13 May - A plague on all their houses
The
Labour activist and troublemaker who runs the all-encompassing Labour Party Facebook
Group London Borough of Bexley News and Views under the adopted name of Ben Hopton thinks I am a Reform supporter
because I nominated one of the their candidates. She can of course say what
she likes and make as much trouble as she likes but I think a lot of
people have seen through her because of her non-stop posting of Labour propaganda.
It is on
the record here that I don’t like any of the people at the top of Reform UK
and most of their Conservative rejects recruits are every bit as bad.
To keep this website alive I have to try to keep in with as many Councillors
as possible although I admit that some absolutely shun me for no obvious reason.
I think this stems from Teresa O’Neill and Philip Read who declared some sort of
war on me in 2010 and it was said (the fact was used against me during a failed
prosecution) that all new Councillors are given a lecture
about never making contact with me.
Fortunately O’Neill was not universally popular and I have emails from
Councillors and a Cabinet
Member who make that case.
Over the years I have established contacts with
several Councillors and former
Councillors to the extent that I regard them as friends. Not best buddy friends but people who
can be relied on and probably trusted. But I am always wary of possible deception.
My own Labour Councillor is one of them, a lovely lady and our conversation goes
well outside politics sharing things that only trusted friends will know. We chatted just before and just after the election, The
second Labour Councillor is Jeremy Fosten who was first mentioned favourably here, but not by name,
in 2019 and yesterday we exchanged messages of mutual admiration.
I do not have a clue who the Reform UK Councillor is.
I am not a Reform UK Member and I have never attended any of their meetings. I
have no reason to specially like Reform locally. You may remember the F woman
who was their Chairman for too long whose lies cost me years of turmoil and too
much money. Fortunately what I knew about her eventually found its way through
to Reform HQ and she was expelled but not before getting four more solicitor’s
letters threatening me. Not any old local solicitor but the same firm that they
used to
act against Rupert Lowe and Co.
Her
replacement was not a lot better; he threatened me too but fortunately was soon replaced. My Reform UK contacts are few. I have been in fairly regular contact
with one since 2014, long before Reform was a thing. I successfully reached out
to one other Reform member in May 2025 to see what I could discover about them.
I met him twice for a coffee. Nine months later he became their local Leader but
neither of us could have predicted that.
As a new party with relatively few contacts finding nominees for candidates was
not easy and one of them called me for help. If I had said no there was a risk I
would sour future relations. In any case it is not a political endorsement and
I thought it was a bit of fun to make a tiny political contribution.
I have not seen any Reform candidate since the election although I an hoping to
remedy that very soon.
Before the election I was in contact,
not only with Labour, but also a Green candidate to whom I think I might owe a
response, two Independents,
retiring Conservatives and Conservative candidates. Since the election I have corresponded
with both Independents, three failed Reformers - one of whom has yet to receive
a reply, too busy - successful Conservatives, both my Labour Councillors and a
former Labour Councillor.
Not many if the aim is to get inside knowledge of what goes on in Bexley
and there is always the danger that I only get information from rebels.
Councillors can be a funny lot. Over 15 years three Conservative Councillors have
reported me to the police for alleged crimes of journalism causing various
degrees of aggravation. None of the complaints went anywhere. I have never been
accused of libel or defamation. One Labour activist claimed on X that she had
reported me to the police five times and bombarded me with solicitor’s letters. Nothing ever came of
the police reports it so I only have her
word for it and can anyone trust a Labour activist to tell the truth? Reform people
have not yet reported me to the police and I doubt they ever will. For now,
those I know of, are down to earth people who know what democracy is supposed to
be.
Things sometimes go in reverse. When Bexley Councillors
and staff have been in trouble with
the law - a complaint originally brought by the late Michael Barnbrook but
pursued by me after he moved out of the borough, I obtained supportive witness statements from an honest
Conservative and three Labour Councillors. The Labour people agreed that
they would be willing to appear in Court on my behalf to tell the truth. It is probably
easier to find total honesty among Bexley Labour Councillors than the ruling party.
So where are we? Is it worth bringing Ben Hopton into more disrepute than she
does by herself? Probably not. But for the record I try to spread my net widely
which is why I have contacts in every party. They are not immune from criticism
if the need arises but friends may, probably I shouldn’t admit it, be given a slightly easier
ride. One cannot make enemies of everyone.
Our best ever local MP, Teresa Pearce (Labour) got it right straight away. “You
are a plague on all their houses sort of bloke, aren’t you?”