I was much amused in an exasperated sort of way, to hear Boris Johnson blathering on last week about ‘sex workers’ and the alleged threat they pose to the London Olympic Games in 2012 claiming that
“Major sporting events are often linked to an upsurge in demand for prostitution”.
Naturally he declined to provide any evidence to support this ridiculous claim which ranks him alongside Labour MP Dennis MacShane and the ArchSelfPublicist of York, Dr John Sentamu, who also declined to provide any evidence for their claims that the 2012 games would attract large numbers of prostitutes and thus the attention of human traffickers.
While I applaud their efforts to raise public awareness of human trafficking, I’m inclined to suspect that in this particular case it is simply wishful thinking on their part as all the available evidence suggests quite the opposite.
Criminals like easy profits, the bigger the better, and with the Olympic Games being pretty much a family affair, they are unlikely to attract the sort of clientèle which would enable the traffickers to recoup their ‘investment’.
As for the other major sporting events, the overwhelming quantity of evidence available clearly shows that the only time football fans have any kind of interpersonal contact - intimate or otherwise - with other people who are not football fans is when there is no football to watch.
No. These are not extremists, most of whom starved to death within weeks of the advent of 24hour football television channels - although there are rumours that some may have held out for nearly a month. They are simply ‘ordinary’ football fans who are unfortunately, still living and breeding in our towns and cities.
I realise that might give some people the impression that I dislike football which is not the case. Of course I like football. I’m English aren’t I?
The problem is that the majority of football fans take it far too seriously. Anyone who was around in the 70s and early 80s doesn’t need me to remind them just how bad it was. It’s certainly no co-incidence that I and many other ‘casual’ fans stopped going to football matches at that time.
But even then, we went to watch football not find prostitutes.
Tuesday 12 October 2010
Thursday 7 October 2010
Downfall (ACS Law remix)
Some of you may have seen the Gordon Brown parodies based on the bunker scene from the film Downfall featuring Adolf Hitler as Gordon Brown.
I found most of them quite amusing but the real Gordon Brown’s reaction to them was much, much better. To paraphrase Queen Victoria, he was not amused. After viewing one in particular he then ‘parodied the parody’ so to speak, by have a temper tantrum much like that depicted.
Which led me to wonder - after I had stopped laughing of course - what Andrew Crossley’s reaction would be to the following video I was sent a couple of days ago.
From what I’ve read in his emails I suspect it may be somewhat similar to that of Gordon Brown.
I found most of them quite amusing but the real Gordon Brown’s reaction to them was much, much better. To paraphrase Queen Victoria, he was not amused. After viewing one in particular he then ‘parodied the parody’ so to speak, by have a temper tantrum much like that depicted.
Which led me to wonder - after I had stopped laughing of course - what Andrew Crossley’s reaction would be to the following video I was sent a couple of days ago.
From what I’ve read in his emails I suspect it may be somewhat similar to that of Gordon Brown.
Wednesday 6 October 2010
Artchas Coart Skool
By now everyone has no doubt heard about the ‘incident’ at Archers Court or as it is now known Dover Christchurch Academy.
There’s certainly been enough coverage of it in the media with some ‘parents’ actually supporting the actions of the pupils.
What hasn’t received much in the way of media attention is the injuries sustained by staff and pupils who refused to take part or were otherwise uninvolved. Nor has there been any significant coverage of the ongoing harassment and assaults on those pupils.
While I can’t say very much as I don’t wish to risk prejudicing the ongoing investigation. I’m sure it will come as no surprise to learn that this is due for the most part to pressure from KCC to ‘play it down’. One media outlet, the KM Group, actually went so far as to falsely claim that no one had been injured.
Naturally KCC are claiming this is for the benefit of the pupils and not simply to spare them the embarassment of having yet again failed miserably to address the ongoing problem of Archers Court.
As for those ‘parents’ who expressed their support. These are the same ones who support the closure of both grammar schools and Astor College because - they claim - it gives the pupils who attend them an “unfair advantage”.
By “unfair advantage” I suspect they mean it’s depriving their children of the opportunity to persecute anyone younger, smaller or more intelligent than them without fear of reprisal as they themselves did for far, far too many years.
There’s certainly been enough coverage of it in the media with some ‘parents’ actually supporting the actions of the pupils.
What hasn’t received much in the way of media attention is the injuries sustained by staff and pupils who refused to take part or were otherwise uninvolved. Nor has there been any significant coverage of the ongoing harassment and assaults on those pupils.
While I can’t say very much as I don’t wish to risk prejudicing the ongoing investigation. I’m sure it will come as no surprise to learn that this is due for the most part to pressure from KCC to ‘play it down’. One media outlet, the KM Group, actually went so far as to falsely claim that no one had been injured.
Naturally KCC are claiming this is for the benefit of the pupils and not simply to spare them the embarassment of having yet again failed miserably to address the ongoing problem of Archers Court.
As for those ‘parents’ who expressed their support. These are the same ones who support the closure of both grammar schools and Astor College because - they claim - it gives the pupils who attend them an “unfair advantage”.
By “unfair advantage” I suspect they mean it’s depriving their children of the opportunity to persecute anyone younger, smaller or more intelligent than them without fear of reprisal as they themselves did for far, far too many years.
Thursday 30 September 2010
Poetic Justice
My techie friend has been having a whale of a time after some idiot at ACS Law made an unencrypted backup containing a substantial quantity of their emails available on their website last week.
As some people may already know, ACS Law is the London based law firm run by Andrew Crossley which has become notorious for it's abuse of the legal system to extort money from people accused - wrongly in many cases - of copyright infringement.
An abuse which has been condemned by members of the House of Lords and the BPI. Although I suspect that in the case of the latter they foresaw what would eventually happen and were simply trying to avoid being hit by flying excrement when it finally hit the fan.
Below is a list of links - provided by the aforementioned techno-rabbi - to articles covering the contents of the emails in far greater detail than I could manage. The file contains nearly 7000 documents and even with the best will in the world, it would quite impossible to do more than skim the surface in the limited time I could scrounge from my many other commitments.
However there was a couple of things which caught my attention.
One of Andrew Crossley’s ‘copyright’ clients is none other than Anna Span, a.k.a. Anna Arrowsmith. Pornographer and the very well publicised Lib-Dem PPC for Gravesham in the general election.
I suspect that their leadership may be regretting that particular piece of 'open mindedness' given their very public opposition to Andrew Crossley and his ilk. After all, it was a Lib-Dem Peer who compared Andrew Crossley and ACS Law to “rogue wheel-clampers”.
And how about this for sheer bloody cheek.
How about a complaint to the sra that this lady - who is a solicitor - is bringing the profession into disrepute? She is issuing misleading information that is slanted and innaccurate and it leads people she does not act for to disregard a matter that could end up in court. She is a total disgrace.
Andrew J. Crossley
Principal
ACS Law Solicitors
My overall impression of Andrew Crossley from his emails is that of a ‘Del-Boy' of the legal profession. A shady 'wheeler and dealer' who's not above bending, perhaps even breaking, the law to earn a little money.
However there is one very, very significant difference.
Del-Boy as portrayed by actor David Jason was basically a decent person trying to do his best for a younger brother and an elderly relative in a run-down area of south London full of con-artists, crooks and corrupt coppers.
Andrew Crossley is not.
Following the revelations detailed in the articles linked below, it should come as no surprise that most of the ISPs targeted by Andrew Crossley have now 'suspended cooperation’ citing security concerns. The single exception to this is Entanet which is continuing to ‘cooperate’ at this time.
BT have also said that it would resist efforts to share more customer details until it could be sure that “alleged copyright infringements have some basis and customers are treated fairly"
It’s a pity they didn’t think that way before but with their own balls in the wringer over having sent the data unencrypted they, like most of the ISPs involved, are now bending over backwards in a futile attempt to distance themselves from ACS Law.
And finally, to add insult to a well deserved injury, a group calling themselves “Wankers” - apparently in reference to Andrew Crossley’s childish threat to sue Slyck.com over a forum post calling him a wanker - has put together a ‘megapack’ containing all of the music which Andrew Crossley is using as a pretext to send his threatening letters and made it available on a range of filesharing platforms.
New 4chan DDoS Targets Hated Anti-Piracy Law Firm
Piracy threats lawyer mocks 4chan DDoS attack
ACS:Law Anti-Piracy Law Firm Torn Apart By Leaked Emails
ACS:Law (Gay) Porn Letters Target Pensioners, Married Men
Leaked Emails Reveal Profits of Anti-Piracy Cash Scheme
High-Profile, High Damages File-Sharing ‘Conviction’ Was a Farce
Anti-piracy lawyers' email database leaked after hack
ACS:Law's mocking of 4chan could cost it £500k
The "legal blackmail" business: inside a P2P settlement factory
P2P settlement factory expects £10 million from... mailing letters
Pirates release ACS:Law 'megapack' of music
As some people may already know, ACS Law is the London based law firm run by Andrew Crossley which has become notorious for it's abuse of the legal system to extort money from people accused - wrongly in many cases - of copyright infringement.
An abuse which has been condemned by members of the House of Lords and the BPI. Although I suspect that in the case of the latter they foresaw what would eventually happen and were simply trying to avoid being hit by flying excrement when it finally hit the fan.
Below is a list of links - provided by the aforementioned techno-rabbi - to articles covering the contents of the emails in far greater detail than I could manage. The file contains nearly 7000 documents and even with the best will in the world, it would quite impossible to do more than skim the surface in the limited time I could scrounge from my many other commitments.
However there was a couple of things which caught my attention.
One of Andrew Crossley’s ‘copyright’ clients is none other than Anna Span, a.k.a. Anna Arrowsmith. Pornographer and the very well publicised Lib-Dem PPC for Gravesham in the general election.
I suspect that their leadership may be regretting that particular piece of 'open mindedness' given their very public opposition to Andrew Crossley and his ilk. After all, it was a Lib-Dem Peer who compared Andrew Crossley and ACS Law to “rogue wheel-clampers”.
And how about this for sheer bloody cheek.
How about a complaint to the sra that this lady - who is a solicitor - is bringing the profession into disrepute? She is issuing misleading information that is slanted and innaccurate and it leads people she does not act for to disregard a matter that could end up in court. She is a total disgrace.
Andrew J. Crossley
Principal
ACS Law Solicitors
My overall impression of Andrew Crossley from his emails is that of a ‘Del-Boy' of the legal profession. A shady 'wheeler and dealer' who's not above bending, perhaps even breaking, the law to earn a little money.
However there is one very, very significant difference.
Del-Boy as portrayed by actor David Jason was basically a decent person trying to do his best for a younger brother and an elderly relative in a run-down area of south London full of con-artists, crooks and corrupt coppers.
Andrew Crossley is not.
Following the revelations detailed in the articles linked below, it should come as no surprise that most of the ISPs targeted by Andrew Crossley have now 'suspended cooperation’ citing security concerns. The single exception to this is Entanet which is continuing to ‘cooperate’ at this time.
BT have also said that it would resist efforts to share more customer details until it could be sure that “alleged copyright infringements have some basis and customers are treated fairly"
It’s a pity they didn’t think that way before but with their own balls in the wringer over having sent the data unencrypted they, like most of the ISPs involved, are now bending over backwards in a futile attempt to distance themselves from ACS Law.
And finally, to add insult to a well deserved injury, a group calling themselves “Wankers” - apparently in reference to Andrew Crossley’s childish threat to sue Slyck.com over a forum post calling him a wanker - has put together a ‘megapack’ containing all of the music which Andrew Crossley is using as a pretext to send his threatening letters and made it available on a range of filesharing platforms.
New 4chan DDoS Targets Hated Anti-Piracy Law Firm
Piracy threats lawyer mocks 4chan DDoS attack
ACS:Law Anti-Piracy Law Firm Torn Apart By Leaked Emails
ACS:Law (Gay) Porn Letters Target Pensioners, Married Men
Leaked Emails Reveal Profits of Anti-Piracy Cash Scheme
High-Profile, High Damages File-Sharing ‘Conviction’ Was a Farce
Anti-piracy lawyers' email database leaked after hack
ACS:Law's mocking of 4chan could cost it £500k
The "legal blackmail" business: inside a P2P settlement factory
P2P settlement factory expects £10 million from... mailing letters
Pirates release ACS:Law 'megapack' of music
Thursday 23 September 2010
oops...
My wife and I had dinner last night with some friends from London, one of whom is a senior surgical registrar at a teaching hospital.
The conversation naturally turned to the Pope’s visit which had caused the hospital a few problems. Along with staff demanding time off for “religious reasons" - not all of whom were Catholic it seems - there was the inevitable traffic congestion and a veritable flood of minor injuries sustained in the ‘crush’.
I happened to mention that a senior Vatican official had claimed the HIV virus could easily pass through the pores of a condom. Something which had resurfaced amongst the fringe coverage of the Pope’s visit.
The look of utter disgust on his face was truly something to behold, as were his words.
“Jesus Christ! I thought priests were supposed to be educated men!”
There really wasn’t anything I could have said to that even if I hadn’t been laughing my head off along with everyone else.
The conversation naturally turned to the Pope’s visit which had caused the hospital a few problems. Along with staff demanding time off for “religious reasons" - not all of whom were Catholic it seems - there was the inevitable traffic congestion and a veritable flood of minor injuries sustained in the ‘crush’.
I happened to mention that a senior Vatican official had claimed the HIV virus could easily pass through the pores of a condom. Something which had resurfaced amongst the fringe coverage of the Pope’s visit.
The look of utter disgust on his face was truly something to behold, as were his words.
“Jesus Christ! I thought priests were supposed to be educated men!”
There really wasn’t anything I could have said to that even if I hadn’t been laughing my head off along with everyone else.
Monday 20 September 2010
Staine Resistant
I was at a Labour Party ‘thing’ last week and despite the change in leadership, little else seems to have changed.
I’m still a traditional socialist and the neo-tory fascists of new labour are still treating me like the victim of a horrendously disfiguring and highly contagious disease.
But I was expecting that of course. It’s something I’ve gotten used to and quite frankly, I would be very concerned if they suddenly started treating me like a colleague again.
What I wasn’t expecting was to run into Paul Staines, author of the Guido Fawkes blog. After all, he’s probably one of the very few people the new labour mob hate more than socialists.
Being unable to avoid or escape him due to the circumstances, I was forced to listen to him whining on and on about the Islamification of England and how the pope’s plans for “re-Catholicisation” were our only hope of survival. This was followed by a rant about the “Atheist Bigoted Media” and their campaign of hatred against the pope.
Bigoted? From a ‘man’ who had just spent what seemed like an incredibly long ten minutes lecturing me on the evils of Islam?
To make matters worse, he was doing this in defence of child abusers and the man who protected them. Joseph Ratzinger, an anti-Semitic bigot who as head of the Inquisition - now known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - personally signed the orders that priests accused of sexual offences against children should not be surrendered to the authorities.
It could be suggested that his highly inebriated condition had something to do with this ‘outburst’ but he’s always like this. Mind you I’ve rarely seen him in any other condition and never stone cold sober.
I’m still a traditional socialist and the neo-tory fascists of new labour are still treating me like the victim of a horrendously disfiguring and highly contagious disease.
But I was expecting that of course. It’s something I’ve gotten used to and quite frankly, I would be very concerned if they suddenly started treating me like a colleague again.
What I wasn’t expecting was to run into Paul Staines, author of the Guido Fawkes blog. After all, he’s probably one of the very few people the new labour mob hate more than socialists.
Being unable to avoid or escape him due to the circumstances, I was forced to listen to him whining on and on about the Islamification of England and how the pope’s plans for “re-Catholicisation” were our only hope of survival. This was followed by a rant about the “Atheist Bigoted Media” and their campaign of hatred against the pope.
Bigoted? From a ‘man’ who had just spent what seemed like an incredibly long ten minutes lecturing me on the evils of Islam?
To make matters worse, he was doing this in defence of child abusers and the man who protected them. Joseph Ratzinger, an anti-Semitic bigot who as head of the Inquisition - now known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - personally signed the orders that priests accused of sexual offences against children should not be surrendered to the authorities.
It could be suggested that his highly inebriated condition had something to do with this ‘outburst’ but he’s always like this. Mind you I’ve rarely seen him in any other condition and never stone cold sober.
Friday 17 September 2010
Wel... (cough, choke)... Welcome Back Kingsley
Lambeth Councillor Kingsley Abrams who was suspended from the Lambeth Labour group after retaining his seat with an increased majority is to be rather grudgingly “invited to rejoin the ranks”.
I say grudgingly because in addition to the short, rather curt message on the Labour in Lambeth website - which incidentally, contains no hint of reconciliation. The Lambeth Labour group has once again changed it’s tune and is now claiming that Councillor Abrams leaked “highly confidential information to the Liberal Democrats in the run-up to the council elections”.
The original version of events was that he had been suspended for "violating council email use policy" after a nasty little entrapment operation run by supposedly neutral council officers went wrong.
And if the original version of this sorry tale was stretching credulity a bit far then this new version has definitely caused it to snap!
Quite frankly, the idea that a man who has been a dedicated member of the Labour Party for 32 years would pass confidential information to the Conservative Support Group... erm... I mean the Liberal Democrats... is bloody ridiculous.
I must admit I don’t know Kingsley Abrams very well but he always seemed to be a fairly decent bloke who, like me, believes that essential infrastructure such as social housing is far too important to be left in private hands.
The appalling mismanagement of Lambeth’s housing stock by the Lambeth Living ALMO and the collapse of Connaught only serve to underline that point.
Labour in Lambeth
I say grudgingly because in addition to the short, rather curt message on the Labour in Lambeth website - which incidentally, contains no hint of reconciliation. The Lambeth Labour group has once again changed it’s tune and is now claiming that Councillor Abrams leaked “highly confidential information to the Liberal Democrats in the run-up to the council elections”.
The original version of events was that he had been suspended for "violating council email use policy" after a nasty little entrapment operation run by supposedly neutral council officers went wrong.
And if the original version of this sorry tale was stretching credulity a bit far then this new version has definitely caused it to snap!
Quite frankly, the idea that a man who has been a dedicated member of the Labour Party for 32 years would pass confidential information to the Conservative Support Group... erm... I mean the Liberal Democrats... is bloody ridiculous.
I must admit I don’t know Kingsley Abrams very well but he always seemed to be a fairly decent bloke who, like me, believes that essential infrastructure such as social housing is far too important to be left in private hands.
The appalling mismanagement of Lambeth’s housing stock by the Lambeth Living ALMO and the collapse of Connaught only serve to underline that point.
Labour in Lambeth
Thursday 16 September 2010
Would YOU vote for him?
I was rather amused to hear of a certain local politician who is refusing to have a vasectomy because he thinks it might have an adverse effect on his chances of being re-elected.
No, this is not a joke. He genuinely seems to believe that some people will not vote for him if he has ‘The Snip’.
I would suggest that only a devout Catholic could be so daft - the Catholic Church has made it’s feelings on the matter abundantly clear on many occasions - but he isn’t a Catholic, devout or otherwise, and the Catholics won’t vote for him anyway because he’s one of us “Godless Heathen” or Atheists as we’re more commonly called.
Alternatively, he may have been talking to the Knuckle-Draggers of the Tabloid Press Readers Association and/or men with certain 'cultural' prejudices - both of whom have condemned vasectomy as a “cruel and barbaric” practice - but they won’t vote for him either as he neither shares their prejudices nor panders to them.
Still... As pathetic excuses go, it’s certainly the most original I’ve heard for a while and it does make a change from the usual childish whining about their precious ‘manhood’.
No, this is not a joke. He genuinely seems to believe that some people will not vote for him if he has ‘The Snip’.
I would suggest that only a devout Catholic could be so daft - the Catholic Church has made it’s feelings on the matter abundantly clear on many occasions - but he isn’t a Catholic, devout or otherwise, and the Catholics won’t vote for him anyway because he’s one of us “Godless Heathen” or Atheists as we’re more commonly called.
Alternatively, he may have been talking to the Knuckle-Draggers of the Tabloid Press Readers Association and/or men with certain 'cultural' prejudices - both of whom have condemned vasectomy as a “cruel and barbaric” practice - but they won’t vote for him either as he neither shares their prejudices nor panders to them.
Still... As pathetic excuses go, it’s certainly the most original I’ve heard for a while and it does make a change from the usual childish whining about their precious ‘manhood’.
Wednesday 15 September 2010
Is that all there is?
I been hearing a lot of people complaining about this year’s Dover carnival which took place Sunday.
Boring, wasn’t worth the effort, etc. The usual sort of nonsense I expect from members of the Whingers and Whiners Club for whom it seems, nothing is ever good enough.
Unfortunately on this occasion I would have to agree with them. Most people did seem to find it disappointing, particularly those who had made a special trip to see it.
However I would ask everyone to remember that the organisers did the best they could under very difficult circumstances and while it might have been better to cancel it this year, that would have set a bad precedent. If cancelled under the present circumstances there is no guarantee it would take place again in the foreseeable future. Something which even I would like to avoid if possible despite my personal distaste for certain aspects of it.
As for the miserable sods from the Whingers and Whiners Club. Who knows what goes on in their minds...
Boring, wasn’t worth the effort, etc. The usual sort of nonsense I expect from members of the Whingers and Whiners Club for whom it seems, nothing is ever good enough.
Unfortunately on this occasion I would have to agree with them. Most people did seem to find it disappointing, particularly those who had made a special trip to see it.
However I would ask everyone to remember that the organisers did the best they could under very difficult circumstances and while it might have been better to cancel it this year, that would have set a bad precedent. If cancelled under the present circumstances there is no guarantee it would take place again in the foreseeable future. Something which even I would like to avoid if possible despite my personal distaste for certain aspects of it.
As for the miserable sods from the Whingers and Whiners Club. Who knows what goes on in their minds...
Wednesday 8 September 2010
May I have your attention please...
I popped into Smiths on my way past yesterday afternoon to pick a newspaper and was just in time to catch the accounts clerk ‘remonstrating’ with her colleagues over their somewhat strange obsession with her private life.
From what I can gather it started with their ‘persistent’ questions as to why she was there in the afternoon instead of the morning and deteriorated from there until it reached the point where she demanded they stop what they were doing and listen.
Whereupon she gave them the information they were so persistently seeking - right between the eyes!
To say they seemed suitably embarrassed might be something of an understatement.
Yes, I know. Some people might consider it highly unprofessional of her to do that in front of customers and in a manager or supervisor it most certainly would be.
However as someone who has had to hang about waiting to be served on far too many occasions while staff gossiped I can only applaud her not-so-subtle way of reminding them that they’re being paid to serve customers, not pry into her private life.
I expect the area manager will have an opinion on this but given her own history of unprofessional behaviour towards this young woman - which almost cost her her job last year – it would probably be a very good idea if she kept it to herself.
One is certain, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to upset that young lady!
From what I can gather it started with their ‘persistent’ questions as to why she was there in the afternoon instead of the morning and deteriorated from there until it reached the point where she demanded they stop what they were doing and listen.
Whereupon she gave them the information they were so persistently seeking - right between the eyes!
To say they seemed suitably embarrassed might be something of an understatement.
Yes, I know. Some people might consider it highly unprofessional of her to do that in front of customers and in a manager or supervisor it most certainly would be.
However as someone who has had to hang about waiting to be served on far too many occasions while staff gossiped I can only applaud her not-so-subtle way of reminding them that they’re being paid to serve customers, not pry into her private life.
I expect the area manager will have an opinion on this but given her own history of unprofessional behaviour towards this young woman - which almost cost her her job last year – it would probably be a very good idea if she kept it to herself.
One is certain, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to upset that young lady!
Tuesday 24 August 2010
Simply Bad Management?
There’s been a bit of a row going on in Lambeth over the council’s monitoring of Councillor Kingsley Abrams email and his subsequent suspension from the local Labour group for four months.
However what seems to have been 'overlooked’ amongst all the shouting, accusations, counter-accusations, etc. is that the email incident which led to his suspension was simply another attempt in a sustained campaign of harassment aimed at forcing him out prior to the local elections on the 6th May.
All of which failed when he dug his heels in and refused to resign. Suspending him after he was re-elected with 2533 votes - the highest in that ward - simply shows how petty, spiteful and childish New Labour’s neo-tory leaders really are.
Yes, that’s all very interesting but what does it have to do with Dover?
Considerably more than you might think.
The reason behind all this ‘fuss’ is Kingsley Abrams’ staunch opposition to the now spectacularly failed Lambeth Living, an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) created in 2008 by Lambeth council to manage it's housing stock and which was described by the Audit Commission as “poor and deteriorating” with 11 out of 13 service areas being described as a weakness or having more weaknesses than strengths.
The report also expressed concerns over Lambeth Living’s steep rent increases which had been expected to exceed 17% last year and concluded that housing standards had significantly deteriorated under Lambeth Living’s management with little prospect for improvement.
However, damning as it is, the Audit Commission’s report simply confirmed what was already common knowledge.
Lambeth council’s ALMO experiment has been an unmitigated disaster.
Starting with an unexplained ‘deficit’ of £8.4 million in the first 4 months of operation - much of which has still not been fully accounted for. Residents and leaseholders being over billed, double billed, billed for works and contracts which simply did not exist. Accounting errors which left Lambeth Living with an additional deficit of over £4 million last year.
With this in mind it will probably come as no surprise to learn that only 2 of the more than 100 tower blocks in the borough have a valid fire safety certificate.
Describing Lambeth Living’s customer service centre as 'dire' seems somewhat anti-climatic by comparison.
The ALMO scam... erm... I mean scheme, being proposed by Dover District Council in partnership with Canterbury, Shepway and Thanet is essentially identical in all the important aspects to that created by Lambeth council.
Dover District Council’s claim that 21 of the 69 - soon to be 68 with the forthcoming demise of Lambeth Living - are ‘top performing’ is like claiming that one cesspool is performing better than another cesspool because it doesn’t smell so bad.
The truth is they both stink and it’s not something that most people would want in their community.
In fact, only 11 out of the soon to be 68 ALMOs actually meet the Decent Housing Standard while the other 10 are ‘on course’ to meet their obligations by the end of the specified two year period.
Which still leaves nearly three quarters of them failing and with the Audit Commission due to go on the bonfire in the near future that number will only grow as councils will then be free to appoint their own auditors.
Also amongst their various waffling claims of improved services, more say in how those services are provided etc. is the claim that council tenants would “pay similar rents”.
Note, similar, not the same.
This means that when the expected cost savings fail to appear - as seems likely based on other local authorities experiences - it will almost certainly be council tenants and leaseholders who will be expected to foot the bill for the ALMO's failures.
So what’s next for Lambeth council tenants and leaseholders? With the dismal failure of Lambeth Living the council claims it has only one option left - stock transfer. It is now seeking approval to ‘transfer’ ownership of a large portion of it’s better housing assets to ‘approved’ social housing landlords.
By the way, I’m fairly sure that there is absolutely no truth in the rumours of a secret deal to sell council housing stock to the Southern Housing Group at a significantly discounted price when the ALMO scam... I mean scheme, collapses.
However what seems to have been 'overlooked’ amongst all the shouting, accusations, counter-accusations, etc. is that the email incident which led to his suspension was simply another attempt in a sustained campaign of harassment aimed at forcing him out prior to the local elections on the 6th May.
All of which failed when he dug his heels in and refused to resign. Suspending him after he was re-elected with 2533 votes - the highest in that ward - simply shows how petty, spiteful and childish New Labour’s neo-tory leaders really are.
Yes, that’s all very interesting but what does it have to do with Dover?
Considerably more than you might think.
The reason behind all this ‘fuss’ is Kingsley Abrams’ staunch opposition to the now spectacularly failed Lambeth Living, an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) created in 2008 by Lambeth council to manage it's housing stock and which was described by the Audit Commission as “poor and deteriorating” with 11 out of 13 service areas being described as a weakness or having more weaknesses than strengths.
The report also expressed concerns over Lambeth Living’s steep rent increases which had been expected to exceed 17% last year and concluded that housing standards had significantly deteriorated under Lambeth Living’s management with little prospect for improvement.
However, damning as it is, the Audit Commission’s report simply confirmed what was already common knowledge.
Lambeth council’s ALMO experiment has been an unmitigated disaster.
Starting with an unexplained ‘deficit’ of £8.4 million in the first 4 months of operation - much of which has still not been fully accounted for. Residents and leaseholders being over billed, double billed, billed for works and contracts which simply did not exist. Accounting errors which left Lambeth Living with an additional deficit of over £4 million last year.
With this in mind it will probably come as no surprise to learn that only 2 of the more than 100 tower blocks in the borough have a valid fire safety certificate.
Describing Lambeth Living’s customer service centre as 'dire' seems somewhat anti-climatic by comparison.
The ALMO scam... erm... I mean scheme, being proposed by Dover District Council in partnership with Canterbury, Shepway and Thanet is essentially identical in all the important aspects to that created by Lambeth council.
Dover District Council’s claim that 21 of the 69 - soon to be 68 with the forthcoming demise of Lambeth Living - are ‘top performing’ is like claiming that one cesspool is performing better than another cesspool because it doesn’t smell so bad.
The truth is they both stink and it’s not something that most people would want in their community.
In fact, only 11 out of the soon to be 68 ALMOs actually meet the Decent Housing Standard while the other 10 are ‘on course’ to meet their obligations by the end of the specified two year period.
Which still leaves nearly three quarters of them failing and with the Audit Commission due to go on the bonfire in the near future that number will only grow as councils will then be free to appoint their own auditors.
Also amongst their various waffling claims of improved services, more say in how those services are provided etc. is the claim that council tenants would “pay similar rents”.
Note, similar, not the same.
This means that when the expected cost savings fail to appear - as seems likely based on other local authorities experiences - it will almost certainly be council tenants and leaseholders who will be expected to foot the bill for the ALMO's failures.
So what’s next for Lambeth council tenants and leaseholders? With the dismal failure of Lambeth Living the council claims it has only one option left - stock transfer. It is now seeking approval to ‘transfer’ ownership of a large portion of it’s better housing assets to ‘approved’ social housing landlords.
By the way, I’m fairly sure that there is absolutely no truth in the rumours of a secret deal to sell council housing stock to the Southern Housing Group at a significantly discounted price when the ALMO scam... I mean scheme, collapses.
Monday 2 August 2010
Rogue Waves
I was at the Waves cafe in De Bradelei Wharf a couple of weeks ago when I overheard two of the staff discussing how they could get rid of the new cook.
Apparently one of them wanted ‘her’ job back.
Their idea was to plant something in the cook’s bag then inform the manager they had seen her put it there.
At the time I simply ignored it. I hear a lot of this sort of petty spiteful gossip - it’s difficult to avoid it given the size of my ears. A right ‘princely’ pair as one of my colleagues once joked.
However I was back there again at the weekend and was reminded of this rather nasty little tete-a-tete when I learned that the cook they were referring to had been dismissed last week - for theft.
Now this could simply be a coincidence of course, but as a friend in the Kent Constabulary once remarked,
Not even the Commissioner of the Met is stupid enough to believe that!
Apparently one of them wanted ‘her’ job back.
Their idea was to plant something in the cook’s bag then inform the manager they had seen her put it there.
At the time I simply ignored it. I hear a lot of this sort of petty spiteful gossip - it’s difficult to avoid it given the size of my ears. A right ‘princely’ pair as one of my colleagues once joked.
However I was back there again at the weekend and was reminded of this rather nasty little tete-a-tete when I learned that the cook they were referring to had been dismissed last week - for theft.
Now this could simply be a coincidence of course, but as a friend in the Kent Constabulary once remarked,
Not even the Commissioner of the Met is stupid enough to believe that!
Thursday 10 June 2010
What's your Dolly's Name?
Any parent knows - or should know at the very least - that the more intelligent a child is, the more careful you have to be about what you say in front of them.
The problem is that not only do we sometimes forget this, children usually have extremely good hearing - particularly when it’s something they’re not supposed to hear - and a remarkable ability to be ’within earshot’ when you’re not expecting it.
This was recently demonstrated in clear, unambiguous terms by the four year old daughter of one of my wife’s colleagues.
Bimbo Barbie, Brain-Dead Barbie, Boney Barbie...
You get the picture?
Naturally, her husband is rather more amused by this than she is.
The problem is that not only do we sometimes forget this, children usually have extremely good hearing - particularly when it’s something they’re not supposed to hear - and a remarkable ability to be ’within earshot’ when you’re not expecting it.
This was recently demonstrated in clear, unambiguous terms by the four year old daughter of one of my wife’s colleagues.
Bimbo Barbie, Brain-Dead Barbie, Boney Barbie...
You get the picture?
Naturally, her husband is rather more amused by this than she is.
Recycle, Request, Refused...
It seems that not all of Dover District Council's staff have got the message about it's alleged commitment to recycling.
A certain nameless DDC official recently told a local school that they could not have the materials they wanted for a school project as they were to be incinerated. When the school attempted to clarify what it naturally assumed to be a health and safety issue they were told.
"Oh no, there's nothing wrong with them. They're just marked for incineration that's all."
A certain nameless DDC official recently told a local school that they could not have the materials they wanted for a school project as they were to be incinerated. When the school attempted to clarify what it naturally assumed to be a health and safety issue they were told.
"Oh no, there's nothing wrong with them. They're just marked for incineration that's all."
Tuesday 8 June 2010
While I was out...
In the weeks before the election it was suggested that the reason for my long silence was that I had been 'identified' and subsequently crucified by party enforcers or perhaps even by the blackshirts themselves.
That's not unreasonable considering the way I've criticised the behaviour of the party leadership and Gordon Brown in particular. But alas, as so often in real life, the true reason is much more mundane and boring...
I've been busy.
One of the problems associated with this little 'hobby' of mine is the deceptively large amount of time it can consume. It's all very well thinking I'll just dash off a quick post about whatever happens to have caught my attention, but where politics are concerned that quick post can easily turn into a multiple page missive.
Keeping it to a reasonable size and/or paring it down afterwards takes time. Ensuring that the shorter version says what I want it to without too much danger of being accidentally misinterpreted takes even more time and suddenly it's not a quick post any longer.
Naturally I could 'make' time for this but then it wouldn't be fun anymore and as I've mentioned before, I do this mostly for my own amusement.
This means that I missed the opportunity to comment on such gems as Gordon Brown's appalling behaviour at the Cenotaph. The well deserved ear-bashing he got from Mrs Janes and his pathetic attempts to deflect criticism of his fiscal mismanagement by pointing the finger at Spain and claiming that the UK was not the only member of the G20 still in recession.
As the more politically aware will already know. Spain is not and has never been a member of the G20, regardless of whatever that deranged Scots git may or may not have convinced himself and some of his ‘colleagues’ of - although in their case it was more likely to have been the blackshirts who did the ‘convincing’. To then call them an 'unofficial' member when challenged on this fact merely served to further highlight his increasing inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
And then of course, there was Jim Devine's 'inappropriate' behaviour towards Nadine Dorries.
I must admit this did not come as a surprise to me as Jim Devine is one of the very worse offenders who, drunk or sober, seems to be incapable of keeping his hands off any woman unfortunate enough to attract his attention.
Sadly however, Jim Devine is by no means the only one guilty of this sort of misconduct which is far too common amongst MPs, some of whom seem to see this as a perk of the job rather than a criminal assault.
Finally I tip my hat in respect to a very senior member of the BBC, who on being told that Chris Evans had been chosen to replace Sir Terry Wogan as the presenter of the Radio 2 breakfast show because “he’s popular with the 15 to 24 age group" remarked
"So are venereal diseases but you wouldn't employ one to present an early morning radio show!"
That's not unreasonable considering the way I've criticised the behaviour of the party leadership and Gordon Brown in particular. But alas, as so often in real life, the true reason is much more mundane and boring...
I've been busy.
One of the problems associated with this little 'hobby' of mine is the deceptively large amount of time it can consume. It's all very well thinking I'll just dash off a quick post about whatever happens to have caught my attention, but where politics are concerned that quick post can easily turn into a multiple page missive.
Keeping it to a reasonable size and/or paring it down afterwards takes time. Ensuring that the shorter version says what I want it to without too much danger of being accidentally misinterpreted takes even more time and suddenly it's not a quick post any longer.
Naturally I could 'make' time for this but then it wouldn't be fun anymore and as I've mentioned before, I do this mostly for my own amusement.
This means that I missed the opportunity to comment on such gems as Gordon Brown's appalling behaviour at the Cenotaph. The well deserved ear-bashing he got from Mrs Janes and his pathetic attempts to deflect criticism of his fiscal mismanagement by pointing the finger at Spain and claiming that the UK was not the only member of the G20 still in recession.
As the more politically aware will already know. Spain is not and has never been a member of the G20, regardless of whatever that deranged Scots git may or may not have convinced himself and some of his ‘colleagues’ of - although in their case it was more likely to have been the blackshirts who did the ‘convincing’. To then call them an 'unofficial' member when challenged on this fact merely served to further highlight his increasing inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
And then of course, there was Jim Devine's 'inappropriate' behaviour towards Nadine Dorries.
I must admit this did not come as a surprise to me as Jim Devine is one of the very worse offenders who, drunk or sober, seems to be incapable of keeping his hands off any woman unfortunate enough to attract his attention.
Sadly however, Jim Devine is by no means the only one guilty of this sort of misconduct which is far too common amongst MPs, some of whom seem to see this as a perk of the job rather than a criminal assault.
Finally I tip my hat in respect to a very senior member of the BBC, who on being told that Chris Evans had been chosen to replace Sir Terry Wogan as the presenter of the Radio 2 breakfast show because “he’s popular with the 15 to 24 age group" remarked
"So are venereal diseases but you wouldn't employ one to present an early morning radio show!"
Tuesday 6 April 2010
At Bloody Last!
Well it's finally happened.
David Geffen... I mean Peter Mandleson... erm... Gordon Brown, has called a General Election.
Normally a Prime Minister, or in this case a Deranged Scots Git, will call an election when they think it will give them the best chance of winning.
However with Gordon Brown being the only person on the planet who still believes we have a gnat's chance in hell of winning, the timing has another purpose.
To force the Digital Economy Bill through Parliament before it get torn to shreds.
For those of you who have been hiding in the closet - yes it is nice and quiet in there - the Digital Economy Bill is a rather despicable piece of legislation written almost entirely by copyright lobbyists such as the BPI working quietly behind the scenes.
Carefully buried within the bill are clauses which give ministers the power to extend copyright by decree, give copyright holders the ability to 'convict on accusation' without being required to provide evidence of infringing activity and much more.
Government ministers have been fighting tooth and nail to block amendments since it's original reading, particularly those which would introduce judicial oversight of enforcement action, and on one occasion simply removed the amended text, replacing it with the original.
Naturally I did my bit by oh so casually asking a certain Labour peer about the amendment he had sponsored. He wasn't a bit pleased to see that it had vanished without trace and no notation to indicate why.
However with the tories now 'on-board' I fully expect this to make it through the 'wash-up' essentially unchanged.
As for the election itself. Gordon Brown wants you to support him. Not the Labour Party. Him personally.
I would suggest there are much quicker, less drawn out and painful methods of destroying everything you've worked for.
Dousing your home in petrol and setting it alight with you still inside it is one of them.
David Geffen... I mean Peter Mandleson... erm... Gordon Brown, has called a General Election.
Normally a Prime Minister, or in this case a Deranged Scots Git, will call an election when they think it will give them the best chance of winning.
However with Gordon Brown being the only person on the planet who still believes we have a gnat's chance in hell of winning, the timing has another purpose.
To force the Digital Economy Bill through Parliament before it get torn to shreds.
For those of you who have been hiding in the closet - yes it is nice and quiet in there - the Digital Economy Bill is a rather despicable piece of legislation written almost entirely by copyright lobbyists such as the BPI working quietly behind the scenes.
Carefully buried within the bill are clauses which give ministers the power to extend copyright by decree, give copyright holders the ability to 'convict on accusation' without being required to provide evidence of infringing activity and much more.
Government ministers have been fighting tooth and nail to block amendments since it's original reading, particularly those which would introduce judicial oversight of enforcement action, and on one occasion simply removed the amended text, replacing it with the original.
Naturally I did my bit by oh so casually asking a certain Labour peer about the amendment he had sponsored. He wasn't a bit pleased to see that it had vanished without trace and no notation to indicate why.
However with the tories now 'on-board' I fully expect this to make it through the 'wash-up' essentially unchanged.
As for the election itself. Gordon Brown wants you to support him. Not the Labour Party. Him personally.
I would suggest there are much quicker, less drawn out and painful methods of destroying everything you've worked for.
Dousing your home in petrol and setting it alight with you still inside it is one of them.
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