Welcome To Mushroom Town. by Les May

A FEW weeks ago I noticed that for one of our local councillors a link to the register of members’ interests was replaced by the words 'Not shown on website'. Why not I wondered; what’s the big secret?

Naïvely on 21 April 2021 I sent off an e-mail to the Chief Executive of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) to find out more. It read; I note that Section 7 Securities: contains the words 'Not shown on website'. Could you please clarify whether this conforms to what is commonly known as 'Best Practice' which is usually taken to mean a standard way of complying with legal or ethical requirements? I assume that in the interests of open government RMBC would normally wish to be seen as implementing 'Best Practice'. If there is a reason for 'Best Practice' not being followed in this case could you please inform me of the reason?

No response was forthcoming and on 5 May I sent a reminder and repeated my queries. Still no response, so on 20 May I sent a second reminder which once more repeated my queries, but this time I included the words ‘Am I to conclude from this delay that some officers of Rochdale Council have become corrupted and no longer act in a non-political manner?’

And with the speed of Zeus there came a reply! ‘The entries not shown on the website are due to the items being considered as sensitive by the previous Monitoring Officer of the Council. Any requests for such information should be submitted via the freedom of information process.’

Now my understanding is that any request for information should be treated as a request for information governed by the FOI Act even if that term is not expressly used by the requestor, so perhaps the second sentence in the reply is not quite true. Perhaps it is even intended to act as a further obstruction to enquiring minds?

I had dealings with the previous Monitoring Officer of the Council in late 2018 and early 2019 after I submitted a query about why a newly elected councillor had failed to comply with the requirement that pecuniary and other interests be registered within a set time period. Shall we just say that I found him monumentally evasive when pressed?

But what, you may ask, could possibly be so ‘sensitive’ about a councillor’s entries in the register of interests that a council officer thought it necessary to put an obstruction in the path of anyone wanting to know what they are? Was it the councillor that thought up this wheeze to avoid scrutiny or did the Monitoring Officer dream it up all by himself? Or, perish the thought, perhaps they conspired to keep this councillor’s business activities away from the gaze of prying eyes of the electorate? We shall never know! After all, this is Rochdale!

One might have hoped that a councillor from one of the other two parties would have noticed this and queried it, seemingly not. Perhaps they are hoping that they too can avoid scrutiny when the need arises courtesy of a similarly compliant Monitoring Officer?

Sadly that’s how things are in my home town. If Rochdale isn’t a town where council related matters seem to be a bit dodgy at times, it’s certainly giving a good imitation of one. The motto seems to be ‘Let them vote every few years to give a semblance of democratic accountability and between times don’t let them know too much about what their councillors are getting up to’. You know what they say about mushrooms, keep them in the dark and at regular intervals cover them with … So Mushroom Town it is from now on!

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The Aspiring Rotten Borough of Rochdale

by Mick Coats

THE rotten borough of Rochdale has brought the antics of the councillors of Musborough up to date, or rather back to the future.  At the recent meeting of our good councillors, the matter of the transgressions of one of their number was discussed, or rather not discussed.

Observing from the gallery, we expected the leader of the opposition to express severe criticism of the recently elected councillor for voting twice in the recent election.

However, he proceeded to take the transgressing councillor to task with all the vigour and effectiveness of a caterpillar eating a wet lettuce.  Going through the motions, he gave the impression of not wanting to be at the meeting, fearful of upsetting the class bully.

He was not alone acting in a lackluster way, all the councillors seemed to have been told to say nothing.  They obsequiously complied and behaved like good little boys and girls.  The guilty person himself said nothing, not even sorry for his criminal actions.

What a sorry lot of people, who do they represent; certainly not the electorate!

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Labour Comrades Curry Favour

A Cautionary Tale of Two Votes
by Brian Bamford

Council boss Brett grabs chicken leg at last Saturday's Hajji Bash*

FRESH back from a Hajji pilgrimage to Mecca in search of moral or spiritual redemption, the notorious electioneering fraud Rochdale Councillor Faisal 'Two Votes' Rana, even shaved his skull last Saturday before sitting down to a celebration supper with his political cronies.

Local police are being cagey about what kind of caution they gave Councillor 'Two Votes' Rana, when he confessed he'd illegally voted twice in the local on the 3rd, May.  He didn't just vote twice he registered to vote at two separate addresses, then he cast two postal votes.

It's a cautionary tale in which it looks like the swindler may have got away with breaching the basic taboo at the heart of British democracy that you don't vote twice.

Then to compound the second necessary ingredient of the cautionary tale following on from this basic taboo it needs someone like Councillor Rana to disregard the forbidden act which in English Law is known as the actus reus, finally the violator in the tale should come to an unpleasant fate.

Bút as the images of the feast above seem to suggest, the cautionary tale foretold by historical legend in our modern context needn't impose such a grisly end for Councillor Rana.  .  

Why?

Because, although Rochdale Labour Party may be socialists in spirit, in realty they are easily dazzled by wealth and influence.  Councillor Rana may be a new boy on the block, but it is well known has a vast property portfolio of some 32 houses scattered around Rochdale.  It is also known that Councillor Rana is a director of a firm called  United Petroleum UK Limited, which is an active company incorporated on 18 December 2008 with the registered office located in Bradford, West Yorkshire.  His wife Mrs Iram Faisal is appointed in 4 companies, she has resigned from one of these appointments.  Rana's daughter Miss Anum Faisal who lived at the family home at Bronte Close, Norden, Rochdale, was a director of United Petroleum UK Ltd. until she resigned on the 1st, December 2017.

Dazzled by all this dosh and deep pockets, it's no wonder that Council leader Allen Brett and the rest of the Labour group in Rochdale Labour Party are so forgiving of Councillor Rana's transgressions with regard to his voting record.  They know when to curry favour.

* Councillor John Blundell next to Councillor Allen Brett in main photo above describes his interests as an occasional contributor to Manchester Confidential where he has written restaurant reviews, in which he has argued that dumplings are 'under-rated'.

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Yet Another Error?

'The Talented Mr. Rana'

by Les May

The only comment we have heard from Allen Brett about Faisal Rana making sure he registered and voted in two different wards, Norden, and Spotland and Failinge is:
'It is vital that councillors do all that they can to uphold the integrity of the democratic process.  As soon as he became aware of this, Councillor Rana stepped away from his cabinet responsibilities.  Naturally, I am disappointed in Councillor Rana's error because he is a very talented and hard working individual who shares our collective passion to improve our borough.'

When Allen Brett uttered these words they may have been momentarily true.  If they were then Rana was quickly welcomed back into the fold.   Take a look at http://democracy.rochdale.gov.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=116 and you will see that the talented Mr Rana is listed as Assistant Portfolio Holder for Finance. 

So much for upholding the integrity of the democratic process.

I’m surprised that a man with the long political experience of Allen Brett cannot see that his continued support of Faisal Rana, when the man has so obviously done wrong by voting twice, will tarnish his own reputation still further.   Given that he has himself been criticised in a draft investigation report for ‘bringing the council into disrepute’, I would have thought he really does not need any further bad publicity.   

There was no ‘error’.  Registering for two votes was a carefully thought through act, deliberately executed. 
 
Both Brett and Rana have recently figured in the ‘Rotten Boroughs’ section of Private Eye.   This is not a story which is going to end happily for either of them.

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Electoral Snags: Tower Hamlets & Rochdale

In the light of the recent report on ROCHDALE ONLINE about a complaint about the 2015 local elections in Rochdale, and the concerns about the possible election misleading reporting by the Conservative Party of expenses in connection with the deployment of a battle bus; it may be wise to publish here the report by Chris Skidmore about how to avoid electoral fraud:

This independent report makes recommendations about how the government can prevent electoral fraud in the UK.:

First published: Cabinet Office and Chris Skidmore MP

12 August 2016

Last updated:

27 December 2016,

Former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sir Eric Pickles MP, was asked by the government last year to consider what further changes were needed to make the electoral system more secure. This was particularly in light of the 2015 Tower Hamlets election court judgment that saw the disqualification of the elected mayor for a number of corrupt and illegal practices.

Evidence has been gathered over the last year from local government, the police, academics and election experts.
A series of 50 recommendations are outlined in the report, including:

• clamping down on postal vote ‘harvesting’ by political activists
• piloting some form of identification at polling stations
• action to tackle the links between electoral fraud and immigration fraud
• stronger checks and balances against municipal corruption
  

Chris Skidmore MP, Minister for the Constitution, said:

I would like to thank Sir Eric Pickles for the work he has undertaken over the past year in producing this detailed and thorough report.

In order to ensure we have a democracy that works for everyone, the government is determined to ensure that the electoral register is as complete and accurate as possible. The introduction of Individual Electoral Registration has already begun to transform our registration system, increasing its accuracy and performance at the same time as seeing record levels of registration. We intend to continue to build on this success.

This report will be an important contribution to our fight against all types of fraud in the UK. We will look closely at the recommendations.

Sir Eric Pickles MP said:

Last year’s court ruling in Tower Hamlets was a wake-up call that state bodies need to do far more to stamp out corruption and restore public confidence. It was local residents who lost out from the crooked politicians who bullied them and wasted their money. The law must be applied equally and fairly to everyone. Integration and good community relations are undermined by the failure to uphold the rule of law and ensure fair play.

The terms of reference for Electoral Fraud Review included:

• examining what steps are necessary to stop voter registration fraud and error, postal voting fraud, impersonation, intimidation, bribery, treating and undue influence
• reviewing the role of councils, the police and the Electoral Commission in deterring, identifying and prosecuting fraud
• considering the recommendations of Richard Mawrey QC in his recent election court judgment on fraud in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
• recommending to government what practical changes are needed to legislation, guidance and practice