There is a rising crescendo of voices pulling apart Ed Ball's property tax proposals which target income poor residents of Central London.
Interestingly, Mayor Johnson has a different TAKE on how the tax could impact upon the Borough.
Labour Group leader Emma Dent-Coad adds her voice to those concerned about the impact of the tax on the elderly and those on small incomes. It's in today's Times.
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Great to see Labour Councillors (icluding the Royal Borough's EDC) doing what local Councillors are supposed to do - representing the interests of their voters. The sad thing about this article is that there is not a single mention of the Tory Leader's letter to the shadow Chancellor Ed Balls about the Mansion Tax. Cllr Paget- Brown had a great idea, did his research and wrote a good letter to Balls. But it has gone straight into the dustbin. What on earth is the useless Fitzpatrick and PR department in Hornton Street doing? Every single newspaper article and TV programme should feature the Leaders letter. It should be up there in headlines. Its why council tax payers spend £500k every year on the Hornton Street PR department. Again we learn that they are useless. Time to clear them out and work through a private PR agency that gets paid by results. Lots of them around
ReplyDeleteOf course there will not be coverage in the national press and TV of the Paget-Brown letter. Fitzpatrick and his crowd of PR amateurs do not understand the word "campaign" and they do not know how to work the media. A useless crowd.
DeleteSad to say - useless mediacoms notwithstanding - NPB has neither the presence nor the gravitas to be press-friendly. Merrick was dreary in the extreme, but sounded as if he knew what he was talking about and spoke with conviction (though mostly talking arrant nonsense).
DeleteNPB is sincere, dull, and has no USP. Tragic.
Today, knowing how to get into the press is basic and essential stuff for politicians. Those who cant are wasting their time and abusing the trust of their residents.
DeleteSadly, when it comes to the press, they are useless. Who made a serious effort to highlight the issue of basement development, brought it to the press's attention as often as possible? Not our Tory Councillors and not our Tory MP. This is just the same. It's enough to make you wonder whether we still have a Labour government given how little influence our Tory Councillors appear to have over Tory national policy.
DeleteOn the other hand, EDC is in danger of making Labour sound like a real political opposition in RBKC, just as it is in Westminster! Truly, wonders will never cease. We must all hope that Labour will keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThe local Labour party have clearly been busy reinventing themselves into an effective political force that means to serve local residents well. Cllr. Dent Coad and Cllr. Blakeman should be congratulated on exorcising the ghost of Keith Cunningham, who was little more than a stooge for the Tory administration, so effectively,
DeleteThe local Tories .... haven't. There's plenty of dead wood there. They just seem incapable of seeing it let alone casting adrift.
I think you'll find some of the dead wood made a move down to Queensgate during the local elections.
DeleteThe only people who think that the local Labour party are doing a good job in RBKC are members of the local Labour party themselves. The same small group of individuals who also love to try and manipulate their importance on this blog.
DeleteGood to see Labour in Hammersmith and Fulham also taking a stand.
ReplyDeleteCllr Moylan would have been all over the press with Mansion Tax. The Royal Borough deserves what it gets after the mediocre Leadership election. Now we are stuffed wit a "never was" and "never will be"
DeleteIf recent press coverage the Leader of the Conservative Group in H&F appears to be most concerned about the unexpected leaf fall. It appears the pummeling they received at the local elections has caused some kind of mental aberration.
DeleteNPB's letter seems to have gone down like a flat balloon. "Meet Nick" sessions are not enough to make a difference. He needs to learn how to campaign, how to press hot buttons, how to get noticed. He could start by firing the whole PR Department. Fitzpatrick would make a great gardener in Holland Park - watering the Japanese Garden.
ReplyDeleteThe "Ask Nick" sessions don't work because its appears Nick's natural instinct when faced with a room full of less-than-impressed residents is to run away and that is abundantly clear to everyone in the room. I'm surprised he hasn't had to be tied to the chair.
DeleteOf course the other Councillors who come along to "support" him don't really help. The main impression they give is of being completely out of touch as a result of having tried to avoid the plebs for as long as possible.
Cllr Moylan has been briefing against Cllr Paget-Brown
ReplyDeleteAbout what? Hair loss?
DeleteThe guy is not up to the job. Moylan would have been the effective candidate. Gets results.
DeleteResidents would be wise to consider exactly which political party is actively and apparently quite effectively campaigning on this issue. That the views of one party leader make it into the Times and the other's are nowhere to be see says it all.
ReplyDeleteLet's be honest, the only reason the local Tories are remotely interested in the Mansion Tax is because they wish to use the issue against the Labour party. Their leaflets during the recent local elections accused Labour candidates of supporting the Mansion Tax when they were well aware that the policy did not have the support of any of the existing Labour party Councillors or any of its new candidates. Labour Councillors had actually made their feelings very clear on numerous occasions at at many Council meetings. Point scoring takes priority over the truth, or the interests of residents, as usual.
DeleteIt is certainly worth thinking twice before casting your vote. Far too many residents vote on "automatic" in this borough. The end result is not a pretty sight.
DeleteThe only publicity obtained by Nick's letter about Mansion Tax was on the Hornet, courtesy of the Dame. But as we know, the Tories hate the Hornet and loath the Dame. A zero sum game.
ReplyDeleteCllr Paget-Brown needs to step up. Not just one step. Its a whole flight of stairs.
The Shadow Chancellor threw Nick's letter straight into the Balls bin. Game, set and match
The only thing worse than Nick's flat balloon is the total absence of our MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind. Not a word from him. As usual, he is nowhere to be seen or heard when vital issues are at stake for K&C residents. A useless MP. The most awful dead weight passenger.
ReplyDeleteParasite is the word that you are looking for
DeleteHuge piece in the Evening Standard today about the Mansion Tax. Two page spread. Many quotes from politicians in Central London - including junior Conservative outsider Cllr Harry Phibbs from Hammersmith and Fulham. Massive opposition.
ReplyDeleteBut NOT A SINGLE MENTION of Cllr Paget-Brown's letter to the Ed Balls. The Leader of K&C is off the map. Literally. Thanks to his useless PRO. Why are taxpayers spending £500k per year on Fitzpatrick and his non events. Pass the sick bag Dame
Its not only Paget-Brown who is nowhere to be seen. MP Rifkend is also absent from the debate. Even though Kensington and Chelsea is the most affected Borough by the Mansion Tax threat and residents have the most to lose. The Evening Standard estimates that house owners in the Royal Borough will pay an extra £600 million every year in Mansion Tax.
DeleteWakey, wakey Paget-Brown. Wakey wakey Rifkind
DeleteIt is a major scandal that Paget-Brown and Rifkind are not astride the Mansion Tax threat and shouting from the rooftops. And mobilising opinion to prevent this happening. At least they need to get noticed.
ReplyDeletePaget-Brown lives in the Hornton Street bubble and feels important and dynamic and puffed up. In reality he is not cutting the mustard. Rifkind uses his K&C position as a sinecure to pursue his outside interests. Both are letting down their electors. Both need a rocket up their backsides.
All the “Arsenic” sessions have been very controversial, with P-B facing and unable to answer hostile but very well crafted questions on matters of deep concern to local residents. This happened at every session, not just the one held in the “enemy” Dalgarno area. But the press spin on all these meetings is merely about what subjects were raised and Nick’s pleasure at meeting so many local people. Incidentally, the mooted move of Tory HQ to Dalgarno is perhaps not a very good idea, given imminent proposals to “regenerate” part of the Balfour Burleigh estate. Are they going to rent part of Inspector Clouseau’s home?
ReplyDeleteNorth Kensington is a done deal for the new Tory HQ. The Cadogans wanted 1A Manor Street back so that they could develop the site for high end luxury flats for foreigners to park hot money from Russia and Hong Kong. Young Cadogan has taken over from his dad. So they bought out the Conservatives and paid £400k for them to surrender the lease. £100k went to K&C Conservatives and £300k to Chelsea and Fulham Conservatives. £100k will buy a North Ken HQ for Rifkind. But where will Fraser Howells go? The North Ken Office or the new Chelsea and Fulham Office? Fragrant hates North Ken but Chelsea MP Greg Hands hates Howells.
DeleteTories in a muddle again.
Cllr Elizabeth Rutherford (who also hates Fraser Howells) has let it be known that the further he goes to the boundaries of the Royal Borough, the better. If fragrant gets lost in Fulham that would be even better.
DeleteHowells has a habit of upsetting the powerful women in the Royal Borough. Earls Court supremo Jennifer Wade hates him. But she is a Liberal. And Caryl Harris, the powerful Resident Association activist, also cannot stand to be in the same room as fragrant.
ReplyDelete