So just to clarify, tonight Putting Hartlepool First made it abundantly clear that they were willing to give up 100% of their secondary leaders responsibility allowance, and donate the whole lot to cancer charities.
However, instead L-A-B-O-U-R voted to give 30% of it to........ the Conservatives.
What a calamity... ;)
Your wish is granted. Its in this weeks edition. I will scan and post shortly.
I've lost track. Is this the 5th time that HBC has been mentioned in dispatches in Private Eye's Rotten Boroughs?
Private Eye 1371 25 July-7 Aug 2014
page 11.
Unholy Alliance
Meanwhile in Hartlepool, the Labour councills leadership has also put up two fingers to an independent remuneration panel. It had suggested too much was being paid in special `responsibility allowance (SRA) to Jim Ainslie and Kevin Cranney, councillors who chair its twoneighbourhood forums. They each get £3,495 a year. As the forums only meet four times in 12 months, they pocket more than £870 per meeting.
The panel suggested the annual SRA should behalved to £l,747, but Labour ignored this, with the support of its Conservative allies.
Eh? Although Labour holds 19 of 33 council seats, to get the annual budget through it needs the help of the Tories (three seats) to achieve a two-thirds majority. Nothing bridges the political divide better than money! The panel had not called for any change in an allowance of £3,400 to the leader
of the largest opposition party, Putting HartlepoolFirst (PHF), which has four seats. But that has now been changed for the benetit of the Tories.
The £3,400 is now split three ways between PHF (50 percent), Tories (33 percent) and Ukip (17 percent), which has two seats.
Tory group leader Cllr Ray Martin-Wells gets to pocket £1,130 from that deal, but in a move that recognises his help in pushing through Labour policies he has also been made chair of the audit and governance committee, which gives him a further £6,267 on top of his basic allowance of the same amount. His job will be to scrutinise and challenge decisions made by Labour leader Christopher Akers-Belcher, who chairs finance and policy. No doubt the six grand will help him be all the more rigorous!
Haha, excellent. It was worth losing a % of the allowance to provide further exposure of the shambles that is our coalition council.
Ha! I wonder if the Mail reports on this national coverage that the town is receiving? ::)
Quote from: Stationario on July 25, 2014, 11: PM
Ha! I wonder if the Mail reports on this national coverage that the town is receiving? ::)
Well they didn't report on any of the other four mentions in Private Eye so I wouldn't get your hopes up - way too
'off message'. ;D
Its has got to the stage that no one is surprised by what the TorLab Mob get up to, but i have noticed that more & more people are beginning to pass comments both here & on the Mails articles.
Come May of next year Labour will need to spend an awful lot of time & cash to stand any chance of keeping their majority in council, they will have to spend even more to keep the "Flaccid Member" in his seat.
5 appearances in the rotten boroughs piece must surely be worthy of some sort of award: "Rotten Borough of the Year", perhaps?
Out of interest, are PHF donating 100% of the reduced secondary leaders allowance to cancer charities or was that only on offer if they retained the full amount?
Talk to the hand, Shane. As far as cleaning up Hartlepool Borough Council is concerned you're a political eunuch and will remain so until you have the balls to challenge Wells' behaviour.
Quoteyou're a political eunuch
Haha, bless Shane. He's been keeping his head down for a couple of months since the election, now he's back. Maybe he's heard the rumour there's a seat on Rural West up for grabs soon...
I guess the answer to my question is no then? It was a genuine question which, if you'd have come out and said you would be donating the reduced aunt anyway, I would have congratulated you on. As it stands I guess it just shows the donation was just a cynical one that would never have been followed through.
Actually David I've been quiet because my wife has recently given birth to our second child. A girl named Emily. Reading your post though I think you need to grow up, a lot.
Interesting to notice that you're STILL choosing to focus your efforts on here attacking PHF Shane.
Surely your time and energy would be better spent trying to wrestle control of your party back from a man who is no more a Conservative than Arthur Scargill.
What PHF would or would not do with around £3,000, is so insignificant in the grand scheme of what the coalition are squandering week in week it's laughable that you even mention it.
The fact that you keep your head well below the parapet concerning the towns big issues, but pipe up about us all the time, demonstrates that Steve's description of you is pretty accurate.
I suggest you re read my original post, David. I asked a civil question about a donation your party offered to make. As I stated in my last post, I'd have actually congratulated you on sticking to your pledge to donate the money to cancer charities but it would seem that sadly the offer of the donation wasn't sincere and it was just a cheap publicity stunt.
You can continue with the petty personal attacks of you like, it may make you feel big sat behind a keyboard, but I won't partake in the school yard antics.
All I will say is that I do feel sorry for the genuine members of PHF who have been involved from day one and have had to watch what could have been a positive force of good be turned into the vehicle to further one mans ambitions and to he'll with the rest of them, as Alison unfortunately found out.
Think about this one, Shane - you're Rural West nomination might depend on it.
How do you feel about Wells personally blocking Ted Jackson's nomination for the Freedom of the Borough with the words "...there's NO WAY he's getting it". Do you think that represents an impartial and objective assessment of Jackson's suitability or do you, like me, think that it shows that too many council decisions are now based on nothing more than spiteful bitchiness.
Shane, you opening question was barbed with your usual 'polite' spite.
As for this comment...
QuoteAll I will say is that I do feel sorry for the genuine members of PHF who have been involved from day one and have had to watch what could have been a positive force of good be turned into the vehicle to further one mans ambitions and to he'll with the rest of them, as Alison unfortunately found out.
That's laughable. I have no major ambitions politically. Unlike yourself of course in your deluded attempt to become Hartlepool's first Tory MP for 50 years.
You'll do well to get 7,000 votes next year and you'll be beaten into third place by Wrighty and the lad from UKIP.
Usual mature answer.
QuoteUsual mature answer.
You know nothing about me. Nor do I about you, as you hide behind a false name...
A bit of a laugh really. you don't have to go back too far to read Shane saying it was all about Geoff Lilley and then we had Mr Mister and his PHF (Putting Lilley First) jibes. Now it's apparently all about Mr Riddle - PRF maybe. Not bad from a guy who sits and does nothing while his own political group has been hijacked by one man for the sole purpose of promoting his property development interests.
I do know that Shane is one of the few people that sticks to his beliefs.Unlike many people on here he hasn't changed his political leanings for the sake of a position of power.Well done Shane, don't let the ba****ds grind you down.
Congratulations Shane on your new little girl. Politics is a trivial thing when compared to family. Dont bother asking questions of Councillir Riddle, he stoped answering them the second the polls closed. Now if you dare to ask him anything he doesn't want to answer all you get is abuse, name calling and allegations of trolling. It didnt take Riddle long to get into the Councillor's mind set. Mind you the rest are no better. Still waiting for the UKIP guy to tell me a positive thing he'd do for the town rather than just saying how badly the current lot are doing. If PHF did say they would donate the leaders allowance to charity (which i dont know if they did say it or not? I stopped trying to engage Riddle when he started calling me Harry and sneering at me, not good way to get mine or my familiy's votes by the way) then it would seem a legitimate question to ask if they have actually done so? If they haven't then maybe it was just a cynical political ploy. I don't expect an answer by the way. After all I'm just a troll called Harry!
The trouble is he is very critical of Wells et al, but only in private. Attacking your opponents is easy, taking your own to task is what requires political courage.
But to be honest we should lay off Shane, to quote Aaron Sorkin "I think we might be talking about a .22 caliber mind in a .357 magnum world."
Eleanor Roosevelt said:
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.
Let's leave Shane to himself and discuss ideas!
Quote from: pensionater on July 26, 2014, 09: PM
I do know that Shane is one of the few people that sticks to his beliefs.Unlike many people on here he hasn't changed his political leanings for the sake of a position of power.Well done Shane, don't let the ba****ds grind you down.
Last time I saw Shane posting was on a site crammed full of lunatic conspiracy theories and foul language. Shane was very pally with the owner and it seemed they got on like a house on fire. There was talk of an Army of leaflet distributors straining at the leash to get the 'truth' about PHF out in the Ward. That went well!
If Shane could just moderate his PHF obsession he would have no need to link up with exteme PHF haters and it might go better for him. It seems he lacks the 'steel' to do a Jonathan and is playing the long game and waiting for Wells to die of natual causes.
Quote from: TSteels on July 26, 2014, 10: PM
But to be honest we should lay off Shane, to quote Aaron Sorkin "I think we might be talking about a .22 caliber mind in a .357 magnum world."
Says the privileged 'socialist' educated at great expense in Yarm School who was recently taken to task by this former Henry Smith School pupil over decisions he made as the former Labour leader & chairman of the health scrutiny forum. So much so that you went running to your father for support, reported me to the chief solicitor over a private dispute and then threatened me with legal action.
Thank you Pensionator & OneDirection for your kind words. Little one is doing very well and you are right, it would have been very easy to lie to people about my political allegiances and ran under a "winning brand" as others have done but I prefer to be honest with people.
The local conservative party is in no way perfect but at least I will stand here and admit it, unlike others who refuse to accept that their own party and members are flawed too and whilst they can criticise others all day long will get nasty, personal and down right rude to hide their own short comings.
So to use the quote Jonathan used from Eleanor Roosevelt
"
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."
I've yet to see real ideas discussed here. I tried once in a thread that looked at ideas for the redevelopment of Church st to Seaton, which pre dated the 'Vision' by a long shot. Unfortunately the thread ended quickly after the usual negativity and name calling that we have come accustomed to seeing on this forum.
I guess the problem with it was that it didn't discuss the two or three main people this site is obsessed with.
Quote from: SRMoore on July 26, 2014, 10: PM
Unfortunately the thread ended quickly after the usual negativity and name calling that we have come accustomed to seeing on this forum...........
And yet you chose to post on a 'forum' where the name calling was about 1000 times worse than anything you will find here.
Why was that?
At the end of the day Shane is an irrelevance. The Tories are an infected brand in Hartlepool and lack anyone with the balls to instigate a cure. From what I hear, Wells knows that he's been rumbled and has decided not to stand next time around rather than be humiliated at the polls.
We have a tory party in Hartlepool.....?
I thought they were fostered then adopted and had changed their name by deed poll.
Sidestepping Shane's bitterness and the trolls for a second...
Quotehas decided not to stand next time around
The above is a sentence I've heard stated directly or strongly implied, by 6 of the current 33 councillors.
Also that doesn't take into account the plans of the 19 Labour councillors. I reckon there must be around 10 councillors in total so sick of the situation within HBC that they have no plans to put themselves through it all again in their next election.
" I reckon there must be around 10 councillors in total so sick of the situation within HBC that they have no plans to put themselves through it all again "
Strange that because we certainly don't hear 10 councillors voicing their protests against events. We're back to the situation when someone will quote the well known saying, "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Oh dear, we're back to Shane again ;)
Private Eye 1373 22 Aug- 4 Sept 2014
Page 16
FATAL LABOUR COMPLACENCY #2:
lt is, obviously, a mark of honour to appear in Rotten Boroughs - but there's no need to be smug about it. In Eye 1371 we wrote about two Hartlepool councillors who were each a trousering £870 every time they attended neighbourhood forum meetings, which last barely two hours. When asked at a council meeting about whether his £435-an-hour sinecure was good value for taxpayers, Cllr Jim Ainslie ignored the question and thanked the "Hartlepool ,Post", a local website, for contacting the Eye with the story (it didn't). He then told the meeting that days after the story appeared he had been contacted by a long-lost friend he had not heard from for more than 45 years, who had read about him in the Eye -earning him a round of applause from Labour and Tory councillors. With councillors of such a high calibre, no wonder Labour can feel secure in its old northern strongholds.
(http://img540.imageshack.us/img540/9538/hXyPo3.png) (http://imageshack.com/i/f0hXyPo3p)
I know it's been said many times before but......you really couldn't make it up, could you? :-\
SteveL in reply to your post, I would like to say you hit the nail on the head:
"you really couldn't make it up, could you?"
an accurate statement for our town leaders.
All we need now to really bollox (unsure of the spelling of "bollox") Hartlepool in local Politics is yet another bad story to break and be aired in Private Eye, but I heard another may be afoot, has anyone heard any whispers of a massive one?
....... in a Hartlepool context it's become hard to define what "massive" actually means. For example, can anyone remember the last time HBC sold any of its land at its true market value?
I suppose the next step will be 'back to back' appearances in the eye. This was close, with one edition in between appearances 5 and 6.
As soon as Jim started the sentence "I'd like to thank the people who contacted Private Eye..." I'm sure I wasn't alone in thinking "Here comes number 6".
I spoke in response to Councillor Ainslie's 'boast' at the time, but this will definitely be remembered more for the laughing, whooping, clapping and the virtually cheering Labour lot as Jim sat down.
Utterly, utterly bizarre.
One suspects there will be even less Labour councillors with 'permission to speak' next meeting.
Oh and one other thing, in response to the councillor who put a typed, signed letter through my door last week with a photocopy of the article (5 ) and the question 'Was it you who contacted Private Eye?'.
As has been stated several times now by The Hartlepool Post and now Private Eye itself... it wasn't me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pslgz9o8meM
Any number of civic minded individuals could be candidates for dropping a line to "The Eye"
Considering i asked the question that caused Clr Ainslie to make a complete "James Hunt" of himself, i am surprised i haven`t been given credit for giving them the nod.
If any one does want to claim credit for any further articles this may prove useful.
Editorial
Private Eye
6 Carlisle Street, London, W1D 3BN, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7437 4017
Fax: +44 (0)20 7437 0705
Email: strobes@private-eye.co.uk
Many of Private Eye stories come from free lance jouros. I happen to know of one who reads the Hartlepool Post on a regular basis. I'm sure we'll see more of HBC in 'Rotton Boroughs' in the coming months.
The problem for the SCABs is they are now in the spotlight. The last thing they want is someone looking over their shoulder and you can bet they are furious at the publicity. Ainslie may have thought he was being clever with his smart-ar*se response but all he has done is goad the eye into keeping a closer 'eye' on him. It may have played well with the nodding donkeys but it was obviously a very bad move on his part.
The Eye are on to them and we can expect even closer scrutiny. The Rotten Boroughs section is not a page devoted to funny or humorous stories but dedicated to exposing some very heavy corruption in Local Government. People have gone to jail because of their stories so you can bet the fat boys are running scared.
There is Angie's trial to look forward to as well.............
Sounds like you're having an 'I'm Spartacus' moment, Fred.
The bottom line is that the column is called 'Rotten Boroughs' and is read from Cornwall to Sutherland. Six appearances is NOT good news no matter how many long-lost friends Ainslie manages to locate - silly bugger.
Someone who knows CAB well once told me that he is the classical attention seeker and loves to be in the spotlight.
Well it's shining on you and yours now, Spikey ::)
Just as an aside, has anyone got an update of Wilcox? Seems to be deathly quiet and I'm wary of the whole thing being steered down the 'insufficient evidence' route.
Quote from: steveL on August 20, 2014, 11: PM
Sounds like you're having an 'I'm Spartacus' moment, Fred.
The bottom line is that the column is called 'Rotten Boroughs' and is read from Cornwall to Sutherland. Six appearances is NOT good news no matter how many long-lost friends Ainslie manages to locate - silly bugger.
Someone who knows CAB well once told me that he is the classical attention seeker and loves to be in the spotlight.
Well it's shining on you and yours now, Spikey ::)
Just as an aside, has anyone got an update of Wilcox? Seems to be deathly quiet and I'm wary of the whole thing being steered down the 'insufficient evidence' route.
Nahhhhh not really steve.... but paranoia is endemic within the "Dear Leaders" visionary cadre, there are any number of people who are fed up with the way the town is going down hill.
Not sure HMRC would be willing to let a large NI avoidance go without an appearance before the beak either.
If I had a long lost 'friend' I hadn't seen for nearly half a century appearing appearing in 'Rotten Boroughs' .... they'd remain a long lost friend.
'Lucky' Jim Anslie's fame and fortune has even found its way to South Yorkshire (Mad Dogs home patch, I'm told she is fondly remembered, irony).
South Yorkshire News
Did Colleagues Plot Behind His Back?
In these troubled times we expect our councils to come clean on what they plan for our future. Many people in Sheffield imagined the city council had adopted a policy of speed restrictions on the M1 to try and reduce the dangerous level of air pollution on the eastern side of the city. That's what they imagined. Then the truth started to come out.
Safeguarding Jobs for the Boys...And Girls
Earlier this year we highlighted the past career of Clair Pyper, who had been appointed Interim Director of Safeguarding Children and Families at Rotherham. She had a very, very black mark at the side of her name in her previous job with the council in Slough. Such a dark mark that we wondered how she could have been considered for a job with a council that had serious problems with child sex exploitation. Now we know more.
Who Owns Rotherham Houses?
There are a lot of questions about who is making money out of the Roma families who are living in the Eastwood district of Rotherham. We are told that all the terraced houses that have been let to these families are in private hands, so any housing benefit from the public sector is going into the pockets of the private sector. We are also told of a sale of leases on just one road that took place two years ago. That makes interesting reading.
Councils Now Agreeing To Meet Debt
Well, the long running stand-off by Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham over money Sheffield claimed they owed to clear the outstanding debt of South Yorkshire Trading Standards Unit looks set to be drawing to a close. Two of the three councils have agreed to pay up. But there are questions over why the Serious Fraud Office was not still involved.
To read these stories, go to Tales From The Town Hall.
News From Around The Country
Officers Ruling The Roost
Here we go again: senior officers ignoring elected members, doing as they please and running up massive bills. As per usual, inviting their mates in from the private sector as consultants. This time it's at Warwickshire County Council and councillors only found out what was going on because some public-spirited staff member leaked a report to the local newspaper.
Chief Executive Told To Stay At Home
Strange goings on down in Pembrokeshire, where the county council has told its chief executive, Bryn Parry-Jones, to go and sit at home for a while. He has certainly been keeping journalists in that neck of the woods occupied with a string of stories, from pension payments described as "illegal" to a hunt for a whistleblower.
No Shame In This Council Chamber
We told you about Hartlepool councillors and the way they "interpreted" the recommendations of their Independent Remuneration Panel. That was originally in the Hartlepool Post, a really good website which has good contacts within the council, and was picked up by Private Eye magazine. Instead of keeping his mouth shut, one councillor had to stand up at the next council meeting and....well, read for yourselves.
Taxing Time For Councillors
Nothing grates more than councillors not paying their council tax. Then there's another twist when the council refuses to identify which councillor is pocketing their allowance but using none of it to pay council tax. There's been a right barney going on in Bolton after the local newspaper discovered two councillors had been behind with their tax. One has come clean, but the other's still in hiding.
To read these stories, go to Tales From The Town Hall. http://www.talesfromthetownhall.co.uk/national-news.html