Technical Blog - Squealer - Standards Complaint

I have tonight put in a Standards Complaint to SMBC re Steve "Squealing" Eling. As the bent Council's highly controversial Monitoring Officer, Surjit Tour, appears to be directly involved in some of the matters I have addressed the complaint to the Deputy Monitoring Officer.

Here is the complaint:

STANDARDS COMPLAINT RE STEVEN ELING
7TH DECEMBER, 2018

SHEET “A”

Facts

Between (at least) 14th August, 2017 and 30th July, 2018 Steven Eling used an official SMBC account (and probably taxpayer-funded SMBC equipment) for purely party political purposes ie to pursue a personal vendetta against me.

Eling used his personal email account on two occasions but otherwise used his official SMBC email account to instruct a local police puppet, one Baker, and to encourage the instigation of criminal proceedings against me.

The emails I have seen to date are, mostly, heavily redacted. SMBC should soon be releasing unredacted copies to me pursuant to a Subject Access Request and I reserve the right to make further particularised complaints in due course. From the redacted copies, however, it appears that Eling was referring to his position as Leader of the Council in an effort to represent that he was acting on behalf of SMBC to the said Baker whereas he was trying to save his own skin following my publication of a WhatsApp feed and other disclosures about him. He did this for purely Party political reasons and to try and divert attention from his own misconduct.

Eling procured and/or sought to procure the involvement of two senior Council Officers in this Party political matter namely Jan Britton, Chief Executive, and Surjit Tour, SMBC’s statutory Monitoring Officer. Both senior officers are in politically-restricted posts and are supposed to maintain political neutrality. Eling actively procured the direct involvement of Britton in purely party political matters eg the said Britton himself became involved in mailing the puppet police officer on a Party political matter using his official SMBC title and email account (and, presumably, taxpayer-funded SMBC equipment).

Eling sought to procure the involvement of the said Tour in a purely political matter by repeatedly copying him into emails sent via his official SMBC account.

Eling has fixed SMBC with potential liability for libel by using official SMBC emails to defame me to third parties whilst copying in the said Britton, Tour and others. That will be the subject of separate legal action but also constitutes a breach of standards.

Eling used an official SMBC account to send what he calls “information” about me to the said police puppet (and copied to others). Insofar as the said mails were not grossly defamatory (see previous paragraph) they also constitute an improper use of taxpayer-funded SMBC accounts and equipment.

It appears that Eling procured other taxpayer-funded SMBC staff to unlawfully and/or improperly collate information against me to pursue a political vendetta against me. He also sought to procure that Britton and other staff breached Data Protection law by disclosing the said information for Party political reasons.

At 10.39 on 18th March, 2018 used his official SMBC email account to contact the said Baker with derogatory comments about my support for the Justice 4 The 21 Campaign ie the campaign by bereaved families for the truth about the mass murder of their loved ones. This is not, in any sense, a SMBC matter and Eling had no right to make derogatory remarks via official channels about my support for the group. It is possible that he has also made derogatory remarks about the campaign but he is declining to release the full email to date or to explain his extraordinary behaviour.

Breaches of Conduct

Code 1.5 - You must not bring your office or authority into disrepute.

The facts above should mean that no further comment is required here. Eling has sought to use his position and his official SMBC equipment to attempt to protect his own Party political interests and to pursue a political vendetta.

The attack on a third party for support of a campaign group brings his office and the authority into disrepute. Eling is a long-standing politician and well knows the history of West Midlands Police in fitting up innocent men in respect of the mass murder and then seeking to this day to cover up the truth about this and other aspects of the investigation. To seemingly denigrate the bereaved families by using SMBC to pass “information” to the same force is shameful and demeaning beyond belief.

Eling also managed to acquire a copy of a legal statement that I provided to solicitors acting for then Cllr Hussain. Eling as a long-standing local government employee and councillor knew full well that the said statement was a confidential document (and also, possibly, still subject to legal professional privilege). Nevertheless he disclosed it to a third party without my knowledge of permission. He further stated at the time that he was doing so purely in an attempt to exonerate himself in respect of another standards complaint outstanding against him.  This was a clear breach of confidentiality and, possibly, Data Protection provisions.

I would respectfully remind you that this is not the first time I have had cause to complain about Eling and his political cronies misusing confidential information.

Code 1.7 - You must not bully any person.

It is difficult to think of a more egregious example of non-physical bullying. Eling not only sought to bully me but to criminalise me leading potentially to my imprisonment. His main motivation was to “get” me - particularly in respect of my disclosure of his secret dealings with me. That was his prerogative had he chosen to pursue that course of action via his own resources but he chose to maintain his political vendetta using SMBC equipment and communication channels and by misusing the resources of the authority.

On 17th April, 2018 Eling used official SMBC channels to purport to the said Baker that he was acting on behalf of an employee, one Sarah James. He used SMBC channels to make derogatory and defamatory comments about me in respect of a legal issue between myself and Ms James which has nothing whatsoever to do with SMBC. This is another example of his use of official SMBC channels to pursue a purely political vendetta against me, once again bullying me and bringing himself and SMBC into disrepute.

Code 1.9 - You must respect the impartiality and integrity of the authority’s statutory officers and other employees.

 Eling procured the involvement of staff to prepare screenshots and other documents in pursuit of a purely political vendetta in breach of the code.

 Eling did, in fact, procure the direct involvement of an employee, Jan Britton, in his political vendetta knowing that Britton was in a politically-restricted position and supposedly in a politically neutral role.

By repeatedly copying in the said Tour, the statutory Monitoring Officer, in his emails to the puppet police officer he sought to unlawfully present that he acted with the authority of the Council itself whilst actually pursuing a purely personal animus towards me and a Party political vendetta. It is not yet clear what role the said Tour played in this sordid affair and I reserve the right to make further particularised allegations once the unredacted emails become available via the outstanding Subject Access Request.

Code 1-11: You must only use the resources of the authority in accordance with its requirements…[and] that such resources are not used for political purposes (including party political purposes)...

Eling knew exactly what he was doing and, in fact, did use his personal email account on two occasions to pass information to the puppet policeman. He made sure that all other communications were sent via official SMBC channels - a gross and blatant misuse of the authority’s resources.

Code 1-12: You must promote and support high standards of conduct when serving in your office.

If Eling had genuinely been acting in the interests of the authority all communications should have been made in measured terms by the paid service. But this was a personal Party political vendetta presented in the most childish and hysterical fashion by someone using official SMBC channels and using and/or attempting to use members (including very senior members) of the paid service to do his personal business. This conduct was unlawful, improper and disgraceful.

As above, I reserve the right to amend this complaint when SMBC provide the unredacted emails.

End.

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