Maggie Oliver's Praise for Danczuk, not Lloyd!

by Brian Bamford

THE COMIC OPERA continuing between the Danczuk Clan, Karen and Simon, and the Rochdale Labour party, ruled by Councillors Richard Farnell and Allen Brett, is becoming more entertaining by the day.

It was only two months ago that the Labour Party Council leader, Richard Farnell and Simon Danczuk, were cheerfully posing together with a snapshot of a birthday cake celebrating '50 years of the Samaritans' in Rochdale and district.  Yet now with Danczuk standing against the official Labour candidate all those happy times seem to have been forgotten, as on the 8th, May after Simon's resignation letter in which he declared:

'The Labour Party is no longer the positive political movement that I joined nearly 30 years ago.  Indeed, under its current leadership the Labour Party is more interested in serving its own ends rather than those of hard working people for whom the party was originally established.'

Only this week, Mr. Danczuk's former agent, Councillor Allen Brett has complained about the knock-about way Danczuk is conducting campaign against the chosen Labour candidate, and former pal of Danczuk, Tony Lloyd.

Earlier this week, according to ROCHDALE ONLINE, Mr. Brett claimed:
'The Danczuks have been engaged in a particularly "nasty and vindictive" campaign against Tony Lloyd since Mr Lloyd was chosen as the Labour Party candidate, much to the chagrin of Danczuk who coveted the Labour candidacy himself. '
Councillor Brett added:
'The public are getting fed up with the Danczuk's forever dragging Rochdale through the mud. The sooner we're rid of them the better.'

Unfortunately, the Rochdale Labour Party under the leadership of Mr. Farnell and Mr. Brett have had plenty of warning over the years about the wayward nature of Simon Danczuk, not to mention his former wife and mucker Karen, who always seemed away with the fairies.

But they wouldn't listen to anyone about Simon's unreliability, even their rank and file members in the Rochdale Labour Party.

Meanwhile, Simon has recently been blessed by the support of none other than the former detective constable in Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Margaret Oliver.  Oliver worked on sex abuse investigations in 2004 and 2010, and she worked on a small team assigned to Operation Augusta.
It was looking at allegations about the grooming of white girls in the northwest of England by Pakistani men in 2004.

In a tweet, which the Danczuks have now re-tweeted, see below:

Important message from Maggie Oliver, former Greater Manchester Police detective, regarding the Election in #Rochdale #threegirls

Tony Lloyd, as I recall, didn't feature in the BBC drama 'Three Girls', but wasn't it the Crown Prosecution Service (the CPS) rather than the Greater Manchester Police, who failed to process the case in 2009?

Query Over Danczuk's Election Papers?

TODAY, ROCHDALE ONLINE has drawn attention to the former Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk's election nomination papers.  In these he submitted his ex-wife Karen Danczuk's home address in a bungalow on Lonsdale Avenue, Kingsway, as his home address.

The online website claims Karen Danczuk has confirmed that he does not live at that address.

Last Wednesday (17 May), Karen confirmed to a BuzzFeed reporter who called at the bungalow that Danczuk does not live there, despite Danczuk continuing to insist he is legally resident at the address.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahalothman/simon-danczuks-election-paperwork

It is believed that Dnaczuk has been living at an address on Farm Walk, Littleborough for over a year when not at his London residence.

Tweet by Simon Danczuk

LAST Sunday, Simon Danczuk on his Twitter account posted the following tweet about Rochdale's Labour councillors: 

'After just giving themselves a 34% pay rise #Rochdale Labour Councillors now think we should have an MP that lives in Manchester!'

On the same day Karen Danczuk, who is one of the people proposing Simon as an independent candidate for the Rochdale constituency, did a retweet:  
Karen Danczuk Retweeted

Simon Danczuk‏Verified account @SimonDanczuk May 14

'After just giving themselves a 34% pay rise #Rochdale Labour Councillors now think we should have an MP that lives in Manchester!'

Can't recall either Simon or Karen complaining about the pay rise that both the Labour and Tory councillors awarded themselves when they voted it through months ago!

Election Expenses in Greater Manchester

ON the 17th March 2017, the MEN reported a probe into 2015 election expenses - with the police handing files to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and involving three Greater Manchester MPs, according to the Manchester Evening News [MEN].
Detectives are now investigating whether three Conservative MPs breached strict spending limits at the last General Election.
It has recently been revealed a file has been handed to the CPS following an issue over spending on a ‘battle bus’ tour of marginal constituencies.
Complaints have been made that the costs - of the buses to transport activists and put them up in hotels - should have been recorded as counting towards individual candidates’ spending limits, rather than to the Conservatives’ national expenses return.
Bury North MP David Nuttall - who denies any wrongdoing - was initially confirmed to be involved in the GMP probe, with details of his election expenses handed to the CPS.  An additional problem for Mr. Nuttall and the constituents in Bury North, is that this week Karen Danczu told the Rochdale Observer that she fancied standing as the Labour candidate in Bury North.  Ms. Danczuk is the ex-wife of the disgraced Rochdale MP, Simon Danczuk, who has had expenses scandals of his own, and she was a undistinguished local councilor in Rochdale for a while.
The M.E.N. has now learned Hazel Grove MP William Wragg and Cheadle MP Mary Robinson have also been investigated - and that their cases will be reviewed by prosecutors.
Battle buses visited both constituencies in the run up to the election.
Former Stockport councillor Mr Wragg snatched Hazel Grove from the Lib Dems in 2015.
He told the M.E.N: 'I was assured, at the time and now, that the battle bus was a national expense and my election agent was instructed by Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) to treat it as such.
'Accordingly it was not declared locally, but was left for the party to declare nationally.'

Loose Women Hero Scapegoat's Brother

AIDED by the Murdoch press through The Sun and the local press Karen Danczuk, and occasional panelist on the program 'Loose Women', has claimed that, according to the Rochdale Observer:  'all five of the "targeted" attacks (on her Range Rover) have happened since her brother was jailed for raping her as a child'.
Ms. Danczuk has shown an interest in becoming a member of parliament and since serving as a Labour councillor on Rochdale Council now sees herself as a public figure or minor celebrity.  Hence, she seems to be seizing every opportunity to promote herself, especially since she was the prime witness in a successful case against her own brother for child abuse involving rape.
The latest chance to get noticed was when she Tweeted:
'These attacks are either linked to the trial or a sheer coincidence. They are clearly targeted at me for whatever reason and I can only speculate.' 
It seems the vehicle's paintwork has been scratched and the petrol cap somehow tampered with, the last straw being last Friday when nail were sprinkled before her Range Rover.  The media and TV celebrity has said she has contacted the police.

The media which has been fulsome with its praise for her public promotions has only thought fit to send gossip columnists, rather than their crime or political correspondents, to cover the latest story of Karen Danczuk.
The Daily Mail sent Isobel Frodsham some of whose international stories have appeared on /muckrack.com/isobel-frodsham, and include juicy titles like  

Armed raider frogmarched out of shop empty-handed By Isobel Frodsham dailymail.co.uk

 Man storms into restaurant with a meat cleaver in Malaysia By Isobel Frodsham dailymail.co.uk

Jesus gets his cross stuck in metro ceiling in CologneBy Isobel Frodsham dailymail.co.uk

Meanwhile, the journalist Amanda Devlin from The Sun, who last week covered the Karen Danczuk story of damage to her car, has gone on Twitter to express sycophantic tweets about her own employer among other investigative reports below from both Ms. Devlin and Ms. Frodsham.  We leave it to our readers to judge the quality of this journalism:

Round-up of some of my stories in @TheSun this week

8. Amanda Devlin‏Verified account @JournoDevs Feb 21
   

   The Sun overtakes Mirror to be second biggest UK newspaper website

   
   

   Armed raider frogmarched out of shop empty-handed

   By Isobel Frodsham

   dailymail.co.uk — Cashier was filmed ignoring a man who pointed a gun in her face at a shop She carried on working at the Russian supermarket in Serebryanye Prudy Another worker is seen holding his sleeve and forcing him out of the shop The man was arrested and has been charged with attempted armed robbery An armed raider was frogmarched out of a shop empty-handed after a cashier completely ignored his threat to shoot her.
   

   a day ago Who shared?
   

   Wrong byline?

   Man storms into restaurant with a meat cleaver in Malaysia

   By Isobel Frodsham

   dailymail.co.uk — The 37-year-old man was seen waving a meat cleaver in a restaurant in Malaysia He threatened to cause a gas explosion which led to customers running to safety Emergency services were called and the man was eventually taken away A man went on a rampage with a meat cleaver in a restaurant after losing his phone.
   

   a day ago Who shared?
   

   Wrong byline?

   Jesus gets his cross stuck in metro ceiling in Cologne

   By Isobel Frodsham

   dailymail.co.uk — The man was seen carrying the huge crucifix on an escalator in a metro station Suddenly, as he made his way to the top, the cross was jammed into the ceiling 'Jesus' is seen swearing as he tries and successfully removes it from the hole The man was heading over to the annual street carnival in Cologne, Germany A man dressed as Jesus accidentally jammed a large crucifix into a ceiling of a metro station in Germany. a day ago Who shared?

   1 reply . 1 retweet 4 likes
     Amanda Devlin‏Verified account @JournoDevs Feb 20
   

   Amanda Devlin Retweeted Press Awards

   The Sun shortlisted for Website of the Year at the National Press Awards

   Amanda Devlin added,

   
   

   Press Awards @PressAwardsuk

   Shortlists announced for the National Press Awards for 2016 http://pressawards.org.uk/page-view.php?pagename=Shortlists …
10. Amanda Devlin‏Verified account @JournoDevs Feb 20
    
Amanda Devlin Retweeted Press Awards
The Sun shortlisted for Website of the Year at the National Press Awards
Amanda Devlin added,


Press Awards @PressAwardsuk
Shortlists announced for the National Press Awards for 2016 http://pressawards.org.uk/page-view.php?pagename=Shortlists …
0 replies . 1 retweet 2 likes


13. Amanda Devlin‏Verified account @JournoDevs Feb 19
    
Round-up of some of my stories in @TheSun this week





0 replies . 0 retweets 4 likes

Self-styled ‘Selfie Queen’ or Publicity Seeker?

by Les May

I live in Rochdale.  It’s not difficult to find people eager to give you their opinion about our very own self-styled ‘Selfie Queen’, Karen Danczuk formerly Karen Burke.  Older people, and especially older ladies, tend to be less than impressed by her past enthusiasm for flaunting her cleavage.  Those of a political bent use words like ‘deluded’ when talking about her pretensions to becoming an MP and point to her not altogether successful spell as a local councillor when she gained a reputation for being less than assiduous in attending to some of her duties.

But never have I come across anyone, nor do I expect to, who would suggest that vandalising her car, or indeed any of her property, is acceptable behaviour.

You do not have to be one of her Twitter followers to empathise with Karen over the problem of damage to her car. But that does not preclude us from taking a closer look at this story.

http:  //www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4257178/Vandals-target-Karen-Danczuk-s-car-trial.html

She is quoted as saying:
'Since trial I've had five attacks on car (slashed tyres, diesel, nails, paintwork) I'm sure its coincidence but remember, I travel with two boys.'

'These attacks are either linked to the trial or a sheer coincidence. They are clearly targeted at me for whatever reason and I can only speculate. 
'But these incidents are another example of why victims are too scared to come forward.  I want to remind these people that I travel with two young boys and it is putting their lives in danger as well as my own life.' 

Now no one can object to the last of these four statements.  It is manifestly true. But when I read the first three I began to wonder if we were not seeing here the beginnings of a narrative into which every subsequent happening could be fitted.   
Why mention ‘the trial’?  
Why mention a link to ‘the trial’?
Why write ‘these incidents are another example of why victims are too scared to come forward’?

I have seen this tactic adopted before.  It is what I complained about in 2014 in my Amazon review of her ex-husband’s now discredited book ‘Smile for the Camera’ where I wrote ‘The writing style adopted is to let the narrative drive the evidence not the evidence drive the narrative.’ 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R3A7XZP51EW0A6
 
The problems which arise when this approach to story telling is adopted are highlighted by the fact that when Northamptonshire police investigated one of the stories in ex-husband Simon’s book it was found to have no basis in fact.

A good story was enough to get it a place in the book because it fitted into the narrative the authors had constructed for Cyril Smith.

Adam Simmonds, Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner, ended up asking for an apology from Danczuk and said ‘Everything in that book's got to be evidence-led and -based, otherwise you are alerting people to the wrong information.’  

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-33716982

Until such time as the police arrest someone, he or she is convicted of damaging Karen’s car and shown to have done it because they were disgruntled about the outcome of ‘the trial’ I see no reason to fall in line with Karen’s narrative.

It’s not the first time she has tried to construct a narrative which suits the image of herself she is keen to project. She tried to pull off the same trick in January when on ‘Good Morning Britain’ the story was that her ‘prolific use of social media is 100% linked to being abused as a child’. Evidence for this? None! Just a bit of wishful thinking.

http://www.itv.com/news/2017-01-03/karen-danczuk-my-selfies-were-100-linked-to-being-abused/

And how about the two year old story from February 2015, ‘Selfie-mad councillor Karen Danczuk is auctioning herself off this Valentine's day’?  What’s her excuse, sorry explanation, for this bit of self publicity? Or the story of a similar vintage which informs us that on first meeting her Harriet Harman told her 'You're too pretty to be interested in politics and should be in Girls Aloud' 

http://www.itv.com/news/granada/update/2015-02-11/a-valentines-date-with-danczuk/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2950535/Harriet-Harman-told-Labour-MP-s-wife-Karen-Danczuk-pretty-interested-politics-Girls-Aloud.html

Karen’s attempts to construct a narrative to project a particular image of herself will not doubt continue.   But we don’t have to buy into it.  The findings of the court stand because they have been tested under our adversarial system of justice.  What Karen is quoted as saying in the media and what she posts on Twitter have not, so we are free to believe as much or as little as we like.

She seems to me not to have ‘waived her right to anonymity’, but to have massacred it.  A figure of about £20,000 was mentioned in court for a newspaper story from 2015 almost two years before the verdict. It was no doubt coincidence that this story came out at much the same time as the ‘Valentine dinner’ and the Harman story.  Whether the spate of post trial media stories have been a ‘nice little earner’ I don’t know, but I cannot help having noticed how often the images which accompany them are attributed to agencies which are not unknown to the Danczuk duo.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/39912/i-was-raped-age-6-by-a-family-friend/

If Karen has any serious pretensions to a career in politics she will stop trying to be famous and aiming to be a celebrity, drop her smart phone in the canal and get a proper job.
I’m not holding my breath.

Looking for a lucrative story!

 'anything can happen in politics!!'

ASPIRING politician, Karen Danczuk, has just Tweeted:

 Karen DanczukVerified account‏@KarenDanczuk 10h10 hours ago

'Since trial I've had 5 attacks on car (slashed tyres,diesel,nails,paintwork) I'm sure its coincidence but remember, I travel with 2 boysKD'

As a consequence The Sun has reported today:  

'Last year she bravely waived her right to anonymity to talk about being raped by her brother between the ages of nine and 11 to encourage other survivors of sexual abuse to speak out.
Burke, 38, was jailed in December after being convicted of eight counts of rape and one other serious sexual offence against Ms Danczuk and two other women following a trial.'
All this will help her to continue to create an image of an heroic public figure, and to counter those malcontents who have merely sought to present the lively lass as a trollop and a tart.
Everyone who has sat in the council chamber at Rochdale Town Hall while she was a councillor for Kingsway Ward, will have seen how fine a figure she cuts working-her-fingers-to-the-bone on her Twitter Account, while at the same time dealing with council business.
Talk about multi-tasking!
There's few better!
You never know Karen!
With the Labour Party in such a present state of disorientation, and now seems to be utterly frightened to death of even expelling her disorderly ex-husband Simon Danczuk for bringing the party in to disrepute.
It's just possible given the crazy world we live in that the party may even end up expelling Jeremy Corbyn and crowning Mr. Danczuk as its new leader.  In such circumstances Karen may get her wish to be an Honarable Member for somewhere or other.  In a Tweet today she says:  
'anything can happen in politics!!' .
Karen DanczukVerified account‏@KarenDanczuk 14h14 hours ago

Never thought I'd be waking up to see Labour hold #StokeCentral Just shows, anything can happen in politics!! KD

'Musical Beggars' and one disreputable MP

by Brian Bamford

TODAY, Northern Voices' did a survey of Rochdale town centre looking for the beggars reported to have been infesting the area between the Rochdale Exchange part way up Yorkshire Street, and the Wheatsheaf Centre entrance.
During my unscientific investigation I didn't discover one beggar, and began to worry if the tribe of beggars had been intimidated by the local MP for Rochdale, Simon Danczuk, who was whingeing in parliament last week, and in the media about the level of begging in Rochdale town centre.  He even castigated the Greater Manchester Police for not being more proactive in moving Rochdale's paupers on.
I spoke to one shopkeeper on The Walk, and she claimed the beggars come in shifts:  'it's like musical beggars, not musical chairs, round here,' she said. 
I said that I'd toured the area on Monday afternoon, and hadn't seen the lad who usually sits begging at the end of Yorkshire Street.  The shopkeeper insisted that the beggars didn't come until later, and that they kept away when the cops were around.  'The police do move them on!', she said.
But everyone was critical of the paupers and beggars, I approached a 'Busker' half way up Yorkshire Street, and I asked him where had all the beggars gone:  He told me they were still around and hadn't been frightened off my the belly-aching Mr. Danczuk.
I wondered if the good MP for Rochdale, who himself is down on his luck having been suspended from the Labour Party for disreputable behaviour, could possibly have mistaken Busking for begging when he took to counting the beggars on the short walk up Yorkshire Street to his office, where once he himself is reputed to have spent time bonking a lass on the office desk before breakfast?
The Busker said 'he can class me how he likes but I've got a license from the Council for what I do!'
He then told me how he 'felt guilty' when sometimes the local beggars throw money into his collecting tin, and he expressed surprise at how Mr. Danczuk had got away for so long in this town with his own disreputable conduct.
As I wandered off, the Busker began singing:  'I'll Do It My Way'
Meanwhile yesterday, when it comes to spare change Danczuk's former wife, Ms. Karen Danczuk, tweeted cheerfully about 'That moment when you find money in a coat you've not worn for a few weeks'.*

*  Karen DanczukVerified account ‏@KarenDanczuk 20h

That moment when you find money in a coat you've not worn for a few weeks KD #result

Simon Danczuk's snare of self delusion

by Les May

THE snare of self delusion is one to which we all have a tendency to fall prey, though it is a trait which seems much better developed in some people than in others.  Kept to ourselves it may appear to others merely as misplaced ambition.  Shared too often with others and it may gain us the accolade of ‘bullshitter’.  If you find the term a little indelicate then in my defence I should point out that it has a respectable philosophical pedigree and been the subject of academic study.
https://www.stoa.org.uk/topics/bullshit/pdf/on-bullshit.pdf

These musings were prompted after reading Simon Danczuk’s latest outpourings to the Manchester Evening News and repeated in the Rochdale Observer and Daily Mirror.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/suspended-mp-simon-danczuk-claims-12382981

According to Simon 'Labour has "no choice" but to accept him back into the party in the new year' and backs it up with 'I’ve met with chief whip Nick Brown and he says there’s no case to answer.'  Big mistake Simon!

Now we don’t know what was actually said at the meeting because we only have Simon’s version to go on.  But I don’t imagine that he has made a friend of Nick Brown by immediately reporting a private conversation to the press.  At best it looks like an attempt to put pressure on the Labour party and put Nick Brown in the position of seeming to be at odds with its decision making process if Danczuk does not get his own way immediately.

He then stands reality on its head by going on to say '… it’s taken so long because I have been a vocal critic of the leadership.'  No Simon!  It’s because of your attacks on Corbyn that you have not been kicked out of the party long ago.  

Confrontation isn’t Corbyn’s style.  When he made an effort to be conciliatory towards Simon and listen to his complaints,  just as after his conversation with Nick Brown, Simon rushed off to tell his story to the press.  The only difference being that as his name was on that article he presumably turned it into a ‘nice little earner’.  
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3288055/Corbyn-night-President-XI-boring-SIMON-DANCZUK-got-hauled-leader-MoS-columns-result-best-one-yet.html

Corbyn is astute enough to know that if he is going to unite the Labour party kicking out a self styled critic will only give credibility to him.  The first time Simon tried to talk up his own importance in October 2015 just after Corbyn was elected, John McDonnell dismissed his threat to launch a leadership challenge, with the words 'That's Simon being Simon.'
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/simon-danczuk-threatens-topple-jeremy-6700810

Within days of Danczuk being suspended from the Labour party for what he later admitted was ‘inappropriate behaviour’, he was blaming his actions on a ‘drink problem’ and facing a police inquiry regarding a rape allegation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35204398
https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/937605/simon-danczuk-breaks-silence-on-sex-text-shame-i-was-drunk-horny-and-alone/
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/04/labour-mp-simon-danczuk-facing-police-inquiry-rape-allegation

That didn’t stop him threatening legal action against the party within a fortnight and demanding an explanation for action ‘detrimental to his reputation’.  Who says lawyers don’t have a sense of humour?  
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/16/simon-danczuk-threatens-legal-action-over-labour-suspension

Things didn’t improve for him in February when the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) launched an investigation into a complaint over expenses claimed for having his children stay at his London second home.  Expenses that, in the view of the complainant, he was not entitled to.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/feb/01/simon-danczuk-investigation-mps-expenses-rochdale-ipsa
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/labour-mps-expenses/12118816/Investigation-opens-into-suspended-Labour-MP-Simon-Danczuks-expense-claims.html

Or March when IPSA reported:  'The compliance officer must also conclude that this was done knowing that there was no reasonable prospect of the children staying at the accommodation'.
Simon agreed to repay more than £11,000.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/18/simon-danczuk-labour-agrees-repay-expenses
http://parliamentarycompliance.org.uk/transparency/ClosedInvestigations/2015-16/Danczuk%20Simon/2016-03-18%20-%20Danczuk%20Simon%20-%20Statement%20of%20Provisional%20Findings.pdf

At much the same time came the announcement:  ‘Police confirm they are looking into allegation of fraud over money claimed for children.’
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/simon-danczuk-police-investigate-expenses-10993622

All this still left him time to interfere in the internal politics of Bangladesh.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/24/bangladesh-government-angered-simon-danczuk-sanctions


Simon was just as busy generating adverse publicity in April when The Sun ran a piece with the heading of ‘Expenses cheat Simon Danczuk now using taxpayers’ cash to pay ex-wife Karen to work for him’
https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/politics/1135202/expenses-cheat-simon-danczuk-now-using-taxpayers-cash-to-pay-ex-wife-karen-to-work-for-him/
Things did not improve in June.  The Sun ran a story with the header 'Shamed Simon Danczuk claimed money for ‘crisis management’ after The Sun exposed his sordid texts to teenage girl https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1352498/shamed-simon-danczuk-claimed-money-for-crisis-management-after-the-sun-exposed-his-sordid-texts-to-teenage-girl/
And the Zelo Street blog claimed to know who get the money for the ‘crisis management’.   http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/simon-danczuks-consultant-revealed.html
But he did get a richly deserved reward in June when he it was announced that he was to have a building named after him. http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/more-crappy-behaviour-surrounding.html
In August Simon got lucky, really lucky.  After a family row at their ‘gaffe’ in Spain ex-wife Karen emerged from hospital with some forty stitches in a her upper chest caused by Simon kicking in a glass door, parts or all of which fell on Karen.  Serious though this was, it could have been much worse and possibly fatal, if one of those pieces of glass had severed a blood vessel.  That was his first stroke of luck.
The second was that Karen did not press charges.  If she had he would have emerged from court as a ‘wife beater’ and, thick skinned though he is, even he would have had to resign or be expelled from the Labour party.  His third stroke of luck was that ‘harridan tendency’ in the Labour party, which usually has a lot to say about real and imaginary violence against women, were obviously on holiday that week and could not find time to comment. http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/danczuks-in-boozy-bust-up.html  https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1623573/karen-puts-injured-chest-under-wraps-as-she-heads-off-to-tell-court-to-free-mp-hubby/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1629869/karen-danczuk-spotted-with-gruesome-wounds-after-waiter-bust-up-with-estranged-hubby-simon/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1646861/karen-danczuk-says-shes-scarred-for-life-after-mp-hubby-simon-kicked-in-glass-door-during-crazed-bust-up-on-family-holiday/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1636054/mp-simon-danczuk-faces-second-police-investigation-for-attacking-his-ex-wife-on-holiday-in-spain/

This incident had some remarkable parallels with what had happened between the couple in Spain eight years earlier:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3157459/Disturbing-questions-Simon-Danczuk-crusades-against-abuse.html

Throughout much of October Danczuk was embroiled in a dispute with the Greater Manchester Police Federation over ill considered remarks he had made over the investigation into claims of sexual abuse at Knowl View special school.
http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/danczuk-having-realistic-chance-of.html
http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/danczuk-given-ultimation-to-cough-up-by.html
http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/tonightm-danczuk-in-lions-den.html
http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/dodger-danczuk-doesnt-deliver.html

This spilled over into November and raised questions about Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd’s unwillingness either to praise his officers for the investigation of events at Knowl View or condemn Simon Danczuk for his comments.
http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/tony-lloyd-pcc-is-there-conflict-of.html

If you listen to Simon he is full of stories about the support he gets from his local party and his constituents.  But lets face it so that does not count for much.  To judge from things which occasionally pop into my ‘Inbox’ his actual support only extends about as far as Labour Leader Richard Farnell’s remit runs.

Simon’s view seems to be that because the investigation into the rape allegation have been concluded and he has not been charged, his other antics during the past year should be ignored and the Labour party should lift his suspension.  What he conveniently forgets is that there is still the small matter of the Metropolitan Police investigation into whether the claims he made for his children residing with him at his London house constitute fraud.

Like the rest of us he will just have to wait and see.     

Who is the real Karen Danczuk?

AS Karen Danczuk, the estranged wife of Simon Danczuk MP for Rochdale, was  pictured last week in The Sun newspaper entering La Belle beauty parlour in leafy Cheadle, Stockport, she said 'My healing starts now'.  She followed this up by branding her own 38-year-old brother, Michael Burke, a 'selfish coward' and declaring 'I hope he rots in jail'.  Mr. Burke had just been sentenced to 15-years on eight counts of rape and one indecent assault against his sister and two other women who cannot be named.  Mrs. Burke had previously told The Sun, 'My brother is a monster for raping me'.  She had told the jury the abuse perpetrated by her brother had ruined her schooling, left her incapable of love and intimacy and that she struggles with depression and anxiety.  Those of our readers who may not had seen Karen Danczuk, who is said to be a regular panelist on ITV's 'Loose Women', and has performed on 'Bear Grylls', may care to peruse the colourful detailed report below in The Sun's rival newspaper The Mail on Sunday published in July 2015:
 'claim of threats to kill ...' - The Danczuk's Dark Side!
Simon Danczuk and estranged wife Karen and a 'claim of threats to kill ...'

www.dailymail.co.uk/.../Disturbing-questions-Simon-Danczuk-crusades-against-abuse...

Dark side of the Danczuks: A Spanish family holiday suddenly abandoned.  A text that read: ‘I’m scared.’  A claim of threats to kill... Disturbing questions about the MP who crusades against abuse

By David Rose for The Mail on Sunday

PUBLISHED: 22:06, 11 July 2015 | UPDATED: 13:50, 12 July 2015

It’s not often I say this but I’m scared,’ said the midnight text that Karen Burke sent to her mother, Sue, from Spain. ‘Who knows how long I’ll have to stay in [the] airport for? I can’t believe he’s done this!’ It was very late on August 25, 2008, and Karen’s future husband Simon Danczuk was about to dump her, their infant son, Milton, and her seven-year-old niece Eboni at Alicante airport after a titanic holiday row – without airline tickets or enough money to get home.

Soon to be elected as Rochdale’s Labour MP, Mr Danczuk would later become famous as a scourge of child abusers. But that day at Alicante after an evening of escalating conflict with his partner, he seemed ready to leave both Karen and the children to their fates. They were forced to wait at the airport all night while her family in Rochdale desperately tried to arrange and pay for flights home for them the next day.

Today, The Mail on Sunday can reveal disturbing new details of this incident – and of contemporary statements about it drawn up for a secretive Labour Party inquiry. These alleged that although he was apparently provoked, Mr Danczuk not only abandoned but physically assaulted his partner.

The inquiry was held not to decide whether Mr Danczuk had attacked Karen but whether those who claimed he had, by so doing so had brought the party into disrepute. It ruled in Mr Danczuk’s favour and five party members were expelled. Interviewed by this newspaper last week, some of the statements’ authors – close members of Simon and Karen Danczuk’s families – insisted they stand by what they said, and they remain certain they are relating the story as Karen told it to them.

Mr Danczuk has always denied the row became violent and that he assaulted Karen. Afterwards, they were reconciled and she now also denies the claims of an assault. She told Rochdale Online that she was distressed by the accusation, describing it as ‘very offensive’. And Mr Danczuk slammed the allegations as ‘vicious mischief making’, adding that they were ‘totally untrue and absolute nonsense’.

But even if the allegations of violence were exaggerated, it is clear they emerged directly from what Karen told her family that night and during the following day. The incident raises disturbing questions about the volatility of the couple’s subsequent marriage – which recently juddered to a very public halt. Our investigation comes as the Sunday Mirror today reports bizarre claims that Mrs Danczuk considered paying a lapdancer £1,000 to sleep with her husband in an attempt to end their marriage. Today we can reveal that: 

For more go to 

www.dailymail.co.uk/.../Disturbing-questions-Simon-Danczuk-crusades-against-abuse...

How to be an Inmate?

Michael Burke must prepare his own narrative for cell-mates

by Brian Bamford – a former inmate at Strangeways HMP

IF Michael Burke, who was yesterday sentenced to 15-years jail having been found guilty of raping his own sister 'Selfie Queen' Karen Danczuk as a child, and sexually assaulting two other girls, is to avoid himself being brutalised and possibly raped in the British prison system, he must now be carefully preparing his own narrative to relate to the prison community on the wings. 
Only yesterday the Manchester Evening News (MEN) carried a story by a prison officer at Strangeways notorious Victorian prison in Manchester in which the unnamed source said 'staff are living in fear of violence and nothing is being done to stop inmates using drugs and mobile phones'.

'Out of Sight, Out of Mind'

English people tend to adopt the view of 'Out of sight, out of mind!' with regard to their own prison system, and the anonymous source told the MEN that 'It is clear the home secretary does not understand the issues staff face daily'.

The prison officer is reported to have said in a letter that 'prisoners have no respect for authority, are violent to fellow inmates and staff and take drugs such as spice.'

Furthermore, he wrote:  'There have been several incidents at HMP Manchester where staff have been threatened by prisoners and governors have done nothing to protect the staff.'

'Notoriety' of Defendant and 'Fame' of Complainant

Defending Burke, Nicholas Walker QC said Burke had suffered a downfall of a 'very public nature'.  And Mr. Walker added:  'It's a feature of this case he can't enjoy the luxury of anonymity as the others may enjoy'.  

The judge, Mr Justice Gilbart, told Mr. Walker QC that he was not sentencing Mr. Burke on the 'because of his notoriety' in the media but based of the evidence presented in Court.  Mr Justice Gilbart said of Mrs. Danczuk that though she was 'well known' the Court will protect those in the media, and she had been active as a Councillor. 

Karen Danczuk, the estranged wife of the disgraced Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk, had claimed her mother was distant, that her her father worked nights, and that her brother Michael had begun grooming her from the age of six for sex, before getting into bed and raping her from the age of nine as other siblings slept. 

Mr. Justice Goldbart, handing down the sentence to the defendant:  'Whether she (Karen Danczuk) was nine, ten or 11 at the date of the first rape is not clear, but on any view she was a young girl who not reached puberty.  After she had endured your attentions up to the age of 11 she stood up to you, you didn't touch her again.

'You have shown not a shred of remorse in your defence you spent much of your time claiming she had orchestrated a conspiracy against you, a claim I regard as entirely absurd.  Your second victim was a naïve 12-year-old ... you did not care whether she agreed or not, (went from heavy petting to) forcing yourself on her just as you had your sister.

'You ejaculated within her and you persuaded her and she persuaded herself that it was normal.

'You made (the third victim) submit.  Here too you alleged she was part of the conspiracy.' orchestrated by your sister.'

Mr. Justice Goldbart told Mr. Burke:  'You have an attitude to women that reveals a self-justifying lack of insight.'

Meanwhile, we must wait to see if any British newspaper carries another exclusive insightful interview with Karen Danczuk who claims to have suffered 'severe psychological harm'.

On the wings of a Total Institution

As Michael Burke goes into the cells to begin his sentence he will be entering what sociologists call a 'total institution'.  He will be striped, showered and searched before he gets to the cells on the reception wing.  He will be questioned as to any special dietary requirements.  I normally lie and declare myself to be a vegetarian in the hope that it may enable me to get more choice when the food is dished-up.

Once on the wings he must have a suitably convincing narrative to explain his predicament to his fellow cell-mates and other prisoners in the jail community. 

In Court Two of the Manchester Crown Court yesterday, Mr. Justice Goldbart, educated at the  University of Cambridge, may have preached to you about you having 'shown not a shred of remorse'.  That may well be the case, but the prison community is an entirely different jurisdiction from the Crown Court, and he will soon find out it applies its own rules and posses its own hierarchy and standards. 

Rule 43!

Michael Burke needs to prepare himself skillfully if he is not to end up segregated serving his ten-year sentence on Rule 43.*

To establish his status in the prison hierarchy Michael Burke will have to present a story which will  be acceptable and will gain him respect among the inmates.  To do this and survive on the wings, he needs to reaffirm his defence that a 'conspiracy' was 'orchestrated' against him by a group of people who had malicious intent.  In the context of an all-male community the idea of what the novelist Henry James called a 'capricious woman' would not be difficult for the average prison inmate to understand, (see 'The Princess Casamassima ).

For Mr. Burke to now suggest to his fellow prisoners that he is the victim of a 'conspiracy'  by an ex-girl friend and a former partner would not be something that the male prison community would find hard to understand, especially when one of the complainants has given an exclusive interview to the press.  Though it is not yet known if she will be paid for this.

Some substance may be given to this account by an exchange of e-mails in September/ October 2015, when Northern Voices was given a name of someone who had approached some women previously associated with Mr. Burke.

At that time we put the forward the following question to this individual:

'I have been given information from two separate sources that you were in contact with a number of Michael Burke's former girl friends or partners, some of whom subsequently went to the police.  'Could you confirm if this is true, and if it is, explain why you did this? 

'Look forward to your early response'

A reply came back to NV two days later in the form of a threat:

'These allegations are completely untrue, defamatory and may constitute a malicious falsehood if published.'

Considering this response and in the dangerous prison environment as described by the Strangeways prison officer above to the MEN, a conspiracy narrative could save Michael Burke's life.  Karen. Danczuk may have secured what she now calls 'closure' but she has done so by using the criminal justice system to deliver her own brother into the human jungle of the British prison system.  Meanwhile she can now get on with her life like she has been performing on 'Bear Grylls', or being paid to appear on 'Loose Women'.

As a sociologist/ ethnomethodologist as well as a former prison inmate, for practical purposes in prison I would advise Michael Burke to stick to the defence he presented in the Manchester Crown Court: that he is the victim of a 'stitch-up' by what the defence described as an 'attention seeker' and what the press call a 'Selfie Queen'.
*  Rule 43 states that any prisoner can apply to be taken into solitary confinement on a Vulnerable Prisoners Unit, for his own protection. Jailed police and prison officers, sex offenders and showbusiness celebrities often apply for this.