21 May (Part 1) - Bullet points
Derogatory remarks
@tonyofsidcup is not very popular in some quarters of Bexley Council, among them the CEO’s office. I have a copy of
an email from Paul Thorogood complaining about @tony’s
constant references to the information Commissioner and how he wastes taxpayers’
money with his questions. The CEO continues a tradition established over the
past 15 years of failing to recognise that half of FOIs and follow up complaints
would disappear if Bexley answered questions fully and truthfully or even at all
in the first place. It is very evident that the vexatious declaration which
a
Court found to be illegal was the CEO’s idea.
Currently the Council is refusing to properly answer a two month old
question about their
lobbying for a better Government Grant which the Leader never tires of telling
us about. Bromley Council when asked the same question immediately responded
with eight PDF documents. Bexley cannot produce any evidence whatsoever.
Obviously they are not going to admit that the Leader has been lying or
exaggerating so they simply sit on their hands instead.
Another waste of money which may well earn another reference to the Information Commissioner.
Tunnel Tolls
I have read several times (Murky Depths etc.) that the new Silvertown Tunnel is
causing all the predicted traffic congestion on the A2, but worse. As very
attentive readers may know I drive to Chingford once a week and have done so for
20 years or more. I am well used to the Northbound delays in the late afternoon
and have become an expert in how to slip into the traffic queue with the minimum of delay.
Few have a lower opinion of Sadiq Khan than I do and yesterday he took the £1·50
a trip tax from my bank account. However since the charge was introduced I have
sailed through Blackwall without any queuing either approaching or
within it. Never have I had to stop in the tunnel as was the norm previously and
around five minutes is saved on every journey. Lorries seem to have disappeared from it too.
Unfortunately the congestion on the A12 as it leaves the tunnel is as bad as
ever. I can only speculate that cheapskates are using Rotherhithe and then
returning to their old route.
Last night at around 11 p.m. Blackwall was closed
without warning. Not a breakdown but a planned closure with barriers everywhere.
TfL could have used the large signs that pepper the A12 to give advance notice
but incompetence being TfL’s stock in trade only the very last one a mile before
the tunnel gave the bad news.
Never mind, we have Silvertown now we all thought; but no. The access road had
been reduced to a single lane and what should have been a 40 minute journey took
nearly two hours. I think I might give up on my Chingford visiting.
At 10 p.m. when I checked, Waze did not give any indication of a problem.
Between the eyes
I don’t watch any TV so I am not indoctrinated by the left wing babble that
allegedly comes from the BBC, Channel 4 and Sky etc. and my news comes from a
Daily Telegraph subscription, on-line newspaper sites and YouTube. As such, I am
well aware that I may not be getting a rounded view of current politics and my
disdain for the lot of them may not be as widely shared as I might imagine.
On X I have taken to muting anyone whose idea of a rational argument is to lob
the C word at someone. I’d guess there is more than a thousand of them and
almost by definition that means I have muted a huge number of Lefties. Maybe I
have a distorted view of current politics as a result.
I am the oldest of my pub quiz team but not by much. One, a cousin, I know to
have been a Labour man all his life but Jeremy Corbyn persuaded him to swap
sides. Sir Iain Duncan-Smith has been getting his vote since then. Over
twenty-ish years I have learned not to talk politics
to the second oldest of of our group. A union man on a cruise liner for half
his life and then for Waltham Forest Council until retirement.
Yesterday to my surprise, he mentioned Keir Starmer’s EU surrender deal and he
didn’t pull his punches. ”The man is a lying arsehole and I cannot understand
why someone has not yet put a bullet between his eyes.”
It would seem that my opinion of Starmer and his evil government is not as far
removed from reality as I thought it might be. Next March we may see a total
wipe out on the benches of Bexley Council. A shame because they are not all bad
but their leadership nationally is beyond appalling.
Louie French
Following the intervention of his MP, @tonyofsidcup received a message from the
Crown Prosecution Service. It doesn’t say anything remotely interesting about
the hammer attack
on @tony’s home but it is better than nothing, Well done Louie.