On Monday, thirteen councillors were thwarted by 20 votes to 10 from holding the ruling Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) Party to account for their mishandling of airport planning and for allowing alleged criminality, bullying and dishonesty to continue to damage the reputation of the council. The big issue is R4U’s disastrous mishandling of Stansted Airport’s […]

I am posting below a press release published last night by Uttlesford Council Liberal Democrats. The complete release can be read here. I am becoming increasingly outraged at the continuing efforts of the Council’s political administration to suppress scrutiny and debate of controversial matters. It has been a growing behaviour over the past eighteen months. […]

I had hoped to have a rest from blog posting and social media for the Christmas and New Year period. Unfortunately, a lack of transparency by the Council on Tuesday does justify a break from walking, reading, television, phone calls with family and sad self-isolation from that nasty virus. Well before Christmas, ten councillors from […]

As I wrote in my previous post, that’s a recent newspaper article headline about the Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings. I compared Johnsonian populism with Residents for Uttlesford’s local populism here in North-West Essex. For R4U, having a Council Corporate Deliver Plan of what they intend to achieve in the next three years […]

That’s a recent newspaper article headline about the Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his (apparently) indispensable advisor in-chief (or should I write “advisor-in-charge”?). A populist government like the current one appeals for votes by saying what people would like to hear, even when the benefits they promise are not deliverable or will even harm people. […]

The new Council at Uttlesford got under way last night by deciding which councillors will do what jobs. With so many new faces and with control and responsibility now under a new-broom administration, it will be some time before the real face of Uttlesford District Council and its Residents’ Administration reveals its true shape and […]

Written as Chair of Scrutiny at Uttlesford District Council I posted on Tuesday about press correspondence regarding the above. Today I have received an email from Richard Pavitt that he has asked me to post here. This I will do. It is set out below. I will also seek answers to his outstanding questions and […]

Written as Chair of Scrutiny at Uttlesford District Council The following alleged lack of responses to questions raised at the council’s scrutiny committee were contained in a letter shown below from last week’s Walden Local newspaper. The questions raised, together with the council’s responses, were contained in an email from me dated March 6th, 2019. […]

I am beginning to meet long-standing Conservatives who feel that their party has descended into madness over Brexit. At the same time, I have been under attack from loyal Tory Brexiteers for promoting the next People’s Vote march in London on March 23rd. My critics fell silent when I asked whether they voted Leave to […]