Extraordinary Council Meeting March 12th

mk1 · March 13, 2015, 06: PM

How many of the Labour turncoats are up for election this year?

Foggy · March 13, 2015, 10: PM

I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong but I believe there are:

6 Labour (Hall, Beck, Cook, Payne, Cranney, Barclay)
2 independents (Hargreaves, Thompson)
2 PHF (Lilley, Dawkins)
1 Tory (Morris)

So make that 7 Labour. It's going to be a real struggle to get rid of as many as is needed to tip the balance but this will be the best chance there has been for a while. Lilley and Thompson standing down will not help but if they can be replaced with strong candidates then hopefully those seats won't go to Labour.

Regarding the meeting last night... Unfortunately I couldn't make it but I have watched two different videos.

Firstly, I can't help but wonder why the four Labour Councillors voted for the referendum in the second vote. Call me cynical but I'm struggling to believe they were genuine. Only one of them is up for re-election (Hall). Any ideas?

One of the most ridiculous moments was obviously (I sound like Devlin!) SAB deciding that the second motion had been defeated without even bothering to tally the votes. He must have ran out of fingers and toes to count on! I wonder if he was on 'autopilot' or he genuinely thought he could move the meeting quickly along without anyone noticing a problem. Either way it is just more evidence of his incompetence.

Speaking of which, Paul Thompson has mentioned on Facebook that a motion has been put forward by Independents and PHF for a vote of no confidence in the Mayor at the next meeting on the 26th. Looking forward to that one.

minime · March 13, 2015, 10: PM

Did Ainslie genuinely vote for the motion or did he, as some people have suggested, get confused and/or nod off?

It was unfortunate that Councillor Hargreaves wasn't able to attend the meeting as that would have made things very interesting indeed. Labour would have got the shock of their life!

Having said that I'm sure we know which way Sirs and Fleet would have voted if they were there.

grim reaper · March 14, 2015, 06: AM

The 'vote' was sussed out prior to the meeting. (The usual ploy).

Because so many members of the public were expected, they were trying to lessen the effect of ALL labour voting against, so they had a number of 'patsy's' ready.

Cllr Brash was very good, he knows exactly what they are and what disingenuous strokes they pull, prior to a meeting.
He should, he was once one of them!

He was also right to question the veracity of their intentions regarding the return of our hospital.
In Sept. 2013 the Labour group (along with the 3 stooges) voted AGAINST a motion to refer the loss of our hospital to the Sec. of State!!!

Then there's Stalin's love child, who 'forgot' to post the letter to the trust Board.

Plus they made a play of the 12,000 signature petition from the Hartlepool Fail and how that is so important to their moves to have services returned.
What about the 30,000 PLUS signatures that were collected a couple of years ago, WHICH THEY IGNORED COMPLETELY?!!!

Why were NONE OF THEM on the march to the Cenotaph a couple of years ago?

Stubbs says people are cynical. When it comes to the liars and chancers in that building, we have every right to be!

We need more 'fresh blood', the likes of D. Riddle. In such a short time he has lifted some stones in that chamber and the rot is exposed for all to see.

Brash, Riddle and Thompson...what a good team that could have been.

Lord Elpus · March 14, 2015, 07: AM

I understand the five Labour dissenter's were asked to meet with the SCAB's, Richardson and Cook on Friday morning.

I hope the gang of five had the balls to tell them all to ---- --- (4, 3, clue; involves sex and travel).

The SCAB's are losing control, they know it, their group know it and the people of Hartlepool know it. Its only a question of time before they get shafted by their own Party.

The 'notice of motion' at the Council meeting of the 26th calls for a vote of no confidence in SAB as Chairman of Council. If there was a free vote he'd be lucky to get 5 votes from his own group (not counting Wells and co).

He'll be saved by a Labour group whip, or will he?

steveL · March 14, 2015, 08: AM

I think Ainslie was undone by the alphabet. In a recorded vote, his is the first name to be called out and he didn't know which way to respond to Brash's amendment. Watch the video and the frantic attempts by CAB to 'guide' him... As for the other Labour councillors who broke ranks, their votes came after CAB's, so one can only assume that they knew exactly what they were doing.

I don't think Grim Reaper is right in saying that it was all pre-planned. The numbers were far too tight to play games, as we saw by the tied vote.

Clark was cracking jokes about being called into Room 101 the following morning - he got that one right.

Will someone remind me who the five actually were. I got Ainslie, Clark and Hall but I couldn't hear some of the others.

steveL · March 14, 2015, 08: AM

A word of thanks to whoever shot the video. For once, both excellent sound and video quality and now available to anyone in Hartlepool who couldn't make it to the meeting.

fred c · March 14, 2015, 08: AM

Thomas was 1 not sure about the other....

But if the last 3 or 4 meetings are anything to go by the meeting on the 26th could well see the complete meltdown of the chairmanship of the council, either that or the Gavel will disintergrate.

Do they have a standby Gavel ? the present one has had an awful lot battering over the last few weeks.

Ditto the video coverage, extremely good picture & sound quality..... not sure the TorLab Mob will appreciate it though.

fred c · March 14, 2015, 08: AM

Quote from: Lord Elpus on March 14, 2015, 07: AM
I understand the five Labour dissenter's were asked to meet with the SCAB's, Richardson and Cook on Friday morning.

I hope the gang of five had the balls to tell them all to ---- --- (4, 3, clue; involves sex and travel).

The SCAB's are losing control, they know it, their group know it and the people of Hartlepool know it. Its only a question of time before they get shafted by their own Party.

The 'notice of motion' at the Council meeting of the 26th calls for a vote of no confidence in SAB as Chairman of Council. If there was a free vote he'd be lucky to get 5 votes from his own group (not counting Wells and co).

He'll be saved by a Labour group whip, or will he?

Just occured to me...... with the above motion on the Agenda, will "Handsome Ste" actually be in the Hot Seat or would it be prudent for Mary Fleet to chair the meeting ?

Foggy · March 14, 2015, 10: AM

I think after the last time Labour will do some sort of jiggery pokery to ensure poor Mary doesn't go through that again. No doubt Carl will step up. Incidentally, did anyone notice in the meeting when Carl was speaking and the public were a little 'disgruntled' that SAB tried to quieten them on several occasions and Carl told him it was OK (or something similar). I got the impression that Carl was more frustrated at SAB's interruptions than the public's.

I don't remember there being a fifth Labour 'for' but I may have missed it as it was difficult to hear in places.

I do agree Fred that the 26th could see SAB finally meltdown. I noticed a change in his demeanour and tone of voice in the video of Thursday's meeting. I couldn't quite work out what it was though. Was he just taking a 'say what you like I'm not bothered' approach or was it that he was finally resigned to his fate?

Hartlepudlion · March 14, 2015, 10: AM

Don't forget Mary is Deputy Mayor-cum-Chairman and will be taking over both positions in May. Unless of Labour skulduggery or will they separate the two positions! Poor Mary, if I was her I'd pull a sickie - just like the present holder is expert in.

marky · March 14, 2015, 11: AM

"As council meetings go, this particular Thespian offering ticked several of the required boxes for a long run: elegant monologues, declining political careers, sexual slurs, intrigue and even a cliff- hanger. Some of the crowd scenes, particularly in the final scenes, would rival Les Miserables best efforts. "

"As a strategy for the forthcoming elections, we have to assume that the audience breaking into a sustained chant of 'LABOUR OUT' was an indication of yet another Calamity Chris failure."

http://www.hartlepoolpost.co.uk/a%20night%20of%20pure%20theatre.htm

testing times · March 14, 2015, 01: PM

Excellent read.

Lord Elpus · March 14, 2015, 01: PM

I know Cllr Christoper Ackers-Beltcher does not like being called 'Calamity Chris'. It's unfortunate when a names just sticks, but sometimes a nickname is just so apt.

Tee_Ess_25er · March 14, 2015, 03: PM

Damn I continue to mix up SAB with CAB, obviously it was CAB that gave the speech and also I didn't realise the plural of referendum was referanda, I guess you still can learn something new everyday.
Thanks for using parts of my original post on this topic for a front page news item but I thought it only polite credit should have been given to contributors?