Friday, January 08, 2010

What a No-Frills Tory Council Looks Like!



24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can you do one on what a nepotistic council looks like with greedy Labour councillors taking millions in allowances since 2006? You, know Labour-run Newham????

No frills, just avarice

John Gray said...

Hi Tory anon

So you support the Tories who want to cut basic services to the poor and suck up to the rich?

BTW News to me that Tory Councillors don't claim allowances? (nor from their trusts funds!)

Anonymous said...

lets take the allowances of tory leaders v labour
strangly the tories are much higher

government by the rich
for the rich

Anonymous said...

oh you mean the ones that won't give £50 clothing allowances for Newham's poorest kids, like Lyn Brown has asked but can spend £3.7 million on councillors?

No frills, just avarice

Mike Law said...

No they're not.

Anonymous said...

Just to clarify, I was referring to Anon's comment (Jan 8 23:28).

Tories do not have a higher rate of allowances as can be seen here.

In Newham in particular, there is an abundance of "special responsibility" allowances doled out by the Mayor to his mates.

Back in February 2005, I submitted a 150 page, 1211 question document to the mayor's office asking if his "advisors" had achieved all the date specific targets and aims as outlined in their respective portfolios - the mayor refused to respond to the enquiry.

Furthermore, two "advisors" swapped portfolios; one portfolio had a £30k "allowance" the other £18K - the allowances a supposed to be specific to the requirements of each portfolio. However, the allowances travelled with the "advisors" so their money remained the same.

Go figure.

John Gray said...

Yes they do see your own link. Croydon.

Anonymous said...

I've looked a Croydon and it in some ways it is comparable.

Croydon have 70 elected members. Of those 42 are Conservative and 25 are Labour.

The Conservative Leader of the Council gets around £26,000 less than the Mayor of Newham. The Labour Leader of the opposition gets £20,000 more than Alan Craig.

Croydon has a Conservative Cabinet of 10 members (including the Leader) and a Labour Shadow Cabinet of 10.

Remind me John, how many Mayoral Advisors are there on Newham Council?

Croydon seems, on the face of it, a bit more like a democracy than Newham.

Anonymous said...

Exactly what are you trying to say? That roads will not be gritted?. Mnny importants roads in Newham are still in a mess. Forgotten communities!

Anonymous said...

the evening standards shows that on average in London Tories claim more than Labour councillors

Mike Law said...

Anon. 11: 21

That may well be the case, and shame on them.

However, of all the authorities across the country with directly elected Mayors, Newham is the only one that has such a high number of elected members on allowances generated by the mayor.

Here's a point I put to the mayor face-to-face: why do you need so many "advisors" on special allowances? As we are all Labour members (I was at that time), why do you need to award allowances just for advice?

My point was that we were all Labour members working in the best interest of the borough and should offer up advice without the need for a financial incentive. I did add that the only justification I could see for any extra allowance above that of the basic allowance would be if a member was prepared to take on the role full-time. I would say that an extra £4,000 should cover that.

However, what do have is at least 4 full-time councillors (Baikie, Desai, Crawford and Corbett) all on an extra £30,000 a year.

Anonymous said...

The eveniong standard shows that on average Conservatives claim more than Labour - what a load of old rubbish - what about the fact that "on average" the Police are investigating more Labour MP's for fraudualent claims for expenses than they are conservatives.

John Gray said...

Hi Anon

Er - I'm not sure you are right and not making excuses...but there are also dare I say a lot more Labour MPs than Tories in this Parliament (or Duckhouses)?

Did that not even occur to you?

John Gray said...

Hi anon 23.33

Newham main routes are fine. I driven all over the borough.

Typical Tory whinging.

Mike Law said...

What? No pithy rebuttal of my comments about allowances in Newham?

Anonymous said...

zac s money and ashcroft money

might see many more tories before the police

government by the rich for the rich

Mike Law said...

Still no reply to my comments on Newham allowances?

John Gray said...

Hi Mike

I think I have several times.

Mike Law said...

I don't thinks so.

No comments about the facts re Croydon?

No comment about the number of Mayoral advisors in Newham?

John Gray said...

Hi Mike

No, life too short

Anonymous said...

John = "Hi anon 23.33

Newham main routes are fine. I driven all over the borough.

Typical Tory whinging."

That is rubbish. The main roads where okay, but residential streets were dangerous. When driving, I turned left and the car lost control and climbed onto the curb. Would you still be bragging, if I had into a pedestrian or crashed into another car head on?

My car has M+S tyres (all season), so it supposed to have better grip on snow/ice then standard tyres. I can assure, you that I was barely driving at 2-3mph.

All junctions and give-way lines should have been cleared of snow.

John Gray said...

Hi anon
I was responding to comment:-

"Exactly what are you trying to say? That roads will not be gritted?. Mnny importants roads in Newham are still in a mess. Forgotten communities!

And I responded “Newham main routes are fine. I driven all over the borough.

Typical Tory whinging."

BTW Skidding at 2mph? Have you passed your test?

I repeat “Typical Tory whinging”.

Anonymous said...

It is rather sad, you would dismisss my comment as lies. It is clear from your comments that winning political points in more important then honesty and the health and safety of newham residents. What if had been your loved one on the pavement and my car lost control and hit her/him?.

If you say all newham road were gritted, then you have no problem in telling your chums in the road gritting department that the last 50 yards of any give way junction or any t-junction should be clear of ice and also any roads on a gradient because ice does not provide any grip. So that when cars brake, they it does not skid.

I don't care if the roads are not gritted on the straight parts of the road.

I am not going to bother informing my local councillors they are good at fobbing off issues to some lowly person in customer services.

John Gray said...

Hi Anon
You are now just being childish and very silly. Read what I have actually posted.

Just go and see your Labour Cllrs and tell them the areas you feel were not gritted properly and I am sure they will sort it out.