Louise Lawrence, Barbara Everson, Reece Forrester...

What is happening at bent Labour's "expert" Sandwell Human Resources [sic] Department at the moment? 

Regular readers will know from previous posts that pathetic groveller Darren Carter was suspended for his grotesque behaviour is the absurd suspensions of the cabinet secretariat (blogs passim and see legal notice below.) He was the statutory s.151 Finance Officer at SMBC and one of the four Directors underneath Jan Britton, the now-disgraced former Chief Executive.

Ex-Leader (yes, they are dropping like flies) Cllr Yvonne Davies managed to get into Oldbury Council House (OCH) from her luxurious Herefordshire home to say:

 "I would also like to pay particular tribute to the Cabinet secretaries. In perhaps the vilest of many vile political deeds they were marched unceremoniously off the premises and suspended under the previous [Eling] regime. A harder-working and more loyal group of staff you won't find anywhere. Thank you Jane and your wonderful team. If I've achieved nothing else I hope I've helped to make you feel valued and indespensable as the workers that you are. This Authority needs people like you.

(Red Yvonne still showing as "Labour" on SMBC website despite current suspension.)

We all know that there was political involvement in this decision not least from the "ranting man" - a Councillor with access to the inner rectum of OCH heard shouting "I want the f*ckers [ie the secretaries] out and I don't want the f*ckers back." Carter may perhaps be assuming that by keeping his mouth shut he will get a half-million pound pay-off like others? Whatever the position he has refused to dub in "the ranting man" (and other senior Labour Councillors involved in this shaming degringolade) but has maintained the fiction that he alone made the catastrophic decision based on "expert" advice from, er, Sandwell's own HR department.

There is a temporary s.151 Officer in post (a legal requirement) and everyone is tight-lipped about Carter. It SEEMS that he is still suspended so that WE are paying his high wages whilst he sits at home (metaphorically) w*nking over photos of Steve "Squealing" Eling. That's where your money goes in this corrupt Labour shambles folks...

Meanwhile - and despite his shocking conduct - a number of Councillors, including some of the worst scum in the Labour Group, are SUPPORTING Carter!

In the meantime the head of HR, Richard Luckman, left suddenly and without explanation. He was deeply unpopular with some staff - not least for ringing a little bell when he wanted the drones to gather round and listen to his inane witterings.

[There are also serious questions about the amount he spent on HR's offices in Providence Place (PP). He is said to have wanted it to look like an "Apple Store" and even the stools were said to be £140 each. More info welcome on this please...

Now the word on the street in that "senior HR Manager" "lol" Louise Lawrence has also gone in mysterious circumstances. Official sources claim this is confidential but her email account is blocked. She herself still claims to be employed by SMBC on her LinkedIn account but many say she has gone.

We do know that she was also most definitely involved in the shocking secretary scandal. It is not clear whether she was the "expert" the nasty Carter supposedly turned to but my Tribunal case flushed out emails showing her involvement - not least a facetitious email to Stuart Taylor seemingly making a joke of the horrendous situation the wronged women found themselves in.

So what is happening in HR? Over to you dear Readers"!

Staying on the subject of Sandwell HR Luckman's PA, Barbara Everson, left a while ago (and it is said the megalomaniac found he needed two replacements for her single post.) The Skidder has fielded loads of complaints from SMBC staff over the years about the three unions. There was (and still is) a widespread perception that the unions were too close to Labour Councillors and management including Luckman's HR guys and gals. There is widespread concern about the unions ignoring the rights and wrongs of dismissals provided that us taxpayers gave the departees a generous pay-off. The Jez Hall affair was a particularly egregious example where very many people thought his treatment by Britton and Co. was wholly unacceptable.

Disclosure of documents about Jan Britton's war on The Skidder has produced yet another odd episode - involving La Everson. She wrote the following to a Sandwell union rep (one on Facility Time ie paid by us taxpayers to be a trade union apparatchik rather than a "normal" employee):

You will see that Everson agreed to meet the Union Rep at Providence Place. All very cosy. I asked the Council to disclose the envelope of letters but have been told officially by the Council's legal department that the documents have been destroyed by another employee (NOT the union rep or Everson) as the documents did not relate to Council business! Sandwell refuse to name the employee (info welcome) but what the f*ck was going on here between taxpayer-funded employees? HR and a Union conniving over letters seemingly collected to cause me harm whilst at work and on council premises. These are the lengths these scum will go to in an effort to shut this blog up!

[Thanks to anon for the letter on the planning application.]

Another odd affair is developing over at the big-spending and useless Sandwell Children's Trust. SCT was set up, of course, because of the disastrous performance towards vulnerable children by Simon Hackett and the Labour dictatorship. The job was taken out of their hands but a Labour crony put in charge - Jacqui Smith. Despite the horror story for local kids she can seemingly manage to run this sh*tshow whilst appearing on Strictly Come Dancing. Let's hope the BBC introduce the Hornpipe this year since she has been burning through money like a drunken sailor (apologies, as always, to inebriated matelots.)

A whistleblower recently expressed concern about a vulnerable adult who is alleged to have an interest in, at "best", imitation firearms. It is claimed that a worker in SCT's Leaving Care Team visited him and took a picture of himself with one of the weapons which he then placed on Instagram. And it is true, Reece Forrester of SCT pictured himself brandishing a Millbro 357 Airsoft Revolver with a caption saying "When Monday Home Visits End Like This" and smiley emojis. I will leave it the court of public opinion to decide how appropriate this glorification of firearms is by an employee of a Children's Trust but an important question is whether the child in care in under 18 since it is illegal to buy these items until majority. Further is it appropriate for carers to "borrow" items - especially imitation firearms - from their charges for selfies? It may be that Forrester has answers to explain his extraordinary conduct but having raised the incident in writing with Smith's SCT they have, er, declined to substantively respond. The usual rule in the care of minors in the real world outside bent Labour Sandwell is that the interests of the child are paramount. However, one "Reece Forrester" is named as a Unison branch steward at SCT. Can SCT's inactivity and Forrester's union role be related perchance? I think we should be told don't you readers?

(Cartoon from the ever brilliant Private Eye - BUY THE CURRENT EDITION OUT NOW!)

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PROUD TO HAVE BEEN TROLLED BY DICKHEAD DARREN COOPER DECEASED!

LEGAL NOTICE (Version 2 from 15th February, 2020)

I cannot list every previous mention of individuals referred to in the entirety of this blog. Where I refer to a specific story please follow the supplied hyperlink since this forms legal justification for later comments. Similarly references to “posts passim” and to earlier posts mean any individuals concerned about purported defamatory material should read later posts in the context of earlier posts. Full information can also be supplied within a reasonable time upon application via email to thesandwellskidder@gmail.com

Every now and again we make a genuine honest error and get something wrong. If an error in the blog affects you please email thesandwellskidder@gmail.com and we shall 

use our best endeavours to make appropriate corrections forthwith.

If you consider that anything written is libellous please email thesandwellskidder@gmail.com or telephone 07470 624207 forthwith. If your complaint has merit we shall endeavour to make immediate amends.

Hackett & Lion Farm Tribunal Cases.

My apologies for the rather thin offering of posts lately but many readers are aware that, amongst many other things, I was preparing for two days of Sandwell Council Tribunals which were held online last week. In the meantime the civil war within the Labour Group in bent Sandwell has burst forth in spectacular form with more Labour suspensions and threatened suspensions as Spellar and Co try to bring the scum back to the surface for more corruption, cronyism and incompetence. More on this very soon!

Tribunals

Over the years I have put in a number of Freedom of Information requests (FOI's) and Jan Britton's bent paid service have frequently failed to comply with the law and respond properly. The range of unlawfulness ranges from GROSS delay to deliberate lying.

There are many problems with the FOI system which a bent council like Sandwell take advantage of. The law is that only documents that are "held" by a Council at the time of the request MAY have to be disclosed. Thus Britton and Co simply ensured that there were NO records kept at all of key meetings including all the main really bent deals - The Public, The Ice Rink, Lion Farm Fields etc! What a way to run a large, supposedly democratic, local authority!

Britton and his close associates were also assiduous in trying to expunge records from the system. The late Smethwick Scumbag, Darren Cooper ,was still in the morgue when his emails were - for obvious reasons - deleted. Members of Britton's staff - including a senior Council Solicitor - lied to the Information Commissioner saying that these emails and others were irrecoverable. Thanks to me pushing six cases to a Tribunal and Britton being booted out Sandwell was forced to admit the truth but then claimed that the computer system was so crap it was difficult - and very expensive - to find the documents. (In the Hackett case below, Britton's bent team also wiped the emails of Melanie Dudley and Pardip Sharma immediately upon their departures. In the latter case Sharma was a qualified solicitor and there are strict regulatory provisions of the Solicitors Regulatory Authority which have certainly been breached by this.)

Even where a council has documents it can plead all sorts of legal "defences" against disclosure. The upshot of all this is that using FOI's is a very poor weapon in exposing fraud and discovering truth.

Hackett - Tribunal

Way back in 2016 The Sandwell Slasher, Cllr Simon Hackett, received some highly confidential information about a child. He immediately, and in breach of confidence, blabbed this to Darren Cooper. Shortly afterwards Cooper held a "political meeting" (though a member of Britton's staff, Jane Perham, was paid by us taxpayers to attend - and there is no explanation given for this and she has not faced any disciplinary action.) The highly confidential information about the minor was then discussed again at this meeting - where Hackett was present - and thus disseminated to even more people who should not have been told. Not satisfied with this the pusillanimous Hackett was told to inform the Chief Whip - then the odious Derek Rowley - and duly did so. It seems that even this dimwit may have realised he had overstepped the mark since he sent this pathetic arse-covering email to Rowley:

Wednesday 17th February, 2016 10.35

Morning Derek,

This is to confirm that last Wednesday xxxxx papers were presented to me xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

I immediately saw that one of the papers I was asked to sign was in relation to xxxxxxx. I therefore spoke to the Leader who said I need to notify the Chief Whip. I therefore rang you last Wednesday.

A standards complaint was made to the corrupt Council about this gross and obvious breach of confidence and data breach. Four other allegations were added and I have written extensively about them elsewhere -  not least one about Hackett pissing in a bus shelter. 

Melanie Dudley was both Assistant Chief Executive and Acting Monitoring Officer at the time and as a Labour Party crony was fully expected to exonerate The Slasher. She duly did in respect of most of the charges (she did find that Hackett had urinated in a public place but that he was not acting in his capacity as a councillor at the time - he was just pissed out of his head.) But she found he did breach confidence rules about a child - how could she find otherwise? She says she discussed local resolution of the matter with Simple Simon and suggested the "punishment" would be to attend a half-day course on these issues. Meanwhile she would check whether the breach of conficence was also a data breach (again, how could it be otherwise?) She alleges that the snivelling sh*t Hackett agreed to this which should have been an end to the matter.

But Watson, Eling and Co were outraged and Melanie was told to amend the report and exonerate Hackett. She told The Skwawkbox website of Eling threatening her, "Do you want to fall out with me?" But she bravely stuck to her guns and was duly forced out. For the 6 months she had worked that year the Council's accounts show she received nearly half a million pounds of our money. The moment she was out the door and 8 months after the event Eling and Rowley's ever-present companion, Cllr Syeda Khatun, suddenly gave statements contradicting the original evidence and Jane Perham (who should not have been there in the first place and now working for, er, Eling) changed hers. And lo, Simon Hacket was suddenly "innocent".

Since January, 2017 I have been trying to obtain (a) the original report and statements; (b) the later statements of Eling, Khatun and Perham and (c) the amended report "exonerating" The Slasher. But Britton resisted this all the way.

Eling repaid Jane Perham by sh*tting on her and her cabinet secretarial colleagues in the suspension fiasco (posts passim and see legal notice below) but her misplaced loyalty (at best) meant that even then she didn't dub the tyrant in.

But Milko (Eling) and The Parkie (Britton) were by now on thin ice "lol". Soon these turds were flushed away. The new regime looked at the original investigation again and found cause for considerable concern. Thus the Hackett investigation was re-opened last November and, incredibly, is still going on (even noting the Covid crisis this is risible.)

In the meantime, the Information Commissioner agreed (natch) with the irate parent that Hackett's conduct was a data breach. The parent also brought a civil action and SMBC have accepted liability for the data breach (damages remain to be assessed.) But Britton's bent paid service argued that these findings were irrelevant because Hackett had been exonerated by the original inquiry! Of course, this argument became rather hard to maintain when SMBC itself called that whole investigation into question.

Last Tuesday, The Chief Executive, TWO SMBC solicitors and an expensive London Barrister spent the day telling the Tribunal that, because of the NEW investigation still dragging on, it would be unfair to give disclosure as this would impinge on the data protection rights of HACKETT himself!!!! You couldn't make it up. (Of course, Mr Pissy-Pants himself declined to attend the Tribunal.)

I can't say more as the judgment of the Tribunal is awaited but don't hold yout breath.

Meanwhile the sheer cowardice and spitefulness of Hackett has led to huge expenditure by the taxpayer ie the costs of the original investigation, the cost of the 2016 fake "investigation", the costs of the civil case (and any damages awarded), the costs of the new, ongoing, investigation and all the costs of the Tribunal proceedings. Add to this the additional costs of the pay-off to Melanie Dudley (who was due to leave the following February) and  we have to be talking well in excess of £100k. What an absolute scandal.

Lion Farm Tribunal

Day 2 saw SMBC put up the same expensive crew for a day to conceal the truth about the bent deal to develop Lion Farm Fields. Once again judgment is still awaited and so there are certain things I cannot say just yet but things were slightly different in this matter as the Information Commissioner had, for once, sided with me in respect of some of the issues and ordered Sandwell to make make certain disclosures. These documents are being placed on a separate blog. This is a work in progress but you can view the effort to date at:

http://savelionfarm.blogspot.com/2020/09/

The arguments, in brief, were (a) with regard to disclosure of documents relating to the extension of the developer's option(s) and (b) whether SMBC had made proper disclosure in respect of the existing order.

Regulars will know that this deal was "so good" for local people that the bent Labour Council concealed it FOR SEVERAL YEARS. They hid the deal under the title "Junction 2 Regeneration". They then gave it a secret codename, "Project Patrick". When Dr Alison Knight appeared to write the infamous "Knight's Sh*te" report on late 2017 it was called "Junction 2 Development Opportunity" (more soon on this.)

Under Jan Britton the searches for  documentation of the corrupt deal were done under different names and a mispelling of the developer's name. I say that was deliberate. In any event Sandwell claimed there were NO documents for a multi-million pound deal! Yes you read that correctly - NO documents ie they were not saying there were no disclosable documents (withheld via claimed exemptions) they saying no documents even existed. This was, of course, a lie and I am uging the Information Commissioner to bring criminal prosecutions against 2 named persons and any others caught up in this (but, again, don't hold your breath...)

Once the disgraced Britton was out documents appeared but still not adequately. Now the Council tried to bamboozle me by saying that it had searched totally irrelvant titles like "lion farm" (ie. the estate separate from the Fields) and "land by the M5" and had found 100,000 documents so that it was too expensive under the legislation to trawl through them all. Again I think this wilful obfuscation was deliberate.

Things went VERY badly in the morning but I had referred to certain documents which clearly DID exist but which bent Labour had not disclosed. These were miraculously found over the lunch interval but opened a whole new can of worms since they were written under the title "Land off Newbury Lane, Oldbury" and no searches had ever been made under this new "fake" title - another effort to conceal the main deal.

I have to say that I am not expecting the Tribunal to give me much help here but I can give a rare pat of the back to David Stevens and the SMBC legal department who have VOLUNTARILY agreed - pending any order of the Tribunal - to search for other documents under that title. This is the only known example in 7 years of the paid service doing the right thing in respect of information rights and it is to be applauded. I do so. However... even if documents are found SMBC may still try and claim exemptions against disclosure. But we will cross that bridge if and when we come to it.

Sandwell know they need to be careful here. There is a real chance that this joke development will be the subject of litigation at some point. If there are documents they seek to rely on which they have not disclosed in this process they will be for the high-jump...

And finally...

The rebel army are on the move to get into power jokes like Hackett, Costigan, Zorro and Lachrymose Luke. One of their number is Weirdo Cllr Laura Rollins nee Laura Thickey and, of course, this lot have been spraying the complaints around about the current leadership in an attempt to get them out. They have been claiming antisemitism despite Jedward's twitter feed but panic ensued last week with Rollins frantically deleting her own back catalogue. Happily I had already screenshotted her series of bizarre comments about "rich" Jews. Throwing stones and glasshouses spring s to mind!

I wrote to her about one particular post where she had claimed that she had been Jewish in the past as follows:

Dear Cllr Rollins, 

THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION - JOURNALISTIC ENQUIRY

You have stated on Twitter that you "were" Jewish. Can you confirm (by 10.00am Saturday) what you mean by that please?

No response - perhaps she was busy celebrating Rosh Hashanah!

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Post:  Jules Saunders, 11 Chelworth Road, Birmingham B38 0BG

PROUD TO HAVE BEEN TROLLED BY DICKHEAD DARREN COOPER DECEASED!

LEGAL NOTICE (Version 2 from 15th February, 2020)

I cannot list every previous mention of individuals referred to in the entirety of this blog. Where I refer to a specific story please follow the supplied hyperlink since this forms legal justification for later comments. Similarly references to “posts passim” and to earlier posts mean any individuals concerned about purported defamatory material should read later posts in the context of earlier posts. Full information can also be supplied within a reasonable time upon application via email to thesandwellskidder@gmail.com

Every now and again we make a genuine honest error and get something wrong. If an error in the blog affects you please email thesandwellskidder@gmail.com and we shall use our best endeavours to make appropriate corrections forthwith.

If you consider that anything written is libellous please email thesandwellskidder@gmail.com or telephone 07470 624207 forthwith. If your complaint has merit we shall endeavour to make immediate amends.

Red Yvonne's Explosive Resignation Statement!

Back in July, then Leader of bent Labour Sandwell Council, "Red" Yvonne Davies, made an explosive resignation statement at the end of the Council's Cabinet meeting. Cllr Davies has been keen on destroying green space in the sh*thole Borough whilst having property herself in leafy Herefordshire. She backed the continuation of  Steve "Squealing" Eling's (who spends much of his time in a delightful Derbyshire village) plan to destroy Londonderry Fields for the absurd Commonwealth Games white elephant and recently axed Brandhall Golf Course for new houses. She has taken issue with my comments about her backing the bent deal to shaft Lion Farm by wrecking the Fields although she has not made a single public utterance in support of the many protesters trying to stop that piece of Labour carnage.

Her latest Herefordshire pad is described as a "cottage" but is a substantial, near half a million pound, property with adjoining land in sylvan surroundings. It is not so much "seeing the wood for the trees" as seeing the house for the trees. Here's a picture - where the delightful pad is almost invisible due to surrounding woodland - which you can compare with the healthy trees she and the "Comrades" were happy to kill at Londonderry to the chagrin of locals in that built-ip environment.(Second picture from the Save Londonderry Fields campaign group.)

Yvonne has some really tremedous qualities but seems to see everything in black and white only. She was brave and  amazing in supporting me in the C*sucker Trial but there is a story I can't tell you just yet where she also shafted me royal! I am afraid that she was too naive to take on the forces of darkness within the Labour Sandwell cesspit and paid the price. She bizarrely trusted certain members of the paid service in the full knowledge of their "history" and leaves a running sore to her successors.

Curiously she declined to supply a transcript of her electrifying resignation speech and when I went on the SMBC website it had disappeared. Happily the Skidder archivist keeps EVERYTHING and I have prepared the following from the tape. One can imagine this sort of damning indictment in describing the activities of an opposition party. But this it is a public flaying of the shocking conduct OF HER OWN LABOUR PARTY. And far from being "great people" locals are moronic and keep voting this shower of scum back in!

Just one final point. No-one seems to have done anything about the content of this speech at all. One imagines that the three Tory MP's would be banging on doors in the corridors of power demanding action but seemingly not. We know West Midlands Police are corrupt when it comes to matters Sandwell and so we cant't expect the bent Blues to do anything. The "responsible" journalists are, as ever, steering well clear of their keyboards rather than expose whay is really happening.  The Labour Party is still backing Spellar as he drips his poison. The Labour Councillors have absolutely no shame and are carrying on their bitter civil war despite the small background matter of the life-threatening Covid pandemic. The staff - far from being "great" - are showing the usual craven and cowardly attitude they have for the last few years. (Incidentally - five who were encouraged by a still-serving Councillor to make formal statements accusing Hackett of malpractice have, just this week, refused to allow them to be placed in the public domain - even redacted to to provide anonymity!)

This is a fairly long statement from Red Yvonne but it is ESSENTIAL reading:

"I hope you will indulge me to address some of the unveiling things around me. At 9.30 last night I opened an email from the Labour Party and learnt that I was subject to an administrative suspension based on complaints of antisemitism relating to retweets that I made two and three years ago. I haven't had the opportunity to answer these charges but they've suspended me in any case. Of course, some local Party members have chosen to leak these matters to the press. They have then campaigned on the basis of my presumed guilt. For the record I am not antisemitic. I am horrified I might even be considered so to be. Equally I am as aware as our Party Leader of the risks of unconscious bias and the dangers of perpetuating negative tropes. Had I been asked about this - as a male Shadow Cabinet member was earlier this week and about a tweet not two or three years old but as recent as last Saturday -  I could have apologised for my historic misjudgement. Maybe it's because I'm a woman? Possibly it's because I'm a strong woman. Or maybe other factors have been at play which are about the approach I've tried to bring to the running of the Council.

When I became Leader just over a year ago I made a number of promises to the people of Sandwell and the staff of our Council. Among them was the promise that I would act with integrity and I would use my leadership to model the courage and transparency that we need as a Labour Group and as a Council. I said that as public servants we answer to the people of this Borough and they should expect that we will at all times conduct ourselves with the utmost integrity and that we will uphold the highest standards in public life. I also commented, I'm sure you will remember, that we've had in the recent past fallen well short in this regard. Since then I have worked as hard as I can to deliver on that promise. I have lead this Council's conduct and that of its members and officers using proper procedures and processes, upholding the Nolan Principles in public life, guided by core values and principles of decency, honesty and integrity. 

Under my leadership we have ensured the proper seperation of member and officer roles. We have ensured clarity in the responsibilities of the political executive and scrutiny. I have opened the Council up to external challenge looking to learn from the best that we can of what is happening elsewhere. I have worked hard to enhance the Council's reputation with Government, with neighbour councils and with the local government sector more broadly. We are actually doing well and we must continue in that same vein. Quite rightly, where there has been evidence of possible wrongdoing, we have investigated. This has applied to officers and to members. Those investigations have proceeded according to due process. Confidentiality has been respected and those investigations need to continue through due process to a conclusion through the appropriate Council and political processes. No-one under my leadership has been paid to leave. Nothing has been covered-up. I have always insisted that we do the right thing. Through this process some elected members have been asked to account for their previous conduct when it appears to have fallen short of expected standards in public life. I am not going to name names or allegations as due process needs to conclude but people should be in no doubt at all, the people of this Borough should be in no doubt at all, that some of those findings are truly shocking including cover-ups, misuse of public funds, reports being leaked, use of private emails to hide communications, lies being told to courts, clear racism. We did have in this Council a culture of deceit and cover-up, sly lies, snide comments, destructive dripping of poison into the public domain, [mis ?] information and prejudice. In some cases this has absolutely destroyed people's lives and their livelihoods. And I will mention the Wragge Report, something that some people prefer to think is over, is done, is dusted, but believe me - it is not. It remains a stain on this Council's reputation. It is riven with and surrounded by racism and racist intent. With Black Lives Matters shining a light on the casual way that our public institutions enshrine racism it actually breaks my heart that we are presiding over such a racist endeavour. It also represents a flagrant misuse of public funds to pursue political objectives.You must ensure that it is not allowed to be buried again.

Some people should ask themselves why has the Leader of Sandwell Council been forced out? Why has someone gone to the trouble to trawl her Twitter account searching on the basis of possible pejorative terms. Why have they gone back two years to find only retweets or other people's work not even original statements? Is this really about antisemitism or is it about a cover-up of some disturbing truths that are shortly to come into the public domain. Is it more about powerful self-interest seeking to avoid proper scrutiny, proper accountability for those who have fallen disgracefully short of expected standards in public life. And who is behind these complaints you should question? Is it the white male old guard who were at the heart of this shocking behaviour in the past? Who did leak these allegations to the press and deliberately whip-up a campaign to remove me from office? What was the role of the local MP in all of this [ie John Spellar] and ask yourselves how far does the collusion and malign intent reach up into the Labour Party hierarchy. I predict that these same people using the full weight of the Party machine will now try to seize power in Sandwell by contriving reasons to suspend others in the current executive. I was told of my own suspension more than four weeks ago. People knew I was going to be suspended. They will then try to bury all the misconduct allegations. They will bully others by holding the threat of suspension over them. The echoes of four years ago when I was told by somebody the reason they were doing something were because they weren't going to find themselves suspended shocked me to my core. He's still operating today. Those people absolutely should be held to account for their actions - people of this Borough should demand that they are held to account. Responsible journalists should be ensuring that these matters are brought out into the light of day. 

I won't be here when this done. I am resigning my position as Leader but the questions and the choices will remain for the Labour Party, for the Sandwell Labour Group and for the people of this fine Borough. Right now the choice is pretty stark.There is a group of old white men who want to go back - back to the vile baiting, the poisonous leaking, the denigration of fellow elected members for political purposes, the mis-use of public funds for political retribution, numerous officers hounded out of employment because they would not follow the political line or because they fell out of favour with the leadership. Millions of pounds and I do mean millions of pounds of public funds have been spent with little regard to the public purse. A return to the white male old guard who will pay lip-service to equality and black lives mattering but who will seek ultimately to preserve their own power base for its own sake.

Now the Council can embrace a new future where its elected representatives are humble, humble in their service to the public. Where they absolutely respect that they serve only in the interests of the people of Sandwell, where one gives real meaning to the fight against prejudice and inequality and where you have honesty, transparency, integrity in all of your dealings. People of this Borough absolutely deserve the best Council and the best councillors driven by the right values. This self-serving political malignancy and this interference in local leadership by outside Party interests serves only to undermine confidence in this Council's ability to serve its people well. It undermines the institution of local government itself but that future is for others. I won't be here to lead you. I've got things to do, I've got places to go and people to see. But the questions genuinely really do need to be answered long after my leadership is over.

My place will be taken in the interim by the Statutory Deputy, Maria Crompton - she will step into the space. I want to thank the staff of this Council - the finest that there are, working incredibly hard and bringing good Black Country humour to often their incredibly difficult job. Invidious to mention any groups I know but I would mention our fantastic neighbourhood office staff - incredibly supportive to me over the years whether as a backbench Councillor, as a suspended Group member and I hope now as a suspended Labour Leader. I would also like to pay particular tribute to the Cabinet secretaries. In perhaps the vilest of many vile political deeds they were marched unceremoniously off the premises and suspended under the previous [Eling] regime. A harder-working and more loyal group of staff you won't find anywhere. Thank you Jane and your wonderful team. If I've achieved nothing else I hope I've helped to make you feel valued and indespensable as the workers that you are. This Authority needs people like you.

And finally, to the people of Sandwell - it has been my pride and my pleasure to serve you in the various guises that I've been in this area for the best part of 20 years. I remember ultimately none of us, none of us, work for the Council. My Chief Executive, David Stevens, doesn't work for the Council. We all work for the people of Sandwell. It's your Council - it's not our Council. You deserve the best council led by the best councillors driven by the right values. There's political corruption - there has been operating in Sandwell for too long. That's what it serves to undermine confidence in the Council. If I've been able to bring some of those public service values to bear in my work here then hopefully, hopefully, I have made a difference. I think my Cabinet has made a difference. I'm enormously proud of the strong team that we built at the top table, working together positively, not listening to gossip, not dripping poison, following proper process with the right values.

I wanted to leave you with a lovely letter that I had this week while this maelstrom was around me because this is why I came into public office and this is why I try to make a difference and it is from a constituent that I do not know and he says, "Hello again, Cllr Davies. I just felt the need to give a personal thank you to you. I have only contacted you on a few occasions but each time you have been so extremely prompt and efficient with the matter raised and even if the outcome is not that desired your response has always given assurance that one is not wasting their time in going to the trouble to bring matters to the attention of the Council especially when it may be of benefit to others. Again I sincerely thank you and please there is no need for a reply." I think that resident epitomises what I try to achieve in all my working life whether it's as an officer in the voluntray sector or as a councillor. I am very, very, happy to have that letter as my epitaph.

Thank you from Sandwell and you all - be brave, carry on with our work - do not fail in your pursuit of truth and justice. Build a Council that we can be proud of and I shall watch your progress with a huge amount of pride in my heart. Thank you."

Skidder Comment - Red Yvonne remains a Councillor and it remains to be seen whether she will continue to pursue the fight against the endenic Labour corruption from the "backbenches". I should just add that she has finally voiced officially in a Council Cabinet meeting what this blog has been saying. ahem, FOR SEVERAL YEARS!

And finally...

In my last post I referred to the hideous antisemitic posts of a local Labour Party member, Basharat Khan. I sent the post direct to the General Secreatry of the Labour Party but, to the best of my knowledge, Bash has NOT yet been suspended by the Party.

Interestingly Khan - also heavily involved in the plot to destroy Cllr Hadley (see recent post) - is back on Twitter moaning about fly-tipping on land behind his shop. He caused a massive stink about this sometime ago rather than go through the proper channels. Foolishly a sting of Labour Councillors fell for his "campaign" and visited his premises - even though the site is not in their own wards.

We say in the Hadley matter that Khan disclosed a covert tape recording which the person who made the tape claims was "stolen" from him and yet found its way to Billa - Cllr M. Y. Hussain aka "Condom Man". Khan is this joker's right-hand man. Billa has declined to say how (or when) he came by the covert tape altough he had it by LAST DECEMBER at the latest. (Incidentally Cllr Hadley says the tape has also been doctored.)

There is a strong suspicion Khan asked various councillors (ones Billa coincidentally wants to bring down) to his premises hoping to gain detrimental information about them. Cllr Ian Jones was one who attended.

The current interim Leader, Maria Crompton, also paid court to this moron. Mysteriously, having viewed the piece of land where the fly-tipping has allegedly taken place, Bash invited Maria into his shop where there are CCTV cameras and then attempted to hand her an envelope. Very wisely Cllr Crompton declined to take this! Bash strongly denies to the Skidder that he was trying to trying to compromise Cllr Crompton in any way but what was/is he up to? 

Cllrs have no need to visit this land and dance to Bash's tune as Council officers have the matter in hand and are following due process. If they want to make fools of themselves though...

Last year Bash phoned me and told me that he was communicating by direct mesaages with Cllr "Inane" Elaine Costigan, Cllr Caz White (girlfriend of married ex-Cllr Dave Hosell) and with Hosell himself. And who should crop up on Twitter supporting Bash's latest rants about the "fly-tipping" than Costigan herself even though the land is miles from her own Wednesbury sh*thole ward. Bearing in mind Costigan's penchant for opening her gob I asked her whether, in supporting Khan, she was also endorsing his antisemitic Twitter posts. But answer came there none...

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Post:  Jules Saunders, 11 Chelworth Road, Birmingham B38 0BG

PROUD TO HAVE BEEN TROLLED BY DICKHEAD DARREN COOPER DECEASED!

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I cannot list every previous mention of individuals referred to in the entirety of this blog. Where I refer to a specific story please follow the supplied hyperlink since this forms legal justification for later comments. Similarly references to “posts passim” and to earlier posts mean any individuals concerned about purported defamatory material should read later posts in the context of earlier posts. Full information can also be supplied within a reasonable time upon application via email to thesandwellskidder@gmail.com

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Basharat Khan's Vile Facebook Posts!

WARNING - this is a news item reporting the use of vile antisemitic images and content of a deeply offensive and shocking nature. This filth is not, of course, the view of the author.

 In my last post I described the activities of Mr Basharat Khan, the right-hand man of the ludicrous Sandwell Labour Councillor, Mohammed Yaseen Hussain aka "Billa", aka "Condom Man" (pictured below). Bash also purports to be a member of the Labour Party but, as we have seen, he was endorsing a letter before the last general election (which he has not yet denied writing himself) whereby the Tipton and Tividale Mosque threatened to collectively boycott, er, The Labour Party, unless the Council agreed to sell it some land! Labour went on to lose the seat:

http://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2020/08/basharat-khan-and-pk-slur.html

We also saw in the above post that he is part of the plot to bring down Labour Cllr Jo Hadley. She had a conversation covertly taped. The person who made the tape claimed that it was "stolen" but we know that Billa had it by last December at the latest. The tape allegedly records Cllr Hadley using a racist term but she states that the tape has been doctored. Bash boasted months ago that he "had something good" on Cllr Hadley but only recently sent it to the Labour Party suddenly claiming to be "outraged" by the comment.

Incidentally the BBC have refused to answer the following email (sent to Midlands Today and BBCWM) about how they came to report all this:

"Both MTD and WM presented stories last week about Sandwell Councillor Joanne Hadley.

The story was:

1. Based on a taped covertly obtained phone conversation;
2. The tape was then allegedly stolen according to the maker;
3. It was shown to a number of other councillors by a Cllr last December; and
4. It came into the hands of Mr Basharat Khan, an associate of a Sandwell Councillor.

Bearing in mind that you have refused to publish researched stories which I have attempted to present to you:

1. Can you explain the provenance of the tape?
2. What checks were made as to the authenticity of the tape?
3. Knowing that the tape was covertly obtained and possibly stolen (and that Cllr Hadley was disputing the validity of the tape) on what legal basis did you decide that it was appropriate to run the story?

I am told - and this IS only rumour - that the BBC had cold feet about running the story until Adam Smith made wild and abusive allegations on Twitter. Can you please confirm whether Mr Mayor or any other BBC employee encouraged Smith to run this to "clear the way" for Mr Mayor's piece? "

As ever, I am indebted to readers who started to contact me. Bash may be screaming "racism" across social media (many months down the line) but I should take a look at his vile antisemitic comments. I was told by a local resident that Bash "hates Israel" but Mr Khan refused to answer my question to him about this.

The IHRA has published a "working definition" of antisemitism which has been widely accepted (even by the Labour Party despite an attempted "qualification" by the vile Jeremy Corbyn.) I just need to explain the term "blood libel" - this is a the appalling accusation that Jews ritually sacrifice Christian children at Passover to obtain blood for unleavened bread. 

1.   IHRA Definition of Antisemitism: Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (eg. claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.

Bash Khan used an image on Facebook of a Jewish man ritually slaughtering a child - "classic antisemitism":

2.   IHRA Definition: Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli Policy to that of the Nazis.

Bash, perhaps taking his cue from a notorious tweet of Labour Cllr John Edwards:

 

Bash is able to opine that Israel's activity in Gaza is "genocide":

3.   IHRA Definition: ... Stereotypical allegations about...Jews...eg of the Jews controlling the media, government and other societal institutions:

Bash:

Bash's beloved BBC "lol":

In a really bizarre Facebook post Bash asked in an online poll whether "ISIS" is not an extremist Muslim death cult (copyright Tony Blair) but, in fact, the "Israeli Secret Intelligence Service":

There were only two votes for this absurd and offensive notion one of whom was, wait for it, Bash himself!!!!

And we now know from Bashthat that he and his co-religionists are not just exercised by how to extract land from the bent Labour Council but also pray for the total destruction of Israel (and this is a 2019 post):

MEANWHILE "CONDOM MAN" GOES NATIONAL!

Way back on 12th May, 2020 this blog reported on the sick antics of Billa during lockdown - in particular, cadging PPE from nursing homes and filming himself "donating" it to Sandwell Hospital (when they had full stocks and were donating PPE to, er, local nurisng homes!) In a later blog I showed that, not very bright, Billa was donating PPE to a massive company ultimately based in a tax haven! (See posts and legal notice below.)

http://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2020/05/cllr-m-y-hussain-tipton-green-tosser.html

Enter stage left the ludicrous Liam Byrne MP, a man who made one of the most notorious political errors of judgement ever in 2010 but seemingly wishes to "go for gaffe gold" again as he campaigns to become the next West Midlands Mayor. Notwithstanding the above post (which led to two standards complaints to Sandwell Council which have now been referred by the Monitoring Officer for full investigation) Labour's Byrne felt able to appoint Billa to an absurd "taskforce" investigating [sic] the effects of Covid on BAME folk. (We await an explanation from Byrne why he ignored the blog and the standards complaints in making the appointment and perhaps he will get in touch...)

But you can rely on Bash! In his absurd propaganda bigging-up Billa he splashed photos of Condom Man congregating in a Greets Green property with a number of others seemingly in breach of the Covid regulations and thereby dropped the great man right "in it" lol! And this story has gone national via Mail Online and you can read it all here:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8689323/Councillor-BAME-covid-deaths-taskforce-investigated-flouting-social-distancing-guidelines.html

(More info on the latest Billa rumours very welcome...)

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**** Phone No: 07470 624207 ****

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Post:  Jules Saunders, 11 Chelworth Road, Birmingham B38 0BG

PROUD TO HAVE BEEN TROLLED BY DICKHEAD DARREN COOPER DECEASED!

LEGAL NOTICE (Version 2 from 15th February, 2020)

I cannot list every previous mention of individuals referred to in the entirety of this blog. Where I refer to a specific story please follow the supplied hyperlink since this forms legal justification for later comments. Similarly references to “posts passim” and to earlier posts mean any individuals concerned about purported defamatory material should read later posts in the context of earlier posts. Full information can also be supplied within a reasonable time upon application via email to thesandwellskidder@gmail.com

Every now and again we make a genuine honest error and get something wrong. If an error in the blog affects you please email thesandwellskidder@gmail.com and we shall 

use our best endeavours to make appropriate corrections forthwith.

If you consider that anything written is libellous please email thesandwellskidder@gmail.com or telephone 07470 624207 forthwith. If your complaint has merit we shall endeavour to make immediate amends.