BAILEY VERSUS TICE? NO CONTEST

 

                                                                                                                  Sometimes the truth has to hurt.......

The Dame has broken bread with Shaun Bailey and Richard Tice, founder of Reform UK.

Over a sandwich lunch, the Dame endured an hour of Bailey talking incoherent rubbish. Not once did he ask a question. He behaved like a mobile phone salesman not the potential mayor of a super city. 

The Dame has written several times to him as an AM: predictably the question being complex got no response.

On the other hand, the Dame has met Tice and was impressed by his intelligence and leadership skills.

In the years ahead, London will need an 'ambassadorial leader'.

That a blustering blowhard like Bailey could fit the bill is deeply concerning.

Tice is considering standing as Mayor of London. 

Great cities need leaders with the personality and business skills to lead a team: Tice has those skills....Bailey, an ex youth worker is totally ill-equipped....but worse, fails to realise his shortcomings.

No wonder Khan smiles when Bailey's name comes up. 

Only Tice could wipe the smile off Khan's face.

JENRICK....ANOTHER CABINET PUDDING

               a Right Hon and his ex soft porn publisher chum

......and talking of Cabinet spivs...here's another story the old Dame has nicked from her more successful rival, The Steeples Times.

This is what Steeples has to say about the appalling Jenrick and his equally appalling friend, the ex soft porn publisher, 'Dirty Dick' Richard Desmond.....

Jobsworth Robert Jenrick announces estate agents CAN take potential virus spreaders into peoples’ homes even in Tier 4 lockdown areas; a QUARTER of donations to the Tory party come from the property sector.

Read on  if not thoroughly disgusted HERE

THE DAME SHAFTS SPIVVY SHAPPS: SUE THE DAME...IF YOU DARE!

One of the Dame's favourite journos is Andrew Pierce.

Below is what Andrew wrote about the hyper dishonest Shapps. 

Our PM likes to surround himself with third-raters and now those third-raters are busy ordering us around. 

Johnson even has/had criminal friends like the violent psychopath Darius Guppy.

This once great country is led by politicians more suited to running used car sales operations of permanent interest to Trading Standards officers.

A Right Honourable Spiv posing as Michael Green in Las Vegas

"In 2012, Shapps was accused of having breached the code of conduct for ministers and MPs when it was revealed he held a second job after entering Parliament, something he had repeatedly denied.

The MP had been exposed as having used a pen name ‘Michael Green’ to run a web marketing company which told people ‘how to become filthy stinking rich online’ by buying his self-help books, which cost £150. There were photos of Shapps in 2004 at a conference in Las Vegas wearing the name tag of his alter-ego. He also posed in publicity material as a successful businessman in convertible cars and a private plane.

At the time he said he had used the pseudonym to separate ‘business from politics’ but he insisted he had never traded as Green after becoming an MP. He threatened to sue a constituent who suggested otherwise.

Shapps – who by now had got the nickname Duracell Bunny, for his dogged ability to keep going despite countless scandals – was embarrassed again when it emerged that he had edited his own online Wikipedia biography to alter his school exam results and delete the identity of donors to his private office."

GLEEFUL WHITTY SAYS 'UNPACK YOUR BAGS'

                              Cold Fish

There's something of the mole about Mr Whitty: a man who exists in damp and dark places

Small human pleasures seem non-existent in his dreary life.

With a cursory "unpack your bags"  he wrecks the dreams of millions looking forward to a family Christmas.

What crass ineptitude! What lack of emotional intelligence and sensitivity.

It even seems he relishes his instruction.

Whitty is a man with an emotional bypass.

Our two MP's, Felicity Buchan and Greg Hands need to remind their boss his underling, Whitty, is doing great damage to the perception of this government.

LEBEDEV: PEERING INTO OUR ROTTING WORLD

  Count Dracula of the Siberian Gulag and Richmond upon Thames

What would the Dame's old friend, Mr Evelyn Waugh, make of 'Modern Britain'?

Lebedev's father was once the United Kingdom's fiercest enemy. 

In just a couple of decades his son, wolf loving Lebedev Junior, has become a peer of our rotting realm.

This makes ultra disturbing reading Lebedev/Johnson

Rubbing salt in the wounds the boy is 'made up' as Lord Lebedev of Siberia where the Gulag salt mines are situated and where millions were tortured to death by the father's employers.

Ironically, the dodgy boy is sponsored by none other than Milord Ken Clark.

Clark, as Home Secretary, would have once been watching the activities of his KGB father.

                       Peerlessly Degenerate?

One expects Lebedev might struggle to abide by the Lords's Code of Conduct-a bad joke in itself!

When Lebedev asked how he could become a 'Lordy' was told he would need to engage in some blatant and self-interested 'political philanthropy' and take powerful politicians on expensively debauched holidays at his Tuscan castle.

He did both.... the mysterious weirdo is now part of our corrupt Establishment.

A COUNCIL FIGHTING HARD FOR THE ROYAL BROMPTON

The Council battled to save the Royal Brompton Hospital for residents as well as the thousands who come from outside the Borough to benefit from the hospital's world-class services.

                               Kemahli worked hard

The decision by the governors to accept the takeover( for that is exactly what it is) is shameful.

And more galling is the lack of public scrutiny which one governor eloquently highlighted.

This is a bad decision to be regretted for years to come.

Michael Mates, the lead governor, demonstrated his arrogance by filing his fingers and fiddling with his mobile during this vital meeting.

Mates has a disgraceful record when it comes to matters judgmental as does the chairman, Sally Morgan.

A shameful day for our Borough.

Praise in particular for Cllr Kemahli who fought hard to save the Royal Brompton.

LISTEN IN TO THE ROYAL BROMPTON GOVERNOR'S MEETING AND WATCH COLONEL MATES DOING A MANICURE

Filing his nails!!

So involved was the Lead Governor of the Royal Brompton that the Dame caught him filing his claw-like talons.

You can listen and watch now

Watch It

BENDING TO THE WILL OF BELL, MATES AND MORGAN

 

The End

Dear Dame,

At 11.00am today the mostly supine governors of our great hospital will vote will doubtless go “for the merger” but in reality the statutory acquisition of the Brompton by Guys and St Thomas’s

 

The Brompton won’t close tomorrow, but in the middle of a pandemic why is this decision being kept so secret that even the Governors' meeting is being held behind closed doors and away from the scrutiny of the public.

The Dame has reported on the background of the three drivers of the destruction of the hospital...Mates, Bell and Morgan. 

This trio will go down in history as the public health vandals they are.

 

It is a tragedy...

 

In spite of cross-party local opposition (and disinterest from Matt Hancock) all requests to delay the decision so it can be discussed and scrutinized in public have been refused....a strange sort of democracy.

 

 

I know, Dame, you feel a great fondness for the Brompton and the shared work it does with the Marsden so today is a depressing day, made even more so by the lack of public accountability in the decision-making process.

Yours in sadness

A Friend of the Royal Brompton.

 

THE DAME....'A NATIONAL TREASURE' ?

 

                                                                 A National Treasure

After the brutal attacks upon the Dame by Colonel Mates, Lead Governor of the Royal Brompton and his spiritual adviser, Father Davies(not an onerous task) friends of the old thing decided that she needed cheering up.

Prince William called for us to 'celebrate' the life of another old Dame describing her, rather foolishly, as a "National Treasure". 

To be a "National Treasure" these days you have to be a mummer or strummer.

And why these days are we always asked to 'celebrate' this or that or 'reach out' to people?

So, how about adding our own much loved Dame to the pantheon of "National Treasures"?

MATES OF MATES ATTACK THE DEAR OLD DAME

 

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

LEAD GOVERNOR OF ROYAL BROMPTON SAYS THE DAME IS 'BENEATH CONTEMPT' AND NEEDS A THRASHING

The Colonel with stick to beat the old Dame with.......

Michael Mates emailed below to the fragrant Dame.....

click to enlarge

The Lead Governor of the Royal Brompton is a fine judge of character so when he praises 'Sally'  we MUST listen: after all, Colonel Mates went to the trouble of sending his friend the fraudster, Asil Nadir, a watch engraved...."Don't Let The Buggers Get You DOWN". It didn't do the Nadir much good as he ended up going DOWN for ten years. 

Mates, you are a damned fool with an 'interesting past'. 

You should resign.

You say most of the governors 'respect and admire' Sally so name the ones that don't!

THE ROYAL BROMPTON LEADERSHIP....WHAT A SHOWER

The Royal Brompton has some colourful 'characters' leading it.

First off is the CE, Lebanese born, Bob Bell seen here with his brace of Purdeys shooting on the Earl of T******l spread noted for its high birds.......

                                                      Bob behind the blonde bird

Then the Dame heard about the lead governor, the controverial Col Mates, one time MP and such a good friend of convicted fraudster, Asil Nadir, he gave him a watch engraved with, "Don't Let The Buggers Get You Down"

The Dame then remembered other controversies the Colonel had got emeshed with.... The Panama Papers revealed that Mates was minority shareholder of an offshore investment company named Haylandale Limited from 2005 to at least April 2010, the end of his parliamentary period, and owned four subsidiary firms from August 2007 to December 2008 for leasing and services connected to luxury properties in the Bahamas. The Colonel  had, however, previously declared that he was the remunerated Chairman of Haylandale, which undertook property development in the West Indies in the Register of Members' Interests for the period of 2005 to 2010.

                             No Mates with Hands

Evidently, Greg Hands goes apoplectic when Mates's name comes up.

Then we have corporate accident prone Baroness Morgan leading up the rear. The Dame has dealt with her previously.

What a very interesting bunch. 

Makes the excellent leadership team at the wonderful Royal Marsden look quite worthy and dull!

THE BLUNDERING BARONESS CHAIRS THE ROYAL BROMPTON: IF THE ROYAL BROMPTON WERE QUOTED YOU WOULD SHORT IT

                                    SUPINE SALLY

Bob Bell likes to rub local noses in it. 

The architect behind the closure of our great hospital has invited a little known member of the Labour 'aristocracy', Lady Sally Morgan, to chair the hospital just as it enter its death throes.

Why is it that every company Morgan involves herself with dies or goes into intensive care?

This ex secondary school teacher was a Southern Cross non-executive director when it collapsed in disgrace. 

Morgan was repeatedly warned by GMB about serious issues of management at Southern Cross but chose to do nothing SOUTHERN CROSS

If you thought that corporate disaster would be a salutary lesson think again. Morgan then moved on to Carillion and that promptly collapses amidst near-criminal activity. CARILLION

Finally, she ends up a non-executive board member of intensive care candidate, Countrywide. 

Most of the Board leave but not our Sally. She hangs on in there picking up yet another fee. COUNTRYWIDE

If the Royal Brompton was an FTSE stock and Morgan the chairman you would be a fool not to short it.

Someone has made the comment that the Baroness's behaviour is like that of some spiv....the very sort she would condemn.

This appointment is an insult to the doctors, nurses and frontline staff who we so value in the NHS.

The Dame asks that those who tweet please tweet.

IDLING ENGINES KILL CYCLISTS AND PEDESTRIAN

                                              

• An idling engine can produce up to twice as many exhaust emissions as an engine in motion. 
• Exhaust emissions contain a range of air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter. 
• These can affect the air quality of the surrounding environment and the air we breathe.

The Council has a duty of care to residents whether they be cyclists and pedestrians-old and young.

A blocked up Kensington High Street is a danger to human life not just because emergency vehicles become marooned but because of air toxicity. 

We know from Wandsworth Council that dangerous pollution soared when the cycle lanes caused congestion leading to idling engines. 

Dangerous pollution dropped dramatically when cycle lanes were removed.

We should all be writing to Cllr Thalassites thanking the Council for removing a source of cancer and bronchial diseases.

Please write to Cllr.Johnny.Thalassites@rbkc.gov.uk supporting this life-saving measure.

COMMONLY PURPOSELESS POLICING

                            Mob Rule

The police have been well and truly infiltrated by Common Purpose; a dangerous organisation run by Sir David Bell and Julia Middleton. You can read about this spooky, secretive org. HERE

Senior police are an obvious target as they love the idea of courses held amongst the dreaming spires of Oxford and pretending they are 'intello's' not mundane coppers.

So hopeless have the police become in basic policing their 'intelligence network' totally failed to work out thousand of young, drunken people would be descending on Harrods and Knightsbridge creating havoc and fear.

A CATALYST FOR TREE CHOPPING VANDALISM

 

The sums of money bosses of charities grab never cease to surprise: like leaders of local authorities they always trot out the tired old mantra of , "we have to pay this much or they will be poached by the private sector". 

They forget a private sector company would find little use for these paper shufflers.

The boss of Catalyst housing association is paid, with benefits, around £250,000 a year....outrageous for a housing charity.

You can read the report from THINK about how Wornington Green residents are fighting to save 42 trees from Catalyst's chainsaws....

GOVERNMENT AND MAYOR OF LONDON VERSUS RBK&C RESIDENTS

We cannot allow this government and the Mayor to push us around. 

The Council bowed to the wishes of residents and the business community and is now being attacked for doing the right thing.

The Dame will be writing to Cllr Thalassites and activetravel@rbkc.gov.uk confirming her deep opposition to cycle lanes in Kensington High St and we should all write to 

•  Cllr.Johnny.Thalassites@rbkc.gov.uk
• activetravel@rbkc.gov.uk

confirming our support for its decision to end this failed experiment

URGENT: ACTION NEEDED Dear VRARA member, Urgent: Your support is needed for Council’s decision to remove the cycle lanes on Kensington High Street The Council has responded to public concern about the way the Cycle Lanes on Kensington High Street have been implemented and now needs your support to defend its decision against threats from the Government and the Mayor to take over this street. RBKC has already started removing the cycle lanes, but as you must have read, the Government is now threatening to take over Kensington High Street in order to block their removal and implement a permanent cycle lane. The Council needs your support for their decision to remove the cycle lanes to demonstrate that the have strong support from residents for the action they have taken. Action The Council would like residents, as a matter of urgency, to write to:               Johnny Thalassites at  Cllr.Johnny.Thalassites@rbkc.gov.uk and activetravel@rbkc.gov.uk to confirm your opposition to the cycle lanes and your support for the action the Council has taken, signing with your name and address. Your letter/email of support for the Council’s action should be short and to the point. Finally, I wanted to reiterate that this objection is not against cyclists and certainly not against pro-environment measures. Many of us are presently working with our residents' associations to engage with RBKC in order to come up with concrete measures to address the need for safer cycle routes  and encourage more active travel. Michael Bach Chairman Victoria Road Area Residents’ Association

SCOTTISH MR GOVE HATES SCOTCH EGGS

 

In this government, we have a Cabinet minister well skilled in dealing with the vexed question as to whether another Scottish export represents 'a substantial meal'.

Aberdonian Mr Gove is 'rightminded' in trying to banish this disgusting Scottish product from our pubs.

The Dame was asked the other day why Mr Gove wanted us all to be locked up at home for the long duration.

She was able to answer that if you come from Mr Gove's hometown, Aberdeen, indoors is the best place to be.

We need a 'Scotch Egg Patrol' led by Mr Gove ready to raid any pub selling one of these horror balls.

KHAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT BRINGS POLITICS INTO THE MIX

                                    

What a peevish and bitter fellow is Sadiq 'Khan't get anything right'. 

If Hammersmith & Fulham removed a problematic cycle lane we would have heard nothing from the failed 'uman rights lawyer.

This is the moment when we need to stand behind the council and Cllr Thalassites: RBKC took the right decision.

The Council listened; heard what residents and business wanted and cancelled an experiment that did nothing but add even more congestion and pollution.

THE DAME MAKES MISS MADDEN STAY ON AFTER SCHOOL

 

                                                                      Head of Fox, Miss Madden

No one can take away credit from Miss Madden and her staff for her wonderful school. 

Everybody accepts it as a paragon of Primary School excellence-hence the waiting list. 

Getting involved in demos-whatever the motive, is not really what a taxpayer funded school should be doing.

Please stick to the excellent work you do and no more media interviews, please.

Dear Dame,

We read with interest your excellent piece on the cycle lane folly on Kensington High Street. It is good news indeed that the Council has seen sense  and listened to the concerns of its residents and hard-pressed local businesses.

Well done them! 

We also read with interest and concern the inappropriate involvement of Fox Primary School teachers (also covered in other news outlets). They have every right to express their views but this must be done as individuals not (apparently) as school representatives. This very public involvement seems to have happened without the appropriate approval of their Governing body or the majority of parents. A sad day indeed for good Governance and common sense. 

One can only wonder what OFSTED would make of this! Far better for Fox to focus on their children's education and educate themselves on the rigours of good governance especially where hard-pressed tax payers money is concerned.

Yours, 

Concerned of Kensington 

PCSO LEE OVERY TELLS RESIDENTS TO WASH THEIR HANDS AND FACE! THE BURGEONING OF A POLICE STATE?

We are constantly told the police are under-resourced yet they seem to have plenty of time to send out patronising and infantilising messages to us rather sophisticated inhabitants of the Royal Borough 

Police Community Support Officer Overy sits in a warm office bashing out this rubbish: he should be pounding the pavements stopping street crime. 

The Dame doesn't blame Overy but she does blame his senior officers. They need to remember this misallocation of resources gives the impression that the police have little to do.

This sort of messaging is not the job of coppers and Nextdoor, set up by a dodgy Californian, is not the right vehicle.

GO AWAY GOVE

 

Is it really a good idea to send out Mr Gove to justify the destruction of our economy based upon the dubious stats provided by Whitty and Vallance? 

The three have much in common: none have ever had to run a business.

The Great Libertarian also stands firmly behind the bullying of protesters by police.

Clearly, Gove thinks that by continually pushing himself in front of the media it enhances his chances to succeed the buffoon. 

He needs to understand his own days are numbered and that the 'go to' man is Mr Sunak.

The Dame is still shocked by Mr Gove's behaviour in her local restaurant DROP TAKEN seen and reported on by one of her sober readers.

PRAISE FOR THALASSITES AND A SENSIBLE READER'S LETTER

This intelligent reader talks about 'in vogue' campaigning groups. 

These groups who pretend to 'spiritually enlightenment' are carrying a vicious vendetta against Georges Assi for doing no more than sounding out public opinion.

Assi represented a huge number of residents and businesses who understood that the experiment in Kensington High Street was an utter disaster.

It now seems the staff of Fox Primary School are getting in on the act despite never needing to use the Ken High St cycle lane.

The staff should be getting on with teaching instead of joining demos.

Dear Dame,

Thank Heavens the sordid cycle lane is being torn down from High Street Kensington. Cars were backing up to the Albert Hall, like the queues of a Soviet breadline. Credit to RBKC council for listening to the residents and reversing the decision. 

Call me ungrateful, but I am still not content. According to an article in the Evening Standard, the cost of construction was £300,000. How can painting a white line on the road and installing some plastic bollards cost so much? 

If RBKC council had properly consulted residents before building the cycle lane, taxpayers money could have been saved.

I am not opposed to measures improving conditions for cyclists on the road. However, some creativity is needed from our leaders. We all saw how popular cycling was around Hyde Park in the summer. Perhaps the council could introduce a temporary cycle lane, operational during the summer months but reverting back to a normal road for most of the year. This common-sense policy should be seriously considered - it would be good for both drivers and cyclists.

Drivers are currently being treated as some sort of embarrassing remnants of an antiquated age. Most London politicians would prefer to leave us in the lurch while they go ahead building their lovely, cycling, car-free utopia. 

Thus, I applaud Councillor Thassalties for standing up to the in-vogue campaigning groups and urge other councillors to represent the interests of almost 50% of constituents who own and operate cars in our great borough.

Anonymous

MICHAEL STEPHEN SPEAKS THE TRUTH TO POWER!

                                  Ex Conservative MP, Michael Stephen

A letter to Greg Hands from Michael Stephen.

It should also be read by Felicity Buchan.

This is a government descending into crypto fascism and Mr Stephen is right to give this warning.

Bizarre...a government making enemies of its voter base...

Greg,

I do not think the facts justify the government's lockdown policy.  

At the beginning of November, the UK was “locked-down” again, but why?  

Whitty and Vallance should be ashamed of the graphs they produced and should resign.

 

95.6% of those who have died “from COVID” had a serious pre-existing medical condition – and sometimes more than one, which would probably have killed them soon anyway.

 

53.7% of deaths “from COVID” were people aged over 80! I doubt that anyone in this age group would think it right to inflict massive damage on their children and grandchildren just to keep themselves alive for another year or two. 

 

In any event, the average death-rate for people aged over 75 was significantly lower this October than last October.

 

A person killed in a road accident is recorded as a COVID death if he had tested positive for COVID within the past 28 days - this is ridiculous.

It is obvious that if you test more people you will find more "cases" but that does not mean that the number of infected people is increasing.  In any event how many of these "cases" result in death or even a hospital admission? 

 

So what is going on? What is the real reason for the “lock-down”? 

The UK government urges us all to “work together” as if that were an end in itself.  

Work together for what?  – to destroy the economy and to drive people into despair and bankruptcy?

 

If you challenge governments today on COVID and on the vast financial sacrifices they are demanding, the zealot’s answer is to invoke the “precautionary principle” – the perils are so great they will always say, that we must err on the side of caution.  So, you don’t need a solid case – all you need to do is to scare people, and if you have a compliant stooge like the BBC the task is easy.

 

The people of the UK are not the fools the government imagines them to be, and they will soon stop obeying a government which makes hugely damaging decisions on a completely inadequate basis.  

It seems to be the same in many countries around the world.  

We have all become characters in a novel by Kafka, who face situations that are disorienting and illogically complex in a surreal and nightmarish way.

Regards,

Michael Stephen

A CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT MORPHING INTO A POLICE STATE?

                                                         The Genesis Of A Police State

Dear Dame,

Priti Patel is so inept that she cannot even organise resistance to boatloads of illegal entrants crossing the Channel. Yet she has the resources to deploy thousands of police in Central London to violently crackdown on peaceful demonstrators horrified by the totalitarian regime this government is morphing into. What has our two MP's Hands and Buchan to say about this blatant police brutality? 

Zilch!

On Saturday, thousands of protesters gathered near Marble Arch protesting loudly against totalitarian CV19 restrictions and lockdowns.

Police were present in large and aggressive numbers.

 Dozens of police vans were driving around the city centre, hunting for protesters. Police on foot were splitting up groups, harassing and arresting people. Like in a cat and mouse chase, the protesters were scattered all over the city centre whilst trying to gather in a new location. The protest was meant to begin at Kings Cross, but police made it impossible for anyone to gather there. Later the venue changed to Angel then Marble Arch and Hyde Park Speakers Corner.

Police have been stopping people on the streets and telling them to go home. 

Many peaceful protesters were arrested simply for standing up for freedom. One member of The White Rose was also arrested, along with several others, while she happened to be strolling behind a group of marching protesters. They were taken in custody and kept there until evening. The police confiscated protest material from her. Police also issued fines.

In several cases police were brutally bringing protesters down to the ground, hurting them, harassing and violating their basic rights. This is pure fascist: the UK has become a police state.

Regards,

A Free Man

REMOVAL OF TEMPORARY CYCLE LANES: A VICTORY FOR SENSE

 

                                           Leader Material?

What a change Thalassites makes from 'we hear but we don't listen' Cllr Weale. 

He does something quite extraordinary for this council: he actually HEARS AND LISTENS!

Cllr Thalassites is honest enough to admit the lanes were an idea that didn't work and that they were to be removed at the behest of residents and local business. 

Imagine if Cllr Weale was running Planning, Place and Environment. We would have been stuck with them for decades.

REMOVAL OF TEMPORARY BICYCLE LANES ON KENSINGTON HIGH STREET
I am writing to let you know that I have asked Council Officers to begin removing the temporary bicycle lanes on Kensington High Street from 2 December 2020.
In the spring, different layers of Government instructed the Council to build a ‘pop up’ route “within weeks”. We had hoped that a scheme might help local businesses attract shoppers to the high street; and that residents would regard as useful an east-west path.
Alas - more than two months after installing temporary ‘wands’ on the road - it is clear that large majorities of local businesses and residents do not think the experiment has worked.
Kensington Business Forum and Kensington and Chelsea Chamber of Trade and Commerce have asked the Council to take out the lanes, so that they can make the most of a busy holiday season; as have our resident associations across the high street, due to increased congestion.
We understand this ask is supported by disability groups, such as Action Disability K&C, who are anxious about impacts on their members (including visually impaired people); as well as by Felicity Buchan MP and Tony Devenish AM, who ran a local survey on the subject.
We want to listen to local businesses and local people. That is why we have acted to get the high street moving again.
Nonetheless, we know there are some residents who liked the project. We will continue to promote cycling and walking in the borough. To that end, we want to build on popular actions - from upgrading quiet bike routes on side streets, to a trial closure of Portobello Road on 'market days'.
We expect work to take the lanes out will last five days. Some of the work will depend on weather, but I have asked our engineers to progress as quickly as it is safe to do so.
have also asked for non-emergency highways and utilities works along the road to be suspended in December.
I wish you all the best - and a happy Christmas - in these uncertain times.

Yours faithfully,

Councillor Johnny Thalassites Lead Member for Planning, Place and Environment Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

"WE HEAR BUT WE DON'T LISTEN" SAYS CLLR WEALE

The next leader of our council needs to be very special to do battle with Doctor Quirk. 

The good doctor has populated the senior team with sidekicks from his old stamping ground in Lewisham and is hell-bent on keeping his hands on the levers of power.

"Dame, what sort of leader can best prise Quirk's pudgy fingers from those levers of power"

A good question....

The new crop of Conservative councillors is actually rather good. 

From the north of the Borough, some of the Lefties tell the Dame they have time for Cllr Cyron and that is echoed by others who know. 

Cllr Thalassites is also proving the Dame wrong by understanding the absolute need to heed residents.

What worries the Dame are rumours that Cllr Weale is jockeying to succeed Cllr Campbell. 

                                                         

                                                                                         Weale 

                                                                   Saddling up for an £80,000 allowance

It's not because Cllr Weale is one of the tainted Grenfell 'old guard' that makes the Dame toss and turn in her massive Empire style Louis Quinze bed.

In all the years that Cllr Weale has been a ward councillor she has been invisible to residents. 

The heavy lifting working has always been done by her fellow ward councillors.

Every resident should do their best to ensure Cllr Weale is never made leader.

She is lazy and lacks the motivation to promote the interests of residents. 

At one meeting she was heard to say, "we hear but we don't listen"....that about sums her up.

There is only one potential leader in the wings and that is Cllr Cyron.

WAITROSE TELLS ITS KNIGHTSBRIDGE CUSTOMERS TO TAKE A HIKE AND KEEPS ITS BUSINESS RATES RELIEF

                                           The end of a great brand?

Corporate hypocrisy reaches new heights when the ghastly, syrupy John Lewis ad extols us 'to be kind this Christmas'.

That kindness doesn't seem to extend to its staff whose disinterest in customers knows no bounds nor residents of this Borough. 

Waitrose has made tens of millions during the pandemic. Despite this the chairman, Sharon White who used to work at the Treasury refuses to hand back the business rates relief....

Quite shocking! The Dame will cease shopping there and recommends her readers follow her example.

There was a day when Waitrose was the epitome of grocery excellence..happy partners...great food....good value and a welcoming ambience.

Those salad days are long since gone. 

Waitrose like other John Lewis brands is a mere shadow of itself...surly partners...haphazard service and shelves bursting with imported stuff easily obtainable in the UK.

Little Waitrose in Brompton Rd sums up all that is wrong with this once great brand. You are greeted by a lounging 'security person' and then a wall of indifference from staff.

A long time customer of the Partnership( a bit of a misnomer!) returned a water bottle with a razor-sharp piece of metal protruding.

The bored manageress's languid reaction was, "no receipt; no refund" despite seeing it was a manufacturing issue.

Another neighbour returned a packet of frozen food which stank to high heaven. 

This manager again refused to refund and only replaced it when the customer threatened to take the toxic product to the Council. 

This manager, when told by the customer he had been coming to the shop for years, was told, "well, I have never seen you before". 

The fact the customer was wearing a mask rather escaped him!

There was a time when John Lewis customers were fiercely loyal: no longer...they are deserting in their droves to Tesco, Lidl and Aldi.

What do you expect when a Mr Bailey, a buyer from Sainsbury is appointed MD!

Come on, Mr Bailey, your staff don't even know who you are!

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE CONGESTED ROAD?

 To All Who Signed The Petition: We Have Traction!

This morning, following weeks of discussions and surveys, we were delighted to read the public support given to our campaign by Felicity Buchan (MP For Kensington) and Tony Devenish (Assembly Member for West Central on the London Assembly). (See below full statement).

Their announcement is an important step towards the termination of this failed Scheme and we now look forward to RBKC taking the final and courageous decision to put an end to the Cycle Lane Scheme on Kensington High Street, as soon as possible.

But this is not the end of the journey:

We also look forward to working with Cyclist groups (to whom we spoke in order to gain a better understanding of their long-term objectives), the council, as well as local resident and business groups, so that together we find better solutions to encourage active travel in a way that is safe for cyclists and pedestrians, balanced - distributing road network resources in a sensible manner between all users (cars, taxis, delivery vans, lorries, buses, emergency services AND cyclists), and green - reducing pollution from motor vehicles in our borough for the benefit of all.

The full text of the statement is as follows (we highlighted parts in bold) :

"25th November 2020 

JOINT STATEMENT ON THE KENSINGTON HIGH STREET CYCLE LANE 

As the Member of Parliament for Kensington, and as the Member of the London Assembly for West Central respectively, we want to start by making clear that cycling is an excellent way to travel, and we have both always been strongly in favour of encouraging active travel, especially now in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. Cycling is a great way for people to get around, with physical and mental health benefits, the potential to reduce vehicle congestion in Kensington, and provides a valuable socially-distanced alternative to public transport.

This is why we did not oppose the process of installing the temporary lane and approached it with a positive mindset, hoping that this scheme would be a success, and actively encouraging Residents’ Associations and those with misgivings to have an open mind. We made clear that the cycle lane needed a fair period of operation to prove itself, and it was only if it was clear that the temporary cycle lane had failed in its objectives, that we would advocate for its removal.

Now that Phase 1 of the cycle lane is in place and has had a fair chance to operate, it is apparent to most people who use the High Street to travel, whether on a bike or other form of transport, that Kensington High Street is not an appropriate location for a cycle lane, either for cyclists or all other road users.

We have both had a vast amount of correspondence from concerned constituents, with the Parliamentary inbox receiving 96% of comments against and only 4% in favour. The resident's associations: VRARA; KSRA; ESSA; ECSRA; KCRA; Melbury Court; and Kensington Residents Group, also now oppose the cycle lane. The Kensington Society has urged the Council to remove the cycle lane; and the Kensington & Chelsea Chamber of Commerce opposes the cycle lane, stating that it does not benefit Kensington and Chelsea businesses in its current form. A petition against the scheme has now attracted over 3000 signatures, and a recent Survey by the Kensington Business Forum showed that a vast majority of the local businesses are against the Scheme. Finally, a survey conducted by Tony Devenish, found 80% of RBKC residents opposed the cycle lane.

TfL has always placed RBKC under immense pressure to implement a cycleway scheme, and have threatened to take over Borough roads. It is now clear that TfL severely miscalculated the impact of such schemes, which require careful analysis.

We would fully encourage RBKC to explore expanding their highly successful Quietways programme, and we note the success of other measures such as on Portobello Road. Anything that is done to promote active travel must be safe, fair, and balanced for all road users, including the elderly, children, and disabled. 

We would like to see the cycle lane remain until the end of the current lockdown on 2nd December. However, we believe that this scheme needs to be removed swiftly as soon as we exit lockdown, to allow businesses along the High Street a period of unimpeded business, in the run-up to Christmas, and following the very real difficulties they have faced during the coronavirus restrictions. Kensington High Street is simply not the correct location, and we must act in the interests of our constituents. 

Felicity Buchan, MP - Member of Parliament for Kensington
Tony Devenish, Member of the London Assembly for West Central