The ones that do hate and fear the Hornet are those that make themselves targets through indolence, ineptitude and greed.
There are some fine councillors...Sof McVeigh....Anne Cyron...Robert Atkinson....Ian Henderson....Johnny Thallasites....Robert Freeman...Cem Kemahli...Julie Mills....Josh Rendall...Linda Wade...Emma Will...Kim Taylor-Smith...Judith Blakeman....to name just a few.
But the Dame wants to turn to Rock Feilding Mellen.....
Some have asked why the Dame has not taken her acidic tongue to this boy.
The answer is simple: she doesn't apportion too much blame to this former deputy leader.
She lays most of the blame at the door of Merrick Cockell and other Cabinet members who thought this petulant child was the stuff of a deputy leader let alone membership of the pretentiously named Cabinet.
This 'just out of his teens' and entitled young man with no track record of running anything should never have been promoted so far beyond his capabilities.
He should never have been given responsibility for the lives of tens of thousands of residents: that was a sin committed by the social-climbing Cockell.
Social climbing and disgraced ex Cllr Cockell loved the idea of having an Earl's son in his inner circle. Patronage was not invented for nothing. Less well known is that exploited "Rock" (whose mother is well known for drilling holes in her head in order to promote clarity) is cousin to that other airhead in the Cabinet, none other than Cllr Weale, She who "listens but does not hear"
ReplyDeleteIt took Grenfell to get shot of Rock. What will it take to get rid of Weale?
According to the BBC News website, Feilding Mellen failed to open an email from the Fire Brigade containing fire safety advice for Councillors on Estate Inspections. This esteemed Councillor admitted to the Inquiry that he expressed a dislike of the champagne colour of the Grenfell cladding but did not read crucial correspondence about fire safety.
ReplyDeleteThe great and the good of the Tory Party regularly vilify Labour politicians for their lack of experience at business. My god how the mighty Kensington and Chelsea Council is no better than Labour run Lambeth Council in the 1980's. Theresa May told Parliament a couple of days after Grenfell that the TMo was not fit for purpose and was being disbanded. It is common knowledge that I had been sying this for years.
Don't be misled by baby face Rock. Below that red top is a ruthless and ambitious mind. And a person completely at ease with blurring corners. With responsibility for building and development matters in the Royal Borough, baby face was advising private developers on Planning Matters via his consultancy company (Socially Conscious Capital) and attending property conferences in Cannes, France, as a paid for, all expenses, guest.
ReplyDeleteRed top? Its expensively groomed grey streaks
DeleteAccording to the Gaurdian this week, ex Cllr Mellon is now truly in orbit.
ReplyDelete"In January he became the director of a new “psychedelic venture studio” company, according to records at Companies House. It intends “to build and invest in companies devoted to providing safe and wide access to psychedelic medicines”.
Based at his family’s Tudor stately home in Oxfordshire, Beckley Park, Beckley Waves works with the Beckley Foundation, which is “progressing innovative formulations and applications of well-characterised psychedelic agents such as psilocybin” and is designing “new chemical entities” that improve upon existing psychedelics".
Why is the Conservative Party recruiting people like this to be a Councillor? Why is this type of person given Cabinet responsibility?
ReplyDeleteYou might well ask the same about the incompetents and half-wits in Johnson's Cabinet.
DeleteGive me Corbyn and Abbott. Any day.
DeleteNOT Corbyn and Abbott!
DeleteCorbyn is antisemitic and did nothing to stop the rise in antisemitism in the Labour Party.
Abbott is racist towards White people. "White people love to play divide and rule." She also objected to Hackney Hospital recruiting blond blue eyed girls from Finland who have never seen or touched a Black person. To think that Corbyn and abbott have the cheek to declare others Racist.
No wonder Feilding Mellen never responded to my emails about the TMO. He probably never opened them.
ReplyDeleteCouncillors Henderson, Blakeman, Mills and Wade earn their keep.
Were his computer skills sufficiently advanced to even know how to open an e-mail?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteQuentin Marshall told the Inquiry that abrogating responsibility for social housing to the TMO was a mistake and that the service should be accountable to Councillors. I said that years ago. No one listened.
DeleteBoy Marshall! Blast from the past. The polo playing, Ferrari driving friend of the people.
DeleteNever knew about Mellen's pedigree until just now. I now know why he did not give a sh*t about me. I am just a Council tenant on the World's End who is not making loads of money who gets the Social.
ReplyDeleteThe whole Fielding-Mellen set up is barking
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/10/amanda-feilding-lsd-can-reset-the-brain-interview
Dear Dame,
ReplyDeleteI regret that I can only partly agree with your comment on Rock Feilding-Mellen. I agree with you that this brat should never have been entrusted with the onerous responsibilities of Deputy Leader of RBKC and 'Cabinet' member for Housing etc. However I believe he played a prominent in the badly botched refurbishment of the doomed Grenfell Tower and should be held accountable in the courts. He should be charged with gross negligence manslaughter and when convicted should be sentenced to a substantial term of imprisonment.
Francis O'Connor Grenfell Action Group
I cannot disagree. An arrogant little piece of work.
DeleteWell said Francis. Speak your mind.
DeleteDear Dame,
DeleteCouncillors who served on the Council's silly Committees and the TMO Board have failed to protect residents. Intesad, they played petty politics,engaged in power struggles and attempted to save the Council money, at the expense of 72 people their lives. These Councillors should accept responsibility and do the decent thing. None of them have covered themselves in glory
Condon-Simmonds, Dent-Coad, Campbell, Marshall and Blakeman have all been on the TMO Board at some point. The Tories did the decent thing and shafted Condon-Simmonds. All of the others should now resign from the Council.
DeleteThank you Francis, for the incredible and painstaking work you and Edward Daffarn did with the Grenfell Action Blog. I am afraid that in this instance, the Dame has made a very serious error of judgement. I watched Rock during his testimony at the inquiry and I did not fall for the "little boy lost" act. It did not match the arrogant grandstanding he did at the Planning Committee meeting when he voted to demolish the Earls Court Exhibition Centres, nor the way he strutted around the Silchester estate area which was going to be "regenerated" under his command. He was more than capable when it came to demolishing our heritage and housing. The Council should have been put into special measures immediately after the fire, maybe the bereaved and the survivors would not have had to wait so long for justice.
DeleteYou're right about the Tory, Rock, 14.33. Special measures after the fire may have helped.
DeleteIt is surprising that you have gone for Rock and have not gone for Dent-Coad, Campbell, Marshall and Blakeman continuing in their roles as Councillors.
I think the Dame made quite clear that she thinks Feilding Mellen a total charlatan. She has always thought that of him. Nothing you say she disagrees with.The point she makes stands that he should never have been given any responsibility.
DeleteYou're just not getting it. Going for Mellen is the right thing to do.
DeleteWe must go for Marshall and get him shafted. He tried to see off Grenfell residents on one of the silly committees that he held. Councillor Mackover was having none of it.
We must also get Dent-Coad shafted for serving as a Director of the TMO whilst it bullied tenants unmercifully. She said there was nothing she could do about that-balderdash. An ineffectual opposition councilor is neither use nor ornament.
EDC was on the TMO Board during its darkest times.
DeleteDo tell us about the "darkest times" at the TMO and what Emma did about them?
DeleteIn 2008, Emma witnessed 2,000 tenants rise up and revolt against the oppressive and detested TMO at Hornton Street Town Hall. Comrade Corbyn would have been proud and joined the activists demanding reform in the working class struggle.
DeleteEmma sat on the platform united with the all the dross on the TMO Board. As a Director of the TMO, her first duty was to the Company not to tenants. A socialist would have done things differently and joined the uprising.
Citizen Corbyn would have joined the people and got a buzz from it.
DeleteEVERYONE on the TMO Board, at that meeting in 2008, sat on the platform and smugly looked down on tenants. If they did not have such a complacent and superior attitude, the TMO might have improved and Grenfell might have been avoided.
DeleteFrancis you are right. The Inspector needs to hold this guy's feet to the fire. Rock, the inexperienced aristocrat, did "colour" but did not do "safety". Too infra dig.
ReplyDeleteA clear message needs to be sent out to the airheads in the K&C Council, starting with dizzy Liz. There should be no excuse for their getting, hearing, understanding, and receiving a VERY CLEAR MESSAGE
I hope that the Dame will forgive me for commenting off topic, but it appears that LBHF has been taken to an employment tribunal and dirty laundry is being aired. Oh dear oh dear.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.themj.co.uk/Council-had-truly-toxic-atmosphere-tribunal-hears/220335