You need this like a hole in the head

The Dame has just received  this sweet(but unhelpful) comment from- one assumes, a close relation of Rock's in Oz.
Clearly she does not understand that this sort of comment just enrages fellow councillors already envious of his Lord Snooty ways. Come on girl...that's enough from you!

left; Rock's Australian family supporter

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Fielding Mellen goes viral in Leadership bid":

Ms Fielding Mellen (Australia) said...
Darling Rock
I havnt the money to phone but so glad that you are being lined up for the Leadership of K&C. This is FABULOUS

                                                           XXXXOO

Fielding Mellen goes viral in Leadership bid

As part of his 'grooming' to take over the Leadership of the Rotten Borough young Rock FM was delegated by Der Leader to do a video introduction to the Borough Annual Report.
The Dame being a busy soul could only spare a few minutes to see how the Young Pretender got on: she has to say it was not an Oscar winning performance.

left: Cllr Fielding Mellen, The Young Pretender

The poor chap looked quite ill at ease as he addressed the resident masses on how their hard earned cash was being wasted on vast allowances and $400 dinners a deux for his boss, Der Leader,  and hundreds of thousands of pounds a year on the bottomless pit that is Holland Park Opera. Now we understand that, being German, Der Leader likes a bit of Wagner but should we all have to subsidise his cultural pretensions?

Anyway, for those who want to see the young FM trying to pull the wool over our eyes here's the link

What A Carve Up-Who's getting what in Tri-Boroughland

It seems the Rotten Borough is losing out to Hammersmith & Fulham in the Tri-Boroughland  carve up- judging from the rumours emanating from £280,000 a year Town Clerk, Mr Myers. He evidently says it's
all part of the cost savings needed to protect front line services. One notices that Mr Myers feels that he does not need to cut his own vast salary package.....nor the £120,000 allowance of his leader.....
We should be asking what deal Miss Brill is going to be on looking after the Exhibition Road Festival-whatever expensive nonsense that might be.

Abuse of RBK&C Email Server

Abuse of the Council server has been the downfall of two councillors. It has also landed Cllr Palmer before the Standards Committee for it's abuse promoting his 'business'. So one would have thought that he might be wary of becoming the subject of yet another expensive complaint to the
Committee and a referral for more councillor training. But it seems not.
A senior officer has let a contact of the Dame know that very recently Palmer circulated an email to Majority Group colleagues making serious, unfounded and unproven observations about From the Hornets Nest.
FTHN is a politically independent information source for residents. It may take a controversial stance on issues but that is the nature of politics. In the absence of any effective opposition it functions as a whistleblower and is thus vital to local democracy. For Cllr Palmer to abuse a taxpayer funded facility in this way is nothing short of scandalous: clearly his last visit to the Committee taught him nothing.
Once the Dame has located the email she will be passing it to a supporter. It is clear that Palmer has yet again put himself in a situation where he becomes of interest to the Standards Committee.
If his Leader cannot control him then it falls to residents to step in

Der Leader in angry exchange with Cllr Palmer

The Dame has instructed me to give prominence to a just published comment so droll it needs a wider audience. Poor old Palmer...just when he thought he was going to take his place in Der Leader's Inner Circle disaster loomed. Could his arch enemy Rock FM be behind it.....

left: the hand of Rock FM?

The Dame hears from a friendly officer that 'TallBoy' wrote a quite indecipherable piece of nonsense accusing the dear old Dame of having proclivities similar to the three ex Tory councillors. Then he accused the old girl of vandalising his car and using her diamante encrusted mobile to leave him threatening messages.
For once Der Leader and the Dame are in accord: young Palmer needs to know there are times to lie low and times to lie loudly. As far as the police are concerned they consider him a damned nuisance-but then who doesn't!
Can anyone supply a copy of Palmer's email and the bollocking one from Dear Leader?

`"Person familiar with the situation has left a new comment on your post ""Der Leader" gives Cllr Palmer.....Mission Impossi...":

Cllr Cockell, Leader of Kensington and Chelsea, has hit the roof. In an angry exchange (again) he has instructed Cllr Palmer to desist from any mention of the Hornet in emails and also to refrain from any contact, comment, observation or thought about the website.


This is the policy that the Leader himself adopts in the belief that ignoring protest is the best way to deal with it.

God Save The Queen"

left: Der Leader's cane ready to apply to Cllr Palmer's ample posterior

Quizz Time...Who is La Dame Hornet??

That is the question echoing around the hallowed halls of Hornton Towers....
Cllr Palmer was set the task of uncovering the creator of so much embarrassment to councillors and mirth amongst RBKC staff:naturally he failed....
So the Dame, being full of mischief, decided to set up this little quiz. The prizes will be truly glittering. They are...
***A week at Councillor Danny 'Boy' Moylan's stately Thai Pleasure Dome*** and a £900 dinner for two with Der Leader Cockle at his favourite resto, the 10 star Fat Duck, courtesy of the Rotten Borough. Expect to be taken there in the Council's £115,000 V150 litre coach built Bentley behemoth..(use permitted by 'DelBoy' Myers 'to save taxi fares') If you can't bear having to sit opposite Der Leader you can choose your own guest. The Dame is always looking for a 'date'

So who could she be.....
......the widow of an Iranian billionaire Rotten Borough property developer VERY close to certain ex and current councillors?
Or is she a 'lady' at all? Some of her musings are distinctly vulgar and unladylike
Or maybe he/she is an ex worshipful Mayor or perhaps a senior Labour councillor? Who can crack the code? Someone must know. Some have suggested Justin Downs....others, a group of dissident RBKC staff.
Anyway, send a comment with ideas

Boring Comments

The Dame has already said that she will not abide puerile comments. She has also made clear that she veers to the old Tory wing of the party: a party run by those with gentlemanly instincts. So she was sadly disappointed to read a rather bitchy comment on the prospective Labour candidate for Norland.
This idiot poster, addressing himself to fellow Tories, should have thought that perhaps voters might have preferred an 'Amy Winehouse' lookalike rather than a child porn obsessed Tory..

Baroness Ritchie and £120,000 a year allowances

It is with sincere sadness that we have heard that Shireen Ritchie is unwell. And no one, least of all this blog, likes to kick someone when they are down. But our clear policy is to alert resident taxpayers to ways in which their money is spent. It is for this reason alone that we have to dwell upon councillor allowances: after all, times are tough for all of us and how our money is spent is of paramount importance.

We have heard that Baroness Ritchie has just stepped down as Chair of Local Government Children and Young People Programme Board. This is a sub committee of the LGA, which Merrick Cockell chairs. 

With some surprise we learnt that this post attracted an allowance of £15,500 per annum with expenses bringing it to £18,000 a year

In addition Shireen Ritchie is a Cabinet member of RBK&C. For this she receives some £55,000 a year, including expenses. Finally, she sits in the House of Lords for which she is entitled to claim a maximum, with expenses, of nearly £47,000 per annum.

We are not going to dwell upon her qualifications for these positions but the clear fact remains that she has gross allowances of close to £120,000 a year.

We wish Baroness Ritchie a speedy return to good health but we do counsel her to take leave of absence from the Cabinet whilst she is recovering.

Self important Der Leader in Wilkipedia

Der Leader has decided that he is now self important enough to warrant a self serving/ self generated entry in Wilkipedia.
Clearly educational/professional qualifications eluded von Cockle so he has decided to embroider things by inferring that he had some sort of glittering, dynamic and profitable career as a international trader.

The truth is somewhat mundane: he ran a 2 man biz in the bowels of the offices of the K&C Conservative offices in Manor Street and relies on taxpayer's largessse for his £122k a year income
Would anyone tempted to edit his entry kindly refrain Link




left: jet setting international trader

No More Scandal please

The Dame hears that Shireen Ritchie is stepping down from the Cabinet. An important part of her job was overseeing child protection in the Borough.
It is quite clear that the resignations of three councillors requires that Graham Taylor be given responsibility for ensuring her successor is cleared as someone safe to have contact with children.
Three councillor resignations in just a year is not just bad luck and the Dame hears that other councillors are not immune from tendencies in this direction. No more unpleasant surprises please von Cockle

Bog Standard

The vastly overpaid £52,000 a year deputy leader of the Rotten Borough, Cllr Nick Paget-Brown has excitedly sent a press release to the Dame as she 'soujourns'; at her villa in Capri(its ok for some eh Dame Ed). Anyway, Nick P-B is delighted to let the world know that the 'public lavatories' im Talbot Road are now open.....!!!

Left: 'Toilets' of interest to 'certain disgraced' ex RBKC councillors

"Deputy Leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Cllr Nick Paget-Brown, said: "Close to 60,000 people visit the market each Saturday so these new facilities will be in much demand...... I know that local traders and residents will be pleased with the high quality of work that has restored age-old lavatories to their former glory."
The Talbot Road lavatory will be open Fridays and Saturdays 8am to 6pm, and the Bevington Road lavatory will be open Monday to Thursday 9am to 6pm and Friday and Saturday". To celebrate this momentous event there will be a RBKC sponsored 'piss up'
The Dame recommends that those ex councillors with a recent fixationon on  'public toilets' stay away. As The Dame says 3 councillor resignations are quite enough......

Hill House Jam

The Dame has consistently stood up for Hans Place residents battling to get the headmaster of Hill House School and RBKC to control the anarchic parking of parents, and their beefy and aggressive Ukranian chauffeurs. So she was pleased to see the school has at least won one award, even if not one for being a 'good neigbour'.

Yes, it's a sort of consolation prize but not something to boast about...." Prince Charles’s prep school, Hill House, was given the Tatler award for Best School Food"

No wonder the deputy headmaster, William has achieved such generous proportions-it must be all those delicious portions!

A Plaudit from the Dame....

The Dame was inspired by the example of Chris Butler and his fantastic work to look at others in our Borough who need a pat on the back. Now before anyone says the Dame favours Labour-forget it. She favours any councillor who gets out there and works hard for her community. If the truth be known the Dame could be... 'an old fashioned Tory', but she loves to see local politicians genuinely doing the best to help those who put them in power. Sadly, certain of our local politicians seem to be just calculating how much they can garner in allowances and kudos(yes, Herr von Cockle the Dame is looking at you!) However, having said that there are many Conservative and Lib Dem cllrs who share the same qualities as Cllr Emma Dent Coad. Cllr Dent Coad has just sent this link to the Dame. The Dame loves to shop and eat, particularly in areas of town she rarely ventures to. She was greeted by an amazingly well produced(and beautifully drawn) website telling her where to go in Golbourne. It is truly excellent and the Dame encourages you to use it and send on the link to friends.  Well done Cllr and all of those who put it together.

Mayor Johnson applauds Chris Butler

The Dame is delighted to read about an award to Chris Butler:Londoner of the Day. Well done Chris...

 

 

Londoner of the Day: Chris Butler

Mr Butler was nominated to receive a Team London Star certificate from Mayor Boris Johnson by the parent of one of the youngsters in his troop.
Lieutenant Butler has been involved there for 20 years.
“I’m very pleased about the whole thing. It’s quite an honour to be nominated.”
Fifty-five youngsters in the area and 13 volunteers take part in activities like flying, gliding and outdoor adventure.
There is also music and drums for children who want to learn music.
On September 12, Mr Butler was invited to collect his certificate from the Mayor.
And some of the young members of the platoon also sampled City Hall, attending the event as well.
“The Air Cadets are a thriving organisation,” said Mr Butler.
“Young people get quite a bad press sometimes, but there are some sterling ones and a few of them came.”
London24s Londoner of the Day aims to find people in the capital who have done something good, be it everyday or extra-ordinary.
If you’d like to nominate someone for a future Londoner of the Day mention you can email London24 editor Simon Bull at simon.bull@archant.co.uk.

WARNING DEFAMATORY COMMENTS/ CONTEMPT OF COURT

The Dame is very busy and cannot always be there to moderate comments. Certain recent comments could be interpreted as defamatory or in contempt of court. The Dame allows much latitude to posters so please be responsible.

Mr Frazer-Howells calls the Dame about a Norland nanny

Mr Frazer-Howells called the Dame using his Louis Vuitton encrusted(yes, it is an odd looking instrument) telephone.
 'Dame, I am happy to announce that Der Leader von Cockle has appointed Catherine Faulks as candidate for Norland'. Trilling happily away, he went on to say how excited they were to have a 'celebrity candidate'. The Dame had to point out to the silly boy that being sister in law to the talented and extremely charming Sebastian did not make her a 'celeb': what a waste of time....Jonathan was not listening, being excited beyond reason. He and Der Leader can't wait to inveigle themselves into the Kensington literary salons. The Dame asked whether the Norland Ward chairman had met Catherine. With a giggle Jonathan replied, 'Don't be silly Dame, of course not,what's it got to do with him?'

Left: Catherine is next to bro-in-law Sebastian.

Norland Candidates

The Dame has been told that Labour have selected it's candidate. She hopes to hear from all other parties when they have made their selections so she can post them up in the same way as she has for Labour. 


Kensington Labour Party have selected youth worker Beinazir Lasharie to represent them in the Norland by-election on Thursday 6 October.

Local candidate Beinazir Lasharie was born and bred on Lancaster West, and attended Avondale Primary School. She was a Colville Ward candidate and is the daughter of Alderman Mushtaq Lasharie, who was Councillor in Notting Barns for 18 years.

Great Mysteries

One of the great mysteries 'de nos jours' is how Cllr Danny 'Boy' Moylan can afford his super luxury Thai Pleasure Dome. The Dame is rich and vulgar, but even her multi million pound beach side villa looks like a gardeners's cottage in comparison to the Moylan Estate. Now we know that he is well rewarded by Boris(don't you mean by us? Ed) but surely this sort of property is normally the preserve of the uber rich?

left: a typical flashy Thai villa

 Anyway, the Dame is humble enough to admit to the deadly sin of envy and is now seriously considering applying to Mr Frazer-Howells for the position of cllr for Norland.

But turning to more serious matters... readers will remember that Danny 'Boy' likes to do his R&R in balmy Thailand. That means, unlike the rest of us proles who use the internet, he has DHL
deliver his bits and bobs by courier. This cost RBKC taxpayers the thick end of £4,000. The Dame hopes that this practice has now ceased. It is an outrageous waste of money and should be paid for by Tfl-not RBKC...or preferably not all. After all, he is clearly rich enough to pay for it himself.

Hill House School Nightmare Parking

The Dame has had more complaints from residents in Hans Place. It seems our Council prefers to generate revenue by ticketing overstays rather than controlling irresponsible and dangerous double and treble parking caused by Hill House School parents. The Daily Mail reports today 

This is the scene outside Wheelers Lane Primary School in Birmingham, during and after the school run. From The Daily Mail

But now Council officials in the Billesley suburb of the city plan to target those who park badly with a £70 fine to tackle the congestion, and the anti-social behaviour said to go with it, outside the school gates. 

Thanks to the completely ineffectual headmaster of Hill House School residents of Hans Place look set to have to endure a similar form of nightmare as anti social parents park chaotically whilst delivering and collecting their children. Despite constant complaints the Council do nothing. A senior City figure took the trouble to remind the Dame that RBKC has form in doing nothing about that breed of other anti social foreigners who have sadly made London their home. Read all about them here and see the similarity.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23971224-supercars-seized-from-boy-racers-in-knightsbridge-crackdown.do

The daily danger to children is obvious as they dart through the illegal parkers to find their parents. All other schools employ staff to ensure parents behave considerately: sadly Mr Townend, and his tubby son William, wash their hands of any responsibility for the chaos their school creates.

Come on Mr Townend...with the vast fees you charge surely you can emulate the socially responsible example of your neighbouring schools? Or are you too mean to spend the money.
How different to the founder of Hill House, Colonel Townend. Both children and parents had a healthy respect for this great educationalist. Step out of line and you were in serious trouble. A complaint from a resident would be dealt with rapidly and effectively.

 

 

Nearly 80,000 UNIQUE VISITORS TO DAME HORNET

 

   left: nearly there.....

A very special day...just a couple of dozen more visits and 80,000 visitors will have dropped by to see how things are done in the Royally Rotten Borough.
The Dame was going to step out for a celebratory lunch with her man of  secretive offshore business, ex Cllr  and Worshipful Mayor Barry Phelps, but a mysterious phone call from Hornton Street stayed her hand.
She has been told to stay close to her telephone and await a surprise call from a very important personage.
Who could be calling to congratulate her on the stunning success of her little blog........

Headless Chickens in Norland coop

The Dame has been chatting to some of her well placed political sources(discreetly, for they don't know her true identity). For the benefit of her devotees she can tell you it is chaos out there.
Mr Spalding, a very well placed source, and closely connected to Der Leader, tells the Dame that the Conservative candidate selection process is a real old muddle.  Anxious to avoid the embarrassment caused selecting a porn star for Brompton Ward Party, Der Leader is taking a personal interest and has removed Louis Vuitton loving agent Mr Frazer-Howells from day to day control. Mr Spalding tells the Dame Der Leader has known for 11 months of the potential by election so has a 'poodle' in mind. Der Leader evidently flew into one of his rages when he heard that J F-H had got the date wrong. Needless to say the ward will have no say at all: it will be in the gift of Der Leader von Cockle.
Not much better in the Labour coop. It seems that they too are short of a candidate and are running around like headless chickens.

left: Labour headless chickens




So what of the Lib Dems? Now that organisational brainbox, Professor Meltzer is no longer around it seems that they too are under stress.

All in all it could be a record low turnout....

Councillor 'Driveller' Palmer fails skills test

Sad news from the officer responsible for training errant councillors.
Cllr Palmer was accused by the Standards Committee of the very serious offence of failing to declare his business interests. Very soon this will be a criminal offence, however fortunately for the Driveller his penalty was just a severe rap over the knuckles.
Now the irony of it all is that the company he failed to declare is councilskills.com. It's declared objective is to train councillors in what they can or cannot do. So this is a case of 'healer heal thyself' as clearly Palmer, deliberately or not, did not adhere to this basic rule. And yet he intends to charge people for his training skills.....
Anyway, the officer responsible for training and rehabilitating Palmer is driven to despair claiming that he just cannot get Palmer to pass his training skills exams. Evidently, Palmer has been forced to stay on 'after school'. He has even made him sit in a corner but to no avail

left: a shamed looking Cllr Palmer

Royal Borough/ Royal Castle/ Royal Ring

Though herself rather grand-if not just a little common and vulgar-The Dame has many royal connections. Hence the tip off from one of Her Majesty's trusted advisers that the Queen's guard arrested and charged with rape of a pre-teen age girl was part of a very much larger child abuse ring. She is beginning to hear rumours that there is no disconnect between the Royally Rotten Borough and the Royal Castle arrests. It does seem more than a coincidence.

 But let's have no conspiracy theories......please



left: Castle in Royal Berkshire