Surely worth a mention in 'Private Eye'...

[mk1]

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.                       

[steveL]

I know it's been said many times before but......you really couldn't make it up, could you? 

[Tommy]

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?

[steveL]

....... 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?

[DRiddle]

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

[fred c]

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
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[Lord Elpus]

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.

[mk1]

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.............

[steveL]

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.

[fred c]

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.

[Inspector Knacker]

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.

[Lord Elpus]

'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

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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

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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