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| "So, Pooter, is it true that your expense claims are an utter disgrace? "Ma'am, you should not listen to that horrid friend of yours, The Dame." |
Sir Merrick 'Pooter' Cockell has been making a worrying boast to his Chinese clients.
It seems he has has been 'tipping them the wink' that his friend and protege, Cllr Quentin Marshall, is going to chair the Major Planning Committee and that Committee will take the decision.
Let's dispense with silly time-wasting FOI requests and put Cockell's 'creature', Marshall, to the question....
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| Insolent bully |
"Cllr Marshall, have you ever discussed the Holiday Inn application with Sir Merrick Cockell and did Sir Merrick intimate to you that the Council would receive £20 million for 'local improvements'?
Dame, it sounds a bit defamatory....
ReplyDeleteAs usual the Dame is on the button and doing a service to residents. Cllr Marshall just needs to reply to the question. There are no accusations. Just an urgent need to clear the air.
ReplyDeleteThe Dame is never frightened of action for defamation. There's always some dimwit threatening her.
ReplyDeleteSensibly, she has her vast fortune tucked away in the Marshall Islands so sue and be damned.
Cockell is an utter disgrace. It is of little surprise that local councillors are held in such low esteem when voters see the likes of Cockell using local government service as a springboard for lucrative lobbying activity.
ReplyDeleteYes, Marshall needs to clear the air and be open about any conversations he may have had with Cockell. There should be very thick Chinese Walls....
I am delighted that the Dame exposed Cockell's outrageous expense claims and hopefully that prevented him getting his lusted after peerage. His K should be for services to himself. The Council is well rid of this local government entrepreneur.
This project has all the hallmarks of another grubby little stitch up and the usual flow of brown envelopes. Disgraced ex Cllr Cockell should not be "working his contacts" in his ex Borough. And serving Councillors should give him a wide berth.
DeleteThere are times when Hornton Street tries to be more sophisticated than the antics of T Dan Smith in Newcastle. But the planning honchos need to keep their eyes wide open for the Dame and her Hornets who will leave no stone unturned.
Planning Director Smallwood needs to make it clear to his subordinates that they should not be talking to Cockell and his staff on a one to one basis or in a personal capacity. And a minute should be taken of all conversations.
DeleteCouncillors on the Planning Committee, and most especially Chairman Cllr Marshall, should not be having off the record conversations with ex Cllr Cockell "in order to better understand his position".
The days of "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" are no longer tolerated in the age of The Dame
And a pox on the Masons
It should be remembered that Cockell personally sponsored Marshall and arranged his first nomination for a safe Tory seat on the K&C council.
ReplyDeletePayback time?
Posh Crooks !
ReplyDeleteNothing is worse than getting into the hands of gentleman crooks
DeletePooter is NOT a gentleman. And Boy Marshall is mutton dressed as lamb
DeleteMarshall has a very private life and Pooter knows his leverage
DeleteThere is no such thing as private life these days.
DeleteI'm sure someone somewhere knows or how to dig.
Well said 14.43
Delete£ 20 million to RBKC? How many other amounts to the nice Councillors, for their nod and a wink? Cockell et al are members of the exclusive swamp. They bump into each other from time to time and discuss any projects of mutual interest. Mystical dragon with many heads....
ReplyDeleteIt is hopeless. Grenfell was the opportunity to clear the swamp and turf out the corrupted Tory administration. Unfortunately no alternative came forward to replace them that managed to inspire residents. The message was "different is the same or worse".
ReplyDeleteOnly the Dame and her Hornets manage to have an impact on the world of affairs in Kensington and Chelsea.
Long live the Dame
As I said in a previous post, the garden is partially protected under the London Squares Preservation Act 1931. I have expanded on this at http://www.xenophon.org.uk/ashburn.html
ReplyDeleteMr Dixie, have you asked your Ward Councillor to comment on your opinion?
DeleteNo - I hope it is a matter of uncontroversial fact. Do you think there is a problem?
DeleteAh - perhaps I have not been entirely clear - the *layout* of the garden is not protected, only its *aggregate area* - the developer can switch things round as he pleases as long as long as the final result is a garden or gardens of the same area as the protected garden(as Seifert purported to do in 1971).
DeleteA good idea to get your Ward Councillor stirred up and on side. Part of the lobby process.
DeletePlease leave your armchair, Mr Dixie!
Would the Dame please keep a close eye on the progress of this case and keep her readers informed?
ReplyDeleteThank you
Residents should give Cllr Marshall the benefit of the doubt. As Chairman of the Planning Committee, he turned down the controversial Newton House application in Notting Hill Gate, even though the application was supported by the Kensington Society who got carried away by their power broking role and went against the interests of their membership.
ReplyDeleteThis time, it is reported that the Kensington Society is opposed to the development. Residents need to make their voice heard in a forceful manner. We have to hope that Cllr Marshall's career debt to ex Cllr Cockell will not create a conflict of interest.
But the Newcombe House decision to refuse was made two months before the May local election ...
ReplyDeleteGood point 20.03. Marshall wants a Cabinet position and will do anything to please the Leader. At the moment she only "does Grenfell" because this gets her in front of the press which is the only thing she values because it makes her a celebrity with the SLOANE SQUARE PARTY SET.
DeleteSo Marshall will be playing to Deputy Leader Pascall, who currently runs the Council. We know that Cllr Pascall is pretty dim, has form on the Planning Committee, and is desperate for school fees.
Cllr Marshall is not going to look so clever after he is dragged in front of the Public Inquiry and asked to explain why he throw the Grenfell residents to the wolves by ignoring their pleas for the RBKC to investigate the KCTMO's refurb of Grenfell Tower. First Cllr Marshall stopped those residents present at the Scrutiny Committee from delivering their complaints in full and then he arranged for the KCTMO to investigate themselves. He should consider himself lucky to avoid serious sanctions and it would be better for all concerned if he left RBKC for good.
ReplyDeleteBoy Marshall has no backbone. He is a fair weather politician interested only in his own advancement. As such he reads the tea leaves to find out what is "safe" at any point in time.
DeleteWhen Marshall suppressed and ignored Grenfell residents at the Scrutiny Committee he was merely reflecting the values of Hornton Street at that time - the unwashed in North Kensington are an ignorant and troublesome lot who need to be put in their place.
Politicians like this are a waste of time. Public baggage. We need to know them for what they are. Only a good kicking from the Dame and her hornets will get results from them.
What a bunch of wankers.
Pooter and Marshall. Birds of a feather
DeleteI see where we are going wrong here. We are focusing on 'their' game plan. There are alternative....OUR WAY. There is such thing as power of visualisation. Let's not get sucked into their game plan. Visualise the birds of feather parting away from each other, cussing, bitching as they separate. LOL Do you remember, though you didn't know, naturally we bombarded a lot of negativity at a certain Councillor after Grenfell last year and as a result this individual ended up having an unfortunate injury. Such as power of mind in action.
DeleteCllr Marshall's determination at the Planning Committee will depend on his assessment of what result is desired by Cllr Pascall and Cllr Campbell. This will offer him his best chance for promotion to the Cabinet.
ReplyDeleteThis is the classic behaviour of the "upward manager". It is all about "what do they want to hear?"
Get rid of them......
Penetrating analysis, 8.53
DeleteThe Ma$ter: Ki$$ my ar$e.
DeleteThe ar$se licker: Yes, Sir.
[Less vulgar version]
The Ma$ter: You scratch my back. I'll scratch yours puppy.
The slave ar$se licker: Yes, Sir. I'll do anything for you.
Pooter Cockle, the failed fag salesperson, is also the classic "upward manager". Holland Park School and the Three Borough fiasco were intended to be his path to the Lords. He would contemplate his future during the weekend trips to New York and Boston, paid for by Kensington and Chelsea Council tax, and smile quietly to the tune "what a clever chap I am".
DeleteUntil the Dame put a stop to all that.
I think too much ego might work against him and if he is not careful, even the whole bank might collapse! Just imagine a jenga tower as their master plan. It stays up precariously. One more pull and the whole thing might collapse.
Delete"Quentin Marshall steps up to head Weatherbys Private Bank" 6th July 2017
ReplyDeleteWhat a lucrative position to be in (as a Councillor!!) It's all about money baby and not about serving the residents though that's what he is supposed to do.
Let's do some funny handshakes behind the scene. The public will be clueless and there will be no trace.
HA HA HA.
That figures. Polo playing Quent the Gent will feel at home in Wetherby's, the bank for the horse racing fraternity. Now in its 7th generation family ownership the two Wetherby brothers are in their mid 50s with eight children between them. They need a bit more time off for the races and an interim guy to sit in the CEO chair until one of the eight kids is ready to move in. Quent the Gent is center stage.
DeleteCllr Marshall will step down from the Council in the near future. His role as a banker, even a small banker, is incompatible with the risk of adverse publicity and controversy which he runs as a Councillor of the Royal Borough.
DeleteI think we need to demand that he provides us with something that proves that he has no business connection with the Yeung family? If he is unwilling/unable to do so due to private nature, then he should step down.
DeleteNot so simple for Cllr Marshall to step down from the Council and concentrate on his bank job. He has always wanted to become a Member of Parliament and the K&C Council is the stepping stone, created for Quent the Gent by his sponsor Pooter Cockle.
DeleteUnfortunately for Quent, his timing was wrong. Three elections ago when the Gent was hot to trot the tide had turned and the Tories were looking for candidates who were black, women and minorities. Polo, Ferrari and Winchester did not stack up and Quent was out in the cold. He bought a scooter but this was not enough.
Could the tide turn again? Could the long cherished dream of Westminster become a possibility? Quent the Gent is in a quandary.
And from time to time his old mates from his banking days in Asia turn up in London wanting a little bit of help in the local Government space..
Nothing wrong with the boy. The Dame should put the whip away.
DeleteTime for Lord Kensington to crawl back into his hole
ReplyDeleteAny feedback from the meeting, anyone?
ReplyDeleteEvening Standard reports that 150 residents turned up to the meeting and there is outrage
Delete