In The Public Domain?

Saturday, 16 December 2023

The Sandwell Tory Sh*tshow!

Do you remember the dark days in Sadders before 12th December, 2019? The bent Labour Borough elected just “half” a Tory MP - James Morris - whose constituency is divided between Sandwell and Dudley. Adrian Bailey was the Labour MP for West Brom West (WBW) where he was engaged in a bitter civil war with the King of the Scumbags, former fatman Tom “Twatson” Watson (West Bromwich East - WBE), and the greedy Sarf London spiv, John Spellar (Warley).

At one time during the currency of this blog bent Labour held 71 of the 72 Sandwell Council seats and under leaders [sic] Cooper and Eling institutionalised corruption throughout the Borough, ably [sic] assisted by such Councillors as Paul Moore, Simon Hackett, Kerrie Carmichael, Syeda Khatun (and others) and by Jan Britton, David Stevens, Nick Bubalo, Adrian “Cop-Shagger” Scarrott, Neeraj Sharma, Surjit Tour (and many others) in the paid service.

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Sorry there has not been a Skidder blog recently but I have had a very busy spell with the day job, and a couple of other things, plus I’ve been a tad unwell. Normal service is resumed! Please now read on …

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But the times they were a-changin’ and the cowardly Watson surrendered his seat rather than risk losing it in the 12th December, 2019 General Election Labour rout (but safe in the knowledge that he would eventually become an unelected legislator in the House of Lords - which “Sir” Woodenarse”, Keir Starmer, eventually facilitated despite Twatson’s appalling misconduct - notably in the ‘Carl Beech affair’). Suddenly though, the darkest hour seemed to have given way to a glorious new dawn. James Morris was re-elected but now with two Sandwell Conservative colleagues - Shaun Bailey in WBW and Nicola Richards in WBE.

Meanwhile, yet another vastly expensive tier of local government was being forced on the people of the West Midlands which did at least hold out the promise (sadly unfulfilled) that some of the corrupt Labour Councillors in bent Sadders would have their wings clipped - at least to some extent. Former soft-furnishings salesman and bullsh*tter extraordinaire, “King” Andy Street, became the new Mare - sorry - Mayor of the West Midlands. Unfortunately, he has been a pernicious influence on Sandwell Tories.

Local Toryism was on the up and up, but there were fault lines within the Sandwell end of the Party. James Morris’s local party structure in Halesowen and Rowley Regis is separate from that of the rest of the Sadders, where the Sandwell Conservative Federation holds sway. And, at least so it has seemed to outsiders, never the twain shall meet.

I should add here that despite smears by the likes of Comandante Piper and other Labour weirdos I have never been a member of the Tory Party nor ever voted for it. I despise people who have an absurd ideological political view where they must vote for a party for life irrespective of its leadership and policies, but I can certainly say there is no prospect of me voting Conservative for the foreseeable future. I backed the advance of Toryism in Sadders in the hope - now dashed - that a small but effective opposition to the vile Labour Dictatorship would bring vastly increased scrutiny of it and begin to rein in the rampant corruption. cronyism and incompetence of the comrades.

I think any Party would have struggled with the Covid pandemic and its economic and health sequalae but the Tories seem to have been beaten by it and have emerged as a lethargic and sclerotic outfit incapable of governance. There is now so little Government business in Parliament various MP’s are flocking into evening media and other jobs and as they don’t actually need to turn up to Westminster. The Tories know from Brexit that many scum in Britain (and Sandwell) will vote for them because of a hatred of foreigners, but even their policy [sic] on immigration is a disaster (exacerbated by a determination not to enter into sensible discussions with our European neighbours to seek some sort of a solution). The Clown Prince - Johnson - was deposed only for the Party to elect Liz Truss - and look what happened there! Now they have a weak leader, division on the back benches and no new policy ideas whatsoever. They have even shafted their beloved King Andy (Street) over HS2!

Spot Bailey, Richards & Street!

James Morris did what he could to lead the political line against Sandwell Labour corruption, most notably by pushing through an explosive Adjournment Debate in the House of Commons in January, 2018. But there is only so much one man can do and he gave the appearance (at least) of retreating into his shell thereafter with the notable exception of his efforts - with MP’s Bailey and Richards - to finally have the bent Borough placed in Government ‘Special Measures”. Like many folk, he has a personal distaste for me - and some other local anti-corruption campaigners - and has been unwilling to engage with us. And because two different Tory organisations operate in Sadders there has always been the perception of an unfortunate rivalry between them and a lack of coordination both on issues of mutual interest, and - worse still - at election time.

It is hard to know - given lack of contact and external media coverage what Mr Morris is actually doing vis-a-vis Sandwell. To be fair, he has clearly been very busy on Parliamentary business as a Government Whip (although his duties must be less onerous now in the dog days of this Government. But IF (IF) there was slack this was picked up by Bailey and Richards who have spoken up for the Borough many times in the House of Commons (a most refreshing change from the laziness of Twatson and the bizarre, meaningless, stream of ‘written questions’ from the pathetic greaser, Spellar). But …

Very shortly after the General Election constant rumours began to circulate that Bailey and Richards “hate each other” and this was hampering any joint efforts to represent the best interests of Sadders folk. Again, it is not always possible to know what has been going on behind the scenes, but there is very little empirical evidence of them actually working together on issues. There were also rumours of factionalism within the Federation - particularly between Street’s band of rimmers and others.

Whilst Shaun Bailey has put up some fight he does have a tendency to try to claim victories which are either pyrrhic or non-existent. The crowing about “saving” Tipton Police Station is but one example. As above, his apparent unwillingness to work with Richards cannot be healthy. I have also received several different accounts - some unpleasant - of his allegedly Hackett-esque libido (although even if these allegations are true and not malicious, Shaun has the excuse that he is a single man whereas Hackett leaves a trail of female cuckolds in his slimy trail).

Although Bailey is in regular communication with some Tory Councillors there seems to be a woeful lack of coordinated activity with them. For example, I have seen a letter Bailey wrote to a constituent where he commented adversely on the performance of the Government Commissioners (appointed given the serious governance concerns arising from the misconduct of bent Labour which has cost us taxpayers at least £2m.) However, this concern has not been uttered publicly by him nor by the Councillors. Indeed. As this blog pointed out - on one occasion in a public Council meeting Tory “leader” Dave “Call Me David” Fisher (metaphorically) dropped to his knees to fellate Kim Bromley Derry.

Nothing, however, soils the pants of local Toryism more than the decision by MP, Nicola Richards, to open her bowels over Sandwell folk. This pathetic coward saw that boundary changes were coming and decided to abandon the people who voted for her. She sees herself as a rising star of the Conservative Party (a possible triumph of hope over experience given the disintegration of the Tories nationally) and she has hitched her wagon to the pantomime horse that is Penny Mordaunt. She seems to be actively campaigning in what she perceives to be the safe seat of Solihull. This is sick beyond belief and an insult to all in Sandwell where she professes to “love the Baggies” and much else about the appalling sh*thole she represents but is so anxious to leave.

Remember this plea for you to trust Richards in 2019, WBE?

Curiously one of the first Sandwell Labour people to mock Richards for her cowardice was Mr Hate Not Hope, Gurinder Josan, which is somewhat ironic as he had his tongue so far up Tom Watson’s arse he was cleaning his teeth and, as above, Watson ran away too!

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Assuming Richards does fetch up in a local seat I intend to follow her around on the campaign trail in a chicken costume and will be seeing donations for the purchase of same - including from rich “socialists” like Piper and Josan in due course!

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Just one coda on Richards. She produces a weekly newsletter but doesn’t appear to check it very thoroughly. This blog pointed out that she boasted that The Albion Foundation is “the charitable arm” of the football club when it is, legally, an independent charity. Which, er, Richards should know as she is a trustee of it FFS! In another recent example she boasted about the Oak House Museum getting a grant from English Heritage and referred to it as being Grade II listed. "SW" on Facebook immediately pointed out that it is, in fact Grade ll* listed which may not sound a lot of difference, but actually is in the heritage pecking order.

Richards may be taking the p*ss out of us all but an alarming story reaching The Skidder is that the Tories are said to be abandoning the seat and only intending to put up a paper candidate to fight [sic] it. WTF?

Oh, and I forgot to say that Richards is an assiduous rimmer of Andy Street (yes, it’s that man again!)

Turning to the local Federation and the Councillors all has come to nought. They have turned into just another p*ss and wind brigade when not (metaphorically) arse-licking the likes of Labour grotesque, Paul “The Cipher” Moore. Why?

There have been constant allegations of racism within the Sandwell Conservative Federation. Given that some members - like some of the people in uneducated Sandwell - ARE racists, or express racist views, this is not particularly surprising and, to be fair, there is now a much-better mix of councillors and members from different backgrounds. However, the recent deselection of Cllr Archer Williams and shafting of Jay Anandou does give one pause for thought - and concern.

Two Councillors - Anandou and Kalari - remain Party members but are no longer part of the official Conservative Group on the Council. This self-inflicted fiasco would be stunning at the best of times but all this came very soon after this photo from 23rd September:

Yes, folks - just a few weeks ago this sh*tshow re-elected Jay Anandou as Chair and Kalari (right and left as shown) as an Officer of the Federation. You couldn't make it up! (Oh and various Tories are also putting down the poison about this pair …)

Regular readers will know that I have spent over a year painstakingly assembling the evidence about bent Labour’s extraordinary deal to employ Keir Starmer’s pal Imogen Walker as bottom-wiper for Labour “leader” Kerrie “Dim Kez” Carmichael even though Walker lives in Scotland! Readers will know that I sent a suggested motion about all this to the local Tories to raise at a Council meeting. When I met Cllr Fisher outside the Oldbury Kremlin a few weeks ago he claimed that the Group had not put the motion in “because there were discussions going on behind the scenes”. This, it turns out, was a very deliberate intent to deceive me since he and the Group apparently had no intention of forcing Walker out and saving taxpayers’s money since they were, in fact, negotiating to get “Shadow Cabinet” status with “special responsibility payments” for themselves. They cannot rock the Labour boat until they win their prize. Again, you can’t trust these local Tories!

Fisher has been around in right-wing politics for a while and infamously put up this absolutely disgraceful tweet causing him to be removed from the Leadership of the Tory Group - although only temporarily:

For a considerable period of time local protesters have been objecting about bent Labour’s plan to destroy even more green space in Sadders - this time concreting-over a substantial part of the lovely Brandhall Golf Course.This included the protest group coming out in all weathers before full Council and other meetings. Cllr Jay Anandou has been assiduous in his opposition to the scheme but, as above, the knives have been out for him for some time from some of his “colleagues”. There have been persistent rumours that some Tory Councillors actually approved of the significant destruction of green space and, let’s face it, the Conservative Party gets a substantial percentage of its donations from property developers and builders. Yet these spineless jokers have been walking past the Brandhall protesters before meetings waving at them and making thumbs-up signs. At the final and all-important planning meeting Cllr Scott Chapman (see further below) voted FOR the destruction and he was publicly backed by Tory Cllr, Amrita Dunn. This pair, incidentally, claim to be against the destruction of Lion Farm Fields but clearly cannot now be trusted to oppose bent Labour’s latest plan to destroy a substantial part of them too.

Chapman not only very publicly shafted Jay Anandou but then made THE most absurd statement about his actions on social media. He lectured folk that a Planning Committee is not the forum for “political” decisions. Bearing in mind that bent Labour have used planning as a political tool for the whole lifetime of this blog his comments are completely ludicrous. As he is not only a Councillor, but also employed by Nicola Richards, his naivety is totally incredible.

For the record, it was a political decision by Labour to let the school at Brandhall rot; it was a political decision to close the golf course and a political decision by the comrades to destroy ever more green space. It was a political decision to build housing on the lovely site - dressed-up as due to future pressing housing needs when, in reality, Labour needed the housing to pay for a new school as they had blown multimillions on political vanity projects such as the Aquatics Centre.

To add insult to injury, very shortly after Chapman’s nasty behaviour and comments up popped “All White” Dave Fisher vowing to protect green space in his part of the benighted Borough! What an absolute f’ing shower!

I have had more complaints about Chapman than any other Councillor recently which is extraordinary given the lazy, incompetent, dimwits in bent Labour, but he specifically denies any laziness and claims that he has done a great job for frightful dump, Friar Park. Indeed, so much so that he has been reselected by the Tories to fight the seat again at the next Council elections. This is a gaping open goal for bent Labour and I feel sure that they will score there (possibly with the awful member of the Giles clan/greed machine who was booted out in Charley & Grove Vale).

Bizarrely, Chapman, King Andy and Richards have all been (metaphorically) masturbating about new developments at Friar Park - even though concerned locals keep pointing out the lack of infrastructure to deal with a large increase in the population. This trio have bragged about more cash for the Friar Park Millennium Centre even though it is a citadel of the, er, Labour Dictatorship in that area. WTF are they doing - again????

I have dozens of screenshots from local Community activist, Darryl Magher, (whom the Tories have shunned) where he has attended Council meetings as a member of the public but reported that no Tories have bothered to turn-up - officially or otherwise. We have raised this issue with some of them in the past and at first we were sympathetic since many of the Tory Councillors actually work (unlike their Labour counterparts) but as the Group has grown there has been less and less justification for absenteeism. It’s simply not good enough and Labour have been getting away with murder. (Just as one of many examples, what have the Tories done to question the 99-year leases bent Labour have been doling out to crony “charities”?) If they get “Shadow Cabinet” status they will have to opportunity to attend meetings and briefings with Council officers etc., but as they can’t be bothered to turn up at official Council meetings is that really going to happen or will they just pocket the extra dosh?

The Tories need 5 Councillors to be an officially recognised Group at the Council (let alone a Shadow Cabinet with extra dosh). It pains me to say it but he best way for the people of Sandwell to tell Fisher & Co. that they don’t want their money spent on this nonsense is to vote out as many Conservatives as possible next time.

One person who must go is Liam Abrahams who is believed to be resident in London now. Breaking news! As I have been writing this Abrahams has confirmed he will NOT be standing in Great Barr with Yew Tree next year. I need not say more …

Sandwell is in a truly disastrous position. Despite the corruption it looks like the Labour Dictatorship will STRENGTHEN its position next year and bring ever more misery to the people of Sandwell - although that is precisely what they seem to want. The Tories have been disastrous and very ineffective. The Lib Debs have been doing well nationally in local elections but have no chance in Sandwell under the crazed leadership of local Fuhrer, Mark Smith. There are no other parties which merit mention. Hopefully a few good independents will stand like Richard Jeffcoat and Darryl Magher but it is extremely difficult (and costly) for them to take on the Labour Party machine. Still, if the folk of Sandwell want to f*ck themselves yet again who I am I to try to stop them?

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Thursday, 23 November 2023

UK's "Most Controversial" Monitoring Officer finally OUT!

At long last Monitoring Officer and Head of Legal [sic] Surjit Tour is OUT. This vile individual who has done so much harm to Sandwell Council should never have been re-appointed by bent Labour in 2017 and he has wreaked havoc ever since.

The Skidder and others have campaigned for years to get this turd flushed out of the system. We have even had a poster campaign and demo outside the Oldbury Kremlin. When the Secretary of State for Levelling-Up, Michael Gove, was considering placing the deeply corrupt Labour authority in "special measures" local community activist, Darryl Magher, and I made detailed written submissions to him providing evidence of Tour's behaviour and pointing out that his instant dismissal without compensation was vital if the bent Borough was to be straightened out.

I will be writing about the sh*tshow Tory record in Sandwell very shortly but myself (and Darryl) have persistently lobbied the MP's - Morris, Bailey and Richards - and all the Conservative Councillors, to work to bring about the urgent demise of this joker. Unless they have done work behind the scenes and kept it secret they appear to have done absolutely f*ck all about this (and, as we shall see, many other things). Indeed some have done exactly the opposite foolishly believing that Tour may become their "friend"!

In mid-October sources began to whisper that Tour was on his way out and I wrote to Michael Gove asking him to ensure that, given his record, Tour received no pay-off from us taxpayers other than what he is legally entitled to. A spokesperson has eventually responded as follows:

"We have noted your concerns about the Monitoring Officer in Sandwell, but specific decisions of the management of its staff are a matter for the Council, with support from its commissioners, not for the department." [See further below.]

It gets worse ... Although Tour has been responsible for outrageous activity such as contesting the Hackett litigation, gaming the standards system and conspiring with McNally and David Stevens to blow £100k of taxpayers money on her absurd personal litigation, he also knows where all the bodies are from the corruption under leaders [sic] Eling and the liar, Carmichael. Indeed he metaphorically murdered and/or buried some of the cadavers himself. He is nominally Head of Legal (ROFLMAO) but also the statutory Monitoring Officer (which means Sandwell has to employ someone in this role by law). But there is no way Dim Kez (i.e. Carmichael) could let him go without him signing a non-disclosure agreement - not least because he could "bring down" half of the Labour Group if he opened his unpleasant mouth. And so it is alleged - and no-one will speak out at present - including the Tories - that although there has to be a Monitoring Officer the corrupt Council - seemingly with the approval of the Government Commissioners - have dressed up a deal whereby there is a "management restructuring" and his "position" is being made redundant. Thus, it is said, the taxpayer is on the hook for the fake "redundancy payment" so that Tour keeps his gob shut.

I won't waste my time writing to pathetic Tory Leader, Dave "Call me David" Fisher, anymore unless I am obliged to do so for legal reasons, but did contact him when the original rumour was that Tour was going at the end of March, 2024:

"THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION - PRESS ENQUIRY

There are widespread rumours that - no thanks to local Conservatives - Tour is going at the end of the municipal year. Further, despite his conduct he is said to be getting a substantial pay off.

1. Is Tour going and, if so, when?

2. If he is away, will the post be advertised or will Carmichael appoint someone without an open process? What are the Conservatives going to do, if anything, to ensure that someone like Tour never happens to Sandwell again?

3. Is it true that Tour will receive a pay-off and, if so, how did your Group oppose this?"

As usual with Fisher, no response.

Anyway I understand that this bent deal was approved at a secret meeting of the Council recently where the press and public were excluded. I have now written to Michael Gove and to the Commissioners as follows:

Email to Michael Gove (noting the earlier reply set out above):

"It is noteworthy that The Secretary of State is so disinterested in appalling conduct by a statutory Monitoring Officer and I will put his views in the public domain. Further the Government has purported to campaign AGAINST large pay-offs to public service [sic: servants]. The latest news is that Tour is indeed leaving but with a large pay-off. How is this being allowed to happen? Surely it should be Mr Gove asking the Commissioners about this and not me?"

Why aren't Tory MP's Morris, Bailey and Richards intervening here given that there is a Tory Government (at least for a little while longer) and noting that the local Councillors are too inept, lazy or incompetent to do anything themselves?

Email to the Commissioners (copy to Dim Kez):

"THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION

I understand that, at last, Surjit Tour is finally out. I call upon the Commissioners and the Council to institute an immediate independent investigation into his conduct and all the cases he has dealt with.

I further understand that despite his conduct he is to receive a large pay-off in addition to his contractual/statutory rights, which is unconscionable. I am informed that this was agreed at a closed meeting of the Council but very many Councillors have relied on his wrongdoing to cover their own lies and misconduct eg. Carmichael, Hackett, Khatun, Melia (and many more). Did these people declare interests at the meeting and/or vote to pay-off Tour?

Clearly this matter is very urgent as the Commissioners are presumably in a position to suspend the payment pending an urgent enquiry."

Watch this space but in the meantime a new Monitoring officer has been appointed, er, from one of the other most corrupt Labour Councils in the UK, Liverpool!!! I am now also investigating how this appointment was made since I, for one, have not seen it independently advertised.

Four Solicitors at Sandwell conspired to unlawfully fund Lisa McNally's malicious litigation and to run a p*sspoor case - Tour, Maria Price, Julia Lynch and Vanessa Maher-Smith. Only the latter remains but the Curse of McNally will hopefully strike to complete the rout of this quartet soon!

I'll keep you posted folks but be prepared for Labour to shaft you for a couple of hundred grand on this ...

Halloween Horrors ...

I was struck by this recent headline from the Wolvo C*suckers (aka The Express and Star):

Surely the site referred to is Oldbury Council House - the Heart of Darkness itself and home to many "strange goings on"? And the ghost hunters could scour the now-empty building for the spectral presence of the taxpayer-funded Council shirkforce, many of whom are "working from home" whilst campaigning for a four-day week on five days pay.

From the archive - Part One

I have recently been catching up with my archiving and finding all sorts of odds and sods. This blog is frequently indebted to info from you, dear readers. One informant provided this brief but astonishingly prescient appraisal of former Labour Leader "Red" Yvonne Davies (brought down by the Carmichael Gang) when she got the top job:

From the archive - Part Two

When I worked [sic] in the law many moons ago there was something of a drinking culture at all levels. I worked mostly in personal injury work and major hearings/trials were pretty rare. Usually we had barristers up from London for these and often the proceedings would settle "at the door of the court". Instead of a lengthy hearing learned Counsel and I would be finished by 11 am. Cue a visit to the nearest hostelry, then a restaurant and then pubs again. These events, back in the day, were mega sessions - even with some very senior lawyers. Quite frequently my learned friends would pick up most of the tab too! Alas times have changed and such daytime boozing is frowned upon.

Bent Labour Sandwell Council uses a very expensive set of London Barristers - 11KBW - for much work and they were heavily involved in the standards hearings - or, more accurately, rigged show trials - of former Councillors Mahboob Hussain and Ian Jones. I recently found the note I made when suave London Barrister Ronnie Dennis squired Maria Price and another Sandwell Solicitor to luncheon. Unlike the bacchanalia of my day, wealthy Ronnie "treated" them and himself to refreshments at the Oldbury Wetherspoons where the trio supped 2 orange Pellegrino's (pop) and a ginger beer with 3 "meals". Ronnie flourished his card and paid the bill - £17.80 the lot. If that's what passes for a good time in the law these days I'm very glad I am out of it!

Late News

As we shall see in a forthcoming post two Tories have become "Independent" Councillors, but the Labour ranks are thinning too. Lurid allegations surround Labour Cllr Kacey Akpoteni who is no longer showing as a Labour Councillor. And Wakas Younis (is he really related to the Tipton Tosser, Billa?) is believed to have been suspended by the national Labour Party thanks to his video exhorting locals to go and fight for the Palestinians. I wrote to Younis yesterday about this but he has failed to respond. Meanwhile the splendid X account (formerly Twitter) @CorruptSandwell broke the story yesterday and I have nicked their excellent picture:

(By the way, no action has apparently been taken by Labour yet in respect of "nurse" and liar Cllr Parbinder Kaur for her pro-Hamas post. And needless to say there has been no comment from Dim Kez either on the behaviour of these errant Labour members.)

Note: fingers crossed for a long-delayed Skidder Special this weekend ...

LEGAL NOTICE (Version 4 from 8th October, 2023.)

In most cases we try to give the subjects of these blog posts the opportunity to comment on our journalism pre-publication to ensure the accuracy of our work.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023

Lal and Bent Labour's £4,000 p*ss-up + WMP politicisation

Just another quick reminder of the update to the revised legal notice below. Please take a look if you haven't already done so.

Lal and bent Labour whoop it up in skint Sadders - no austerity now!

In my last post* I explained that newish, highly-paid, Chief Executive, Shokat Lal, had been out partying at taxpayers' expense with Labour Cllrs Randhawa and Hughes at a fake "Business Awards" event. And this despite Sandwell Labour's hatred of business and enterprise!

These utterly meaningless "awards" ceremonies are a gift that keeps on giving as there is a steady stream of gullible fools anxious to part with their - or in this case, OUR - money. The way these scams work is that the organiser sets up a posh black-tie event and then canvasses local business to buy tickets at it. Usually, "Joanna Bloggs Limited" receives a random sales email that the company has been "nominated" in a certain business category - "best new business", "community excellence champion" and other such b*llocks - and is invited to fork out at least £90 per head to attend the beano. If the company is mad enough to fork out they get included for an actual - and wholly pointless - award - selected by cronies of the organisers. The only real winners are, of course, the organisers themselves.

One such is a major rimmer of bent Sandwell Labour, Ninder Johal of Nachural Events. Here he is playing the fool with his old mucker, former Sandwell Labour Leader, and wife beater, Darren Cooper.

Johal is said to also be a personal friend of Cllr Pam Randhawa. I have written to her asking if this is correct but she has failed to respond. Nevertheless she managed to bag herself a seat at the posh do, at taxpayers' expense.

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request makes interesting reading not least since it shows that Lal hasn't got his finger on the pulse and the paid service is as shambolic as it always has been during the currency of this blog.

Due to redactions in the FOIA reply it seems a third party was involved but we can see that Johal had sent out a round-robin looking for sponsors (rather than businesses per se). This came to be dealt with by Sandwell's "Anchor Network Coordinator in Sandwell Growth [sic]" whom Lal is bizarrely refusing to identify via the FOIA. The person claiming to do this job is one Nicy (correct spelling but pronounced "Nicky" - ! - ) Morgan. At some point Tony McGovern - Sandwell's flash Director of Regeneration was also involved.

The "invite" was vague - starting "How are things? Hope all going well? Please could you forward this to the correct person internally? Thanks." But it did also include the enticing comment that it was "an excellent opportunity to promote ... your new CEO."

Ms Morgan (it seems) tried to get the "budget" to attend this worthless event - i.e. to get someone to agree to shaft us taxpayers. McGovern started to get copied into correspondence but in Lal and McGovern's circus the paid service claim that they cannot trace who actually authorised the booking. Lal says there is no document showing who in the incompetent Authority agreed to expend public money on this event. Nevertheless, Ms Morgan was able to say to Johal on 2nd June, "It's a yes" plus a smiley emoji.

At some point Ms Morgan (?) invited Lal and McGovern to attend the bash but it seems that Lal didn't read the email since a further email from Sandwell's Communications and Corporate Affairs Manager (who he/she?) was then sent to Morgan (?) on 19th June which makes interesting reading:

"Shokat has just messaged me to ask:

Hi I have just seen on linkedin that we are sponsoring the Nachural summer dinner in July ‐ i am just interestedin knowing what this is costing and do we get any time at the event to speak ‐ and who is leading this? thanks"

We have seen time and again that the deeply corrupt Council is using messaging systems - WhatsApp etc - to avoid leaving a paper trail showing what is really going on. Happily this message was recorded in a subsequent email. Clearly Lal is intending to carry on in the same manner as his disgraced predecessors, Britton and Stevens - and that is something the Commissioners need to address whilst they are still in situ.

This also shows that the partying decision was not made by Lal himself. The assumption must be that McGovern made it, but couldn't be arsed to keep any records about it. Lal appears to be concerned about the cost as well he might be since it was £4,000 plus vat. But clearly the new CEO was comfortable with this since he was quick to don his best bib and tucker to get some free food and booze.

The sponsorship of a meaningless "awards category" at £4k of our money provided a table of 10 tickets but, curiously, only four attended. As pictured above Lal, Hughes and Randhawa were quick to get their noses in the taxpayers' trough plus one "junior employee", whom Lal is refusing to name (although the smart money is on Morgan). If this was such a prestigious event and we had paid for 10 Cllrs/employees to attend anyway, why did only 4 show up? And that's £1,000 a head just for a night out.

Lal has confirmed that the taxpayer-funded food and alcohol for the jolly and, no doubt, he and the "junior employee" have declared this on their Employee Declaration of Interest.

As above, normal attendance tickets for these w*nkfests start at £90 a head. In fact Johal is already trying to flog tickets for the self-same event next year at £110 per head. I duly wrote to Cllrs Randhawa and Hughes asking why neither had declared the jolly on their own Register of Interests. Hughes failed to respond but Randhawa wrote this:

"The council was one of the sponsors for the event and the costs of any hospitality received is valued by the council to fall below the threshold (£50) requiring disclosure on the Gifts and Hospitality Register."

When an event is publicly priced at well over £50 per head who the f in the Council "valued" this at under £50? Was this Lal himself so that he didn't have to declare his own register entry. I think we should be told don't you readers?

Sandwell Police - support by association?

This blog has occasionally run a "Cops*ckers" feature showing social media posts where the local cops are seen to be - metaphorically - fellating Sandwell Councillors. We have also seen that, for reasons unknown, the local plod and noddy plod (the PCSO's) literally - and I mean literally - have been seen queuing to be photographed with lying Labour Cllr Parbinder Kaur (who was found to be in breach of the Councillor's Code of Conduct when she lied about her property interests). Why FFS?

There has been some improvement in local policing in general recently, and in their social media output in particular. Long may it continue - although there are again signs of slippage when it comes to Kaur:

Now here's a thing. Cllr Kaur has very publicly been supporting the campaign for a separate "Sikh State" called "Khalistan" to secede from India. I was communicating - separately - with two Sikh readers recently who both expressed concern with regard to this. They were anxious to assure me that not all local Sikhs supported the Khalistan idea.

But now Kaur has sailed to even wilder shores actively supporting Hamas, a proscribed terrorist group in the UK:

Perhaps Sandwell Police should be a bit more circumspect about who they associate with? Or do they endorse Kaur's views?

Quick updates ...

In my last post (link below) I mentioned that Lal is fighting full disclosure of Matt Huggins's coffee van - alleged bought unseen from eBay. It is believed this is the actual vehicle:

AND Lal is also preventing disclosure of the letter of complaint bizarrely sent by Surjit Tour to Aileen McColgan KC concerning alleged deficiences in her handling of the McNally case. That has now been referred to the Information Commissioner.

Same old, same old Sandwell ...

Watch this space for a big story - hopefully at the end of this week plus outrageous behaviour from the local Tory Group ...

* https://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2023/10/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-next.html

LEGAL NOTICE (Version 4 from 8th October, 2023.)

In most cases we try to give the subjects of these blog posts the opportunity to comment on our journalism pre-publication to ensure the accuracy of our work.

Friday, 13 October 2023

The great Sandwell coffee van mystery - plus Lal and KBD

PLEASE NOTE - the Legal Notice attached to all Skidder blogposts has been slightly amended. "Version 4" of the Legal Notice dated 8th October, 2023 is, as ever, shown at the end of each post - including this one - and can I urge all readers to familiarise themselves with the new version below. Thank you.

Shokat Lal acts to protect Huggins

The (relatively) new SMBC Chief Executive is having his first go at running a local authority. Coming in when the Commissioners (lol) are in situ should have made it easier for him to free himself from the sick Sandwell Labour dictatorship. But he (or more particularly, she) who pays the piper calls the tune, and Lal was given a big pay-rise by corrupt Labour over his predecessor, the disgraced David Stevens.

Lal has lost no time in picking a fight with me (which he obviously assumes is a wise career move) but then that is hardly surprising given his previous association with Sandwell's former weirdo "Leader", the crazed tyrant Steve "Squealing" Eling. The Squealer works, of course, for another basket case Labour Council, Rotherham where a massive sex abuse scandal was exposed involving the Council and local plod. The beleaguered Council brought in Lal, perhaps because of his presumed legal expertise in matters related to RMBC's local difficulty. Here is one of a number of documents showing that the Derbyshire-resident pair worked closely together:

If Lal is suspending his own judgement based on the rantings of Eling and Dim Kez then he must surely be hastening his own downfall?

Despite his very high salary, Lal has lost no time in going out partying at the taxpayers' expense. Here he is whooping it up at a fake "business awards" event with two of his puppeteers, Labour Cllr's Randhawa and Hughes:

[And yes, folks, I do have a Freedom of Information Request in, to see how much WE had to pay for this grotesque charade.]

Prior to Lal's arrival, Interim Chief Executive Kim Bromley-Derry (who, incredibly, was then made Lead Sandwell commissioner by Michael Gove in a rigged process) began removing swathes of public records from the Council's website. This was done deliberately to hamper journalists and campaigners from digging-up dirt. Despite KBD promise that some of the information would be put back up, it wasn't. Now Lal himself has presided over the launch of a new website with even more documentation deliberately removed. [We are setting up a group to ensure that the Council replaces the missing info - starting with minutes of old Council meetings.] This is absolutely appalling and given "leader" Kerrie "Dim Kez" Carmichael's deterimination to bury the past, one has to suspect that this outrage was a political decision and that Lal is Labour's willing tool.

In the meantime, The Skidder has been bombarded with calls, texts, messages and even letters about Mr Matthew Huggins and some of the issues raised are ongoing matters. Another tranche of communications was received recently concerning the purchase of a "vintage" coffee van similar to the one pictured above. I duly sent a press enquiry to bent Sandwell.

Several members of staff had contacted me about this purchase claiming, amongst other things, that it had been purchased on ebay, that it was a heap of sh*te, and that it was supposed to be used around various sites but the Council were struggling to insure it.

Lal's team claimed that the Council had purchased the van "in accordance with procurement guidelines". It was "primarily" for use at Lightwoods but also for other events and "usage at wedding hire" (the Bride is always latte lol!) The vehicle was specifically chosen - wait for it - because of "its aesthetics aligning with Lightwoods House"! The vehicle was fully functioning and only required some "minor work".

This is the first time in a decade that bent Labour has ever been concerned with "aesthetics" and, in any event, this is b*llocks.

I pressed with further questions about the circumstances of the purchase and the insurance but Lal has pulled the plug and forced me to make a Freedom of Information request for further facts. I have, of course, done this but this means Lal has kicked the can down the road (no pun intended) and, even if Labour do not try to use loopholes in the law to prevent disclosure, it is likely to be many months before I can put the replies in the public domain. Lal is also deliberately causing more expense to the public by taking this step. He is playing the same games as disgraced Britton and Stevens. Perhaps this is inexperience or perhaps he thinks he is cleverer than them?

Incidentally, whilst making the FOIA request I have included queries about the cafe/restaurant at Lightwoods since there are ugly rumours (and I put it no higher than that) of bent Labour trying to do a sweetheart deal to give the new franchise to a crony. We shall see ...

Lal's exodus

I have referred in these posts to the so called LGA (Local Government Association aka Lying Greedy Arseholes) Peer Reviews of bent Sandwell. There have been two in relatively recent times where wrongdoing is brushed under the carpet, or not even mentioned at all, and where some jokers from other councils claim that reform is underway in the bent Borough and that everything in the Sandwell garden will soon be rosy. Lal's arrival was meant to herald a new age of management stability but what has actually happened? TWO directors are out. Gillian Douglas was a short-lived Director of Housing before realising that she was at risk of destroying her career in the corrupt Borough and jumping ship. Even worse - the top finance person, Simone Hines, is on her way. She was the eventual replacement for the useless a***-licker, Darren Carter (Skidders passim ad nauseum), and her post is one of the most important in the Council - so much so that it is a statutory position - s. 151 Officer.

With the accounting records in disarray at Sandwell, computer system failures and Grant Thornton, the supposedly "independent" auditors, involving themselves in political matters this does not augur well for the Lal era.

Of course, the one who should be out is still there ... Lal seemingly hasn't got the cojones to lance that poisonous boil.

McNally - Tour "complains" to Leading Counsel

The repercussions of the corruption surrounding the McNally case rumble on (there's more to come folks). Regular readers will know that disgraced former Chief Executive, David Stevens and the highly controversial Monitoring Officer/Head of Legal [sic], Surjit Tour, conspired with Public Health boss, Lisa McNally, to bring an absurd High Court case against me, and to unlawfully fund it with YOUR money. They fell at the first hurdle - costing you £100,000.

Back in 2018 Tour had instructed Anya Proops KC, of expensive 11KBW Chambers in London, to shaft me. One must assume that Ms Proops gave Tour unpalatable advice as no legal action was issued at that time, although Tour says Proops did say - even before McNally was employed at SMBC - that the Council could legally indemnify employees to bring claims in respect of their personal social media accounts - which, with respect to Leading Counnsel, is, in legal terms, b*llocks. There is more on this on our associated blog dealing with legal matters via the link below, and a brand new post about the Solicitors Regulation Authority's feeble response to the racism disclosed in the Cox Review at bent Sandwell:

https://rottencouncils.blogspot.com/

When Tour and the others cooked up their scheme they decided not to re-instruct Ms Proops but instructed another KC in the same Chambers, Aileen McColgan. We have seen how Tour had Sandwell Legal Department's Daughters of Cain, the now departed Solicitors Maria Price and Julia Lynch (willingly assisted my Vanessa Mahersmith) concoct a ludicrous narrative about my supposed misogyny. McColgan had returned to practice from academe where she wrote extensively about female equality in the workplace and women's human rights (two subjects I am equally anxious to promote). Accordingly she was the perfect choice to "play" Tour's corrupted hand of cards. I have commented elsewhere on McColgan's performance but, of course, McNally's case was struck out at the first opportunity (at considerable financial cost to myself), and at great cost to the taxpayer.

What happened next would be incredible anywhere other than in bent Labour but it now transpires that Tour wrote a formal letter of complaint to McColgan about her handling of the case - a case where he had personally corrupted the evidence* - along with others!

You will not be surprised, folks, that Lal is refusing to make the letter public, even with suitable redactions.

Bromley-Derry: another McNally rimmer!

Make way BBC Midlands Today's Nick Owen - your role as McNally's Rimmer-in-Chief is under threat from no less a person that KBD himself. Readers with long memories will remember the comedy gold when McNally failed to mute herself during the all staff Christmas online meeting in 2021 (my post of 5th January, 2002) refers. On the tape "The Mouth of the Mersey" is heard savaging another Council employee, Oliver Knight.

But a kind soul sent me this astonishing absolution of St Lisa to all staff from KBD himself:

Why not listen to the tape again folks and make up your own mind whether Bromley-Derry is pissing down the workforce's legs and telling them it is raining:

How is a Government Commissioner allowed to trot this sort of crap out?

Dying to go to the Park?

Bent Sandwell Labour is destroying green spaces across the Borough but continues to boast about the urban dystopia's "Green Flag" parks. They even put a list up on their website. But three of the "parks" are, er, burial grounds. Yes folks, the crooked comrades have lumped in with their actual parks, Fallings Heath and Tipton cemeteries, and Sandwell Valley Crem. The latter was recently castigated on social media for its tattiness and Tipton Cemetery went national (after a Skidder exclusive) when human remains were left in an open skip for all to see. Just the places to take the kids this weekend - or maybe wait 'til Halloween?

Quote of (last) week

Discussing "a Sandwell resident" last week I was told this: "My mate said he threatened to kick his head in when he caught him giving coke [not the fizzy drink] to his 15 year-old son!" Yet Sandwell Police have been massive rimmers of the resident in question. Oh yes, and I forgot to mention that the person I was talking to was ex-West Midlands Police ... WTF?

PLEASE NOTE THE SKIDDER WILL BE UNABLE TO TAKE CALLS TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY NEXT WEEK - PLEASE USE TEXT, MESSAGING APPS OR EMAIL IF YOU HAVE A STORY.

* Tour, amongst other things, purported to give evidence himself within the Court documents - rather than as a witness - when he had been directly involved in the conspiracy to bring the case and to get Cllr Maria Crompton to wrongly agree that taxpayers should pay for it.

LEGAL NOTICE (Version 4 from 8th October, 2023.)

In most cases we try to give the subjects of these blog posts the opportunity to comment on our journalism pre-publication to ensure the accuracy of our work.

Tuesday, 3 October 2023

Lion Farm Fraud: Moore of the same + er, more

Warning - this post contains an unpleasant image placed on social media by a British Member of Parliament.

Bent Labour STILL trying to push through fraudulent Lion Farm deal

If an option to turn a massive green space into a retail park is "so brilliant" why are bent Sandwell Labour still trying to get a Tory donor developer to finalise a deal after 11 years? I have written extensively about the corruption surrounding Labour's plot to destroy Lion Farm Fields and am not going to repeat myself here save to say that I have raised this again with West Midlands Police. A senior officer met with me and said WMP "might" consider looking at alleged "economic crimes" in relation to Lion Farm and - apparently - other deals done with Jeremy Knight Adams, a major Tory Party donor. Alas, they have not come back to me ... yet!

Back in 2012 retail was booming yet the transaction could not be completed. Now the industry is on its knees and yet Labour are still trying to do the damaging deal. The Labour "leader", proven liar Kerrie Carmichael, has continued to try to force a deal through and, yet again, this is all being done secretly. This is deliberate to try to ensure there is no judicial review application to the High Court, and it is astonishing that this is being allowed when Government Commissioners are in charge of the Council with a brief to halt the Labour corruption!

The proposed destruction of the Fields is to be discussed again on Thursday - bizarrely by the Budget and Corporate Scrutiny Management [sic] Board. This suggests that some sort of deal has already been done, but how can this be subject to "scrutiny" in, er, secret. Yes folks, the public and press are excluded from this part of the meeting.

Darryl Magher has been to a number of recent meetings when no Tories have turned up but it is to be hoped that someone will attend this one and ask what the hell is going on? Labour cannot claim "commercial confidentiality" when doing a sweetheart deal with the Tory donor to the exclusion of the rest of the world.

Another matter arises in that pathetic Labour Councillor Paul "The Cipher" Moore is supposed to be chairing the meeting on Thursday when he has been trying to push this bent deal through right from the off. I wrote to The Cipher - copying in "Dim Kez", Tory Leader Dave Fisher, and the Commissioners - but have received no response. Here is the email:

"THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION

It is truly incredible given your past history that you are on any scrutiny boards let alone chairing one. However, a specific point arises in connection with the secret (and bent) deal to destroy Lion Farm Fields which you have strongly supported for 10 years.

The bent deal is still, incredibly, being considered by Labour but, once again, everything is being hidden from public view (so much for scrutiny!) However, I understand that an agenda item dealing with the bent deal is before the Scrutiny Committee you "chair" on 5th October - with the press and public inevitably excluded again.

Please confirm within 48 hours that you will recuse yourself from the meeting when this agenda item is dealt with noting your past determination to support the bent deal (for whatever reason you have). More particularly, you were present at the appalling Cabinet meeting of 9th January, 2013 when you and your colleagues received the unlawful report of the inquorate AMLD meeting of 19th December, 2012. You and your colleagues at the meeting acted in a disgraceful and shameful way, dealing with a very full agenda - including the massive Lion Farm option - in just TWO minutes!. This gross negligence by the Committee led directly to the corrupt First Option being forced through.

To pile Pelion upon Ossa you personally presented the absurd and disgraceful "report" of Alison Knight to a meeting on 15th November, 2017 when you knew - or certainly should have known - that this was not an objective report in any way. Indeed it later transpired that Knight's nonsense had not been prepared from any research by her but from information coming from the property developer himself. Nevertheless you put your name to it as you have been so determined to destroy this 19 ha green space for a decade).

There will inevitably be legal action if Labour continues to force through this bent deal through on, at least, the grounds of irrationality and so I also respectfully suggest that your presence when this agenda item is discussed will be grist to the lawyer's mill.

Incidentally, I do not believe any of the Conservative opposition at the Council have bothered to talk to Dudley Council about the reasons why it ditched this same developer from a major project in that Borough. I have - and maybe you and your colleagues should too.

Please reply by 10.25 am Thursday, 28th September at the latest."

This blog recently exposed that not only did bent Labour do the bent Lion Farm deal with Shite Adams but also flogged him and his wife the old Council offices at Stone Cross in 2013. In corrrespondence recently seen by The Skidder the disgraced former Chief Executive, Jan Britton, also claimed the Council may have flogged him land in Tipton. Maggie Knight Adams is involved in many of the network of companies her husband operates and is specifically a Director of Alpha (Stonecross) Limited - the Company directly involved in the Stone Cross deal.

No wonder Malvern Millionairess Mags is smiling knowing that Dim Kez, Bob Piper, corrupt liar Hackett and Paul Moore are so anxious to help her and her husband amass yet more riches, and to p*ss on the people of Sandwell at the same time!

Concealment of Addresses

In my post "Come on Sandwell Folk - soil yourselves again!" of 2nd May, 2023 I mentioned that 23 of the 24 Conservative Councillors deliberately concealed their addresses from voters in the May elections and 20 out of 24 Labour ones did the same. I have now established with definitive proof that one of the Tory candidates had good reason to lie when claiming to "live in Sandwell" as s/he, er, doesn't.