The Thurd Sector #1 - Our Scene CIC, Birmingham

Kings Heath is a rather nondescript suburb of Birmingham - formerly solidly "working class" when that term meant people lived there who actually worked. The area is large but most Brummies define Kings Heath as the long High Street straddling one of the city's main arterial routes, the busy A435, 

As with High Streets elsewhere, Kings Heath's has struggled in recent times but hangs on thanks to the large throughput of traffic and its position on a number of bus routes. The writer regularly shops there and notes that it retains a distinct down-market feel where the elderly and underclass still go about their business.

Closing Down ...

The traffic means that KH is well-banked in the current climate. The supposedly "posh", but very tatty, Sainsbury's is balanced with the more plebeian Asda and Lidl. A slew of tedious chain shops dot the Street cheek by jowl with the betting and charity shops. Fast food outlets scent the air but, despite the supermarkets, KH still boasts a lively butchers.

Brum may have reached the zenith in respect of its huge university population. But even the "intelligensia" cannot afford houses in Harborne and Edgbaston and the intensely left-wing academic diaspora has, unfortunately, began to migrate to Kings Heath, which these w****** now call a "burb" FFS! The gentrification of the area has brought some benefits - the Early Bird cafe (think women with buggies and laptops) and the award-winning Hop'n'Scotch boozer (think bearded men in woolly hats) for two - but the toxic and paradoxical mix of embourgeoisement and socialism is now a serious pollutant. A vociferous claque of Labour politicians and anti-capitalist cronies has set about destroying the status quo and replacing it with assorted "community"  (i.e. taxpayer-funded) offerings in a car-free environment.

The claque is rabidly anti-motorist and has been busy creating and advocating "Low Traffic Neighbourhoods" so that the bourgeoisie can enjoy their new properties free of the traffic now clogging the streets where the "poor" live. This has all been slightly problematic given how busy the main road is but the "socialists" decided to wreck local businesses as much as possible by discouraging people from driving to KH and then making it impossible to park for those who brave the trip. They used the Covid pandemic to narrow the High Street itself and to block further parking outside the shops. And the icing on the cake was the complete closure to traffic of the dismal York Road so that on the rare occasions when the sun shines the area can be used for community events. Thus the summer sees the new local bourgeoisie out in force sipping lagers/gins and listening to some honking jazz band whilst the rest of the year the diminishing number of shops and food joints sit forlornly behind barricades of concrete blocks as if a terrorist attack is imminent.

But it doesn't stop there as regulation and interference never does where socialists congregate. Now a local anti-car zealot and a "community organisation" - Our Scene CIC - have taken to advising the very shops the claque is seeking to destroy on how to conduct their businesses.

The aforementioned zealot, Birmingham University employee Simon Dixon, took to social media to advise retailers to do more for disabled shoppers - seemingly forgetting that many disabled folks are er, drivers. (Dixon infamously took to social media to liken motorists to serial-killers!)

But soon afterwards, up-popped social enterprise [sic] outfit Our Scene CIC stating that KH businesses should "improve access" for the 26,856 folk within 2 miles of the High Street who it says "self-identify" as being disabled. They put an image on social media saying their campaign was funded by (a) HM Government - i.e. the taxpayer; (b) Labour Birmingham City Council - currently in the local government equivalent of bankruptcy yet splurging taxpayers' cash on this; (c) West Midlands Combined Authority - i.e. the taxpayer: and (d) the local BID (Business Improvement District [sic]) - i.e. funded by extra taxation via a levy on local businesses. (Incidentally, not long ago hard-pressed shopkeepers voted to scrap the BID but it re-ran the ballot and "won" by one vote. Bingo!)

Once again Our Scene were, like Dixon, silent on the fact that many disabled folk are drivers.

This "community group" is operated as a "Community Interest Company" and so is not beholden to the community at all, but only to the eight active Directors of the Company. It seems to be entirely out of touch with the economic uncertainties facing many of the Kings Heath shopkeepers. In any event, the vast majority of the shops are leasehold premises and shopkeepers are likely to need their landlords' permission to improve access, and are also highly unlikely to incur expenditure if their leases have little time left to run. 

The wretched BID is being paid to improve the commercial environment for retailers and I was amazed that this self-appointed CIC had taken it upon itself to start hounding the shopkeepers. I decided to look into Our Scene and the research does not make happy reading.

This outfit was only set-up in 2021 and yet the eight active Directors purport to represent the Kings Heath community - or at least parts of it. Just by way of contrast a number of shopkeepers - like the aforementioned butcher - have been serving the KH community for decades.

The last available accounts (to October 2023) show current assets of £19,541 but current liabilities (more on which anon) of £19,288 leaving the outfit in the black (and with reserves) of just £253. In short, this is a p*sspot organisation and hardly "enterprising" - socially or otherwise. Further it is clearly not in a position to offer grants itself to the hard-pressed shopkeepers.

And are the folk of Kings Heath rushing to donate to this "community group" - alas not. The CIC - which seems to be involved in a lot of knitting activities which somehow need the intervention of a paid organisation to happen - took grants from the National Lottery, the Co-op, "Local Living" (whoever they are), and government quango Sport England. Then comes the inevitable grant from Labour's bankrupt Birmingham City Council to "celebrate communities" and a year-long contract with the same bankrupt body to deliver the socialist-sounding "Neighbourhood Action Co-ordination Pilot".

They managed to extract £90,000 from these donors - principally us taxpayers. "Stakeholders" included local politicians. Of course, none of these organisations gave cash directly to shopkeepers to improve access (if such was needed).

Unlike charities where the trustees usually give their time and expertise free of charge a CIC can pay its directors. Their own Form CIC 34 states that four Directors received small payments as follows: 

£1,690.00 - Andy Phelps; £1662.50 - Zed Bhatti; £375 - Valerie Smith; £1,628.00 - Lucy Hilliage.

Sub-total - £5,355.50

Now comes the gobsmacker - a stonking £30,920.47 was paid to Director and "Chief Executive" "lol" of this small "community" organisation - a fair proportion of which was a forced shakedown by Birmingham City Council of taxpayers. And this is a lot more than many Kings Heath shopkeepers would have cleared in that year.

Total remuneration to Directors - £35,645.97

Do the math, as they say. Of £90,000 granted for community use a whopping 39.60% was siphoned off to the Directors! Nice work if you can get it. Lucky Kings Heath and Brandwood [not].

This shocking state of affairs is why we support the Thurd Sector Manifesto set out below.

(Oh and by the way - this is the offices of the CIC's accountants. Perhaps Our Scene will investigate disabled access here?)

The Thurd Sector Manifesto

The so-called Third Sector is supposed to consist of non-governmental, non-profit organisations that are not part of the public or private sectors. Of course, many do valuable work but many are also highly-politicised and seem to simply be vehicles for the bourgeoisie to make money.

The Thurd Sector includes charities, social enterprises, mutuals, CIC’s (community interest companies), co-operatives, community groups, associations and self-help groups. But long gone are the days when most of these organisations raised funds by way of voluntary donations from philanthropic citizens. Now, very many receive forced donations from us taxpayers via the government and/or local councils.

Many of you would decline to donate to some of the political fronts or useless organisations that will feature here, but you have NO CHOICE. You are forced to donate through the taxes you pay. There is little or no accountability in this sector, and YOU have no way of understanding whether YOUR money has been well spent.

Even some large organisations are rabidly political (Sense, for example, diverted £6,000 of the funds entrusted to their safekeeping for the benefit of disabled folk to attack Liz Truss!) The people earning a living through these organisations are overwhelmingly pro-Labour anti-capitalists - although they are not averse to enriching themselves (see some of the Labour politicians in places like Sandwell for example). And across the UK politicians have ensured a steady flow of OUR money to their cronies.

Organisations such as the Charity Commission are supine and so there is no or no proper regulatory oversight of the activities of even major charities let alone local political fronts. The “Sector” also enjoys favourable treatment in respect of taxation.

And needless to say, our grotesque “Royal” Family seek the kudos of being associated with many of these organisations. The supposedly left-leaning staff of these bodies abase themselves to the monarchy in the expectation of receiving baubles.

This MANIFESTO calls for a Commission to reassess the whole framework of charities and supposedly “voluntary” organisations, and to create a unified and accountable structure instead of the legislative hotchpotch that exists today. Sitting above this must be a regulator - with teeth - to ensure that the sector operates fairly and openly, particularly when in receipt of taxpayers’ hard-earned cash.

We also call for the Commission to examine the harm arising from the seemingly frequent misapplication of scarce economic resources to this plethora of organisations.

Please feel free to email if there are any Thurd Sector bodies you would like us to take a look at.

Published by Ian Crow Multimedia Limited

iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com

X - @ThurdSector 

Anti-poverty campaigner Marcus Rashford buys 11 houses

Back in 2020 we asked why footballer Marcus Rashford was placing some of his considerable wealth into a group of limited companies (which the accounts now show are also transferring money inter se in what are called “related party transactions”). The usual reason for this is to minimise tax payments and, at the time, we wrote to Labour-icon Rashford asking if this was the motivation behind his actions. No response was forthcoming.

This method of tax avoidance - if that is what it is - is lawful, but is surely not practised by the former starlet since he is a proselytiser for the greater Government use of, er, taxation in the relief of child poverty. Rashford believes that taxpayers' money should be taken from workers to pay for free school meals etc. Indeed, young Marcus supports the charity, FareShare, and so is presumably anxious to pay his own FairShare.

Last season Rashford's footballing career took a Klinsmanesque dive with his twinkling skills often replaced by truculent pouting. He was not picked for England in Euro 2024. Off the pitch, he was banned from driving for six months after doing 104 mph on the motorway in his £560k Rolls Royce. But the anti-poverty campaigner is doing very nicely with his Cheshire and Manchester property portfolio, and other commercial activities.

Despite his eye-watering pay for kicking a leather ball (or not when he has been warming the bench) and his associated commercial income Rashford is buying up properties via borrowing from the bluest of blue-blooded bankers, Coutts & Co. Once again, this may have the effect of reducing his tax-bill - surely something Rashford does not intend given his anti-poverty campaigning - but he only has to file basic accounting information for his companies so that it is difficult to assess the true position. I am sure he will wish to put the record straight in due course.

Marcus’s main property empire is being built through a Company called MUCS Properties Limited, registered for the purpose of "other letting and operating of own or leased real estate". He is the sole shareholder of the Company (i.e. he owns it outright) and the “person with significant control”. He may well own other properties too, but the Companies House records now list ownership of no less than 11 properties which are valued in the accounts at a handy £7,096,098.

A separate Company which appears to be the main conduit for Rashford’s football/image rights etc. also seems to be doing very nicely thank you with net assets of just under £17m. But in the “now you see it, now you don’t” Rashford company accounts the most recent ones show that this Company has distributed money to Marcus not via pay or dividends but via an interest-free loan of a mere £11,487,181. Still, as we have seen above, Rollers don’t come cheap.

Marcus has moved all the Companies addresses from Manchester to business premises in Essex where many others are registered too - including a “management consultancy” owned by Marcus’s mum, and one owned by former Red, Paul Scholes.

Marcus follows in the studmarks of many other footballers who have amassed property empires - and why shouldn't they - given their relatively short careers? And, as above, we are sure Rashford's weird corporate structure has not been established to minimise his tax bill since this would be morally wrong wouldn't it?

Liverpool fans joked about Robbie Fowler's enormous rental empire with the song, "We all live in a Robbie Fowler house!" How long before Cheshire residents are singing a similar ditty for the Man U (former?) star?

iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com

Linsay Tobin: "A Beautiful Soul"

Linsay Tobin has been the best bar-person in Brum for the last two decades. Fact. If you think this statement is hyperbolic - witness the enormous throng at her funeral yesterday. Writing as a pub-user, I can say without fear of contradiction that EVERYONE loved Lins. And gosh, who can forget THAT smile?

Back in the day I was a regular at The Old Moseley Arms with my wife, Linda. The Balsall Heath area was a hotbed (no pun intended) of prostitution. Illegal drugs were readily available. Through these choppy waters sailed the indomitable figure of Miriam King, licensee of The Old Mo. Miriam was great, and kept a tidy house. The iron hand in the iron glove.

She was followed as mein host by a rather shy, diffident young man - Sukhi. Yes, the very same strapping and popular proprietor of today, over a quarter of a century later. Sukhi was inexperienced and The Old Mo could have easily gone the same way as many other backstreet boozers, but he had the vision to realise that change was necessary if the pub was to survive. His brilliant plan saw the major development of the outside seating area and, of course, the introduction of the famous curries. But the master stroke was retaining the basic core of Miriam's pub so that the regulars still kept on coming.

His other stroke of genius 22 years ago was to employ one Linsay Helen Tobin, firstly as a barmaid and then as bar manager. Not only was Lins a grafter but she bought into the whole project and her infectious enthusiasm and drive was instrumental in making The Old Mo what it is today. And gosh, who can forget THAT smile?

Due to job changes Linda and I became intermittent users of the pub (although we have, fortunately, been a bit more regular in recent times). It was apparent from the very beginning that Lins was special. Purely on an operational level she did what the "textbook" says a barperson should do, but which is seldom actually practised in this country:

One: Greet the customer. "Hello Jules! How are ya?" This always said with her wide, trademark smile (even when she was undergoing punishing medical treatment);

Two: Listen to the customer's reply! Her greeting was not just some formulaic ritual. She genuinely wanted to know how punters were getting on. She liked (most) of the customers and they loved her. We were all friends.

Three: Remember what regulars drink but don't automatically serve the pint. Lins would hold the glass beneath the pull but always double-check: "Bathams, Jules?" "Please Lins - and take for two".

Four: When the pub is busy acknowledge the customer but serve everyone in turn. This is de rigeur in, say, Dublin, but here it is a system seldom seen. Lins was a true professional.

But Lins was also the beating heart of the pub. Always enjoying a laugh and joke or lending a sympathetic ear when folk were down. Even when she was very seriously ill she still came in when she was well enough - to the delight of us all. She threw herself unstintingly into all things - the beer festivals being a classic example when she was determined that everyone would have a great time, and she did so much to make them a success.

Covid hit the pub trade hard. Unsurprisingly, Sukhi was deeply worried, but Lins pushed him on to deliver improvements whilst the pub was shut. When customers were finally allowed into the outside areas Lins revelled in the table service. She realised the isolation many were facing, and she brought great cheer to everyone. That's just the way she was. One day, when most of the downstairs work was completed she insisted on showing me around. She was bursting with pride and her positivity was just so invigorating in those troubled times.

At the funeral yesterday Lins' popularity was manifested by the huge crowd of well-wishers. Her large, but close, family were devastated, of course, but I am sure they will all come to draw solace from the turnout. People I haven't seen for years attended.  A crew from Highgate Fire Station appeared complete with fire engine! There simply was not enough room for everyone. It was standing room only down the side aisles and a large knot of folk spilling outside through the chapel doors. Lins was correctly described as "a beautiful soul" who had left "an indelible mark" on the lives of so many.

Afterwards The Old Mo was packed-out. The big screens showed a large selection of photos and no prizes for guessing a common feature on them all - yes, THAT smile again!

I know Sukhi was also bombarded with calls and messages from Old Mo customers and bunches of flowers have appeared in the bars. The suppliers all knew Lins, of course, and expressed their condoloences. Wye Valley Brewery deserves special mention as it badged a beer up especially for the wake - here's the pump clip for "Linsay's Farewell":

Lins - your family loved you. Your friends loved you. Everyone at The Old Mo loved you. You are sorely missed but we cherish your time on this earth.

Linsay Helen Tobin 21st January, 1981 - 13th July 2024

The golden bowl is broken indeed but it was golden.

iancrowmultimedia

Journo bemused by Meta/Facebook censorship

What did our associated news service, "In The Public Domain" - better known as "The Sandwell Skidder" - do to upset tech giant Meta/Facebook in posting an article about arcane COMF funding scheme - a pandemic-era UK Government revenue stream - being used by an English local authority, Sandwell Council, for a capital project?

The Skidder spent nearly a whole year battling through the UK's feeble Freedom of Information (FOI) scheme to obtain the facts, and duly wrote up a piece under a revised title, "Sandwell divert £0.5m+ from public health to buy diesel buses". The FOI is publicly available via the national What Do They Know website:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/purchase_of_two_youth_buses#outgoing-1697417

The Skidder published the article in the usual way via Google and disseminated it further by social media channels - something done in the same way for many YEARS. As far as this particular article is concerned it was posted to the dedicated Skidder Facebrook Group, "The Sandwell Skidder - Speaking Truth to Power" which has 1.8k members. The principal author of The Skidder, Julian Saunders, also posted - as usual - the article on his personal F\acebook page.

Within seconds both posts were removed for an alleged but unspecified "violation" of the site's rules. Julian immediately asked for a review but has heard nothing since.

It seems that there is some sort of algorithm at work here, but Julian reports that there is no obvious trigger for Meta's draconian action. The only possible trigger might be the C-word - being the name of the global pandemic that so recently engulfed us. The only other possible word is "g****washing" but this is also a word in everyday usage.

The President of Global Affairs at Meta is Nick Clegg, former politician of this parish. Here are some of his quotes from a speech he gave in 2015:

"Freedom of speech and a free press are at the very heart of our liberal, democratic society."

"Whether you are a reporter holding the powerful to account, ... [or] a commentator contributing to our national debate - thank you. You make us freer."

"We must always defend the right of a free press to do its work without fear or favour."

Julian adds: Nick, I read your book, Politics: Between the Extremes. Please read my article and tell me why it is offensive to the Metaverse?

All Skidder articles since 2013, including the one mentioned above, are available via:

thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com

Email: iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com

West Mids: 1,794,464 reject "Tory" bullsh*tter

The turnout for the West Midlands Mayoral election on 2nd May, 2024 was a pathetic 29.8%. Now read on ...

A few years ago I was having a drink in The Queen's, Newhall Street, Brum with a co-volunteer on the much-loved "Hidden Spaces" series of events. The bright young person asked me for my thoughts on the (then) proposed formation of a "West Midlands Combined Authority" (WMCA). Cue a rant of epic proportions on the failure of the disastrous West Midlands County Council and its unlamented demise. Needless to say I went on to be vocal in opposition to the new talk shop, and I pride myself upon being the ONLY protester to actually attend the inaugural meetings at the ICC to, er, protest. Oh, and Birmingham didn't want a WM Mayor and in 2012 voted AGAINST having one. But by 2016 a "mare" was forced upon the people regardless - so much for listening to the public. The first was elected in 2017.

There is a school of thought that as much government as possible should be "devolved", and this nonsense - like the laughable "levelling-up agenda" - seems to have been accepted by the political commentariat as gospel. But why? In these high-tech times, and with AI about to transform our lives still further, clever people know instantly if I even think of buying a new washing machine. Why is decision making not centralised and, more particularly, efficiency-driven? If I want a repair done to my Council house, to report a pothole or require a dog-turd to be cleared why can't I contact a national organisation as efficient as, say, Amazon rather than bureaucrats "shirking from home" who may not even live in my Council area? (Take deeply corrupt Sandwell as an example. Most top management - and even some Labour Councillors - wouldn't dream of living in such a sh*thole themselves, and so how is their supposed "local knowledge" any better than others who don't live in the area?) And when the quality of West Mids councillors is so appalling do you trust them to run a whelk stall, let alone a City or Borough?

The Tory levelling-up agenda - insofar as it is it actually exists - is pure "socialist" dirigiste drivel motivated by an apparently doomed attempt to prevent the reconstruction of Labour's "red wall". The sound economic policy would be to use available funds to improve infrastructure, housing etc. in successful areas like London and South-East rather than waste taxpayers' money on open cesspits like Rochdale or "Donny". Large parts of the north and places like Sandwell should simply be abandoned like former pit villages, and rewilded. This is part of the reason the Tories - yes, the Tories - are now taxing us all until the pips squeak.

The real winners from "levelling-up" have been the consultancy firms. As there is no sensible planning, they devise the "bids" for pots of money to be "won" by local authorities whether there is a sound economic case or not. Take Sandwell again. Wednesbury is an horrific, deprived, area but millions have been blown on the most pathetic project ever - to "improve" the "historic centre" of the troubled town, whatever that is, and build a laughable new market there. The Tories stumped-up for this inevitable fiasco with OUR money having won the local Parliamentary seat in 2019.

The WMCA is a totally artificial political construct with the only nexus between its constituent parts being geographical proximity. Compare and contrast Solihull and Sandwell  - only a few miles apart on the map, but worlds apart. Solihull is full of attractive, healthy, achievers whereas Sandwell has a diseased, uneducated, population of knuckle-draggers. Solihull has more in common with leafy Warwickshire (from whence it was begat) and Sandwell with the neighbouring urban dystopia of ghost-City, Wolverhampton. Solihull may be possibly the most boring place in England but at least it's not a ghastly midden.

There was no logical realignment of the political structure when the new talk shop was created. The disparate local councils retain most of their powers, their bloated bureaucracies and a surfeit of elected councillors. Once again, the Dictatorship of Sandwell had 72 councillors before the formation of the WMCA (three per ward) and now has, er, 72 councillors. Why? Why does each Council retain its own legal department, housing section, public health service etc. if a strong WM region is really the answer to our woes. The answer, of course, is all to do with turkeys and their aversion to Christmas. No politician wants to cede his/her limited powers to someone else.

Our first, unwanted, "Metro Mayor" was the Trumpian Tory braggart, Andy Street, whom the Conservative Government showered with our money. This was then blown on nonsense like the z-list Commonwealth [sic] Games. (Meanwhile, Labour has bankrupted Birmingham!) The security for the meaningless event alone cost over £90 m. Yes, you read that right - 90 million pounds which was NOT used to create jobs and wealth in our region - and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Hundreds of millions have been wasted on a variety of vanity projects. And those perennial Tory donors, property developers and house-builders have also done very well under Street courtesy of the taxpayer forking our for land remediation and the political easing of any nasty planning issues.

For seven years Street subjected us to a torrent of bullsh*t about his alleged achievements, and he is a past master - like Trump - at claiming for himself the kudos for projects which would have happened in any event. But anyone who spends a few minutes on X/Twitter will see the legion of people who ignore the parlous state of our region and constantly big-up how marvellous Birmingham is (there are fewer advocates for the Greater Birmingham area). Needless to say they are the loudest empty vessels in bemoaning his ignominious defeat.

Anyone who remembers Edwina Currie will know that she was adept at inserting the name of her South Derbyshire constituency into every public utterance she made, and Street also thought that if he boasted about Greater Brum often enough people would actually believe his El Dorado fantasy. And some did. Compare and contrast Street with another flawed individual, Albert Bore, a man who did genuinely transform the (former?) Second City - at least temporarily - for the better.

Rishi Sunak promised (though failed) to "Stop the Boats" but the national Tory collapse has at least stopped Street's boasts - at least for a short while. Although he is blue-blooded Street disowned his own Party in a desperate attempt to save his own skin and created the meaningless - and now tarnished - "Brand Andy". But all to no avail for the show-off Non-Con Conman.

There has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth at Street's defeat, not just from Tories but from many in Brum who should know better. I pointed out in my post:

https://crowmultimedia.blogspot.com/2024/04/ozymandias-birminghams-bullshtting-mayor.html

that foolish local Conservative councillors were so blinded by his braggadocio that they spent hours campaigning for him instead of trying to hold on to their own seats. Happily, many of these buffoons lost out.

On social media celebrity chefs, some business folk and even a ragbag of greasers from the "third sector" have placed an onion beneath their eyes and bemoaned The Brand's defeat. But when asked to list his actual achievements there has been a marked silence. Often these characters have simply fallen back on the mantra that he was a fine "ambassador" for the region. Ambassador to whom exactly? For all his dishing-out of the Ferrero Rocher he did not - as The Economist put it - "even move the dial" over seven years. But as with Trump there are those who are susceptible to a load of old b*lls and blind to reality. Most people in other parts of the country do not see Greater Brum as some sort of economic powerhouse despite the propaganda.

The actual fact is that most of us couldn't care less about the Mayoralty and the vast majority of locals absolutely didn't want any more of Street. Nearly 1.8 m voters could not face any more of his own trumpet-blowing. Yes folks only 11.1% of the electorate believed the hard sell from, well, a salesman. 88.9% couldn't face any more of him.

It is hard to see the collapse of the WMCA anytime soon or any meaningful local government reform in our region. We can only hope (!) that our new Mayor will have a more strategic plan and work with the local councils to implement it. The problems ahead are immense and our streets will remain caked in dog-sh*t rather than paved with gold for some years to come.

Meanwhile there is talk of The Brand being elevated to the unelected House of Lords when Sunak departs, or being selected for the Party he turned his back on in Solihull or Sutton Coldfield. But as some sections of the media have pointed out, Andy's giant ego is unlikely to suit a life on the green benches, especially in opposition.  With the Party of Brexit about to face humiliating defeat he would be a very small fish in a very small pond. Whatever - at least he won't be doing any more damage to our backward and enfeebled region. Don't shed any tears - he is a very rich man owning at least three and a half properties and won't be suffering the consequences of the multi millions or our money he has p*ssed up the wall.

Crow Multimedia

iancrowmmultimedia@gmail.com

Ian Crow Multimedia Limited

Ozymandias: West Mid's Bullsh*tting Mayor

There is a popular misconception in Greater Birmingham that the mechanical bull plonked on the concourse of nasty New Street Station is named after a Brummie notorious for having been a drug-addled p*sshead (although this would be about the level of persons of note in our failing city).

In fact, "Ozzie" is named for Brum's very own Ozymandias, our bullsh*tter-in-chief, Andrew "Andy" John Street. Many of you will be familiar with Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem, "Ozymandias", described thus in Wikipedia:

The poem explores the worldly fate of history and the ravages of time: even the greatest men and the empires they forge are impermanent, their legacies fated to decay into oblivion. "Look on my Works, ye Mighty and despair!" exemplifies the arrogance and hubris of a leader who believed his dominion would endure indefinitely.

New Street Station already hosts one of the hubristic Street's decaying monuments - the monstrous failed John Lewis store from the time when Street ran the bourgeois soft-furnishings etc. empire. It lasted all of 5 minutes before failing.

Street may be diminutive (which will seemingly make him fair game for vicious attacks from Angela Rayner) but he has a giant-size ego. The Master Blagger (as someone recently described him on social media) boasts daily of his supposed accomplishments, but the respected Economist magazine recently pointed out that despite the millions the Tory Government has given him to blow, "he has barely shifted the dial". This is a man who put the "V" and "P" in "Vanity Project".

When he became Mayor an early promise was that he would tackle homelessness. At the time, Street owned at least three and a half properties. His pad in London, a house in rural Northants, his penthouse in The Cube, in Brum, and a half share in a cottage in Wales (co-owned by his very close friend - but NOT partner - Michael Fabricant). He would not need to venture far from his Brum penthouse to begin learning about homelessness, but that wouldn't be flash enough for this poseur. He decided the taxpayer would be better served by him going on an in-depth, er, 18-hour trip to (wait for it ...) Finland. This obscene farce cost us £2,216.88p of which £500 was for chauffer-driven "luxury" transport from Brum to Heathrow and back.

Of course, homelessness is still yet another dire problem which Mr Three and a Half Homes has not solved. Labour are currently pointing out that the bullsh*tter promised 1,700 "social homes" for the West Mids whereas only a pathetic 46 have actually been built. Promises, promises ...

Toryism is in Street's blood but such is the personality cult he has tried to create around himself that he has tried to distance himself from the Party on more than one occasion. But don't be fooled by that. Look instead at him simpering in the audience at Tory Conferences when Party leaders [sic] big him up.

In his first election he faced Labour's moronic Sion Simon, but spent liberally to keep the Nuneaton neanderthal squatting in his North Warwickshire cave. Next time-up the pathetic Labour liar, Liam Byrne, still managed a close contest despite a dramatic imbalance in finances. The Conservatives put up a stonking £1.7m for Street's campaign  (against Byrne's £332,000) but "Andy" turned round and sh*t upon them. He had Jasper Carrott [Who he? - Ed] urge voters to elect the man, and not the Party. Sound familiar? Street is trying the same stunt this time when the Tory Party nationally is in meltdown. 

One thing that IS certain in politics is that everyone loves a winner no matter how appalling the person is. Witness the love (yes, love) of Labour politicians at national and local level for the late Darren Cooper in Sandwell despite the fact that he was a well-known wifebeater. Electoral success trumps moral considerations. And so it is with local Tories and Street. They see him as electoral viagra, and pray they may benefit by hanging on to his coat tails. And whilst Street is pretending to distance himself from the failing Party, local Tories tell me he is assiduously courting every councillor and candidate promising their areas good things if HE gets elected again. However, they must work for HIS election campaign - and many are. Hope springs eternal even in the face of the forthcoming Tory rout. And if I was a Conservative candidate I would be pissed off by someone denigrating their Party whilst shrieking, "Just vote for me. For me!"

He influence in local Tory politics has been pernicious with the formation of cliques to back his interests whilst warring with other Party members. There are wild rumours that he was involved in the appalling decision to move the disastrous Nicola Richards MP out of her West Brom constituency and into the supposedly safe seat at Solihull - a massive two fingers up to the voters who brought the "Red Wall" crashing down in 2019. Whatever the truth of this, the pariah Richards has been out campaigning for him this week and must still be hoping he uses his influence to get her the Solihull gig.

Every single job that has been created in our area in recent years is claimed by Street as his doing. There is no bandwagon that rolls by where he does not hitch a lift eg. his absurd claim to have been involved in West Bromwich Albion FC being "saved". Meanwhile, as the Economist points out, his many years in office have achieved almost nothing.

In the early days of his underperforming mayoralty Street could not open his mouth without saying the words, "Midlands Engine". This is a mythical slumbering manufacturing machine which only needs a quick smearing of Street's bullsh*t to lubricate it into an industrial leviathan driving the local economy. Eat your hearts out, Beijing and Berlin - the Black Country is coming!

Of course this is all, well yes, a myth. Some advanced manufacturing firms have done well but the region's industrial powerhouse remains well and truly in the doldrums. And, in any event, Britain moved from an industrial economy to a service-based one a long-time ago. In services there have been some bright-spots locally - HSBC, Goldman Sachs and even the ailing Deutsche Bank, but nothing much to write home about. Education standards are low in many areas (usually Labour ones) and young folk are seemingly incapable of meeting the employment demands of a high-tech future. The productivity of the Birmingham area is a colossal 14% below the national average despite Street's braggadocio. Economic inactivity is higher than almost anywhere in the country [the Economist]. Areas of severe deprivation, like corrupt Labour Sandwell, pockmark the region.

"Andy" is hardly ever seen without a hard hat and high-vis jacket standing on a building site. Yet even where housing is being built, such as on poisoned land at Friar Park, Wednesbury, the process is being rushed to provide kudos for Street whereas little thought is given to wider infrastructure difficulties which arise with large new developments. With Street it's all icing, and no cake.

Despite his meaningless boasts of "brownfield first" for development his Tory acolytes in Sandwell shafted the lovely green space at Brandhall where 86% of locals polled were against development. And Street is close to developers like his friend "Jeremy" (Jeremy Knight Adams - pictured) who has fallen out big-style with Dudley Tories over a large development project and who wants to destroy a whopping 19 ha in the urban dystopia of Oldbury to build a shopping centre in a bent deal with Labour. Did I forget to mention that his pal, Jeremy, is a big donor to the Tory Party?

It is not clear where Street imagines new industry will actually spring-up. In a bizarre twist he wants to destroy an industrial site in Sandwell and backs a housing development there on the wholly unsuitable site under the ruse that this is a "heritage" project. Ironically, given Street's burgeoning reputation as a pathetic chancer, the site was formerly occupied by Chance Glass!

Greater Birmingham has a wonderfully diverse population and it is a sad indictment of local politics that the real contest next Thursday is between two rich, white, blokes. The Tories have been jumping-up and down claiming that Labour's Richard Parker (formerly of that bastion of socialism, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the rapacious accountancy firm) has his main residence in wealthy Barnt Green but, as above, Street too has multiple properties. Those in penthouses shouldn't throw stones ...

Labour has driven Birmingham into the local government version of bankruptcy with a disastrous record of appalling decisions, not least that to host the Z-List Commonwealth [sic] Games when no other city would touch the loss-making imperial durbar. Huge sums have been lost on the pointless extragavanza and even Street's [false] claim that the event somehow generated wealth is tempered by his qualification that it boosted the "UK economy" rather than the local one. We have asked Street via social media to back-up some of his claims but still await a response. 

Out of hundreds of millions of pounds blown on the Games - much of it to firms based in London - we did at least get a mechanical bull. (This could, of course, have been commissioned as a stand alone art project if Brum felt it really needed ANOTHER bull statue - there's one already by The Rotunda - at a fraction of the cost.) It is always an indication that a politician fears electoral defeat when s/he starts putting pathetic pictures of kids on his/her propaganda. Step forward Andrew John Street who recently used sick pictures of kids supposedly thanking him for saving "Ozymandias". Vomit-inducing!

Street boasted that he would bring Channel 4 to Brum but that failed, and we still await his much vaunted "battery gigafactory". In fact, Indian-owned JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) who are based on Street's patch decided to build their battery facility in, er, Somerset.

Addendum 29/04/24: We forgot to mention that Street was humiliated by his own Party in 2023 when Rishi Sunak axed the proposed high-speed rail line to Manchester. As the Guardian reported at the time, Street bravely decided NOT to leave the Conservative Party despite his claimed outrage at the decision.

There are many such failures despite "Andy's" crowing about himself. His political judgement is suspect as we have seen above - setting up divisive cliques within local associations and also publicly distancing himself from the official Party in an attempt to save his own skin. A rat pretending to leave the sinking ship but hoping for the lifebelt of a peerage to be thrown to him? 

Of course, Street's finest political hour came with his support for the magnificent Liz Truss. Oh dear, oh dear.

Street is very close to - although not the partner of - Michael Fabricant, the Westminster Tory "class clown". Fabricant put this absolutely vile post on social media (curiously choosing an image of an EgyptAir plane):

We wrote to Street asking if this post also represented his own views. A minion of the Great Man emailed so set a time for Street's press officer to phone. When he did the response was a curt "No Comment"! Make of that what you will.

What a shame for the West Midlands we didn't get Andy Burnham as Mayor and the Mancs got Street. Whatever happens we need to get rid of this guy on Thursday next and get someone in who will get to grips with grassroots issues rather than pushing self-aggrandising grands projets. We need a Mayor committed to intergrating our region in the physical sense of transport infrastructure as well as economically and socially, rather than a showboating braggart.

A full list of candidates is available here:

https://www.wmcaelects.co.uk/notice-of-poll/

iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com

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All Four Dorset Tory Cllrs in Jan Britton scandal up for election

Tory Councillors Spencer Flower, Ray Bryan, Jill Haynes, Andrew Parry and the Lib Dem's Nick Ireland were all involved in some way in the scandal whereby Dorset Council employed the disgraced former Chief Executive (CE) of Sandwell Council, Jan Britton, on a 12-month £150,000 contract. The Council then threatened the journalist who broke the story in an attempt to cover it up.

The full story is available in two posts in our associated blog, In The Public Domain?, also known as The Sandwell Skidder. Sandwell Council was recently in special measures following widespread corruption and incompetence - much of which occurred whilst Britton was the hapless CE. Unusually for local government he was kicked out without any compensation other than his contractual entitlement.

Just some of the Britton horror story was set out in The Skidder's post, Desperate Dorset Council employs Jan Britton:

https://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2023/12/desperate-dorset-council-employ-jan.html

Despite his shocking track record, Britton moved on to a Company running some small Councils in the Cotswolds at the behest of a Lib Dem Councillor called Joe Harris, who was mysteriously prepared to overlook the appalling history (even though this was publicly documented by The Skidder and others). This Company was recently wound up and Britton has now been given the Dorset job in highly controversial circumstances.

In 2023 the Dorset Echo reported that Tory Dorset Council had a contract with a company called Commensura ro supplying agency staff and consultants, although the Conservatives were authorising very large payments outside the main Commensura contract. The reasons for this are opaque. A Report to the Council claimed that the Council was looking to reduce temporary hires which were costing taxpayers a £1m a month.

When the Director of Place decided to leave Dorset Council the Tory Leader, Spencer Flower (Verwood ward), inexplicably decided with Dorset's Chief Executive (CE) to recruit a replacement on a temporary contract despite the "plan" to reduce temporary hires. The Council is currently refusing to supply further information with regard to this and the matter had now been referred to the Information Commissioner. Perhaps Councillors don't want the details to come out before the election on 2nd May?

Dorset's CE, Matthew Prosser (currently on a cool pay and pension package of £191,000 a year according to the Taxpayers' Alliance), decided to employ Britton via a jobs for the boys and girls organisation called Solace, of which he just happens to be the President. Again the appointment was outside the Commensura Contract. The documents produced to date by Dorset Council present a curious picture with the appointment of the disgraced Britton seemingly having being rigged (although the Council denies this). The appalling story so far is set out in another Skidder blogpost, Four (Tories) Go Mad in Dorset!:

https://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2024/02/four-tories-go-mad-in-dorset.html

As above, the Tory Council is refusing to deal with further aspects of a Freedom of Information request. We don't know why Prosser and Flower made the decision they did. We also don't know whether the three Tory Councillors who briefly interviewed Britton before making the expensive appointment were made aware by Prosser of Britton's behaviour at Sandwell. The three Councillors refused to communicate with The Skidder. They are Ray Bryan (St Leonards and St Ives), Jill Haynes (Chalk Valley) and Andrew Parry (West Parley). They, with Flower, are all up for election and Dorset voters might want to ask them how this shocking appointment came about.

The Tories have become the Party of very high taxation - the highest rates since the 1940's - but don't seem to be averse to reckless spending. A few days ago the Dorset Echo also wrote up a story based on research done by the Taxpayers' Alliance showing that 17 employees at Dorset are paid over £100,000 (and, presumably, Britton can now be added to that list).

You might imagine that the opposition parties would be all over the Britton scandal, but when The Skidder contacted Cllr Nick Ireland (Lib Dem "Leader" - Crossways ward) he just didn't want to know! How strange then that in the run-up to the election he found time to whinge to the Dorset Echo (full link below):

"We just think people get paid too much at the top and get an awful lot of money for what they do".

Ireland recommended getting rid of one Director-level post and other streamlining. How curious he should think this at election time but doesn't want to investigate how the Tories gave a disgraced local government employee a £150k temporary deal. Once again, he won't speak to the press and perhaps voters in Dorset will ask Lib Dems why they support this terrible, misconceived, and possibly rigged appointment.

Dorset Echo Link: https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/24238841.taxpayers-alliance-rich-list-dorset-council-top-earners/

iancrowmultimedia@gmail.com

Crow Multimedia Limited