Skidder £300K Legal Fund Latest News!

Last December I disclosed that bent Labour Sandwell Council had set up a £300k legal fund to attack me and shut down this blog whilst whining about "austerity". The original piece can be seen via this link (and please note the legal notice at the foot of this post):

http://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2020/12/skidder-exclusive-labours-300k-fund-to.html

New information came in yesterday! It transpires that this sordid business was done in November, 2018 which, by an amazing "coincidence", was precisely when the tyrranical Cllr Steve "Squealing" Eling was desperately trying to hang on to his position (although he was steaming full-tilt towards the iceberg!)

My information was that Eling, ex-Cllr Steve "Luvvie" Trow and officers had cooked-up the plan at a meeting in Oldbury Council House. A high-placed source told me later that weak as piss Trow was actually against the scheme but no folks - the pathetic groveller had actually signed off on the deal!

Regulars will know that from 2014 to 2019 this blog consistently campaigned for the dismissal on the now disgraced "Chief Executive", Jan Britton, who we now know was forced out without compensation for trying to rig Cllr Hackett's standards investigation (and SMBC itself reported him to West Midlands Police - employers of his son - for his activities in "agreeing" evidence with others in respect of a criminal trial). Britton had been trying to destroy me since 2014 and so had a personal interest in closing me down.

And let me take you to early 2018 and the saga of a supposedly "socialist" Labour council shafting its own long-serving and loyal cabinet secretaries (blogs passim ad nauseum). Initially the comrades tried to claim that there was no political involvement ("lol") for the shocking misconduct which all arose from controversial Monitoring Officer, Surjit Tour's, little private pow wow with the standards committee before a hearing. Initially these scum tried to blame a fairly lowly manager, Stuart Taylor, for suspending the unfortunate women but then it became apparent that someone higher-up the food chain was involved. I think it was Sandwell Tories who first revealed the hand of now-disgraced s.151 officer Darren Carter in this sordid affair as early as March, 2018. It took me two years and an Information Rights Tribunal hearing to flush out many of the details of Carter's abysmal behaviour. But from early 2018 the bent Council fought tooth and nail to prevent the truth coming out. Who had a direct interest in this cover-up apart from Eling? Well yes, Darren Carter of course!

And so who were the two very senior officers other than Tour who wanted to see this blog silenced and me financially destroyed? Here are the signatures on one of the authorisations:

Trow used to be up his own arse as some sort of guardian of moral probity and the socialist faith but you can see from the above that he was just another snivelling scumbag.

Two authorisations were signed by these three since even the bent Labour Council could see that what they were up to with this vendetta against me was not allowed under normal legal process. Thus they had to do a "special deal" but this would mean putting the matter out to tender which they could not do without making their conduct public. Thus they tried to rush this through under "delegated powers" (and remember that Britton hired Wragge's for their infamous Report without putting that out to tender either). I am guessing that the delegated power as at November, 2018 was only £150,000 since instead of one authority for the £300,000 fund these shysters divided it into two of £150k each (perhaps Chief Executive Mr Stevens will say as he is now such an avid reader of this blog?)

And so the trio signed an authorisation to pay posh London solicitors Howard Kennedy up to £150k of YOUR money PLUS a further £150k to pay a QC and other barristers at expensive London Chambers, 11 KBW.

Labour have sh*t on Sandwell folk for 47 years and thought it better to give up to £300k to London lawyers that to help provide services in the dirt-poor Borough. They didn't want YOU to read about the corruption. Remember this when these arseholes ask you to vote for them in May.

Messrs Grant Thornton, the Council's auditors, claim to be investigating all this and clearly Britton and Carter were not "independent" when purporting to use their delegated powers. There are other matters I have referred them to here.

A legal officer at the bent Council has confirmed in writing that the legal advice sought was on behalf of members and officers ie. elected councillors and staff. You will see from the above part of the authorisation that Head of Legal, Surjit Tour, kept his name of all this although SMBC now say - quelle surprise -  he knew about it! But the main contact officer was our old friend, Solicitor Maria Price (blogs passim and see legal notice below).

Price would be well aware as a senior local governement solicitor that SMBC has no legal power to use taxpayers funds to proactively bring cases on behalf of Eling or any other "members". There is a very limited legal power to help DEFEND members in defamation actions pursuant to the Local Authorities (Indemnities for Officers and Members) Order 2004* which clearly does not apply here. So what legal power was Solicitor Price purporting to exercise here? (I have referred this to the auditor and asked that he be supplied with the privileged legal documents to see how much of the instructions to the solicitors and barristers unlawfully related to Eling and other councillors and will keep you posted on that.)

Another mystery - also referred to the auditors - is that having authorised payments of up to £150k to Howard Kennedy solicitors the bent Council now say they also paid an unexplained £15,857 ex vat to another firm, Bevan Brittan? What the hell is going on here?

Finally, former Leader "Red" Yvonne Davies claimed not to know details about all this saying she had just "heard rumours about it". I can understand Britton not telling her about it to protect his own substantial arse (yes, pot/kettle) but why didn't Stevens tell her? And why didn't she ask?

I can't tell you yet about a couple of things that are going on but Sandwell is at the most dangerous point under Labour that it has been for some time. There are bent councillors waiting to take control in May and people in the paid service only too willing to do their bidding. If you sit on your hands and do nothing at the May election don't say you were not warned!

A Skidder First - Ellen Fenton

It is one of my regrets since writing this blog that I have not yet met Ellen Fenton although I follow her output on Facebook.

I have heard nothing but good things about her and she has been selected by Labour to contest Bristnall in May. She seems great fun from Facebook and has a lovely family. I cannot bring myself to say vote Labour given their 47 years of failure and their deep corruption in Sadders but - a Skidder first for a Labour candidate - at least give her "a look" if you are in Bristnall ward.

A Labour figure tells me Ellen is "brave and incorruptible" but added that she would desperately need to try and hang-on to those qualities if she joins the corrupt "socialist" cohort!!!

The Bravery of Sandra Hevican

I am sure most readers will have heard the awful news that Cllr Hevican succumbed to Covid. What surprised me was that Labour sources tell me she had been bravely tackling the dark forces within her local Party and SMBC. She had been trying to discover why Surjit Tour's investigations are taking so very long (aren't we all)? (Incidentally SMBC's legal team keeps claiming to be having "difficulty" communicating with one allegedly errant Councillor and yet he keeps popping up at meetings via Microsoft Teams. What is going on?) Anyway, Sandra clearly had more about her than most of her sheepish colleagues. My condolences to Rob and all her family and friends.

* There are at least two other SMBC staff who claim to be solicitors but who do not appear to have ever read the terms of this Order. 

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