The Daily Mail has close to five million readers-a few more than the Dame. It's readers are bedrock Tories and more than just a few of those will be stunned to read Andrew Pierce's article on Merrick Cockell in today's Mail. Many will be struggling with mortgages, household bills and all the other financial issues and irritants that dominate our lives:they will be angry to read just how easy is Merrick Cockell's life: it is, after all, you and I who pay his £120,000 a year plus expenses(nearly as much as the PM-and more than Pickles!)
But more to the point they may be wondering how Eric Pickles allows RBK&C to totally ignore his directives. Let's us remind ourselves what they are..
- Use reserves to save cutbacks to essential services-RBKC with £170 million ignores him
- Scrap council newspapers-RBKC continues to spend over £500,000 on the rag that nobody reads
- Chief executives should reduce salaries by 10%-ours costs US £280,000 a year and sneers at that idea
- Councillors should reduce their allowances-RBKC are at the top of the quartile
- Councillors should not 'double job'-Cllrs Cockell, Ritchie and Moylan are getting rich doing just that.
Andrew Pierce is one of the UK's leading journalists. When he writes as he does it should be taken as a wake up call. The people are getting fed up with sponging and grasping councillors.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2010975/Top-Tory-Sir-Merrick-Cockell-gravy-plane.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
About time too.
ReplyDeleteI read with incredulity what Pierce has had to say. It is just astonishing. Time the weak and feeble Tory councillors stood up to this greedy fellow and replaced him. Have they no backbone. I wont ever vote Tory again after reading this article
Will we ever get satisfaction from Cockle's expenses story? Looks like this will go on and on until we have some kind of outcome. No one in their right mind could believe he can't remember who he had such an expensive dinner with in NY. So, either he is lying, or he has good reason not to remember their name ... either way puts him in the worst possible light.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet this man is supposed to be a 'Leader'?
There's only one thing more disgusting than his blatant greed, and that is the support he gets from party colleagues.
Oh dear me
ReplyDeleteoh dear, oh dear, oh dear
Amazing how fast this story appears on the hornet and a comment is published - it was as if the commentator was the person who told old news to the Daily mail and then was the person who put it on the hornet the very moment it is published!
ReplyDeleteHere is another journalist going the same way as Simon Heffer
4 July 2011 08:26
ReplyDeleteThat fatuous comment has just got to have come from Danny Boy Moylan posturing as some sort of Bostonian City Hall enforcer...'we got Heffer-and now werr' gonna get Pierce'
Don't you understand that Jonathan Harmworth has a peerage so unlike Aidan Barclay he could not give a damn about being threatened by some tin pot little council leader.
This is not old news: it is an assessment of a character who does not lead by example.In other words, uses expenses and allowances inappropriately. Stop huffing and puffing....
Sure as hell we councillors won't be seeing this piece in the press distribution list. Cockell forbids us to read anything which is fulsome in his praise-so we don't get anything....
ReplyDelete"Amazing how fast this story appears on the hornet and a comment is published - it was as if the commentator was the person who told old news to the Daily mail and then was the person who put it on the hornet the very moment it is published!
ReplyDeleteHere is another journalist going the same way as Simon Heffer"
Whoever wrote this piece of absurdity needs to reflect. We live in a Borough which votes Conservative on autopilot.Many of us are unhappy with the way the Leader'leads'-yet there is little we can do but rely upon media like the Hornet or the national press.
The Daily Mail is a rock solid Tory newspaper. When it's consultant editor(one of the truest Blue Tories) takes issue with the Leader's judgment then-rather than making impotent threats, senior councillors should consider whether they need change their ways. Councils are having delicate negotiations with unions.Finding out that the man they are negotiating with is earning in excess of £120k a year for two part time jobs will not make the job easier.
How fortunate we are to have the Daily Mail fighting the taxpayer's corner....
JUSTIN DOWNES
In this blog there is the clear implication from 8.26 that someone in Hornton Street arranged for Simon Heffer to be sacked at the Telegragh for running anti Cockell copy. 8.44 suggests that the writer is Moylan.
ReplyDeleteIn the previous blog, "Gin and Tonic" (believed to be Cockell defending his record) gloats that "journalist Simon Heffer who parroted Hornets views has been sacked from the Telegraph".
8.26 trumpets "here is another journalist, Andrew Pierce, going the way of Simon Heffer"
Quite strange in a democracy and very dangerous, for politicians to claim that they have the power to have senior national journalists fired if they are awkward
Simon Heffer set up a research team at the Telegraph to look into expense abuse in Local Government. The campaign was launched a few weeks ago with copy that suggested another scandal on the scale of the House of Commons horror.
ReplyDeleteAn expose of expense abuse in K&C was pulled at the eleventh hour. Someone spiked it. The Dame is still trying to find out who fired the pistol. And is saving up a special sting for that one.
One K&C councillor with sticky fingers and a colourful past in Cape Town had better be extra careful
WASP you are also very deluded.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone thinks a few Labour councillors know what is going on in the "Torygraph" then they mad.
You are then left with Justin Downes, a man who is more than prone to excessive exaggeration -
20.36
ReplyDeleteWhy do you post anonymously? Are you frightened of something/someone.
Try taking some courage and reveal your identity...it may surprise us all.
And then you can tell us just what I have 'excessively exaggerated'.
We are waiting in great trepidation....
Justin Downes
Why do you post anonymously?
ReplyDeleteI would guess they / he / she / it do it for the same reason Mr Downs does
This is an issue of the greatest significance. It has nothing to do with party politics; but sheds light on the character of certain elected persons. Those elected to serve the public control vast sums of public money, for the benefit of residents, rather than themselves. This scandal brings RBKC into disrepute. It behoves those who fail in their duty to the public, to resign.
ReplyDeleteI read this article and am on the one hand delighted this type of shoddy behaviour hits the national press. For me two things come out of this, firstly, in the light of the Leader not being able to remember who he had dinner with in NYC why was his expense claim authorised and reimbursed by RBK&C? Secondly, it is clear that a number of people who claim to be representing the interests of their electorate are allowed to get away with abuse and the reason in the case of RBK&C is that the electorate is global, wealthy and frankly and sadly does not really care.
ReplyDeleteRoger Melly
ReplyDeleteMy name is spelt with an 'e'. Can you not even get such simple things right?
Cockell knows what opinion I have of him: it is in the public domain. But let me reiterate...I have disdain for those who use the public purse to support a life style. Cockell already bleeds the system to the tune of £120,000 a year, and yet is so mean that he cannot even dig into his pockets to pay his own expenses. He should learn from the example of Tim Ahern.
JUSTIN DOWNES
The only Tory councillor allowed by the Whips to comment on Dame Hornet's blog is The Driveller, aka Inspector Clouseau. He does this on his own behalf and also on behalf of Cllrs. Cockell and Moylan, sometimes with silly pseudonyms such as Ginny Toneik.
ReplyDeleteMussell
ReplyDeleteThank you for that I have no doubt it's correct-the piss poor grammer, lousy spelling and tired prep school humour rather reinforces the thesis. However, allowing Clouseau Palmer to try to fight a rearguard action is hyper counter productive and just makes Cockell look even more venal.
The Man on the 137
If Clouseau is the only one writing on the comments pages who is writing all the abuse?
ReplyDelete12:25
ReplyDeleteIt must be other people!!!!
Probably Clouseau Palmer alone-he has sod all else to do except annoy all his council colleagues. They probably encourage him just to stop annoying them
ReplyDeleteDriveller writes under various names on various websites, including using other people's names at times; he's been caught out more than once.
ReplyDeleteYes I do think they let him comment to keep him busy; god only knows what he'd get up to otherwise. Last time he had time to spare he ran the local elections, and look what happened there!