initiated by them than me. However it gives an unjustified score to
Councillors Amaning, Day and Perfect (all Labour) who had only copied me into something
circulated more widely and to which I need not and did not reply.
Peter Reader doesn’t really deserve a zero. I wrote to nine Conservative
Councillors who had witnessed an unlawful act in the Council Chamber seeking their support.
In response Bexley Council sent a defamatory Press Release to the News Shopper about
me and another resident allegedly rampaging and threatening Councillors which was absolutely beyond the pale.
The police subsequently investigated and sent a file on Bexley Council to the CPS.
The Press Release was a total lie and presumably the Councillors were under instruction from their Leader to ignore me. Party before honesty. None replied
apart from Peter Reader who sent an email apologising for not being allowed to
reply. I suppose that makes him a relatively good guy. (Of the other eight four
are now dead and four retired.)
Three more Councillor witnesses had emailed me earlier to confirm that far from
rampaging and threatening I had not left my seat or opened my mouth. Bexley
Council never could stop lying.
Christoforides Kurtis probably doesn’t deserve a 100% ++. He has only
ever written to me to tell me off for being too harsh on him. He was probably right.
One of the earliest correspondents was June Slaughter but never anything about
Council business except that once she confirmed my assertion that Full Council
is rehearsed theatre. Our correspondence was entirely nosy stuff about my past
history and telling me about her holidays and long weekends away. Sadly her husband’s
failing health but never once a Council secret.
When the despicable Restore Britain Councillor Maxine Fothergill told the
outrageous lie about me which resulted in a police charge, June, a retired
solicitor, offered her support constantly and phoned me on the day before I was due in Court to wish me luck.
I don’t think Sidcup could ask for a more supportive Councillor than June.
James Hunt had some interesting stuff to say about Fothergill, his descriptions
seemed to be very fair to me.
Of the 22 names listed below only 13 are hoping to be
re-elected in May. Where’s Frazer Brooks? This is an email analysis.
Frazer earns a 100% ++ on X Direct Message
So this blog has not worked out anything like what had been planned but here’s the score table anyway.
Maybe something more interesting will turn up tomorrow.
Councillor’s name
Andy Dourmoush
Anna Day
Cameron Smith
Caroline Newton
Chris Ball
Christoforides Kurtis
Esther Amaning
James Hunt
Jeremy Fosten
John Davey
June Slaughter
Lisa Moore
Mabel Ogundayo
Melvin Seymour
Nicola Taylor
Peter Reader
Richard Diment
Sally Hinkley
Stefano Borella
Steven Hall
Sue Gower
Wendy Perfect
Response record
100% ++
100% ++
90% +
80%
100% +
100% ++
100% ++
100% ++
100% ++
100%
100% +
100% +
100% ++
100%
100% ++
0%
100% ++
100% ++
100% +
100% ++
100% ++
100% ++
13 April - Turning green at the thought
A
Green party election leaflet has been added to
the archive of such things and it is an entirely
policy free zone. The excuse is that the the candidates act independently of the party, in
which case why not stand as Independents in an honest fashion rather than hang
on to the coat tails of a man famed mainly for tit whispering and dancing with drag queens?
This strikes me as cowardice; hoping to be elected on the transitory Green
ascendancy without wishing to be associated with their party’s aspirations.
These include legalising all drugs including date rape potions, nationalising the
big five energy suppliers which I suppose will see the end of competition and my five pence a
kilowatt hour tariff. Wrecking the economy with a 55 m.p.h.
speed limit on motorways when 80 has been shown to be the financially beneficial sweet spot.
(The Conservative government sponsored the conclusive study.)
20 m.p.h. in all built up areas which proved to be
such a rip roaring success in Wales and wealth taxes to ensure even more millionaires flee the country.
For good measure, halt all fossil fuel projects and build 150,000 new Council houses every year
for which there are neither the resources or the skills.
In Longlands and presumably elsewhere the Green candidates may be Independent
but they have paid their subscription to an organisation which is undeniably
weird. Does anyone believe that they joined up and rose through the ranks but do
not support the policies? Do you want to see weirdos running Bexley?
We saw what a protest vote did in July 2024; surely no one wants to be that silly again?
A reader who says he has been following Bonkers since 2011 sent me this
cutting from the Bexley Chronicle, a newspaper which was always very
critical of Bexley Council. What happened to this lot he asks to which the
obvious response should be “have you really followed Bonkers for the past 15 years? If so you should know.”
The first thing that should be noted is that the allowances paid have not got
close to keeping up with inflation. £21,000 in 2008 would be worth £36,000 now
and todayְ’s Cabinet Members are on about £25,000; which neatly brings us to the first name on the list.
Councillor Perrior was the founder and boss of the PR Agency InHouse and credited with bringing Boris
Johnson to power. After being caught claiming additional expenses
she wrote to the Chronicle
to claim that as a mother she needed every penny she could get.
Katie Perrior was in charge of Children’s Services when OFSTED gave Bexley an Inadequate rating.
Teresa O’Neill became Leader when Ian Clement was recruited by Mayor Johnson and famously
refused to report him to the police when it was discovered that he
had dishonestly pocketed £2,087 of Council funds covered up by
accounting fiddles.
In 2024 she got her reward when elevated to the House of Lords.
Nothing much is known about Simon Windle. It was rumoured that he might have
been the Tories one honest guy and was therefore deselected in 2014. “Probing
where others fear to tread” was his BiB epitaph.
Gareth
Bacon was famous at the time for being the highest paid elected official
in London holding down something like six jobs with the GLA and goodness knows
what else. But he did them reasonably well and went on to be M.P. for
Orpington. On the downside he is almost personally responsible for ensuring that there is no
bridge across the Thames at Gallions Reach/Thamesmead.
Chris Ball is still with us. I sometimes wonder why he is in the Labour party. He can be very reasonable and helpful at times.
John Waters is long gone from the Council. A
successful businessman and a little infamous in 2012 for telling worried residents that mobile phone masts were
no more
dangerous than vacuum cleaners. His knowledge of electromagnetic frequencies was not the best.
I have been warned to never talk about Nigel Betts, allegedly something to do with an
unsavoury police investigation. An Independent Councillor for the last two years and leaving next month.
Sharon Massey; oh where do we start? I was reported to the police for
publishing
an anonymised version of what I found on her family’s publicly available Facebook page and was kept
in suspense for six months until the police told her I had done nothing wrong.
At a Scrutiny meeting in 2016
she asked the Police Borough Commander if he could introduce a law against lying. He immediately arrested everyone present. (Actually he didn’t.)
It was not clear who she was targetting. She had made complaints about a Labour Councillor as well as me.
Surely no one needs another
catalogue of the misdemeanours of Peter Craske?
Colin Campbell was another rogue.
Did a
TV interview defaming a Bexley resident in 2013 and every single word,
literally, was a lie.
And now we are back to Ian Clement. A suspended prison sentence for doing to Boris
Johnson and the GLA what he had done on a ten times larger scale in Bexley but
which the Baroness decided should go unpunished here. Few if any of the Conservative
Councillors of 2008 could be trusted. Be careful who you vote for next month.
I’m pleased to see I am not the only nerd to file away everything about Bexley Council.
Maybe that is why they have
stopped sending me their quarterly Magazine.
Whatever happened to
Letter Box Marketing which was awarded the distribution contract in 2016?
11 April (Part 3) - No leaflets. No magazines
There
appears to be a dearth of political leaflets in Bexley. If I count
paper copies one can hold up and read in the old fashioned way, I have more from Bromley than Bexley.
However the Working for Sidcup party has not been a let down like all the
others and its latest leaflet is both informative and for political nerds, amusing.
Worth a quick read.
Something else that is not available is the current Bexley
Magazine. For the second consecutive time mine has not been delivered. I popped
into a library to see if they had copies as advertised by Bexley Council but the
lady said - I had better not offer any clues as to the where and when - said it
was the common complaint as a result of which her stock had disappeared very quickly.
Something else that has become worse under the Tories. The archive of old
Magazines used to be available on the Council’s website but not any more.
Seriously; just what have Bexley Conservatives improved in this
over-taxed borough?
11 April (Part 2) - James Hunt. A racing certainty?
Before I found Councillor Hunt’s link to the Daily Express I asked Google to
find it. Using Artificial Intelligence I noted that it (Image below right) linked to
Bexley is Bonkers as its premier
source of news and came up with an image that might surprise Mrs. Hunt.
The newspaper
article is behind a paywall and there is no way I am going to pay The Daily Express £6·99 a month to look
at it. Being a cheapskate I just about accept The Daily Telegraph’s £29 a year.
The journalist @AJNewbury94 was, you may remember,
a Conservative Bexley election candidate in 2022. He has found something better
to do with his life than be just an obedient hand in the air for the party machine.
11 April (Part 1) - Which way to jump?
In fewer than four weeks time Bexley faces a choice. The feeling is that
Labour locally, given the disaster that has unfolded in No. 10 Downing Street,
cannot possibly improve on its present total of twelve Councillors; unless
perhaps the Right is split and they sneak through the gap.
If Bexley Conservatives win control again what can we look forward to? It is hard to
see that the borough would not be forced into more managed decline. Is that even
possible? I have several times challenged the Tories to name a single thing that is better now
than when they took charge in 2006. Every single service which can be legally
outsourced has been outsourced and still the Chief Executive who has no direct
control over much of his Empire is paid top dollar.
The Conservatives would argue that they are the safe bet and they will
no doubt get the vote of steadfast Tory supporters and the risk averse despite their talent pool of
candidates being drained. Many of them are not standing for election again and both the brainy ones have gone, but at least
a Tory Council will ensure that Bexley remains relatively free of
the wokery that has wrecked our Socialist neighbour to the West.
Councillors, both Conservative and Labour, vote as a single block. There is no
room for independent thought and their only distinguishing feature is whether
they come across to observers as decent people or are in it for the power trip.
On that basis very few Tories pass muster. Judged solely on whether they have
argued well at meetings and/or their responsiveness to the public including me,
then if I was a Conservative supporter I would feel happy to vote for Frazer
Brooks (Blackfen & Lamorbey) , Steven Hall (East Wickham),
Lisa-Jane Moore (Longlands) and Cameron Smith (St. Mary’s & St. James). Maybe David Leaf (Blendon & Penhill) too for his
inexhaustible knowledge of pretty much everything.
Newcomer Eliot Smith (West Heath) may be worth a shot (a strong Brexit campaigner in 2016) but other than those, you are endorsing nothing
but Conservative voting fodder with few redeeming features. They are a block vote. If you are a dyed in the
wool Tory, place your X against any one of them. Ultimately they are all the
same. They will plough on along the
same old furrow keeping Bexley among the highest taxing boroughs and lying about
keeping all their Manifesto promises. Those named are in my experience, the
basically good guys but they will all follow the whip.
Applying the same logic to Labour Councillors, if you are a long term supporter
but struggling under their national policies, and possibly dithering, then Chris
Ball (Erith), Jeremy Fosten and Sally Hinkley (both in Belvedere), Larry
Ferguson (Thamesmead East) and Stefano Borella (Slade Green and North
End) are all safe bets. Decent enough performers in the Council chamber and/or
hard working ward Councillors. All people who want to build Council houses
whether it bankrupts us or not but all people I would be happy to have living next
door whilst several Tories would have me considering a house move.
So if I was a Tory supporter or a Labour supporter I would know what to do.
If I was a Green supporter I would know what to do too. Book an urgent
appointment with a mental health professional but what to do if I was inclined
towards Reform UK? Maybe it is time we jumped out of the Tory rut that has led
us to where we are but the Reform candidates are unknowns to most of us. Fortunately a Bonkers reader helps out a little with both of the upstart parties.
Until a few years ago I lived in Berkeley Avenue [off Brampton Road] but since then moved into Kent. Several
of the street trees had died and been cut down. I
wrote to Bexley Council about them only to be told that they could not be replaced because of the cost.
I tried contacting Her Royal Highness O’Neill but got a pretty blunt reply with the same message.
Undaunted I put together a catalogue of reasons why the trees were important along with some facts and figures and sent it to
every Bexley Councillor and managed to get
the News Shopper to do a piece on it.
My own Councillor, John Davey [Conservative, West Heath] came to visit me and was most apologetic.
He personally wanted to get the trees replaced but could not go against his Leader’s doctrine.
The only other reply was from Lynn Smith and Mac McGannon who were at the time UKIP
Councillors (but not in my ward). They asked if they could come and speak to
me and see the road/trees in question.
They spent over an hour with us and Lynn was a really lovely lady. They said they would raise the matter at
the earliest possible opportunity and after a bit of a delay the trees were replaced.
I then got an email from Teresa O’Neil attempting to claim credit for the tree
replacement. There seems to be a natural transition from UKIP to Reform
and based on my experience I can only hope they are elected.
And by the way I’ve just seen that a Green candidate has won an election where I now live in Kent and with a 39% majority. How on earth is that possible? I despair.
Given the foregoing,
Blackfen & Lamorbey presents an enormous dilemma; or maybe not.
Perhaps the choice is obvious. James Hunt the Independent Councillor the Tories
didn’t want because he is a bit too independent minded, Lynn Smith for
being “a really lovely lady” prepared to help anyone and Frazer Brooks for old times’ sake and being
such a friendly sort of guy.
Memory says it was another Blackfen & Lamorbey candidate who was
behind
the tree embargo; our notorious blogging friend, Peter Craske but a little
research says Public Realm had been taken over by Councillor Don Massey after the police incident.
10 April (Part 1) - Nominations
The
Nominations list which appeared on Bexley Council's website yesterday
outdated the various lists which have appeared here but it is important that BiB
retains copies as official Nominations lists are destroyed six months after the election to
which they refer; something that has historically turned out to be inconvenient.
The Council’s list as currently published is somewhat half baked as it does not include the
names of the proposers or seconders. Maybe more comprehensive copies will be made available later.
Meanwhile a full set of the hopefully interim copies are available via the links below.
Barnehurst
Bexleyheath
Belvedere
Blackfen & Lamorbey
Blendon & Penhill
Crayford
Crook Log
East Wickham
Erith
Falconwood & Welling
Longlands
Northumberland Heath
Sidcup
Slade Green & North End
St. Mary’s and St. James
Thamesmead East
West Heath
10 April (Part1) - Full House!
I have obtained the complete list of Bexley’s Reform UK election candidates. I hope I have transcribed the names correctly, some are not easy to spell!
Blackfen and Lamorbey will have a choice of two Brooks, so that may cause some
people, who probably should not be allowed to vote, a little confusion. But not as bad as when
the
old Brampton ward had a choice of four O’Neills!
Three of the names below are former UKIP Councillors and some were unsuccessful
UKIP candidates in 2014.
I suspect I will be accused of pushing Reform’s case on Bonkers, but the truth
is rather different. I have published every bit of election news that has come
my way. The
Conservative list came from an independent contributor,
the Green list
was found on their website and there has been nothing at all from Labour.
One must hope that transparency and openness from Reform is a sign that if they win in Bexley they will continue to be more
democratically focused than any of the other parties. Ones that report some critics to the police for example
and declare others vexatious and refuse to talk to them.
Ward name list
Barnehurst
Barnehurst
Belvedere
Belvedere
Belvedere
Bexleyheath
Bexleyheath
Bexleyheath
Blackfen
&
Lamorbey
Blendon
&
Penhill
Crayford
Crayford
Crayford
Crook Log
Crook Log
Crook Log
East Wickham
East Wickham
East Wickham
Erith
Erith
Falconwood
&
Welling
Longlands
Longlands
Northumberland
Heath
Sidcup
Sidcup
Sidcup
Slade Green
North End
St. Mary’s &
St. James
Thamesmead
East
Thamesmead
West Heath
West Heath
West Heath
Reform UK
Lois Moules
Deborah Smith
Christopher Calvert
Chris Frampton
Michael Wilson
Andrew Cronin
Colin Grostate
Mike Lyons
Robert Brooks
Graham Holland
Lynn Smith
Mike Ferro
Mac McGannon
Jon Templer
Sandra Cerisola
Oke Ene
Debbie Ryan
Eamonn Delaney
John Dunford
Philip Savage
David Bryne
Miles Jones
Baris Lefkonuklo
Caroline Panetta
Geoff Williams
Catherine Allard
Pamela Andrews
Nicola Jones
Alexander Cleak
Gary Levett
Sean Brackstone
Chris Purfield
Ranw Aso-Rashidk
Daniel Martin
Daniel Kersten
John McDermont
Bright Uwhokorwi
Simon Francis
Garret Lynch
Lee Delaney
Matthew Solo
Tom Staples
Sue Ford
Ian Rowlands
David Simmons
9 April (Part 2) Diversity is our strength
Since
the AW1 CPZ was introduced seven months ago I have not had any stranger parking on
my front drive. At the end of a cul-de-sac people who
are hard of thinking tell me that it looks like part of the public road and
maybe if one is not too bright there is just a little bit of truth in that. (I
think I am being more than a little generous here but never mind.)
Yesterday I was working in my garage for five hours with the door wide open while
messing around with wood and saws and drills and things. While there I noticed
someone rooting around in my front garden poking shrubs aside as if he was looking for something.
I asked the man what he might be doing and through some not very good English he told me
that he had been informed it was an ideal spot on which to dump an old mattress.
I told him that he had been misinformed and without arguing he walked away.
I assumed he would find another place to dump it and I guess he has because the
nearest big bins have gained a rather stained mattress.
Another cost to taxpayers caused by people of an alternative culture who most of us don’t want here.
Reform UK’s plans for immigrants are not what I would advocate but they are
looking ever more attractive.
9 April (Part 1) - Desperate times for Tories
Thomas Turrell is our London Assembly Member. I cannot tell you a thing he has done for
us because I rarely hear about him but I think it is fair to say he is worried
that the Conservative administrations in Bexley and Bromley are about to fall.
As a Conservative he is speaking up for Bexley Council on at least two videos.
I suppose it is a slip of the tongue that he says Bexley will spend £2
billion on its libraries and £30 million on roads. Or maybe he actually thinks
you might believe him.
He shows a clip of Reform UK’s Mayoral Candidate talking about Green Belt land and how it is sometimes pretty much worthless
and implies that nothing will be safe with Reform.
I have grave misgivings about the wisdom of appointing Laila Cunningham (the
Mayoral candidate) to any
political position but no party is perfect and it is a bit rich to complain
about building on Green spaces when Bexley Council has set up its own building
developer to do exactly that. And run up millions in debt in the process.
“Siding with Sadiq Khan” provided me with a bit of a giggle. I have only met
three of the Bexley Reform UK candidates and none will ever side with Sadiq
Khan. One I have known for a long time and on a good evening we have tried to out
do each other with what form of extreme punishment should be inflicted on Khan
for what he has done to our capital city. I would like to think that no one
hates him more than I do but after a night out with my Reform candidate friend I am not so sure.
I doubt there is any chance whatsoever that a Reform UK Council in Bexley will be on Sadiq Khan’s side.
A Reform win in Bexley would likely help educate the woeful Ms. Cunningham and the local party
has already made a move in that direction by getting her to attend one of their
meetings this month.
Links to videos
https://x.com/i/status/2041909289577488803
https://x.com/i/status/2041089077697560587
7 April - This bus might terminate you here
This
morning I attended TfL’s bus
passenger experience seminar or survey or whatever they called it. The venue was Vauxhall bus station and the show was organised by
ARUP.
I don’t think it is a trade secret that TfL is seriously worried about bus
safety and the number of passengers being injured and worse. I understand the
original idea came from my son but it grew legs and was taken over by ARUP. Hence me
getting a tip off and being readily accepted because they were short of people aged over 75.
The day did not start well because I arrived at Waterloo with 55 minutes to
spare and Vauxhall station is only three minutes away by train, so I thought I would get
in the mood by taking a bus. Not a good idea. The traffic was so horrendous that
I arrived with only 15 minutes to spare.
The trial bus was a new BYD electric operated by Arriva and was of a type we don’t see
in Bexley. Some things were definitely different. A much bigger area for wheelchair users but the ironmongery around it would make getting to the front to pay quite impossible.
Like all new buses there was no central seat at the back because passengers are
too often catapulted from it to the front during emergency stops.
The TfL guy on board said that wheelchair users who do not have a free travel
card are so few that they can be disregarded and they are not expected to go forward to pay.
Only the smallest of baby buggies would be able to get to the front either
which rather conflicted with the announcement about not leaving a buggy unattended.
The bus was ‘Not in Service’ but followed Route Number 2 towards Norwood. We were
each given a random bus stop name and told we were to fend for ourselves and
ring the bell when appropriate. Not as easy as it sounds on an unfamiliar route
and I think most of us opened a phone App to get an idea of how far we were from
our destination. The alternative would be watching the display board like a
hawk. When appropriate we went through the standard routine of bell ringing, door
opening and walking to the front to get on again.
We turned around a mile of so south of Brixton.
I think the whole object of the exercise was to find a happy medium between
providing a lot of information and making too much noise and driving passengers
and driver alike around the bend. The danger then is that people mentally switch
off. Not good if you are the driver!
The whole gamut of spoken announcements was used; changing driver, regulating
the service interval, closed bus stops and early termination. Plus hold on to
the handrail when moving and the essential next stop name. There was a new
low frequency boing noise to announce that the driver had something to say. It confused us all
because no one knew its significance but I suppose we will get used to it if it becomes standard.
The journey was not very typical because on a regular service you will get
couples talking to each other, loudmouths on their mobile phone, mothers trying
to pacify crying babies, dogs yapping and children from a school making
one hell of a racket. On our test bus no one said a word so maybe the announcements
were more easily heard.
Opinions varied widely between those who are fed up with incessant
announcements and those lacking in confidence about where they are going. In
practice there is not much flexibility because most of the announcements are legally required.
My suggestion was to modify the bell software so that after the first bell press
illuminates the ‘Bus Stopping’ notice all further bell presses are suppressed
until the system resets after the following stop. The idea was taken away for
consideration so if it is adopted you know who to blame.
Further tests are being conducted on whether buses can be equipped with
emergency stop systems as found in new cars but in vehicles without seatbelts
that is not the easiest of things to safely implement.
6 April - Deport or Die. Take your pick
A Labour
activist by the name of Anashua Davies has outed herself as their candidate for the election in Longlands next month. (See Image No.1) Because she
had a solicitor send me a threatening letter I know that she was the voice
behind a notorious Twitter account called Sidcup4RemainSafe.
If that legal letter had not identified her I would never have known
that Anashua Davies and Sidcup4Remain were one and the same entity. Going to a solicitor has ironically enabled this blog!
It was a particularly vicious anonymous account,
reporting me to the police several times
and contriving a false, or at least a horribly contorted
complaint against a Conservative Councillor.
Arguably worse is that a Retweet (Image 2) provided an interesting insight into the mindset of a Labour activist and
would-be candidate.
It passed on to a wider audience the evil thoughts of a Times letter writer who wanted to push Nigel Farage over the White Cliffs of Dover.
(Click image 2 to see a little more of The Times letter.)
The ‘Be Kind’ mob are anything but.
I can find no evidence that Reform Bexley has ever called for the Labour candidate for Longlands to be deported or that they even know of her existence but
we do have evidence that that same candidate Retweeted the thought that the Reform Leader should be pushed over a cliff.
Leaving aside the fact that the deportation claim is probably not true; which is the most tasteless of the two? Deportation or Death?
4 April - Spreading fear. They have nothing else left
It
is not something I have tried to hide over the years so you will have noticed
that I am 100% against
political attacks on motorists. Ever higher and new taxes and the meanest of
road traps and parking scams. I have had more than enough of them and it precludes
me from voting Labour ever again.
I am wholly against ULEZ which was based on a whacking great lie and yellow box
junctions. I had high hopes of Richard Diment when he was appointed to
the Cabinet but in my opinion he seriously blotted his copybook on Yellow Money Boxes.
Mostly unnecessary and usually too large but just a few days ago I
praised
Bexley Council for not being quite as politically correct as most.
Their latest publicity material appears to be going down the same road as I was.
If you vote Labour say goodbye to even more of our freedoms.
But Reform UK too? That is just nonsense.
As you might imagine the policy on penalising motorists was a priority question when I first met up with
would-be Reform Bexley Councillors. They shared my view. Now one of them has
become the local Reform UK leader.
I asked him again about LTNs, 20 m.p.h. nonsense and no to parking charges based on
engine size as in the Socialist Republic to our West.
As for concreting over green spaces,
here is the list read out in Council eleven years ago. A Conservative list.
Nowhere is safe. The audio quality is poor but one can just about discern 30
sites which might be sold. There were parks included but the majority were not.
Most were small open spaces.
A written
list of Council property deemed suitable for disposal was published a month earlier.
Things have moved on since with some sites sold and built on but it is a bit
rich for Bexley Conservatives to spread the fear that Reform UK will build on
Bexley’s Green Spaces when that is exactly what they have been doing
surreptitiously for the past ten years. They take us all for fools.
For the record, Reform UK has been very critical of the millstone that is BexleyCo in emails to me going back more than nine months.
3 April - Not so much Super as Loopy
When one passes by road hazards in the dark It
it is not easy to be sure exactly what the situation is so I didn’t report
the one
noted on 24th March. A pedestrian refuge in
Penhill Road where one Keep Left sign of
the pair had been flattened leaving the back of its partner with no reflector and virtually invisible. Rightly or wrongly
I tend to assume that those who live nearby will report such things. Maybe they didn’t
because at 00:40 on the morning of All Fool’s Day, an SL3 demolished it completely.
Note Keep Left sign transferred to tthe footpath.
The SL3 carried on as if nothing had happened but the bang was loud enough to
bring residents outside to make sure no neighbour had suffered an accident or explosion.
One called Bexley’s
out of hours response team which achieved precisely nothing. “They were appalling.”
A call to the Council at nine o’clock got the run around and a promise to call
back. That is now 48 hours ago and still no response. However the Keep Left
signs were restored to their rightful place when I went by at 06:30 this
morning. They have the same design flaw as their predecessors. If one goes down
the back of its exposed partner is black,
2 April (Part 2) - Forty four years of decline
It
was forty four years ago today that I rolled up to the office on a Friday morning to be told the circuit to Port Stanley was down.
We had a link to Rugby where a long wave radio transmitter struggled against the
sunspots to reach Port Stanley on the Falklands Islands. It was the last
remaining radio circuit operated by what is now called BT. The link to Kabul had
been withdrawn a couple of years earlier by the idiots-that-be and not replaced with anything at all.
The very next day I took my two children down to Portsmouth - I lived in
Hampshire at the time - to see what Mrs. Thatcher was doing about it. On a
dreadfully dull day supplies were being helicoptered on board and a couple of
days later the Royal Navy set sail for the South Atlantic. The rubbish photos are mine.
Now it takes three weeks to get a single boat to the Mediterranean.
Whatever has become of us?.
I did eventually manage to re-establish the link to Stanley. The Argentinians
were difficult buggers and I have not knowingly bought anything emanating from
that country since then. I still examine tins of corned beef to make sure it is
not one of theirs!
2 April (Part 1) - Is Bexley ready for The Greens?
There is a Bonkers rule that says don’t comment when bringing attention to
election material and on this occasion it will be followed. The list below was
extracted from The Green’s
local website.
One name stands out, that of Jonathan Rooks. It showed up on Bonkers between
2012 and 2014 and then disappeared. Libraries,
The Howbury Centre and
The Erith Quarry. According to those blogs, Mr. Rooks was once a Conservative Councillor.
He was also featured in a 2014 blog entitled Great tits.
I wish I hadn’t promised not to comment on the breast enhancer now.
Wards
Barnehurst
Belvedere
Belvedere
Bexleyheath
Bexleyheath
Blackfen & Lamorbey
Blendon & Penhill
Crayford
Crook Log
East Wickham
Erith
Falconwood & Welling
Longlands
Longlands
Northumberland Heath
Sidcup
Sidcup
Slade Green & North End
St. Mary’s & St. James
Thamesmead East
West Heath
Green Candidate
John Ely
Sarah Barry
Edwin Hollands
Nancy Willmouth-Coates
Yolanda Allen
James Brown
Mariam Zahedi
Francesca Wyvern
Tony Ball
Bob Morris
Martin Radbon
Lis Radbone
Anita Paris
David Paris
Daniel Stamp
Julian Himmerich
Laurence Williams
Sarah Frost
************
Jonathan Rooks
Stuart Carter
1 April (Part 2) - And about time too
Never
forget that it was the Tories who started this non-crime
hate incident business and to many people’s amazement it is a Labour Home
Secretary who has had quite enough of it. Whether the police will follow her instructions is another
story entirely of course. They are never far removed from corruption.
As some readers will remember, I was charged with a hate crime in 2017 by
police acting on an outright and very obvious lie signed by a Bexley
Conservative Councillor.
What follows is another of the
blasts from the past published on 31st December 2017 but
overlooked once blogs became the landing page on Bonkers.
Absolutely disgraceful stuff by the police and the Councillor involved.
According to Kent Police reporting any item of news which might make its
subject feel uncomfortable is a potentially criminal act and leaves its author
“liable to arrest and a night in the cells”. (Quote)
It matters not whether the news reported is entirely factual. It matters not if
the news reported is already in the public domain, neither is the inclusion of
documentary evidence to support the news a mitigating factor.
Whether or not the news item is augmented by an opinion piece is of no
consequence, news that is negative in any way can according to Kent Police be criminal.
The only relevant factor according to Kent Police is whether or not the truth
hurts. If it does they have their victim, the writer of the piece.
Many people will be very relieved to be protected by a police force as stupid as Kent Police appears to be.
At the highest level former Cabinet Member Damian Green can initiate complaints
against every national news outlet for reporting the claims of a vengeful
retired police officer that a computer used by the Deputy Prime Minister
contained images of a pornographic nature.
At the other extreme, every litter lout named and shamed by Bexley Council on
its website can ask the police to take action against the Council officer who
authorised the publication of their personal details. Those who live in the
Swanley police district will find a ready ear attached to PC Abbie Brooks (13546).
They will find her willing to listen to each and every complaint, whether it has
merit or none and leap into action. According to her everyone who is hurt when
their name becomes news has a legitimate complaint and the full force of the law must swing into action.
You may think that Kent Police is just a bad joke but while attitudes like
theirs prevail no journalist is safe. Only wholly good news can be reported without threat of arrest.
1 April (Part 1) - Another blast from the past
A message from Reform UK says that they have chosen their candidates to fight
for control of Bexley Council. The nominations have gone in. Obviously I know the name of a Belvedere
candidate because i proposed him and I think I know who might take on Peter Craske in Blackfen and Lamorbey
because I encouraged its acceptance when the first choice may have been
elsewhere. There was strong competition for some wards.
I’m not sure why people still vote for Peter Craske in Blackfen, his track record for
attacking residents is among the worst.
Here is what was published on Bonkers on 23rd September 2011. It is
one of the
hard to find Editorial pages from the beginning of Bonkers.
Peter Craske, Cabinet Member for Public Realm and Bexley councillor for Blackfen & Lamorbey draws an allowance of £22,615 a year. Councillor Craske has an obsession with motoring, he gets free parking when he attends council meetings but imposes ever increasing fees and restrictions on residents. From time to time it is necessary to remind readers who is responsible for Bexley having more expensive parking and residents’ parking permits than any neighbouring borough with the single exception of a car park catering for tourists in the historic centre of Greenwich; but even there, a parking permit is cheaper than in Bexley.
• Peter Craske introduced 24 hour a day parking charges, seven days a week.
• Peter Craske has doubled parking charges since taking office.
• Peter Craske dishonestly claimed that Bexley enjoys the cheapest parking in South East London.
• Peter Craske recommended and implemented the price hike for residents’ parking permits. £35 last year, £100 now.
• Peter Craske levied £2·3 million in parking fines and defies the parking adjudicator by continuing with ineffective or illegal restriction signs.
• Peter Craske plans to enforce moving traffic violations with 24/7 CCTV coverage.
• Peter Craske got rid of town centre parking meters and compelled motorists to pay via mobile phones with a fixed extra fee. No alternative.
• Peter Craske authorised £4m for traffic consultants while retaining his internal department with total salaries in the region of £600,000.
• Peter Craske assured us that a new parking services contractor would provide better value for money. The council’s Budget Book shows increased costs of £55,000.
If you hate the Yellow Money Boxes that more often than not foul up traffic flow - I saw someone who misjudged the one at Cray Bridge in Bexley Village on Monday evening -
please remember that the cameras were the idea of Councillor Peter Craske 15 years ago.
His report said fines would maximise income but that would be illegal so for public consumption he called it obtaining value for money from the investment in CCTV. Total dishonesty.