A senior councillor in a London borough stunned motorists by telling them the council's parking policy was to "never knowingly undercharge".Yes, it's that smug, odious little creep who never seems to be off the TV screen, at least in local news:
Brian Coleman, cabinet member for environment of Conservative-run Barnet, further infuriated residents who questioned the 150 per cent increase in their parking permits, London's highest, by branding them "hysterical".Has he forgotten who it is that elects him?
Mr Coleman said: "We are proposing to increase parking charges to less than £2 per week, less than the price of a cup of coffee. We will not entertain this sort of nonsense from hysterical, over-the-top residents."You will 'not entertain'; it? And just who do you think you are?
He also hit back at drivers living in "affluent" Hampstead Garden Suburb after he received angry emails from its residents. Mr Coleman said they could afford the increased charges or they had drives of their own to park in.Ahhh, listen to one of iDave's 'new Tories'. No longer dismissive of the poor, as the 'Guardian' always claims, now dismissive of everyone...
Campaigner Rachel Zegerman said: "I'm disappointed but it isn't over yet. The fight continues. The Labour councillors were calling for fair and respectful treatment of local residents and we will support them. It's a disgrace - we will continue to protest."Oh, please! If your Labour councillors had been sitting where Brian's unusually well-padded backside currently resides, then do you really think we don't know they'd be doing the exact same thing?
Tory councillors were also attacked for using free permits given to them during council duties. Councillor Susette Palmer, a former Liberal Democrat mayor, called the increases "disproportionate, exorbitant and outrageous". "You're just inept and making residents pay for it," she added.Yes, and what's the first thing that comes to mind when the name 'Lib Dem' is mentioned, Susette? It isn't 'friend of the motorist', is it?
Barnet does love its increases, though. Look at this:
Last year Barnet, which pioneered the "easyCouncil" no-frills model of local government, voted in an allowances rise for its leader from £41,893 to £47,027. Cabinet members such as Mr Coleman also agreed their allowances should rise from £17,454 to £27,580.And this very morning, what's the 'Mail' headline article?
Nick Clegg has invited the wrath of 3million middle-class families being forced into the higher-rate tax band.
He claimed yesterday that they would ‘barely notice’ the impact on their living standards.
I'm with Capt Ranty and Sue - when the hell are we going to say 'Enough's enough! You're all the same, and we're sick of it. Get your hands out of our pockets!'?
I have for long been urging the people of this land to take to the streets and not just against Westminster.
ReplyDeleteThe whole damn system, including local government, is rotten to the core and until we do something concrete about it, we will continue to be dictated to!
Once again we're faced with that awkward: "Yes, but what are we going to do about it?" dilemma that seems to rise-up more frequently with every week that passes.
ReplyDeleteMy own experience dealing with local councillors, on parking charges and other issues, suggests that they are almost completely beyond control. Either they are used as glove puppets by politically motivated council 'officers', or they are, like the ass in your post, staggeringly arrogant.
But when election time comes around, what happens? People continue to vote tribally and both the puppets and the strutting little Hitlers (pace Godwin's law) are back in their sinecures again.
And for all the seething frustration to be found on blog after blog after blog, or in the letters pages of newspapers, nothing changes. Certainly not for the better.
Dr Richard North talks about rising up and slaughtering them. If the expenses scandal didn't precipitate that and nor did the economic chaos we are in (the outrage over that couldn't even generate a majority government) I fear it's unlikely that my warehouse full of piano wire is going to be needed for a while yet.
There is no useful opposition to the political class and the system is more or less guaranteed to prevent one gaining any leverage.
So what is it that we can actually do?
UB: I repeat: We take to the streets!
ReplyDeleteOn my own blog I asked if there were any volunteers and as yet no takers. Well, if no-one else will arrange it, I'll volunteer!
exactly the same as penalties for rubbish collection infringments and a general tut-tuting if you don't recycle enough. Our government, councils and fellow man/woman (had to add that in case I get rozzered for bieng sexist) seem hell bent on punishment over reward.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be nice if we got money off council tax if we produced no or less domestic watse and/or produced more recyclable materials for kerside collection. BTW I'm just a few weeks off having my free PV solar panels fitted paid for by, erm, well, you. HA!
"The whole damn system, including local government, is rotten to the core.."
ReplyDeleteAgreed. But can we start again?
"Once again we're faced with that awkward: "Yes, but what are we going to do about it?" dilemma.."
There's the rub - we aren't a 'taking to the streets' nation (in fact, we tend to look down on those excitable foreigners who change their government as often as we change our underpants, don't we? Yes, Italy, I'm looking at you!).
So what can we do?
"Wouldn't it be nice if we got money off council tax if we produced no or less domestic watse and/or produced more recyclable materials for kerside collection."
I've long argued for a carrot, rather than stick, incentive. But it seems that we long for punishment.
Brian Coleman believes in Falun Gong and its central tenets – Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance - or at least Wiki says so.
ReplyDeleteI think this shows that Wiki is never right, or it is the MSM that is never right?
Ahhh - this is a topic near and dear to my heart. Newham town council recently moved most of their back office functions to a new building. This building was built, as always, with insufficient parking and only one DLR stop in walkable distance. No tube, no mainline rail.
ReplyDeleteAs a result, the neighborhood was almost unlivable for quite a while. The council workers would park their cars down both sides of the nearest 2 lane road, leaving buses stuck in the middle and unable to reverse. Eventually, after some campaigning, double yellow lines were painted down the one side of the road, and single yellow lines down the other side.
Now the council staff can only park on one side of the road, and they have to remove their cars between 13:00 and 14:00.
As I work from home sometimes, I'll occasionally get the opportunity to go down and watch them all gripe as they have to waste their lunch hour moving their car about. And on occasion, I actually even get to cheer on the parasite that tickets the cars that don't move.
Justice can be sweet!