THAMES WATER CEO NON EXEC AT LLOYDS BANK!

Here's another example of Crazy Britain.

Thames Water 'let go' its CEO, Sarah Bentley with a £2m bonus.  

She had the cheek to claim she had laid the foundation for a successful turnaround.

Our next bills will show increases of 40% with Thames Water still up its ears in sewage.

Sarah Bentley and her  then chairman, Ian Marchant are national disgraces. Both have earned millions.

Ian Marchant has form. When running SSE the company was fined £7 million for miss-selling. 

Despite this, he still managed to get £500k a year as part-time chair of Thames Water.

Charlie Nunn, the CEO of Lloyds Bank has decided that Sarah Bentley is a useful non-exec director of the bank.

If you are a customer of Lloyds and Thames Water you could email Charlie telling him what you think about Bentley remaining on his board...oh and his other non-exec is non-exec of river polluting Southern Water.

Charlie's email is charlie.nunn@lloydsbanking.com

CRAZY BRITAIN!

Often in Waitrose, you see staff with severe disabilities. Often they are assisted by colleagues.

If they wished they could justifiably stay at home claiming benefits. 

The Dame is just full of admiration for them. 

But what separated them from those who dubiously claim to be so sick they cannot work?

The Dame did question one staff member who could have stayed at home rather than travel miles to work. 

He said he would be bored staying at home and loved coming to work.

There is something seriously wrong with Crazy Britain!

THE MESS THAT IS THE MET

Dear Dame 

Two cults supposedly infest the upper echelons of the Met... Freemasons and Common Purpose.

You can read a lot about Common Purpose HERE. 

Some of the stuff is sensationalist but,leaving that aside, there are very worrying aspects to CP's infiltration into the Met and branches of the Civil Service.

And no, you don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to question CP and its motivations.

             Common Purpose Advocate: Cressida Dick

The previous and current commissioners were/are leading lights within CP.

As Chief Constable of Surrey Mark Rowley was a leading CP member. There was considerable anger when SCC funded CP training courses. The council officer who approved the funding was a graduate of CP.

This is Assistant Commissioner Twiss. Twiss was bought into the Met from Surrey. At the time of COVID he was great enthusiast for the extreme policing of COVID rules. Was he a protege of Rowley? Is that how he got promoted? And is he a CP graduate?

CP claims that its sole purpose is to identify and train leaders. All very laudable EXCEPT that clique of leaders tends to favour other CP graduates. 

More worrying is that these courses take place under Chatham House Rules.... no one is supposed to disclose what actually goes on at training meetings.

But, Dame, the nub of the matter is this. CP believes that leaders can be 'trained up': we all know that to be arrant nonsense. Leaders are born not made. 

Pretending you can construct leaders may be what is causing deficiencies in the Met

With regards

Interested Party

NOT SO ANGELIC

 

mmm...part time capitalist

A disastrous Thatcher policy was the sale of council houses. 

5 million tenants took up the right to buy. 

It radically diminished the housing stock and allowed tenants to make a massive capital gain off the the back of taxpayers...the rightful owners.

Whether Angela Rayner owes capital gains is a moot point.

What is not is why a diehard left wing politician (who likes to throw 'mate' about in parliament) so cynically abused right to buy.

The Labour opposition at that time was rightly furious about the sale of social housing stock.

The Dame brands Rayner a hypocrite.

ABOLITION NOT SILLY AWARDS

 

If the Council was serious about helping businesses it would come clean about the 10% it gets from Business Rates.

These stupid awards(one is for demonstrating diversity!) do nothing to assist struggling small businesses.

Business Rates strangle enterprise. 

The Conservatives have had years to make reforms but have done nothing. Joe Powell tells the Dame Labour will urgently review this pernicious and unfair tax.

Let's hope it does. 

The Dame knows of one well-known and highly regarded jewellery retailer paying £77,000 a year in Business Rates.

POPULAR KENSINGTON PRIEST PROMOTED

 

You don't need to be Catholic to feel great affection for Monsignor Jim Curry. 

Since 2008 Father Jim has been Parish Priest of Our Lady of Victories in Kensington. 

In all those years he has gained a reputation for his wisdom, kindness and Irish good humour. 

Pope Francis has now appointed Father Jim as an Auxiliary Bishop for the Diocese of Westminster.

The Dame sends congratulations to Father Jim and hopes he won't be completely deserting Kensington.

NO STYLE:NO SUBSTANCE

 

The Dame is of a generation when leaders of Great Britain looked the part. 

This trio look as if they are on the way to one of Grant Shapps's 'Get Rich Quick' symposiums in Las Vegas.

It's all so sad...

BRING DOWN STEPHEN WATSON!

 

Common touch

This is Stephen Watson, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester. 

In short order, he moved GMC out of special measures.

He may not have a degree in criminology but he does have a high degree of leadership quality.

He comes from a service family used to the leadership of men.

Very different from the incumbent here in London, Mark Rowley...a genuine product of leftist and useless Common Purpose.

        Common Purpose

RISHI'S BOLD MOVE!

 

Mr Gove has encouraged Mr Sunak to make a 'bold move' on housing. 

The result? 

The autumn statement will include a proposal to increase the stamp duty level from £250,000 to £300,000....what a puny effort to inject energy into the housing market.

This is all he can afford. Had he been a bit more careful in splashing out £70 billion during COVID and £70 billion on HS2 link there might be greater scope for real tax cuts.

This government revels in wasting our money.

The Dame plans to move from her 15-bedroom penthouse in the poorer part of Holland Park to a more compact bijou residence in Knightsbridge: she can't. The stamp duty would hit her too hard. Maybe the Dame's example is too extreme but a proper cut in stamp duty would encourage sensible downsizing.

Another initiative which will blow back in all our faces is the move to drive out non-doms.

Non-doms contribute a huge amount to the dynamism of the UK economy. 

Driving them into the arms of competitor economies sounds even more daft.

MET OFFICERS TELLS BRITISH JEWISH PERSON NOT TO UPSET DEMONSTRATORS!

 

This is the most extraordinary and unpleasant interaction between a not-very-bright Met officer and a British citizen. 

This British citizen has just left his synagogue and is trying to go home. 

In his way is a Palestinian supporting demonstration with various banners with anti-Jewish slogans.

The policeman tells the British citizen that if he continues to try to cross the road he will be arrested for potentially upsetting the demonstrators.

 Mr Falter said: “I was identifiable as a Jew but was otherwise like any other Londoner.

I was not part of any demonstration and was not wearing any stickers or carrying any signs, flags or the like.

“I was exercising my right to walk around my home city as a Jewish Londoner. A year ago, that would not have been controversial. But now, it is.

“Despite being told repeatedly that London is safe for Jews when these marches are taking place, my interactions with police officers last Saturday show that the Met believes that being openly Jewish will antagonise the anti-Israel marchers and that Jews need protection, which the police cannot guarantee."

The Dame has commented about lousy Met leadership: this is an example. It makes one ashamed to be British.

THE FLEETWOOD MAC TRIBUTE BAND

 

These are Emma Dent Coad's 'Inde's': not the Fleetwood Mac tribute band. The one on the left thinks he's in Hamas

One doesn't want to be rude but they look really rather sinister. Is the one right known to readers?

TOP GUY GETS RECOGNISED

 Well done, Ian. 

It is not just the present residents of Sutton who are grateful to you but those who come after. 

Without you, a prime piece of our community would have fallen prey to developers.

 

 

IN PRAISE OF OUR STREET CLEANERS

unceasing commitment  

Here's a public service team out and about on our streets whatever the weather might throw at them.

The Council's street cleaners are an example to all. 

They are dedicated and hardworking.

Their job is made horrible by those who allow their dogs to foul the roads and who dump rubbish everywhere.

Whenever the Dame sees one of our street cleaners she will always stop and thank them. 

We could make their lives easier if we showed them some consideration...

GROW UP POLICE NOT GROW TREES

This was sent to the Hornet's Nest. 

People in the Borough are living fear of being attacked on the streets or their homes broken into.

The continual complaint is that local police are rarely seen on the streets. One reason could be that they are busy learning how to plant trees.....

If crime was at a low level this sort of community relations nonsense could be considered harmless: that is not the case. This sort of publicity gives a very wrong impression...an impression of levity in the performance of duties. 

Chief Constable Watson of Great Manchester Police would come down heavily on this sort police pr: it really is unfunny.

The Met really does have some serious issues not least of which is that serious leadership is lacking.

DARK FORCES CAPTURE KENSINGTON LABOUR: THE LIES OF THE EXTREMIST FACTION

This comment has been escalated due to its pertinence. As usual, THINK has written a forensic piece about the KLP people behind the smearing and lies. It's an important read if you want a deep analysis.

THINK

? KEAR?

Some recent comments about both the planning situation of the Chelsea Sutton Estate and the character of Ian Henderson himself are so off-beam that it is difficult to know where to start :

1. The vast majority of the Sutton Estate was NOT listed before Ian's campaign began. All the rest of Chelsea was already safe with 'Conservation Area' status but the Council had colluded with 'social' landlord Clarion to neglect & then knock down the estate, built originally to house the poor of Chelsea. If you look at the plans submitted & recommended by officers, it was intended to build a nasty new development FOR SALE  (marketed to overseas Eurotrash with no links to the area) 

Clarion would then have been free to spend the millions it received from the development in modernising its estates elsewhere in the country and rewarding its overpaid executives for sacrificing the working-class community of Chelsea for their own gain. What few replacement 'social housing units which were to be provided to give cover for the sell-off of the historic Sutton Estate were all pokey and North facing ( so poor that they could not have been sold on the open market). 

In saving the historic and architecturally significant Sutton Estate , Ian Henderson performed a huge public service for which future generations should thank him ( lt is a crying shame that the only recognition that Ian has received was a third rate BEM gong- when actually a knighthood would not have been more appropriate )
2/ As for the unfounded slurs about Ian's character that have now once again been stirred up by 'the forces of darkness' in North Kensington,these are from the same source that spread rumours that former Cllr Judith Blakeman was an alcoholic,  former Cllr. Atkinson enjoyed cocaine during Council meetings and former Cllr. Healy was not only housebound but senile. There is not, and never has been, an ounce of truth in those colourful allegations but they served to break up the effective Labour Group and local branches of North Kensington Labour Party that served the borough for decades.
Luckily, led by Joe Powell & Monica Press, the Kensington Labour Party had been saved from itself. The 'Forces of Darkness' have been comprehensively defeated and, except for a few pathetic and ineffective Councillors who will cling to office till the next round of Councillor selections, been driven out of the Party and public life.
At the General Election, both Kensington and Chelsea stand poised to elect sane, effective and conscientious Labour Members of Parliament who will at last give the whole of the Borough a political leadership worthy of our magnificent Royal Borough.

ST LUKE'S FOOTBALL PITCHES FOR OUR KIDS: IAN HENDERSON

Ian Henderson is a community activist and local resident. 

Before becoming a councillor Ian spearheaded the campaign to stop Sutton Estate from being destroyed by Affinity Sutton.

Dear Dame 

There has been a gross abuse of the pitches at St Luke’s. 

I notice comments referring to the £250k a year salary paid to Peter Bundey, the CEO of GLL. 

GLL manages our leisure facilities and is a charity. I was very surprised a charity could reward its boss so lavishly!

The assets GLL manages on our behalf are not there to provide high salaries for Mr Bundey and colleagues. 

The cynic might say that tennis and other corporate bookings are favoured by GLL because they provide a lush income stream….something that kids from local social housing like Sutton, Guinness and Lewis, Flood St and Worlds End cannot. 

It is good to see a start has been made by Cllr Will and team to return St Luke’s for free use by local children. 

This is what the Church,who own the land, and the local community want.

I often visit St Luke’s. 

Most times it seems to be booked by corporates. There is nothing sadder than seeing kids with footballs looking sadly through the fences as they wait for a rare space to become available.

Back in 2016 I was very involved with Kings United. This was a team of locals who had been struggling to get some funds and practice pitches. 

Fortunately, Ed Cadogan came along and supported us with a £5,000 donation. Even in those days, the only bookings offered were at 10.00 pm at night! On the one occasion they did get on the St Luke’s pitches one player was spotted by Chelsea and signed for them. To improve his game he moved to the Dutch League, Volendan.

from Sloane Square magazine

What was brilliant was the older players coached the younger players.

Cllr Will and the Parks Team seem to have made a start but with Spring and Summer on the horizon, she needs to lay down the law to GLL about ensuring our kids get priority over money-making corporates abusing our scarce resources. 

Tennis coaching companies should not be allowed to book the pitches at peak times when kids need space to play football: it's very simple...our community assets are for our kids not money grabbing corporates.

Best wishes

Ian Henderson

WHAT A TOE WRAGG!

Toe Wragg

This is William Wragg, a deputy chairman of the all powerful 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers.

William decided to give a Grindr friend the contact details of certain parliamentary colleagues. That friend then sent salacious images to those 'certain' MPs. 

What were Wragg and friend hoping for? 

Some wiser MPs saw the danger: the thicker ones got caught dripping in Wragg's honey.

Why would Wragg do this? He sounds an absolute shit. Now he plays the victim but the Dame suspects his motives were far murkier and devious.

True to form Rishi has decided to let him retain the whip: others think he needs a bloody good whipping.

RUNNING SCARED?

 NOTE: This has been a crude comment about the outstanding Ian Henderson. If the extremists on KLP cannot comment without the use of F***K they cannot expect their rants to be published: the Dame adheres to high standards in political debate and expects others to follow her example.

THis Is North Kensington

 

North Kensington residents campaigning for positive social change – in our community, nearby and beyond

How the Stalinist clique hate From the Hornets Nest and This is North Kensington.

The nasty, personal attacks on THINK come from those who claim nobody reads it yet they seem to be compulsive readers!

How they must be boiling with rage and fury at the return of Monica Press. THINK

We need to forgive them. 

They know that their plot to take over Kensington Labour has been an abject failure: mind you, when you come across the dimwits now running KLP it's no great surprise. 

The extreme Left has been consigned to the dustbin of history and they hate it.

Can you imagine this incompetent lot running/ruining our lives?

The Dame is ever modest. 

THINK does something that separates it from FTHN....it campaigns intelligently and forensically.

When THINK comes under this sort of attack it must know it is being taken very seriously indeed.

LONG LIVE THIS IS NORTH KENSINGTON!

RBKC 'CONSULTANTS' PLAN DEATH OF PORTOBELLO MARKET

Portobello Market is a unique economic ecosystem that has, over many decades, become a world-leading visitor destination.

A 2009 Report into RBKC’s Visitor Economy was conducted by Acorn Consulting Partnership.  

It found that - of specifically named destinations in the Borough, Portobello Road Market was by far the best-liked among Londoners! 

Harrods beat it only among visitors from elsewhere in the UK and overseas. Portobello Market performed better among all audiences than any named Museum in the Borough - such as the Natural History Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

In its list of “Key Issues” identified by its Visitor Strategy analysis, the same Report states that “There are also concerns that large numbers of tourists to areas such as Portobello Market cause the decline of good quality local services in favour of souvenir shops.” 

PLEASE READ

These issues were key in 2009; so why are they now entirely absent from the current Report?  Subjectively; there’s an impression that the numbers of visitors continue to grow. So where are comparable, updated statistics on visitor attitudes available now - 15 years later?

The Culture Plan published in 2020 makes little specific mention of Portobello Market and makes no similarly quantified analysis of its cultural value. However, it does state as an outcome: (B8) RBKC’s intention “To promote Market trading on Portobello and Golbourne Roads, as well as other market sites throughout the Borough. 

Similarly, it is no coincidence that other than an image of Portobello Road to the south; so without Market stalls) on its front cover, RBKC’s new Local Economic Strategy “Live, Work and Learn” makes no mention at all of Portobello Market as an integral part of the Portobello economic unit. 

The sole exception is a generic reference to “Support the development of street markets through partnership with Traders’ Associations; seeking to maintain a diverse and vibrant offer to attract visitors and continue the success of these unique parts of the Borough.”

The above contrasts sharply with the Council’s Report on Kensington High Street . Action 37 of this Report specifies that it’s “Place-shaping programme and Action Plan support the delivery of Economic Strategy Objectives; balancing different uses with the needs of residents; jobseekers; businesses and visitors. Why do the scope and recommendations of the Portobello place-shaping programme not lead with similar economically driven objectives? 

You can request a link to this report by emailing business@rbkc.gov.uk

What analysis has been done by the teams overseeing Economic Development; Strategy and Visitor Strategy to ensure any proposed changes to Portobello Road align with those Strategies? …."