Tag Archives: barnet council

Local liberal heroes: Monroe Palmer

Earlier in the year, I penned a series of posts profiling forgotten liberal heroes (to which a couple of other people also kindly contributed), looking at some of those who achieved great things for liberalism in their time but have been unjustly forgotten – such as Margaret Wintringham, the very first female Liberal MP.

There is also another group of people who I think are often unjustly obscure – those local campaigners who are often at the heart of their local community and local party, delivering liberalism and helping others, but as their stage is a local one they are often

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European voters can be important to electoral success in local elections

As part of a 3-year London-wide initiative Liberal Democrats sought to connect with European voters who do not have a vote in UK General Elections. The European Voter Initiative (EUVI) was organised mainly by Dinti Batstone running up to the last European elections. On the back of specific fund-raising there was a vibrant contacting of European, non-UK, voters thus increasing the Liberal Democrat turnout in certain geographical areas for the European Elections. At the end of that campaign, out of funds that were available, a prize of £500 was offered to the local party which put together a specific campaign …

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Conservative politician accused of threatening charity

Adam Bienkov has the story which involves, surprise, Conservative London Assembly member Brian Coleman:

Boris Johnson’s fire chief was questioned by police this week after a woman accused him of a threatening and “intimidating” phone call.

Independent candidate Linda Edwards, who runs a charity linked to Barnet council claims Brian Coleman warned it would:

“suffer after the election” because of her candidacy and added it is “now open season for everyone to have a knock at you and The Larches will suffer…“After the call I felt he was trying to get me to pull out and not stand for the council. I

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Barnet’s DIY war memorials

Tory-run Barnet Council is the home of ‘easy council’, the idea that council tax payers pay extra to get the standard of service they should already be getting by default, and has come up with a new money saving idea!

In a report published last month Barnet Council has decided that it will not be responsible for the update of the borough’s war memorials to include the names of service men and women who gave their lives since the memorial was built. Any proposed additions must be paid for by those who want the names added and there must be no additional maintenance costs.

It doesn’t stop there. Barnet Council …

Posted in Local government and Op-eds | Also tagged | 4 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 17 January 2010

It’s Sunday. It’s 7am. It’s time for a trip down political memory lane, but first the news.

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here’s are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

Spotted any other great posts in the last day from blogs that aren’t on the aggregator? Do post up a comment sharing them with us all.

2 Big Stories

Consideration of new Iran sanctions has begun

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Councillors in the news: Barnet and Stoke

Via Liberal England we have:

Golders Green Tory Christopher Harris has been travelling Down Under since July on an “extended holiday” but has still managed to hang on to his job.

Despite being 10,000 miles away in a country with a 10-hour time difference, Cllr Harris is still claiming more than £800 a month in a council allowance to serve residents.

And then via Pits’n’Pots:

Mike Barnes’s future as Labour Group Leader hangs in the balance as the party’s National Executive have placed him under ‘administrative suspension’ with immediate effect.

Yesterday, Mike Barnes admitted to impersonating someone from this website to try

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Daily View 2×2: 30 August 2009

2 Big Stories


Sunday Times: Lockerbie bomber ‘set free for oil’

Today’s Times has the big story:

The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal. Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards.

The letters were sent two years ago by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to Kenny MacAskill, his counterpart in Scotland, who has been widely criticised for taking the formal decision to permit Megrahi’s release. The correspondence makes it plain that the key decision to include Megrahi in a deal with Libya to allow prisoners to return home was, in fact, taken in London for British national interests.

The Lib Dems Ed Davey – who has been leading the campaign for full disclosure over Mr Al Megrahi’s release – is quoted by the paper:

This is the strongest evidence yet that the British government has been involved for a long time in talks over al-Megrahi in which commercial considerations have been central to their thinking.”

Brown’s surprise Afghanistan trip scuppers Cameron

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Will Tory Barnet’s ‘Ryanair Council’ model backfire?

There’s been plenty of reaction to yesterday’s Guardian story in which Tory-controlled Barnet council revelled in their plans to adopt the practices of no-frills airlines like Ryanair in their delivery of local services:

Barnet wants householders to pay extra to jump the queue for planning consents, in the way budget airlines charge extra for priority boarding. And as budget airline passengers choose to spend their budget on either flying at peaktime or having an in-flight meal, recipients of adult social care in Barnet will choose to spend a limited budget on whether to have a cleaner or a respite carer or even a holiday to Eastbourne. Other examples of proposed reforms include reducing the size of waste bins to minimise the cost of council rubbish collections.

The proposals are being seen as an example of “new Conservatism” which is spreading among Tory-controlled boroughs. Observers believe “radical outriders” such as Barnet offer a glimpse of how a David Cameron government could overhaul public service provision in an era of heavy spending cuts.

The Evening Standard’s Paul Waugh has dug out a couple of revealing quotes, first from Tory Barnet councillor John Hart:

With council tenants, and I’ll admit I am putting it crudely, it has been a lot of ‘my arse needs wiping, and somebody from the council can come and do it for me’.”

Posted in Local government and News | Also tagged , , , , and | 4 Comments

The latest goings on in Barnet

The Tories running the London Borough of Barnet do not appear to be reading from the same script as Mr Cameron when it comes to spending tax payers’ money. LDV has previously reported on some of the antics of new Barnet Mayor and London Assembly member Brian Coleman.

An update on the Not the Barnet Times blog would appear to indicate that Mike Freer, leader of Barnet Council and Tory PPC for Finchley and Golders Green, has some questions to answer as well.

It is interesting to note that the author of

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