Yet more Tory sleaze….

[Pale Rider]

Private Eye has featured fairly regular articles about some of the Councils mentioned in the article and their disasterous attempts at "business", Property Development, Energy Companies, etc. Some Labour, some Conservative, all, at best incompetent.

Yes, it does appear local authorities and dodgy businessmen is often an unequal contest.

I suppose the likes of Kavanagh know there are bigger sharks in his sea, so he opts to go swim in another.

 

[newfhouse]

Councils should never have been allowed or put in a position where they had to gamble with our money to pay for essential local services. It was always going to end this way.

 

[BoldonLad]

Councils should never have been allowed or put in a position where they had to gamble with our money to pay for essential local services. It was always going to end this way.

I wasn't aware they were forced to be incompetent/dishonest, it was a choice.

 

[newfhouse]

I wasn't aware they were forced to be incompetent/dishonest, it was a choice.

I'm not defending the dishonesty or incompetence. They simply should never have been allowed, in some cases encouraged, to gamble simply to pay for essential services.

This is a few years old now but funding hasn't improved.
https://www.local.gov.uk/parliament...ctions-local-government-funding-house-commons

And this Guardian article is a little more recent.

https://www.theguardian.com/society...orced-into-tax-rises-and-drastic-service-cuts

 

[BoldonLad]

I'm not defending the dishonesty or incompetence. They simply should never have been allowed, in some cases encouraged, to gamble simply to pay for essential services.

This is a few years old now but funding hasn't improved.
https://www.local.gov.uk/parliament...ctions-local-government-funding-house-commons

And this Guardian article is a little more recent.

https://www.theguardian.com/society...orced-into-tax-rises-and-drastic-service-cuts

Does it not concern you that the dishonesty/incompetence existed within these organisations, before it was allowed to manifest itself because of increased freedoms?

 

[newfhouse]

Does it not concern you that the dishonesty/incompetence existed within these organisations, before it was allowed to manifest itself because of increased freedoms?

What an odd question. Yes, obviously. I don’t understand why you asked me that.

The capacity to cause effective bankruptcy through incompetence and dishonesty is the reason that councils should be prevented from acting like businesses. They are not gambling with their own money.

 

[BoldonLad]

What an odd question. Yes, obviously. I don’t understand why you asked me that.

The capacity to cause effective bankruptcy through incompetence and dishonesty is the reason that councils should be prevented from acting like businesses. They are not gambling with their own money.

This is true of Politicians of any hue and level.

 

[newfhouse]

This is true of Politicians of any hue and level.

Yes, but there's often no effective civil service structure in local authorities able to act as a brake on the worst excesses. Indeed, sometimes chief executives and the like wield more power than the elected officers. As with all things, a balance generally works best.

 

[Bromptonaut]

Yes, but there's often no effective civil service structure in local authorities able to act as a brake on the worst excesses. Indeed, sometimes chief executives and the like wield more power than the elected officers. As with all things, a balance generally works best.

One time colleague of mine was a former LA CEO who thought the Civil Service had it soft compared with having Councilors to deal with.

 

[BoldonLad]

Yes, but there's often no effective civil service structure in local authorities able to act as a brake on the worst excesses. Indeed, sometimes chief executives and the like wield more power than the elected officers. As with all things, a balance generally works best.

I would agree, a balance works best.

I admire your faith in the Civil Service and it’s “offshoots”, but, I am afraid I don’t share it.

 

[albion]

Sleaze earns.
https://www.theguardian.com/politic...second-jobs-and-freelance-work-over-past-year

Easy money while UK PLC gets trashed.

 

[Beebo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66340991.amp

Corruption, or just morons?

“kavanagh no longer lives in the UK.“

this tells you all you need to know about the business man. He’s a crook and the councils got suckered in.

 

[newfhouse]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66596319

 

[newfhouse]

So, right to 'roam' rescinded in Romford.

View: https://twitter.com/RespectIsVital/status/1526637014422114312

Good to see his important constituency work continues, even if he’s still not allowed back to work.


View: https://twitter.com/andrewrosindell/status/1698834075962757427?s=61&t=IaNHN0MzKohAo3Ktl0DsFQ

 

[albion]

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...art-hits-out-at-incompetence-in-uk-government

Stating the bleeding obvious.