A Bit Of A Deadleg? by Les May

EARLIER today in a telephone conversation with a friend he commented that he thought his local MP was ‘a bit of a deadleg’. Now I’ve not had any dealings with this gentleman, who is the MP for Heywood and Middleton, so I cannot comment on the veracity of this statement. But it did take me back a few years to when our old friend Simon Danczuk, or as he is now more commonly called ‘the disgraced Simon Danczuk’, was MP for the neighbouring constituency of Rochdale.

MPs (and Councillors) hold their position thanks to the trust of the public so if you want to shift them because you don’t think they are up to the job or not being honest with the people who voted for them, it’s the public you have to find a way of telling.

After Danczuk published his book about Cyril Smith in 2014 the Letters page of the Rochdale Observer was for the next 18 months or so filled with correspondence challenging Danczuk account, asking that he produce some evidence for his attempts to link Smith with the unsavoury goings on at Knowl View school and pointing out that a story in the book involving the Northamptonshire Police was completely untrue.

If my friend wants to use the local media to publish his disquiet about his MP Chris Clarkson, he won’t be so lucky. The reader’s letters page of the Rochdale Observer has shrunk almost to the point of invisibility. In 2015 it occupied a full page and there was enough room for the editor to allow a three quarter page letter from Andrew Wastling, who now sends material to Northern Voices because he cannot get it published elsewhere.

Those of us who contribute to NV don’t fool ourselves into thinking that it is read by as many people as read the Rochdale Observer so it is no substitute for an inquisitive and questioning local paper with a boisterous letters page.

NV’s readership is more likely to be drawn from the subset of potential Observer readers who would identify themselves as to the left of the political spectrum, but who refuse to be be swayed by the present vogue for identity politics and the drift towards ‘cancel culture’, so in no sense does it compete with other local news outlets. Seeing it as a competitor was the mistake Rochdale Online made when it wanted to use material from Northern Voices without attribution to its author.

Local News Partnerships, which include both the Rochdale Observer and Rochdale Online, are a well intentioned attempt to support local news outlets and maintain their viability at a time when they have come under pressure from the availability of news on the World Wide Web 24/7. But the unintended consequences have been that the sense of place and local identity which local newspapers provided has vanished because essentially the same story can appear in a regional and local paper, and a diversity of voices has been replaced by what is essentially a single uninquisitive ‘foghorn’.

This lack of scrutiny has emboldened some of our local politicians to start down the track of believing that they no longer accountable for their actions. Rochdale already has one local councillor who first solicited a postal vote then voted twice in the 2018 local election, seemingly without suffering any consequences. In recent weeks we have seen that one councillor did not seem to think he had to even accept e-mails sent to his Rochdale MBC account. We have also seen that at least one councillor think it unacceptable that he should be questioned about why a council official who is supposedly doing a full time job with Rochdale MBC is being allowed to ‘moonlight’ in another well remunerated role.

In about eleven weeks time people in Rochdale are going to be asked to choose who they want to represent them on the Council. If all we are treated to are press releases from councillors because they are ‘good copy’ how can we do this in any meaningful way? It is time to shine some light on the murky political world of Rochdale.

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Distracting Dilemma of Deserving Councillor Class by Brian Bamford

WHO'S JUMPING JAB LINE-UP FOR VIRUS IN ROCHDALE?

NICK STATHAM of the local Rochdale democracy service, in last Saturday's Rochdale Observer delivered front-page story entited: 'Warning to Covid queue jumpers' with a byline 'Evidence some school staff have been "gaming" the system'.

On page 7 of the same Ob. issue he claims: 'A leaked emal from Rochdale council to all headteachers in the borough said some staff had been using an "inappropriaterly-shared" link intended only for NHS workers.' Furthermore, according to Gail Hopper head of children's services, this practice could 'scupper the borough's attempts to hit its vaccination targets, and even lead to doses being withheld by government.'

And Mr. Statham continues: 'The message reads: "Rochdale has a tight target to vaccinate all care home residents over 75 years and "clinically extreamely vunerable" residents, along with NHS and social care staff by February - if sufficent vaccine supplies reach us. This is a really challenging target. For every vaccine given to someone outside the priority groups, the risk is increased of our most vulnerable residents being delayed in receiving it".'

The message warns: 'The publicity of this happening would be very damaging for the borough. It will also increase the risk that NHSE cancels future supplies until it can be assured that the borough follows required process.'

COUNCIL CONFIRM COVID WARNING LEAK

A spokesman for Rochdale councile has confirmed that an e-mail was sent out to the Rochdale schools in the borough.

Their statement concluded: 'This letter was about a wider concern over the vaccination booking link being shared inappropriately, which has happening in many areas of the country. the letter is not about a specific school but an attempt to prevent abuse of the system.'

A LACK of INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM IN ROCHDALE

It is worth mentioning that local journalism in Rochdale in recent times has been notable for its lack of curiousity and penitrating investigative powers. The journalist Nick Starham himself was drafted in from Ludlow to take on the role of 'democracy service' to manage to see that local reports are circulated regularly and that the locals are informed about what's going on in their area.

It has not worked well, because the effect in the local media including the Rochdale Observer, Rochdale Online, and even the Manchester Evening News, has been that what we have got is a form of megaphone journalism in which people in power like the Rochdale Council issue press statements and the local news outlets obediently echo what they have to say. In normal circumstances Northern Voices would have welcomed the revelation of this leaked e-mail by Nick Statham. Perhaps we would have even labelled it an exclusive. But it does take much imagination to consider that this e-mail was deliberately leaked to the media by the top brass at Rochdale Council to distract the public from the fact that local councillors themselves have found a way of side-stepping the vaccination process and getting the innoculated ahead of schedule.

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BOLD & the local media

How much freedom of speech do we really have?
John Wilkins

THIS article summarises the problems a local campaigning group BOLD (Building Our Local Democracy) based in Middleton, has encountered with regard to freedom of speech.

It is an issue which is central to much of what the group is about as illustrated by the first two aims of the group:

1. Encourage more people to exercise their democratic rights, in order to bring power and decision making closer to the people.

2. Promote more democratic accountability and transparency in central and local government, public and private bodies.

Our last but one meeting focussed on the latest of a catalogue of scandals involving Rochdale councillors.  This being the caution accepted by the now Councillor Faisal Rana for casting votes in two different constituencies in the last round of Council Elections. Individual members of our group have contacted the Council, Heywood & Middleton Labour CLP and even the Local Government Ombudsman.

The last meeting concentrated on why many local people in Rochdale Borough will be oblivious of this and earlier scandals as there is inadequate coverage of local politics in the media here.  The local printed papers rarely print a letters column these days which was a way of getting more exposure on local issues.  Until recently Rochdale On – Line was an outlet for those wanting more political stories being put into the public domain.  A prolific contributor on politic issues as well as some of our members have complained about the dearth of comments from residents being published now as well as the archive of previous letters being deleted.

We have to speculate on the reasons behind this weakening of political expression. Could it be that the financial problems reported to be afflicting this news outlet means they are even more dependent on advertising finance from adverts placed by the Council?

In some ways this is not a new issue as a member claimed the child abuse scandal at Knowl View only became covered properly after exposure in 1979 with articles in Private Eye and later The New Statesan.

One member directly asked a local journalist why there was less coverage of public's letters in the local media.  His response was to the effect that there was little enthusiasm from management for printing views that were challenging to local politicians!  Some members regretted the loss of a political reporter for the local papers who was always willing to publish views from them.  One can only guess that his career change might have been due to the stifling of freedom of expression.

With regard to the national media there has long been an in-balance in newspapers with a more right wing agenda being pushed in 80%.  The BBC was also felt not to be always neutral and quite selective of issues it promoted.  A few years ago I asked the organiser of a meeting on TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) which such an important topic rarely got coverage.  The response was he had asked the same question of a senior BBC presenter to be told 'they 'were leaned upon' not to give the topic much exposure!

An example of the suppression of freedom of expression had been experienced by a member who edits a more left wing periodical.  The paper edition was blighted by the deliberate lack of distribution by the two conglomerates who have a virtual monopoly of it. Since then he has struggled to get just a few on-line editions out having suffered from a vendetta instigated by a local politician and taken up by the blogger Guido Fawkes. Unfounded insinuations of anti-Semitism have resulted in extensive abuse and also death threats to many contributors including a local MEP!

We explored some solutions to this impasse, one of which was more use of social media which is where most of the younger generation got their news.  Northern Voices kindly offered us space to put our views out.  Following a jocular observation that we could fly-post our views on lamposts another suggested the group could produce newsheets to give out in the town centres, particularly as the older generation still often preferred a written format to digital.  The member editor of the paper, The WORD, suggested a leaflet on local issues could be inserted in his paper when it gets back into print again. 
 

It is ironic that as we come up to the 200th. anniversary of Peterloo, an event that captured the attention of newspapers at that time and led indirectly to the creation of the Manchester Guardian, that we are in such a situation now.  We might in the interim return to the spreading of ideas through being like the 'Pamphleteers' of previous centuries!

Follow us on Facebook at BOLD = Building Our Local Democracy or for more information on our group e-mail j.wilkins248@yahoo.com

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The Slow Death of an Institution

by ‘Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells’

A COUPLE of years ago the Rochdale Observer published a report of a march by one of those three initial right wing groups ostensibly protesting about the grooming of teenage girls by a gang of Asian men.  The then leader of Rochdale Council, Richard Farnell, castigated the paper because he objected to the prominence given to the report. He wanted powers to ban such marches in future ostensibly on the grounds that they ‘scapegoated an entire community’. In other words he did not think that the people of Rochdale had any right to know what was going on in their town if he did not approve of it.

A week later the ‘Your Views’ section of the paper devoted to letters sent in by readers carried a contribution praising the report and objecting to both Farnell’s attempt to prevent legitimate protest and his attempt to keep residents from knowing about it.

In 2014, Simon Danczuk published a book about the town’s former MP, Cyril Smith, who had died four years earlier. I will be charitable and say that the book was not very good.   It contained material taken from Smiths ghosted autobiography, material that was clearly derivative from a 1979 piece in Rochdale Alternative Paper (RAP) about Smith unsavoury antics at Cambridge House hostel, material that was later shown to be demonstrably wrong and a lot of assertions for which there was no evidence produced, but which had the effect of making any further claims about Smith’s behaviour unreliable.

Throughout the summer of 2014 the Rochdale Observer carried material, thought by some people to have been placed by an associate of Mr Danczuk, which tried to implicate the local Lib-Dems in a ‘cover up’ designed to ensure that other things about Smith did not become known.

Also throughout the summer the ‘Your Views’ section of the paper regularly carried letters pointing out the deficiencies in Danczuk’s book and why it was not a reliable record.

If Richard Farnell had been allowed to get away with his objection to the original report it might just have had the effect of making the editor a bit more cautious next time.  It wasn’t the Home Affairs Select Committee which challenged Danczuk’s fanciful stories about Smith’s supposed antics being covered up by Special Branch and of Westminster paedophile rings, it was letters in the ‘Your Views’ columns of the Rochdale Observer.

In recent years there’s been a competitor to the Observer in the shape of the web based media outlet Rochdale Online which included a vibrant ‘Letters’ section.  Whichever of these news outlets a letter writer chose one thing was certain its contents would be scrutinised by local politicians.

Sadly that is a thing of the past. The Rochdale Observer first cut down the space devoted to letters from readers, then reduced the frequency of the column to the point where some things are out of date by the time they appear. Rochdale Online went the whole hog and got rid its letters pages completely.

A liberal democracy like ours needs these self correcting mechanisms.  Politicians need close scrutiny. Ideas need to be challenged.   We are moving to a time when politicians and journalists will have a monopoly on the dissemination of ideas. Twitter and Facebook are no substitute for a vibrant ‘Letters’ page in a newspaper or its web based equivalent.   With both Twitter and Facebook it is easy to become locked into a world in which we only hear the views of people we agree with.

Contributions to ‘Letters’ pages in newspapers aren’t perfect.  They can be badly written, erudite, bigoted, idealistic, trivial, important, liberal, conservative, revolutionary or reactionary.   But in local newspapers they give people a sense of belonging because they allow them to have their voice heard.  Our society will be all the worse for their loss.

Councillor Faisal 'Two Votes' Rana Rehabilitated?

by Brian Bamford

Councillor Rana's Agent Remembering a Postal Vote

ROCHDALE is a town that doesn't have a good name.  It's seen as a kind of dynasty of dirt.  In a letter in today's Rochdale Observer* a former leader of Rochdale Council, Colin Lambert writes:
'Here we go again,  Rochdale Council have another leader putting the reputation of the entire borough on the front page.... So what we do we have now, a disposed leader suspended by the Labour Party at a national level and being investigated by the Metropolitan Police..
'A current leader found to have brought the council and his position into disrepute. One Labour area which elected a Labour councillor in May, being investigated for election fraud.'

Mr Lambert in the same letter calls on the national Labour Party 'to intervene and suspend the Rochdale Borough Labour Group', and fearing that may not suffice he says 'It is time for the Government to send in the inspectors and run the council.'

Just above Mr Lambert's letter is another letter in rhe Rochdale Ob. bearing the Monika of none other than Councillor Faisal 'Two Votes' Rana, the councillor mentioned by him in his letter, who only last week admitted to election fraud by breaching the Representation of the People Act 1983'

The same letter appeared on ROCHDALE ONLINE  minus Councillor 'Two Votes' Rana on the 16th, August.  The letter itself is signed by five local councillors including the discredited Rana himself; a local green campaigner;  the Vicar of Rochdale, the Reverend  Coleman, and it calls for 'unity' declaring the 'racists will not win'.

Councillor 'Two Votes' Rana has distinguished himself in this respect, in so far as while living among the Great and the Good up Norden in his minor mansion on Bronte Close, he has delicated himself to housing poor whites among the working-class in his vast portfollio of many rented properties in down-town Falinge and elsewhere in central Rochdale.

*  The same letter from Colin Lambert appeared on Rochdale Online on the 10 August:

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/129/letters-to-the-editor/121227/letter-will-the-last-one-to-be-kicked-out-please-turn-off-the-lights

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Labour Leader Brought Council into Disrepute!

by Brian Bamford

THE leader of Rochdale’s Borough Council, Councillor Allen Brett, has now been found to have ‘brought himself, his office and the Council into disrepute’. This was the finding of an investigation into his conduct earlier this year before the local elections.

The investigation which was conducted by an independent solicitor, was launched in April after the local website Rochdale Online published an audio clip of comments he made at a local Labour Party meeting.

In the audio clip, Councillor Brett is heard explaining at an internal Labour Party meeting how a government grant of £12million is to be spent on the borough’s roads and footpaths.

Ending the two-minute clip, Councillor Brett can be heard saying:

‘

…the budget remains fixed at £12 million [inaudible]. I’ve been given an indicative list of where it’s likely to have [sic], but I’m not releasing it - because I’ll deny I’ve said this, and I’m very reluctant to say it even in this room –  if we don’t do [sic] successful in one ward, I might not spend any money in that ward. You can work that out, but I’ll deny I’ve said it; I will.’

This is followed, says Rochdale Online by ‘murmurs of “Milnrow” (a Rochdale ward) can be heard from others in the room as Councillor Brett says: ‘Because I’m not having, like I was canvassing yesterday, to be told in Milnrow…’

Councillor Brett has long been under criticism from a section of his party because of his long-term support for the notorious former Rochdale MP, Simon Danczuk, and also his loyal backing for his disgraced former predecessor as Rochdale Council Leader, Richard Farnell, who was discredited in a recent inquiry into child sex abuse.

Who Pissed on Rochdale Labour Party's Chips?

by Brian Bamford

Damaging 'Off the Cuff' politics of Dancuk, Farnell & Brett

AFTER last Thursday's local elections, West Heywood's Labour Councillor Jacqui Beswick,  announced her bid to take over the leadership of Rochdale Council by standing against Allen Brett the current leader.  She said:  'I don't want to drag up the past difficult times', but 'the bad press' she insisted, won't have helped the Labour Party in Rochdale.

At this Sunday's AGM the future of the Rochdale Labour Party will be in the balance, when elections are to be held for leader.  Tellingly, Councillor Beswick told the Rochdale Online website:  'I believe in change!  Not from the top down', but from the ward membership upwards.

Councillor Beswick stood before for the leadership last November, when the disgraced Richard Farnell stood down, but she failed to get in.  What she didn't say yesterday, is that she didn't succeed because of opposition from her minority group opponents with special cultural interests within the local Labour party.  Northern Voices, at that time, was told by sources close to the Party, that she lost because she refused to parley with these minority  'clans' with unique influence in the party.

Yet it may well be to these forces, which Councillor Beswick may be eluding to below when she talks of 'an opportunity for a new broom to sweep out the old order instead it was consolidated with backers of the former leader who seemed in denial'.

Yesterday, in her Rochdale Online interview, Councillor Beswick declared:

'Recent events in Rochdale have shown there is a need for change in Leadership.  Some of us tried to make this make this point when the national party asked the previous leader to step down last November following his evidence to the IICSA enquiry.

'This should have been an opportunity for a new broom to sweep out the old order instead it was consolidated with backers of the former leader who seemed in denial.

'Timescales were deliberately short and instead Richard Farnell's close ally and deputy [Allen Brett] took over. 

'At this time the level of change at the top was not sufficient, which is why a number of cabinet members and a deputy resigned last December.

'Rochdale and its residents deserve better than this and especially after the IICSA report that has identified historic failings 

'I believe fresh Leadership is important to take the Borough forward. For this reason I am putting my name forward at the next group AGM with an agenda for change that says the old ways of doing things are not good enough for Rochdale.'

With Allen Brett as the Labour leader, and with the former disgraced leader still in the wings as a Rochdale councillor, the Rochdale Labour Party is tainted by the political ghost of the disgraced former Rochdale MP, Simon Danczuk, to whom both were close.  All Danczuk's sexual peccadilloes, and the misdemeanours with regard to his expenses, have over the years soured the political atmosphere in the Rochdale Labour Party.  But, Councillor Allen Brett hasn't helped to clear-the-air by recently trying to dissemble his way out of what he said about being selective favouring Labour wards in spending the £12 million government grant on local road improvements, and then when caught out claiming this was just an 'off the cuff' remark.

This terrible triumvirate Danczuk, Farnell and Brett, all in the end pissed on the chips

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Disgraced Danczuk Damns ex-Crony Farnell

IN a 'leaked' letter on Rochdale Online website it was revealed last weekend that the disgraced former MP for Rochdale, Simon Danczuk, had earlier told the Chairwoman of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) Prof. Alexis Jay, OBE, that he believed it to be 'inconceivable that Councillor Richard Farnell was not aware of what went on at Knowl View'.

Mr Danczuk wrote:  'The point here is that Councillor Richard Farnell has spent a considerable amount of his life in Rochdale and has been deeply involved in the Labour Party for many years, it would have been impossible for him not to have heard the rumours and accusations about Knowl View.'

Danczuk added:  'Also, Councillor Farnell is a very "hands on" leader and any of his colleagues would know that he would expect to be told if there was a problem, or there would have been adverse consequences for them for not having told him.'

Danczuk's damning of his former pal Richard Farnell, himself now a fellow battle scared warrior in the culture of political disgrace owing to the findings of Alexis Jay's Child Sex Abuse Inquiry, contrasts vividly with the support Councillor Farnell then leader of Rochdale Council, gave Simon Danczuk when he was suspended from the Labour Party in 2015.  In another leaked letter dated the 18th, January 2016, and drafted by Richard Farnell to the then General Secretary of the Labour Party, and copied to Jeremy Corbyn, Councillor Farnell wrote touchingly in support of Simon Danczuk MP:
'We (the Rochdale Labour Party's Executive Committee) would like assurances from yourself and the Leader of the Labour Party that Mr Danczuk will receive a fair and proper hearing by the Party in respect of the allegations made against him and that any decision will be based entirely on factual evidence. '

Indeed, the Rochdale Labour Party loyaly backed Simon Danczuk right up to the moment Mr. Danczuk cut-up his Labour Party membership card when he was deselected for the job as Rochdale's MP.

Councillor Farnell responding to Danczuk's damning statement told Rochdale Online:
'Mr. Danczuk's letter is all supposition and guesswork and that's the reason he was not called to give evidence as he has no knowledge of the events which happened 26 years ago....'

The current leader of Rochdale Council, who himself has now been accused of impropiety regarding his comments with regard to Council business, when asked failed to comment on Mr. Danczuk's letter to the Child Sex Abuse inquiry.

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Seeking Facts in a Sea of Obfuscation

by Brian Bamford

CARL FAULKNER, the Independent candidate for Spotland and Falinge ward in the coming local elections in Rochdale on May 3rd, has written a letter to the Rochdale ONLINE Blog complaining about how people have been excluded from the cabinet meetings of Rochdale Council. 

Mr Faulkner writes:  'It is my belief that the authority which permits this, is being abused to prevent press and public scrutiny of contentious matters.'

He gives a local example:  'discussions that have been taking place with a view to the leasing out of Falinge Park to a private organisation (Vintage Worx).  The incentive being that this organisation will then be able to apply for external funding grants of up to £2.5 million, to help maintain and improve the park (this is a claim made by the company itself).  There has been no public discussion of this proposal.'

 And he claims:  'Labour councillors and at least one senior council employee, are actively preventing public and press scrutiny of the plans to lease out the park.'

This suggests a reluctance on the part of the Rochdale Labour council to let the public know what is going on.

In his letter Mr. Faulkner tells us the '...process [to lease out Falinge Park to a private organisation (Vintage Worx)] commenced with the presentation of a report by Mark Widdup (Director of Neighbourhoods) at a Cabinet meeting held on 1 February 2017.'

And surprise, surprise, he tells us that 'at that meeting it was recommended that both he and Councillor Cecile Biant should be appointed to the board of Vintage Worx.'

But then there was no proper public scrutiny, because the press and public were not allowed to be present when the report was presented.  At the same time there has been no public discussion of this matter at any public forum before or since that time.

Now given what has happened with the basket-case company Carillion in Tameside, where the former Labour leader of Tameside MBC, Kieran Quinn, truly had his feet under the table with the Carillion bosses through his power base on Tameside Council and his seat a the head of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, it may be of some concern that the Rochdale Labour Councillor Cecile Biant is ascending to the board of Vintage Worx*.  Vintage Worx is not another basket-case giant like Carillion PLC, rather it is a pygmy development trust that could be an acorn from which great oaks grow.

Vintage Worx describes itself as 'a community led not for profit organisation' registered at Companies House.  This development trust seems to survive by applying for grants for what can presented as good causes, and a place like the notoriously deprived Falinge presents itself as something of a honey pot for grant gathering


But what really worries Carl Faulkner, who I spoke to this morning, is the secrecy which surrounds these kind of operations and developments in Rochdale.  

He writes:  'Falinge Park was donated to the people of this town over a century ago.  It therefore belongs to the people of this town.  It is not a council purchased capital asset.  It is for the people of this town to have a say in how it is managed and whether or not its legal status should change.
Any procedure to change its status – particularly if finance is an overriding concern – should be open and transparent.'

 Is this a vain expectation given that Rochdale is virtually a one-party state with no serious opposition from the conservative councillors.

*  Meet Vintage Worx Community Development Trust:
Vintage Worx Community Development Trust (CDT) is a community led not for profit organisation dedicated to removing barriers to opportunities and committed to helping people maximise their talents and realise their full potential.
Based within Falinge Park, the local park of one of the most deprived areas of the country, the team of passionate volunteers who run Vintage worx have a nine year track record of successful engagement with the local community, a record that has only been possible through the sheer volume of community involvement in the projects, activities and events that are delivered.

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Castleton Councillor Collects Stipend Top-up

Council Leader says he has 'confidence' in Aasim Rashid

CASTLETON Councillor, Aasim Rashid, found himself under attack in the Rochdale Council Chamber on Wednesday night from the Lib-Dem leader, Andy Kelly, for snatching the stipend top-up he and others in the Labour and Tory parties voted through for themselves in December 2016.

At that time the Manchester Evening News headlined a report on this decision:  'Councillors booed as they vote to accept a 34% pay rise'.

Some councillors who voted for the pay hike said at the time that they wouldn't take the money.  One such was Castleton Councillor Aasim Rashid.  Yet, on the 19th, March 2018, the Rochdale Online Blog revealed:  'Labour councillor Aasim Rashid, from Castleton, who promised, “I’m not taking even a single penny increase in my allowance”, took the increase.'.

That's why at tonight's full Council meeting a flustered Labour leader, councillor Allen Brett had to declare: 'Councillor Rashid has my total confidence, he has my backing'

Councillor Brett also said 'Councillor Rashid didn't know that he had taken the extra allowance.'

Coumcillor Rashid wasn't in the Council Chamber last Wednesday to hear this spat, so he couldn't defend himself.  Perhaps he, like many other labour councillors tonight were out on the stomp to save their own seats at the coming local elections on the 3rd, May.*

But did Councillor Rashid really overlook his extra stipend as Councillor Brett suggests?  After all innumeracy isn't something he declares in his election literature.  Quite the contrary in his declaration he boasts:  'As a business owner I am familiar with finance and hence I have also served you on the Council by being responsible for council finances during what has been an exceptionally difficult time...'

So clearly Councillor Rashid, an economics graduate, has a better basic background in accountancy than most of us, and one would have thought that with his solid familiarity with finance that he would easily be able to get his head round a simple bank balance showing that his councillor's allowances had soared by some 30% or so.

When this week I asked him to explain why he took the money, Councillor Rashid fail to respond.

Councillor Kelly said that he well remembered a local Labour MP, who had had habit of claiming too much in his expenses claims.   Perhaps it is just a necessary family trait in the Rochdale Labour Party, because black sheep like Labour Councillor Chris Furlong, who tonight attended his last Council meeting found himself deselected by the party for failing to support the super stipend boost in 2016.


* About 30 Labour councillors failed to attend last Wednesday's full Council meeting.

Councillors who Snuggled-up to a Super Stipend

Editor Northern Voices:  ON Monday the 19 March 2018 the 

Rochdale Online website reported that in Rochdale the 

Councillor's allowances will 'top one million' pounds.

Helpfully, Carl Faulkner, the Independent candidate for

Spotland and Falinge, exposed how the Rochdale councillors

had shared out their generous stipend pay among themselves.

 Among the opposition, only the Lib Dem councillors 
Andy Kelly and Irene Davidson voted against the rises 
and refused the increase, meanwhile on the Labour 
side councillors Andy Bell, Malcolm Borriss, 
Chris Furlong and Billy Sheerin also refused the increase.
Of the 60 Rochdale councillors, according to Rochdale
Online, all the others including the Tories took the
extra State stipend either in part or in full.

Below Carl Faulkner gives his views on the way the Rochdale 
municipal establishment handled the issue of their own stipend:

NO MANDATE TO UP COUNCILLOR'S ALLOWANCES !
by Carl Faulkner

NOT a single councillor was press-ganged into becoming a councillor.  It is an entirely voluntary position.  Not a single councillor has ever stated that if elected, they will be wanting increased allowances.  

If the allowances were not sufficient, then they should have not stood or alternatively, stepped down – there would not have been any shortage of people willing to take their place.

The way in which the rise in allowances was brought about was indicative of the self-serving way in which councillors and senior council officers often act.  The public were given one week’s notice; the rise itself was timed to come into effect in a year that there were no elections.  

It was a cynical, deliberate act to exclude public opinion from the process.  But it was entirely consistent with the arrogant and underhanded way in which the public (and press) are deliberately excluded from major decisions of public concern.

But should we be surprised?   It is councillors who decide on the appointment of the Chief Executive.  It is the Chief Executive, at a time of his choosing,  who hand picks the panel who then recommended the extortionate rises.  The favour returned.

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Letter: Rochdale's Political Establishment

THE letter below first appear earlier this month on the Rochdale On-line website:

 

Dear Editor,

Rochdale's political establishment

It must be time for a change of Rochdale's political rulers. Time has moved on for the political establishment. Councillors from the largest parties have run the town over a considerable number of years and are no longer serving the best interest of residents and voters. Too many seem to think that they are so self important that they are entitled to a (34%) pay rise when their employees suffer..The Labour Party nationally may have moved on with fresh policies but the local Labour Party is rooted in the past and bears little resemblance to it. The local party, it should be remembered; promoted, supported and continually excused and defended a person who, as MP, brought this town into disrepute. They have also turned on the one Labour councillor who vocally objected to the 34% rise and stopped him from standing in next May's local election. There appears to be little tolerance for an alternative view,

It is time to replace greed, self interest and intolerance with positive actions and policies.

The councillors rise of 34% should betaken away with them making sacrifices like everyone else.We need positive policies for this town, not greed and self interest and intolerance. The councillors' should be making sacrifices like everyone else. For most councillors, an additional 10% cut in their pay would not be a great hardship.

The way in which the council allows builders to get out of legally binding agreements to provide community improvements is a scandal. If a figure is agreed when a planning application is made, the council should insist on full payment.Other issues are also worrying, the ongoing secrecy over the Turner Brothers site with the council being run ragged by the foreign based owners and the destruction of the Green Belt.

The local elections are a good time for independents and smaller parties, such as the Greens, who are concerned with promoting policies for the benefit of all of us. Remember, the May elections are about local issues and I would encourage people to vote for the best candidates with the will to improve the town.

Regards,

M.Coats

Councillor Furlong may be praying for rain!

YESTERDAY, after appearing before an independent panel, the Middleton Labour Councillor Chris Furlong  confirmed that he has not been reselected to stand in the May 2018 local election.

 

Councillor Furlong has said:  'I will not be standing anywhere next year.  I will continue as Labour councillor until May 2018 for the people of North Middleton.  I will continue to work hard and stand up for the people of North Middleton as best as I can, which I have done since 2014.'

The councillor continued to say:
'There has been speculation regards the reason of why I did not appeal the decision not to allow me on the Labour selection panel for next year’s local election.  I did originally appeal, and it was an appeal I thought that I would be successful with.  However, I decided to withdraw that appeal.'

All of the above was reported on Rochdale online, but what was not reported was Councillor Furlong's final paragraph:

'I have been informed that there may be information that may be made public during the forthcoming Cambridge House/Knowl View Inquiry about an individual.  I would like to point out that the individual in question is not me or anyone actually connected with me and this information was not even provided by me, however, this information has helped me come to the decision to withdraw my appeal.  I cannot say any more until after the inquiry when I will expand further on why this information helped me decide not to appeal and I will not be making any further comment until then.'

Given the continuing dire speculation surrounding the position of the Labour leader of Rochdale Council, Richard Farnell, with regard to what may come out of the forthcoming enquiry into Knowl View school, it may be that Councillor Furlong is being a trifle tactical here, and even, dare one say it, praying for rain?

******

Rochdale Election Result:

 Tony Lloyd - Labour 29,035
Jane Howard - Conservative 14,216
Andy Kelly - Liberal Democrat 4,027
Christopher Baksa - UKIP 1,641
Simon Danczuk - Independent 883
Andy Littlewood - Greater Manchester Homeless Voice 242

ROCHDALE ONLINE report at the election count:

 'Rejected by Labour as its candidate, Danczuk [Rochdale's former MP] was well and truly rejected by the electorate of Rochdale attracting an embarrassing 1.76% of the votes cast - losing him his deposit.

'Rubbing salt into Danczuk's monumental ego, his attempt to cost Labour's Tony Lloyd the seat with a despicable smear campaign backfired as Mr Lloyd won with the largest majority ever recorded in the constituency.

'Churlish to the very end, Danczuk refused to be interviewed and stormed out of the count hours before the result when it quickly became obvious he had failed in a quite spectacular fashion.

'The people of Rochdale can now rejoice that Danczuk is finally history, no more sex scandals, no more expenses scandals, no more milking the system for every penny he can get, no more lurid headlines in the national media dragging Rochdale through the mud time and time again.'

Rochdale Election: Careerism vs Moral Compass

YESTERDAY, Rochdale Online editor gave his carefully calibrated opinion on the candidates in the  Rochdale election concluding with the controversal former MP, Simon Danczuk:
'We end with the most controversial candidate, the disgraced former MP Simon Danczuk, standing as an Independent - a man who has shown himself to be wholly unsuited to be an MP will fail to muster anything like the number of votes he expects. Not so low as to lose his deposit, as his many detractors are hoping, but low enough to deal his ego a blow.'
Mr. Danczuk, it will be remembered, increased his majority in the 2015 General Election and at that time the Manchester Evening News reported:
'Simon Danczuk held on to Rochdale for Labour - scooping the biggest majority ever seen in the constituency. 
'He polled 20,961, ahead of second-placed UKIP candidate Masud Mohammed, who claimed 8,519 votes.
'Conservative challenger Azi Ahmed came in third with 7,742 votes, followed by Liberal Democrat Andy Kelly with 4,667.'
It will also be remembered that in the May 1979 General Election, Cyril Smith increased his majority just after he'd been 'outed' as a bully and child abuser at Cambridge House in Rochdale's Alternative Paper (RAP). 
As a consequence of this perverse result one of the editors of RAP, later told me that he departed Rochdale forever, in disgust.

Every country has the government it deserves. Joseph de Maistre
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/josephdema138331.html

As Joseph de Maistre said:  'Every country gets the government it deserves'.

Every country has the government it deserves.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/josephdema138331.html

Perhaps every town like Rochdale, gets the MP it deserves!
The editor of Rochdale Online, himself reported to be a member of the Labour Party, wrote approvingly of Tony Lloyd the Labour candidate:
'Whilst he will not reach the lofty heights of the local Labour vote at the last general election (which was inflated by the Lib Dem collapse locally and nationally), Mr Lloyd's message of experience and a safe pair of hands still looks set to give him a reasonable majority.'
Hence, Rochdale may end up exchanging a degenerate form of politics with the colourful Mr. Danczuk for a 'safe' dyed-in-the-wool careerist in Mr. Lloyd.
If we were looking for moral compass we would have to casr our eyes elsewhere:  perhaps to  the outsider Andy Littlewood, standing as the 'Greater Manchester Homeless Voice' candidate or Andy Kelly, the Liberal Democrat, who almost single-handedly opposed the generous rises in councillor's allowances last December.

Electoral Fraud & the local media

THE letter below was sent to Nothern Voices yesterday, it is a copy of the letter originally sent to the editor of ROCHDALE ONLINE.  It was published on the ROCHDALE ONLINE website yesterday.   We re-print this letter for the benefit of our readers in order to raise awareness of a problem improper conduct by some in the electoral process.  We understand that a letter on the same issue has been sent to the Rochdale Observer.  We have the author, Carl Faulkner's permission to reprint this letter.

Dear Editor,

As I read the recent article ‘Voters urged to be on alert to the risk of electoral fraud’, the old adage ‘action speaks louder than words’, came to mind.

All the regulations, telephone numbers and guidance is of no use if those involved are keen to brush it under the carpet.

For that is what has happened here in Rochdale.  Anti-fraud documentation mysteriously disappeared from a Rochdale polling station (Spotland and Falinge ward) before the count took place. None of the candidates were informed; the Electoral Commission were not informed; neither were the police; councillors were not interested.

It was only by chance that I actually discovered what had happened. And so, I duly informed those tasked with investigating such matters. The Electoral Commission incorrectly told me there was nothing they could do.  The police decided not to investigate because the council had told them they were treating the missing anti-fraud documentation as lost property. The council had no issues with the person tasked with overseeing the election (Acting Returning Officer). Job done. Panic over.

If anyone has any concerns about potential electoral fraud, do not think that by simply reporting the matter, a concerted effort will be made to get to the bottom of it. Be prepared to hold those responsible to task.

Regards

Carl Faulkner

Now Sara Rowbotham backs Tony Lloyd!

IN what looks like a panic move Rochdale Labour Councillor Sara Rowbotham, who was played by Maxine Peake in the BBC docu-drama 'Three Girls', has gone on record saying she has given her full support to Tony Lloyd, the Rochdale Labour Party candidate in the 2017 general election next month.

Sara, a sexual health worker who played a vital role in getting abused girls’ voices heard by persistently reporting cases of child abuse as a sexual health worker, has told ROCHDALE ONLINE that Mr Lloyd has her '100% support'.

Sara told Rochdale Online: "Tony Lloyd has my 100% support as Labour's candidate for Rochdale.

Curiously, this follows on the heels of a tweet by Maggie Oliver, another key figure in exposure of the story of the 'Three Girls' docu-drama, who over the weekend circulated a message attacking Tony Lloyd as unhelpful:

Sara Rowbotham said of prospective Labour parliamentary candidate Tony Lloyd:
'He has lots of experience and ability and will make a first class MP for the town.  Tony is just what Rochdale needs.  During his time as Greater Manchester's Interim Mayor he worked very closely with lots of community organisations.  He is well known throughout town.  Tony will work with everyone to build what is best about Rochdale and its people.'

Sara added:
'Tony will fight the disastrous Tory cuts to our local schools which will mean bigger class sizes and teachers facing the sack. Tony will be the strong and experienced voice Rochdale needs right now.'

Where have we heard that before?   Labour councillors like Sara Rowbotham have been fighting Tory cuts for years while implementing Tory cuts at the same time.  Meanwhile, didn't Sara vote against the
proposed increase in councillors' allowances on the 14th, December last year..  As ROCHDALE ONLINE reported at the time:
'The proposal to increase councillors' allowances by a massive 34%, and Council Leader Richard Farnell's allowances by a whopping 51%, has been met with public outrage and a protest has been organised outside the Town Hall....'

Despite all the crocodile tears about 'Tory cuts' talked about by Labour Party councillors like Sara Rowbotham she was loyal to the Labour whip imposed by her council leader, Richard Farnell. 

*************************************

Free Speech & Humbug at Cocka Doodle Moo

by Brian Bamford

SIMON Danczuk earlier today threatened to pull out of a hustings event at a venue in Rochdale should any BuzzFeed reporter attend, following the publication over the weekend by BuzzFeed of a story about his election paperwork.
The hustings event, due to take place on Tuesday at Cocka Doodle Moo in the centre of Rochdale, is to be hosted by a local business networking group called #RochdaleHour.
The organiser of the event Damien Maddock initially withdrew his personal invitation to the #RochdaleHour business lunch, claiming 'his hand had been forced' after Danczuk said he would not attend if any journalist from the BuzzFeed organisation showed up, but reversed his decision after facing a backlash from the other candidates and local media outlets.
Mr Maddock was condemned for this by all the main participants to the event including Andy Kelly the Liberal Democrat, who told BuzzFeed News:  'I don't think it should be up to any one candidate to say which journalists should be at the event, and if the organisers want to let them do so I'm not interested in going' and 'I don't know if that will help me in the long run, but it's the right decision, a principled decision,' he added.
Rochdale Online editor Pauline Journeaux sternly said:  'Rochdale Online was attending but has now taken the decision not to do so in light of the ban on BuzzFeed. A stand has to be taken against this sort of anti-democratic behaviour.'
A Labour Party spokesperson told Rochdale Online:  'It is deeply concerning for a candidate to be allowed to prevent a well respected, bonafide news organisation from attending.'
Conservative candidate Jane Howard told BuzzFeed News it was 'unfortunate' that Danczuk had been allowed to dictate which media organisations could and could not attend.
She said:  'Any registered media outlet should be able to attend, and I'm disappointed that you're not able to do so.'
Robert Sharp, spokesperson for English PEN, said:  'These reports are very worrying. Political events should be open to all journalists, not just those who file positive stories about a candidate.  It is odd that this should be happening during a general election, when the political parties are surely seeking to broadcast their message to as many people as possible.  Candidates for political office need to reassure voters that they are open to scrutiny. Selectively refusing journalists access to events is not the way to build public trust.'
He added:  'If a politician thinks they have been unfairly treated by one outlet, then a better response would be to invite a greater range of journalists to cover future events.'
These are all noble sentiments by the parties concerned, and it is something Northern Voices would fully support given that we were politely escorted from a book reading by Mrs Karen Danczuk for questioning her then husband Simon too rigorously.
Yet still there is a whiff of hypocrisy about this outbreak of righteous indignation about democracy and free speech by the Rochdale political establishment.
In April 2015, at another husting for the 2015 general election at St Chads, all the parties fell silent as the National Front candidate Kevin Bryan was thrown out of the Parrish Church because the Church leaders felt that the far right party’s presence ‘may increase the likelihood of a breach of the peace’
On that occasion Northern Voices said:   'In doing this the Vicar of Rochdale defied the core ideas of the enlightenment and Voltaire, not to mention everyday democracy, by not giving the National Front an opportunity to present their views at an open forum in the Rochdale Parish Church.' www.northernvoicesmag.blogspot.com/2015/.../church-leaders-mr-bryan-noam-chomsky.h.  

In the present case once BuzzFeed News was allowed back into the event, the Rochdale Online editor Pauline Journeaux said she would also send a reporter to cover the hustings, and Andy Kelly said he would also attend the husting 'do', due to take place tomorrow at the Cocka Doodle Moo in the centre of Rochdale, is to be hosted by a local business networking group called #RochdaleHour.

At 7.30pm tonight, Rochdale Online reported:

'The hustings organisers have posted that Simon Danczuk has now confirmed he will be attending - so his initial threat not to do so if a Buzzfeed reporter was allowed to do so was an empty threat clearly intended to put unfair pressure on the event organisers.'

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.

Gold Rush For Rochdale Seat!

NEWS that Simon Danczuk MP, has at last been dumped as a candidate by the Labour Party, has led to  a band wagon effect in the local Labour Party as the leader of the Rochdale Labour Party, Councillor Richard Farnell, struggles to control the local membership.
Today, ROCHDALE ONLINE reports that 'at least three local Labour members, two of them councillors, are throwing their hats into the ring to be the party's candidate'.
In an email seen by Rochdale Online, Councillor Farnell said:
'I would ask that no one comments to the local/national media - referring them to the national Labour Party press office.  The decision on the selection of a candidate for Rochdale rests with the National Executive Committee.'
The three hopeful local Labour Party members wanting to stand in Danczuk's place are Councillor Chris Furlong; Castleton councillor Aasim Rashid and Former Lib Dem councillor Mark Birkett.
Backing Councillor Rashid is the Pakistani & Kashmiri Community Association. Spokesperson Mudassir Yasin said:  'We strongly recommend the idea of nominating a local person as the candidate for Rochdale who knows the issues and is keen enough to resolve them.'
An official decision will be announced after a meeting of NEC members on 3 May to approve candidates. The deadline for Labour’s candidate nominations is 5 May.