Forum Topic

All Change on Planet Lampton

I'm afraid I just don't buy this thing about Ruth leaving the Cabinet to concentrate on getting herself selected as the Labour PPC for Brentford & Isleworth.  Just how many person hours need to be put into composing a presentation to a selection panel?At least part of the reason for her change of roles will have been to provide the Labour Group with a credible, heavyweight alternative to Theo Dennison as Chair of Planning. Alone amongst Hounslow Labour councillors in recent times, indeed over recent decades, Theo gives an unmistakable impression of one who acknowledges and accepts the primacy of community.  Or the notion, if one prefers, that the role of the party is to serve the wider community according to its desires, and not the other way around.  On this he has been quite uncompromising, as a consequence of which he has established for himself an excellent reputation amongst his constituents and the local public in general, and has earned a level of respect on the streets and the doorsteps that is unusual for a party politician of any hue.For this he has been ostracised and vilified by his so-called comrades, purged first of all from the Cabinet and now from all posts of any consequence within the local authority.  Thereby the administration at Hounslow has sent a clear message of intent to those of us who value community engagement, and all in all it is a distinctly unfriendly one.Ruth will now be in a position to adopt her own Statement of Community Involvement, drawn up in her former capacity as Lead Member, in such a way as to ensure that the borough's political leadership, as opposed to the community itself, retains ownership of it.As for Steve Curran, well that's one helluva portfolio for a guy who just a few years ago didn't want to be a councillor.  He is obviously a very powerful man within the hallowed ranks of Lampton's Chosen Few.  Like Theo Dennison, he is an elected member for Syon ward.  The selection process for that ward which gets underway shortly is likely to be very interesting indeed.

Phil Andrews ● 4467d36 Comments

It is of course entirely for you to choose whether or not you wish to answer a question.  But you seem not to understand that by not being prepared to answer this particular question you fatally compromised the credibility of the point you were trying to make.Which in turn rather begs the question - why bother making it in the first place?

Phil Andrews ● 4445d

Aaah! But I haven't deliberately accused you of saying something you didn't - I merely haven't answered a question at all, quite a different thing altogether.

Vanessa Smith ● 4445d

And you have the brass neck to ask ME to be straight?

Phil Andrews ● 4445d

No you didn't receive a straight answer - you received NO answer at all.And Keith - please..............................

Vanessa Smith ● 4445d

And as I recall I asked how you would know, but I don't recall ever having received a straight answer.

Phil Andrews ● 4445d

Can't you two please get a room? It's obvious you fancy each other to bits...;-)

Keith Iddon ● 4445d

Oh dear Phil here we go again! I take it that's me you're having a dig at? If it is why not say so - can you NEVER be straight? As I recall I didn't say that nobody in the Labour Group has heard of Robin. I said that a lot of them wouldn't know who he is which is quite a different matter.

Vanessa Smith ● 4445d

Not me Robin.  There were only two people present during my conversation with your councillor during which Theo was described as "mad", myself and her.  Which means that either she is telling you fibs, or you are telling us fibs.  Either way the conversation between you must necessarily have taken place.And yet according to another of your number on this forum nobody in the Hounslow Labour Group has even heard of you!Strewth, where does one even begin looking for porkies in a party like yours?

Phil Andrews ● 4446d

"It was one of your Hounslow Labour councillors, in private conversation with me a few months back, who expressed the view to me that he was "mad"... I made no comment."Oh no. My brand new Acme Porkie Detector has just exploded.

Andrew Simpson ● 4446d

As I said paranoia - and unlike you I really don't give a toss one way or another.

Vanessa Smith ● 4447d

Here we can see the origins of the "ICG says Theo is mad" lie, introduced onto this thread today by this mysterious new poster.  Robin himself, incidentally, is banned from this forum for posting under false names.One can also see that he claims to speak with authority about the thoughts of members of the Hounslow Labour Group.  These are the people whom Vanessa would have us believe do not even know Robin Taylor, despite the fact that seven of them - including our possible future MP - have formally befriended him on their Facebook pages.Others, like me, can only speculate as to why Vanessa feels the need to deny this man's involvement in our local politics, but it is there for all to see.I am now anticipating some personal abuse from John Connelly, who is Vanessa's traditional defender when she gets herself into a pickle.  This is the way these things usually work.

Phil Andrews ● 4447d

Of course, Vanessa.  And you being the person who knows what's going on within who doesn't know what's going on within, as it were.

Phil Andrews ● 4448d

To quote the late Michael Winner "Calm down dear - it's only a Forum". Seriously though this is tantamount to paranoia.

Vanessa Smith ● 4448d

Oddly enough it was a reaction to self-indulgence, smugness and jobs for the boys which led to the last wave.  Having reversed their losses in 2010 with the help of a general election Labour was faced with a choice between acknowledging previous mistakes or indulging in an orgy of triumphalism.  Which option would you say it took?

Phil Andrews ● 4448d

The only reason that Labour have any sort of power in Hounslow now is that the Tories are utterly hopeless and need a serious kick up the posterior by their leaders to sort out their policies.But then again they can't manage that too well at the top end either.Hounslow is very ripe for a new wave of independents. Labour might be feeling smug but the general feeling is of self induldgence, jobs for the boys, and selling the borough down the river.

Anthony Waller ● 4448d

Political ideology aside Gill Hutchinson and the two girls from Hanworth Park are actually good, hard-working councillors.  I don't know Colin Botterill so can't really comment.This news compels me to revise my prediction of how many seats the Tories will hold in 2014 down from 12 to no more than 9.  And yet still the poor deluded souls are sending Chiswick councillors across to canvass in Syon!

Phil Andrews ● 4448d

« After Harrow and Brent, Labour implode in Redbridge | Main | The Government must go much further on public service reform » Four Tory councillors in Hounslow defect to UKIPThe Hounslow, Heston and Whitton Chronicle reports that three Conservative councillors in that borough have defected to UKIP.  It names Cllrs Rebecca Stewart, Beverley Williams and Colin Botterill. Looking at the Council website a fourth is listed Cllr Gillian Hutchison. So good news for Labour as they seek to retain control of the Council in next year's election. The Conservative woes sound rather similar to Merton. The Chronicle report talks about the motivation for the departures being "infighting" and "lack of support." The issues seem to be as much to do with the Feltham and Heston Conservative Association as with the Conservative Group on the council. There is a suggestion that Cllr Botterill is to some extent concerned with national issues while his new colleagues were not really. Indeed Cllr Stewart says her problems were "not with the Party itself." So it is perfectly possible that these councillors would have resigned the whip even if UKIP didn't exist - it is simply a home for the disaffected regardles of their particular grievance. Generally when Conservative councillors talk about wanting "more support" from the Conservative Party or suggesting the Party should communicate this or that message in their ward I feel they are missing the point. In the sense that Margaret Thatcher talked about there being "no such thing as society" the Conservative Party does not exist as an abstraction. In those terms there is no such thing as the Conservative Party. In the Feltham West Ward it was Cllr Botterill and his small group of colleagues. Now he has quit it is for them to manage without him. Canvassing for votes, recruiting members, pushing leaflets through letter boxes and handing them out at stations, manning street stalls, hosting fund raising events in their homes, holding meetings to talk about who their candidates should be, which issues they should tackle, who could be approached to become a school governor. On it all goes. In Feltham West Ward this group of a dozen or a couple of dozen people are the Conservative Party. We all try and rub along as best we can and help each other out as much as possible. But for local members to ask for "more support" from the Party is to misunderstand the nature of things. To continue to paraphrase Lady Thatcher: There is no such thing as the Conservative Party - there are individual members and there are branches. Instead of "casting their problem on the Party" the ward members "must look to themselves." The gang of four in Hounslow seem to have "the entitlements too much in mind, without the obligations." Still the upshot of this spat is likely to be that UKIP fielding more candidates in Hounslow than they would otherwise have done. Given the local circumstances they will surely take more votes from the Conservatives more than Labour. Yet who will UKIP be gunning for?  Cllr Robert Oulds? He is my neighbouring councillor across the borough boundary in the Chiswick Homefields Ward, and is the Director of the Bruges Group. Or Cllr Adrian Lee in the next ward along? Cllr Lee is an old friend whose Eurosceptic credentials are equally impeccable. Or Cllr Peter Thomson, who when council leader froze the Council Tax years before this became fashionable?

Vanessa Smith ● 4448d

According to the Hounslow Chronicle - these councillors were going to be disciplined for breaking Tory group rules, which as I have said previously came as a shock as I thought they were all comatose or dead, clearly my mistake, the Tories are obviously not swivel-eyed enough for some people.

Vanessa Smith ● 4448d

Seems Vanessa is ahead of me on this one:http://www.hounslowchronicle.co.uk/2013/06/03/hounslow-tory-defectors-move-over-to-ukip-109642-33422253/

Phil Andrews ● 4448d

In Hounslow?  If this is true please tell...

Phil Andrews ● 4448d

More to the point what about the Tories who've defected to UKIP.................

Vanessa Smith ● 4448d

RobinComplete fabrication, usual standard I see.I have never called Councillor Dennison mad, neither would I because I happen to think he is anything but.It was one of your Hounslow Labour councillors, in private conversation with me a few months back, who expressed the view to me that he was "mad".  The impression I was given was that this was the view of the whole of the Labour Group, rather than just that of the councillor in question.  I made no comment.There really isn't any need for you to try to create mischief between myself and Councillor Dennison.  He remains steadfastly loyal to the Labour Group despite the fact that he knows the price he must pay for trying to introduce into it an open and community-friendly ethos will be continued ostracisation followed inevitably by deselection.  This is the same party whose Deputy Leader is currently trying to persuade his son, who being a decent person is reluctant on account of the fact that he is away at Uni and thus absent from his ward, to run for a second term.Councillor Dennison's is a loyalty that you and your ilk do not deserve, but it shows the quality of the man that he offers it anyway.Apologies to other forum users for derailing the thread, but I feel entitled to defend myself from what is an entirely false allegation.

Phil Andrews ● 4448d

"Anybody who had met Theo Dennison for more than a couple of minutes would readily concede that he is bright, personable, articulate and politically astute."That's quite an endorsement coming from someone who privately admits that Theo is "mad".

Andrew Simpson ● 4448d

We might care about where we live but that is not one jot on the local labour party's mission to make Brentford nothing more than yet another smudge; to blur boundaries and make this area look just like some other third world country - or home to the invaders.So, the mayor of Hounslow is someone who came here in 1998 on a student visa.  And ended up here.  Not seen the person but I bet he has a wobbly head when asked difficult questions.  And has a very limited command of the English language.This country has been invaded from within.  And no amount of posturing from eloquent individuals will change the status quo. 

Xanthe West ● 4464d

I think that Anthony is close about the Borough being rotten to the core.We obviously care about the district in which we live and it is not such a bad place. What is makeing it it bad as a place to live and co-exist in is the onslaught of luxury developments, the poor design and hollow promises of developers and the complete ineffectiveness of the council to tidy up it's policies and simply reign in this stuff.There is a clear feeling that the local Labour Party is a self centered conceited group who are not interested in any other views or ideas apart from their own.It would not be such a bad thing if their ideas and policies actually worked but they usually don't and they are simply bereft of any sort of clear common sense thinking. Stunted by their own political dogma.Lib dems and tories are little better if at all. Which is why so few can be bothered to vote.  The fact is that the majority of non voters are a mandate. NO Confidence.Not that any politician will ever admit that.But last week I spent 3 days in Hounslow, Heston and my goodness what a shock. I've not had a walk around in depth for quite some years.Filthy, unkempt, tatty, and how on earth planning permission has been given to dwellings behind back street garages and shops with Rat infestations and no safe fire access is simply unbelievable.Much of what we found and saw was just minutes from 'Lampton Control'Clearly no-one residing in the area cares. Otherwise they would be up in arms.Or maybe they are kept out of the loop and not shown how to use their democratic right to object.But if this is something that any party in control is proud of then there is really something wrong.There's a road in Sudbury town. One part is in Ealing and the other in Brent.One is reasonably tidy and the houses just about hanging on to their original suburban neatness. The other has the same housing but looks like a shanty town.Thank goodness Brentford has people in it who care about the place.But the worry is we seem to have councillors who are more interested in their empire building and  self induldgences in  policies.It drove it home to me that Hounslow Borough is far too big and too diverse to ever work properly for it's needs.Maybe devolution of the borough is the best option.

Michael Brandt ● 4465d

Thanks for your clarificaton Vanessa, so are you saying then that the comments you expressed are simply your opinion, not based as such on any knowledge or "information"?Fair enough, I respect your opinion.

Phil Andrews ● 4465d

This is ridiculous, I have no 'information' as you put it, and I don't think your evidence is particularly 'hard' either. If friends on Facebook count that's pretty unconvincing from where I am, but to be honest I don't really care. While the 'old guard' exists on the Labour Group  no-one else will have any influence at all.

Vanessa Smith ● 4465d

I really do want to believe you on this one Vanessa but can you not see my difficulty here?My concerns have been supported with hard evidence, your response is an unqualified statement which can only possibly carry any authority if the nature of your relationship with the Labour Party in this locality is other than that which you have led us all to believe.I am genuinely seeking your help to make sense of your "information".  Thanks.

Phil Andrews ● 4465d

Have it your way, but from what I know you are very,very wrong.

Vanessa Smith ● 4465d

I would love to be able to take your word on this Vanessa but, with the greatest of respect, why would I consider you an authority on this subject?  You haven't been a member of the Labour Party for many years, and you have nothing to do with them these days - remember?In any case you are simply wrong.  A cursory look at Robin's Facebook profile before he recently altered his privacy settings reveals that at least seven Hounslow councillors consider themselves to be personal friends of his, including Ruth Cadbury (quite possibly our next Member of Parliament), and Pritam Grewal (until earlier this week the Mayor of Hounslow).  Hardly a man of whom nobody has heard.You may also remember a recent exchange on this forum between myself and Councillor Dennison in which he made a similar claim to yourself.  The reason no Labour Cabinet member had come onto the forum to disown Robin was simply, according to Theo, because none of them ever visit this site.  You may also recall that no sooner had he hit the "Send" button than a Cabinet member intervened in the discussion to contradict (ie undermine) Theo and to offer words of comfort and support not to her Labour Group colleague but to Robin!For what it is worth I am sure you are right to say he has no influence over the likes of Colin Ellar and John Chatt.  But he certainly helps to set the agenda in some areas and he does so with no consideration whatsoever for the consequences for those who misguidedly place their trust in him.That said, my remark about Robin Taylor was incidental.  When all is said and done this is not about him, but about a party which is prepared to befriend such a malign individual whilst marginalising one of its own most gifted members simply for having the honesty and foresight to embrace a better way.

Phil Andrews ● 4466d

"But my personal opinion, for what it is worth, is that any Labour Group that can value the services of Robin Taylor ahead of those of Theo Dennison is very deeply sick indeed."I cannot state strongly enough that you are really wide of the mark on this one. I think if you could find more than two or three members of the Labour Group who would even know who Robin is then you'd be extremely lucky. It is simply fallacy that he has all this influence you endow him with. You have to remember that the Ellars and Chatts of this world think they know it all, and if you seriously imagine they'd pay any heed to anyone then you obviously know the nature of the beast better than me.

Vanessa Smith ● 4466d

"This borough is rotten to the core"That is a wildly fanciful statement, what proof can you offer? I suggest you take up reading Private Eye's 'Rotten Boroughs' if you want to see real rotten goings on. Compared with a lot of others Hounslow is actually very well run. That's not to defend the internal goings on of some on the Labour Group, having had the very dubious experience of actually trying to work with some of them who let ego and supposed power rule everything else, I feel sorry for the people who are there for the right reasons. I suspect that most political parties are not dissimilar, look at the Tories in Parliament. A return to the previous committee system may well be a better way forward, as I do agree giving one person all those areas to lead on is ridiculous.

Vanessa Smith ● 4466d

It just shows how truly unelectable Labour ought to be if only people would wise up and take a closer look.Cllr Dennison is the only one I can think of who has the guts and dignity to explain his critics in a clear and honest way.As for some of the others how a first time councillor with a dodgy reputation can  come to hold so many portfolios is really questionable. Given his inability to even write a letter.Given his very good attendance record one can only wonder if his attendance and performance in his NHS day job is as good or are the taxpayers indirectly funding his induldgences?This borough is rotten to the core and we have not even got on to the other parties.

Anthony Waller ● 4466d

Indeed.  In actual fact I had anticipated Colin Ellar going for it this time, but as Sam Hearn reminded me on another forum the rules these days give incumbent leaders some protection from the time-honoured knife in the back so much beloved of many of our political leaders.Adam may be right about Theo Dennison and his tweeting/twatting, but when a councillor of his calibre is consigned entirely to outer darkness I tend to suspect that something more is afoot than simply this, where a simple "please stop it" would have sufficed.  He has obviously trodden on the wrong toes; in my opinion this is clearly a result of his community-friendly approach to local engagement but if there is a simpler explanation then I'm all ears.Anybody who had met Theo Dennison for more than a couple of minutes would readily concede that he is bright, personable, articulate and politically astute.  Of the 35 members of his Group I simply don't accept that there are ten more suited to sit on the Cabinet, indeed of the current crop I would be hard pushed to name one.Of course, it is not my job as an outsider to tell the leadership of the Council what they should be doing.  He is a Labour councillor and as such he is their problem, or more precisely they are his.But my personal opinion, for what it is worth, is that any Labour Group that can value the services of Robin Taylor ahead of those of Theo Dennison is very deeply sick indeed.

Phil Andrews ● 4467d

This must stop! I wholeheartedly agree with Adam- again! I cannot fathom why people want to live their lives in the public domain  - bonkers. Some of them put the most personal details on sites for all to see - mad, mad, mad. I'm glad you keep up with the latest news Phil because I couldn't tell you what's going on, I fear though that Ellar is positioning himself to be Leader should Labour win the local elections, the ego has arrived, and the old guard of Feltham Neanderthal man triumphs again. How sad that nothing changes.

Vanessa Smith ● 4467d

Purely speculating Phil, but personally speaking I'm not convinced Theo did himself any favours with his use of Twitter (as Twatter as I prefer to call it) during some Council meetings and also some of his rather 'questionable' posts on Twatter that on one occasion led him to have to go into a 5 minute explanation of his position before one planning application was discussed at Committee.As I always openly admit the whole attraction of social media sites is one I find rather puzzling, but I never cease to be amazed by how people, be they celebrities, Councillors or the general public, post things on social media that really should be kept to themselves - like being fed up in their jobs or such like, because perception is important.

Adam Beamish ● 4467d