Blair, a must read, not

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

You are joking, aren't you, Ken? You really expected "a warts-and-all autobiography" from this slippery customer? This vainglorious self-publicist who proved himself to be the ultimate master of spin, a skilled practioner in the illusionist's art of smoke and mirrors?

As for biographies being "tainted by the rose-tinted spectacles of the fan who's written it", that's exactly the trap that this book will fall into because it's been written by Blair's biggest fan of all!

I'm reserving judgement until I've actually read it.

I don't think we're going to learn anything new in terms of history but it will be interesting to hear his side of things.

There's got to be some attempt at justification for being America's little puppet?

[jaysay]

[quote=Ken Moss;843269]Memoirs are a great read and I must admit I've been looking forward to this one. Biographies don't really do it for me, they're always tainted by the rose-tinted spectacles of the fan who's written it so a warts-and-all autobiography is always the better bet. I want a better insight into the Iraq War and was hoping to gain some understanding of why he did it.

You are joking arn't you

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

When you strip away all the party trappings you have 35 members of the public who were elected because they promised to try and make things better for their ward. I am privileged to be in that select few and it seems that I am doing the things that people want me to do.

Labelling me as 'socialist' won't make me any better or worse.

And Britcliffe has been doing exactly the same thing for 27 years, yet you slag him off at very opportunity, as you say you seem to do things that people want you to do, so Peter must also be doing exactly the same thing, aka what people want him to do. As I've said many times on here, I admire councillors regardless of party for the work they do, my disagreement is on policy not commitment. Having met you I have no doubt that you will do a great job for Rishton, because you are doing it for entirely the right reasons, when you've been there 27 years you'll know the people of Rishton think so too

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

You are joking, aren't you, Ken? You really expected "a warts-and-all autobiography" from this slippery customer? This vainglorious self-publicist who proved himself to be the ultimate master of spin, a skilled practioner in the illusionist's art of smoke and mirrors?

As for biographies being "tainted by the rose-tinted spectacles of the fan who's written it", that's exactly the trap that this book will fall into because it's been written by Blair's biggest fan of all!

Ya Wyn, as Kojak used to say who loves me baby

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by jaysay

And Britcliffe has been doing exactly the same thing for 27 years, yet you slag him off at very opportunity, as you say you seem to do things that people want you to do, so Peter must also be doing exactly the same thing, aka what people want him to do. As I've said many times on here, I admire councillors regardless of party for the work they do, my disagreement is on policy not commitment. Having met you I have no doubt that you will do a great job for Rishton, because you are doing it for entirely the right reasons, when you've been there 27 years you'll know the people of Rishton think so too

I slag Peter off because he spends vast amounts of public money on pet projects to try and make himself look good, he attempts to jury-rig votes and council meetings at every opportunity (as he is doing this week with both the full council and an extraordinary meeting in November), he speaks to council officials in an appalling way and is wildly egotistical.

No one voted for him to be council leader beyond his whipped flock of sheep and the only reason he keeps being voted back into Oswaldtwistle is through the vast sums of money he can spend on improvements. It's a real catch-22 situation and the only way to remove that crutch is for control to move to another group.

I'm sorry John, I know he is a friend of yours but he is absolutely atrocious for Hyndburn as a whole. There are any number of decent Conservative councillors who would do a far better job as Leader.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

I slag Peter off because he spends vast amounts of public money on pet projects to try and make himself look good, he attempts to jury-rig votes and council meetings at every opportunity (as he is doing this week with both the full council and an extraordinary meeting in November), he speaks to council officials in an appalling way and is wildly egotistical.

No one voted for him to be council leader beyond his whipped flock of sheep and the only reason he keeps being voted back into Oswaldtwistle is through the vast sums of money he can spend on improvements. It's a real catch-22 situation and the only way to remove that crutch is for control to move to another group.

I'm sorry John, I know he is a friend of yours but he is absolutely atrocious for Hyndburn as a whole. There are any number of decent Conservative councillors who would do a far better job as Leader.

I remember when we were controlled by another group, was the start of Hyndburn's demise, on the first of May 1997 on a 47 seat council Labour had a 44 seat majority, by the May elections 1999 (two elections) Labour were gone.

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by jaysay

I remember when we were controlled by another group, was the start of Hyndburn's demise, on the first of May 1997 on a 47 seat council Labour had a 44 seat majority, by the May elections 1999 (two elections) Labour were gone.

He has engineered a situation where his decision is final on everything and the Tories, whilst being openly critical of him in committee meetings, are so financially reliant on him to grant them chairmanships that they vote his way every time.

I was in a private meeting last week with the legal team and as soon as he found out he simply burst in and demanded to know what it was about. That sort of rudeness and arrogance has no place in the council offices and I will be glad to see him out of office when the time comes.

I'm not necessarily talking about Labour vs Conservative, I'm talking about right and wrong and he is certainly not the best man to lead Hyndburn Council.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

I was in a private meeting last week with the legal team and as soon as he found out he simply burst in and demanded to know what it was about. That sort of rudeness and arrogance has no place in the council offices

no matter where ya stand politically, that is INDEFENSIBLE.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

He has engineered a situation where his decision is final on everything and the Tories, whilst being openly critical of him in committee meetings, are so financially reliant on him to grant them chairmanships that they vote his way every time.

I was in a private meeting last week with the legal team and as soon as he found out he simply burst in and demanded to know what it was about. That sort of rudeness and arrogance has no place in the council offices and I will be glad to see him out of office when the time comes.

I'm not necessarily talking about Labour vs Conservative, I'm talking about right and wrong and he is certainly not the best man to lead Hyndburn Council.

The words of a man with many many years council experience

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by jaysay

The words of a man with many many years council experience

Under normal circumstances I would comfortably concede that as a fair point but how is it that I can have decent political conversations with councillors such as Lynn Wilson, Doug Hayes, John Griffiths, Janet Storey and Judith Addison without them being rude, condescending, barging in to rooms without knocking or acting in any way as if they are 'The Great I Am'?

Britcliffe's only get out clause is the previous Labour administration and/or that evil Graham Jones, most of the other Tory councillors actually have a reasoned argument in their heads.

We've just had a wonderful draft copy of a celebratory booklet on Area Councils which serves no practical purpose, cost heaven knows how much in man hours to produce and is riddled with very simple mistakes.

That is a prime example of 'look what I've done' without actually having any merit whatsoever. Area Councils cost this borough in the region of a quarter of a million pounds each year before a single stroke of work is done. Are you telling me that this is a good thing? Would that money not be better divvied up between the wards, allowing the councillors to simply get on with improving their area?

It's one of many fine examples of a collossal waste of money brought about by Britcliffe, one man obsessed with ultimate control.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

Under normal circumstances I would comfortably concede that as a fair point but how is it that I can have decent political conversations with councillors such as Lynn Wilson, Doug Hayes, John Griffiths, Janet Storey and Judith Addison without them being rude, condescending, barging in to rooms without knocking or acting in any way as if they are 'The Great I Am'?

Britcliffe's only get out clause is the previous Labour administration and/or that evil Graham Jones, most of the other Tory councillors actually have a reasoned argument in their heads.

We've just had a wonderful draft copy of a celebratory booklet on Area Councils which serves no practical purpose, cost heaven knows how much in man hours to produce and is riddled with very simple mistakes.

That is a prime example of 'look what I've done' without actually having any merit whatsoever. Area Councils cost this borough in the region of a quarter of a million pounds each year before a single stroke of work is done. Are you telling me that this is a good thing? Would that money not be better divvied up between the wards, allowing the councillors to simply get on with improving their area?

It's one of many fine examples of a collossal waste of money brought about by Britcliffe, one man obsessed with ultimate control.

Most of the present Tory Councillors weren't around under the last admin, and not one Tory had any time for Graham Jones

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by jaysay

Most of the present Tory Councillors weren't around under the last admin, and not one Tory had any time for Graham Jones

John Griffiths? Doug Hayes? Janet Storey?

I imagine that many of the Tories didn't have time for Graham, he is outspoken and openly critical of Peter Britcliffe but he always has time for anyone who comes to speak to him. I have never known him be ignorant or rude with anyone - difference of opinion maybe, but never rude.

My view of being a councillor is that we are here as the voice of the public and to pull residents together in the name of a common cause, ie. to make each ward actually function properly.

Peter Britcliffe's apparent motive for being a councillor is to get his name associated with as many projects as possible and make out that he is somehow responsible for them, spending thousands of pounds of public money along the way.

Another example is the 10 year celebration of Area Councils. He has never set foot in Rishton as long as I've lived here and yet insisted on being on the group photo of ours and every other ward in the borough. I don't know how much the little backslapping party cost either but I bet that cake wasn't cheap.

'Look what I've done, aren't I brilliant?'

This is public money, not yours.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

John Griffiths? Doug Hayes? Janet Storey?

I imagine that many of the Tories didn't have time for Graham, he is outspoken and openly critical of Peter Britcliffe but he always has time for anyone who comes to speak to him. I have never known him be ignorant or rude with anyone - difference of opinion maybe, but never rude.

My view of being a councillor is that we are here as the voice of the public and to pull residents together in the name of a common cause, ie. to make each ward actually function properly.

Peter Britcliffe apparent motive for being a councillor is to get his name associated with as many projects as possible and make out that he is somehow responsible for them, spending thousands of pounds of public money along the way.

Another example is the 10 year celebration of Area Councils. He has never set foot in Rishton as long as I've lived here and yet insisted on being on the group photo of ours and every other ward in the borough. I don't know how much the little backslapping party cost either but I bet that cake wasn't cheap.

'Look what I've done, aren't I brilliant?'

This is public money, not yours.

I actually think you have a lot to learn Ken, especially in this day and age, It was quite different when I packed up politics in 2001, for a start there was no accy web. Just one tip take it or not, but everything you post on here is for open digestion, you only have to see how many guests are on line every day, sometimes its better to keep your powder dry

[Ken Moss]

Advice noted and I appreciate the sentiment that goes with it but as someone's signature on here states, the opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

It bothers me that public money is being wasted. I see it as my function to serve the borough of Hyndburn (with specific reference to Rishton) but as tax revenue from all wards goes towards Area Councils I see no benefit in allowing spending of that money to go unchecked by residents.

There is much that is not public knowledge and freely available if people know where to look but the sad fact is that most people don't know where to look.

We're in an age where everyone is feeling the pinch and yet money is being needlessly frittered away on our own doorstep. I am simply trying to curb this and get the best value for our money.

I'm in opposition, I'm expected to question the merit of the controlling group's policies!

[DaveinGermany]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I really like the idea that there are a band of people out there who are going into bookshops and quietly picking up a copy of his book and then placing it in the crime section.....though fiction and fantasy would be appropriate too(but perhaps not as pointed).

It will surely gladden you to know then, that while visiting several Waterstones' across England's green & pleasant land, perusing various bookshelves, this "GRIMoire" was prominently displayed within the sections of "Dark fantasy" & "Horror". Now either the staff are under orders (or have a sense of humour) equally there is a not so secret movement out & about appropriately repositioning this moribund tome.