Bradley Stoke Mayor Charlotte Walker and local MP Jack Lopresti will perform the official opening of the Town Council’s new office today, despite Ms Walker voting against inviting Mr Lopresti to perform the honour at a recent Council meeting.
The Council had already decided that the Mayor should be involved in the official opening but a farcical debate at a Full Council meeting in August saw Councillors struggle to agree on which ‘celebrity’ (if any) should be invited to join her in declaring the building officially open.
The initial suggestion of Jack Lopresti received a cold reception from Ms Walker, who said she would prefer the ceremony to be “less grand” because “we don’t want people saying we’ve spent too much money on it”.
The Mayor’s brother, Cllr Ben Walker, who defected to UKIP earlier this year, also spoke out against inviting the MP, claiming that Mr Lopresti “has failed to represent this community”.
Cllr Elaine Hardwick said it was important that the public were invited but Mr Walker poured scorn on the suggestion that they would want to attend.
Clearly wishing to avoid Mr Lopresti being involved at all costs, Cllr Ben Walker then suggested that the Chair of South Gloucestershire Council, Cllr Janet Biggin, should be invited to do the honour. Her involvement would ensure that the new office facility was mentioned in the District Council’s newsletter, which would be better than being mentioned in one of Mr Lopresti’s leaflets that would “just end up in the bin”.
After fifteen minutes of debate, Cllr Brian Hopkinson interjected:
“This is getting really silly. We know that Ben doesn’t like Jack Lopresti. Like it our not, he is our MP. If Jack was here tonight, he’d be disgusted with what’s going on.”
A suggestion that former Town Clerk David Chandler be asked to substitute for Mr Lopresti should the MP be unable to attend was withdrawn after it was pointed out by Cllr Sarah Pomfret that Mr Chandler had been against moving the Council office to the Jubilee Centre, preferring instead to have seen it at the Willow Brook Centre.
When it came to a vote, it was decided to invite Mr Lopresti – by six votes to two – with the Mayor and her brother voting against.
With no mention of today’s event on the Town Council’s website, it would appear that the wishes of some Councillors to see the public involved in the official opening have been quietly abandoned.
Responding to a query from The Journal, Town Clerk Sharon Petela said:
“Mr Lopresti has accepted the invitation.”
“A number of key stakeholders have been invited to a low-key opening ceremony at the office.”
Photo: Happier times for Jack and Ben as the pair complete the 2010 Bradley Stoke 10k Run.
Lopresti is an idiot. The mayor is right to exclude him. I’ve sent him many emails and he has failed to respond. We invited him to our local community group – again no response. He doesn’t care unless there are votes in it for him. The mayor is AMAZING.
I think reserving the term “idiot” for just the MP is wrong, they are all as bad as each other, this whole Council office situation has been a farce presided over by morons.
Jack will turn up for the opening of an envelope, as long as he can have his picture taken.
I for one would agree with Jennie, what has Jack done for Bradley Stoke.
I would like to make some clarification on these fragments of Lopresti and the opening of the office. To Richard, the fact that some Council members feel strongly on NOT wasting tax-payers money means clearly we are not all as bad as each other. The office was built to provide long-term accommodation for BSTC, as the rent was too high and meant no value in property ownership, the projections on savings are available for public viewing under F.O.I.
As for Lopresti, he IS the M.P. for this area, like it or not. Judgement upon him should be based on what he does for the community and the facts that he sold out on Filton AIrfield, never comes to the BS safer stronger community, has scores of people that feel let down (in their opinion) speaks volumes. But it is a Conservative majority Council, and look how they behave in removing all youth clubs, making statements of not cutting enough, and now are closer to closing the Sure-Start children centres ! The Conservatives all voted ‘yes’ unanimously at the Yate meeting and are side-lining the legal Govt. Statute of provision.
Here in the B.S.T. Council meeting, the Conservatives wanted a big fanfare with drinks, sarnies, Kerala dancing girls and a brass band for their mates, a right costly affair it would be.
The Mayor, the Council officers, UKiP members – all recoiled in horror and said it was outrageous to be spending in times of austerity, heated debate came back and forth ending in those Conservatives making the way for this, and doing their utmost to bring Lopresti into better view as his ratings are well known to be so low.
The new Councillor Hardwicke has been invited to attend Policing matters in his ward, to be brought up-to-date on situations, so far he refuses to be involved in real peoples work, yet will be attending this knees-up with his wife for the free drinks that you the tax-payer has so nicely provided! That’s the real measure of Conservatives and more to my defection to a party that fights hard to be public servants rather than parasitic sloths.
Jack Lopresti has been invited three times to intervene or at least have his say in the closure of a residence home in Filton. Up to 70 people will be displaced when giving the property to paying Uni students. He still has no interest and will not attend to support them. My father who is one of the elderly thinks that it is shameful and may have something to do with a recent employment openday he attended, in support of the council partner who is promoting it’s change of use. Very disappointing.
On another matter of public concern, regarding the freedom to speech and rights of access, it is my understanding that the Conservatives are seeking to ban certain persons they label as ‘undesirables’. So to ‘trial’ the Conservative litmus test, please do go along to this opening and try to attend, where a ‘refusal’ to a public office clearly will tell you that your’e one of the desired or an undesirable in the eyes and party approval/ disapproval.
Watch this space as leaked whispers tell that Lopresti will not do case work on persons who are of political views other than that of Conservative, which is a serious matter of pure and evil discrimination.
Would those persons who have been so say ‘snubbed’ please come forward. Thank you.
On Lopresti and being a Mason. In attending the Bristol Community Radio show, it was being said that Jack had not paid his fees and was being a bad egg. Allow me to put this to bed and close it.
On the authority of the spokesperson for the Masonic Lodge, a Mr. Griffith did clearly state that Jack was a member of the Masons lodge and had paid his fees, and would people stop saying otherwise. Since Masons are in the business of secret keeping, no press release was ever made to right that wrong, so in doing my public and civic duty you the readers now have the truth. Jack is a Mason.
We’ve been told that three Town Councillors, Cllr Ben Walker, Cllr Ed Rose and Cllr Kim Harris (all UKIP), are to boycott today’s official opening.
UKIP PRESS RELEASE BEGINS
Bradley Stoke UKIP Town & District Councillors have decided not to attend the official opening of the new Town Council Office today.
Objection was raised at the recent Town Council meeting where the opening was discussed, as although the new office saves money for the council, there is no requirement to have an official opening.
Councillor Ed Rose, Chair of Bradley Stoke Safer & Stronger Group commented:
“There is absolutely no need to spend additional funds on an opening involving the MP, and I’m surprised UKIP advice was ignored by the Conservatives.”
UKIP Councillors have instead opted to obtain further petition signatures opposing the proposed closure of the Bradley Stoke Sure Start Children’s Centre. Conservative Councillors voted to force its closure.
PRESS RELEASE ENDS
Further to Cllr Ed Rose’s comment that:
“Here in the B.S.T. Council meeting, the Conservatives wanted a big fanfare with drinks, sarnies, Kerala dancing girls and a brass band for their mates, a right costly affair it would be.”
I would like to point out that Cllr Rose was NOT at the meeting on 15th August, where this matter was discussed. From memory:
1. There was NO mention of Kerala dancing girls (whatever they are) or a brass band.
2. Several Conservative Councillors, including the Mayor, specifically said they DIDN’T want a big fanfare.
Unbelievable! What a load of rubbish – Most people round here thought that Rose and Walker couldn’t get more pathetic but it seems there’s a ninth circle of petty local party politics and bickering that these two occupy. These UKIP nutters really need to get a life. As far as I know, and from talking to others Lopresti is well regarded locally and a hard working MP. I’d like to see Cllr Rose back up his claim that Lopresti only does casework for Conservatives – it’s bordering libellous and can’t possibly be true, as far as I know MP’s don’t ask how you vote at their surgeries!
Rose and Walker probably dream of themselves as the Farage and Hamilton of the future – most folk would see that as a sign of insanity on its own!
If Cllr Ed Rose had an ounce of self-awareness he’d realise that nobody cares about what he says or thinks, people voted for him under a Tory banner and nothing to do with him personally and that his postings on here accusing Lopresti of “pure and evil discrimination” amount to damnation of reputation – if I was Lopresti I’d call the lawyers in!
I see the Editor has shown that Rose was not at the BSTC meeting – Rose your’e full of it!
I bit stunned and taken aback by the multiple (and incoherent) postings on this blog from one of the Bradley Stoke Councillors. Raises concerns about the well being of this individual (i’m a healthcare professional), and therefore my concerns as to how this individual is in a position to help residents as a councillor? I know that SH Editor regularly monitors and approves posts and perhaps sees has a duty of care to this individual to ensure that they don’t become confused about the true facts, which he has rightly outlined. I think such a limited grasp of reality on what actually is happening is a bit worrying from an elected Councillor and my advice as a healthcare professional would be that he should perhaps have a lie down and stop making a fool of himself so publicly. Just saying.
In reply to the editor, absolutely correct that I was unable to attend that meeting, however it doesn’t exclude me from the various ‘private’ emails that always circulate prior to meetings where contentious aspects are spoken of, even if some possibly put up in jest. BUT the fact remains steadfast, that the majority of Conservatives wanted a BIG BIG fanfare with a hefty price tag, and only by hearty and persistent debate pointing out this unacceptable behaviour by sensible people standing up for the public purse has it been reduced significantly. Even the Mayor fully understands that party politics shall be placed aside and give respectful duty to the non-wastage of funds, the fact that she has been seen to be not-following party line is all due credit to her.
I feel compelled to write on this publication having read some of the posts. I speak from experience and would like to publicly thank Jack Lopresti and his office staff (Liz?) for there help and understanding recently regarding the case of my daughter and how they were able to help. I won’t go into details about the problem I had but Jack Lopresti moved mountains to help us. Thanks again Jack.
Well ladies and gents, this is what happens when you elect children to public office. A silly girl, who was handed the Mayoral chain by her big brother, is voting based on a feud her brother is having. How long until she defects to UKIP as well for a family reunion?
As for ‘Cllr’ Rose, the fact that you are coming on here and posting lies which have to be corrected by the editor is an absolute disgrace. You should be utterly ashamed of yourself. That you have to try to smear others with false allegations for the advancement of your pathetic political party (which by the way, only exists in Bradley Stoke due to a stitch up by you lot; nobody has ever voted for it and when they had the chance, they said ‘no ta’) just shows that you are unfit for office. You should apologise immediately. I would say that you should stand down, as I don’t want you representing me for a moment longer than necessary, but you don’t seem like a man who has an honourable bone in your body.
Whilst we are unravelling ‘Cllr’ Rose’s tangled web, I’d like to add that I know more than one person who has had help with various problems from Lopresti, neither of whom are Tories. But that won’t surprise anyone, as we all know ‘leaked whispers’ is politician speak for something which has no basis in reality and they can’t back up.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, UKIP are dangerous nutters. Bradley Stoke Town Council is fast becoming a farce. I hope the vast majority, if not all of you, are cleaned out at the next election so we can have some proper representation instead of unelected parties, bickering, and kids playing at politics, who seem to think the hereditary principle applies to the Bradley Stoke mayor’s office.
By the way Ed, who was your choice to open the office? Kilroy?
I want to comment but can’t stop laughing. Cllr specifically says what happened at Council meeting. Editor politely points out Cllr wasn’t actually there
Classic, made my day. Less sweary version of The Thick of it
Dear Editor,
I am concerned by the content of Jenni’s earlier response. We are not aware of any failure of Jack Lopresti’s email system. It is physically impossible for any correctly addressed email not to be acknowledged and allocated to a staff member. I would ask Jenni to contact Jack’s Bradley Stoke Office (01454 617783) at the earliest opportunity to enable an investigation of her concerns. Jack is always happy to visit community groups during his time in the constituency and endeavours to fit specific invitations into his busy constituency diary.
Cllr Trevor Jones
Chairman
Filton and Bradley Stoke Conservatives
May I also thank the Bradley Stoke MP Jack Lopresti and his team for their help. We had been the victims of some quite unpleasant anti-social behaviour in our street and Mr Lopresti managed assist us in getting action from South Glos Council. I’d say he’s doing a good job personally.
I find it most odd that Cllr Ben Walker (UKIP) I believe voted IN FAVOUR of the new council offices and yet now refuses to attend. How can anyone trust this man? If Ben Walker told me the sky was blue I’d have to go outside to check for myself. Zero credibility mate.
@Warren Smith,
Ben did tell me the sky was blue once. But then at exactly the time he didn’t get a job he wanted, it changed to purple based on entirely unrelated matters of both national and local importance. We’re still not sure what these matters are, but he assures us they are very,very important indeed…
…Oops, wait. Not ‘sky’, I meant ‘political party I should support’. Always get those two mixed up.
No1) We seem to be missing the point. The point is we (the taxpayer) are yet again paying for an unnecessary knees up (regardless of the presence of Kerala dancing girls) it will still cost the taxpayer something… even if its just another expenses claim by our MP
No2) Im sure our MP has done some fantastic work in the community and it would be unfair to say he hasn’t BUT Cllr Trev there is a vast difference between getting a response form an office and someone actually getting of their stool (bar or otherwise) and doing something
No3) Editor- Thank you for pointing out the fact that Cllr Ed was not at this meeting. BUT is that really your role ????
No4) WHY oh WHY oh WHY are petty political arguments getting in the way of EVERYONE doing what right for our community.
WE all know that, regardless of the topic or vote, if labour said the YES the tories would say NO, the lib dems would say MAYBE and UKIP would say lets leave the euro.
CANT YOU JUST DO WHAT RIGHT AT A LOCAL LEVEL FOR THE GOOD OF THE COMMUNITY- REGARDLESS OF THE POLITICAL ALLEGIANCE OF THE COUNCILLOR WHO PROPOSED IT ????
Or is that to much to ask form grown adults who were elected to represent us?
ITS A LOCAL COUNCIL FOR PETE’S SAKE !!!!
I think it harsh to brand UKIP as nutters, they have a strong voice and a lot of support – albeit not enough to win Meadowbank despite all the publicity.
Also the gender and age of our Mayor is irrelevant. She was elected by the people in her ward and has at least (so far) stayed with the party who supported her.
Totally agree about our defecting Cllrs though. UKIP has three seats and no votes.
Democracy?
@John P, largely agree with you but on your question three, surely it is a fundamental responsibility of a journalist to point out an inaccuracy in a statement of an elected representative?
To all the councillors who have replied to this, how about putting your pathetic, petty minded political squabble to one side for a moment to allow some common sense to prevail.
Do the voters want a new council office? NO
Do the voters think that the whole project has been a waste of time money? YES
GET THE HINT YOU MORONS.
Lopresti is an idiot? sounds about right.
Election Pledge: “i will stand up for the most vulnerable members of the community.” I don’t think so.
Richard, I couldn’t agree with you more. Unfortunately they won’t get the hint because they are to dense and tied up in their own self importance.
“Even if the majority agrees on an idiotic idea, it is still an idiotic idea”
@Chris dIM Cllr Ed did say he was at the meeting and I would question the term journalist… Blogger may be, journalist certainly not (in my opinion)
TO ALL THE Cllrs
can someone tell me the cost and projected savings of these new officers?
how long will the new offices and move take to start saving the council money?
how much did todays ‘do’ set back the taxpayer in general (not just the town council)?
when will the local constabulary be moving in?
On the issue of our MP’s secret club… I have to confess that I was a member of a fraternity. We too had a secret handshake, levels of progression, secret signs, badges and certificates. We used to obey our grand leader and chant and sing. In my day it was called Scouts !!! get a grip folks
John P, see Cllr Rose’s earlier comment (11:13am):
“In reply to the editor, absolutely correct that I was unable to attend that meeting …”
Dear Ghost and anyone else reading such, read carefully what I wrote, which is addressing the extent of the self-important Conservatives who wanted a BIG shin-dig. The fact of me not being at that meeting is mute, never stated I was at the final meeting (therefore not a lie), it is the reporting upon the fight that happened to bring sensible order to the spending of public money.
Whispers are indications of happenings, when actual ”proof” can be presented, it will done to the proper authority (not by usual dirty tactics of using smear campaigns through pseudo names on here and elsewhere). The wording is clear, that such can be seen as pure evil discrimination, AND to give the FULL statement, I requested that those ‘snubbed’ so say, come forward and be counted as it is a serious matter.
Furthermore, to Ghost – if displeased, then make yourself known properly by real name and ward, that will clearly show on the electors register which councillors are representing you. I suspect you wrote in earlier times with similar comments, my contact details are public, so why not speak openly and be honourable?
Thank you to those who wrote in to say that our M.P. has helped, as he should be doing, yet there is so much more to be done, as wonderful example demonstrated by Charlotte Leslie http://charlotteleslie.com/
I do ask the editor to act as monitor and moderator, giving fair hearing to ‘real’ people, thank you.
@ Cllr Ed Rose.
I read your last post with some interest as a student of both psychology and politics. I’m sure like many other readers I’m struggling to follow the gist of the points you are trying to make about evil discrimination and snubbing etc.
I thought this article and thread was all about the opening of the council offices? not about evil discrimination (whatever that means???).
You go on to talk about dirty tactics, smear campaigns and pseudo names. Forgive me for saying this but it seems to me that you see all around you plots, evil and smears.
Can I venture the point that you are perhaps not in a good place at the moment and that worries me in terms of your abilities to perform your role as a councillor without any prejudice to residents in Bradley Stoke.
Francine we have the same problem in Oaktree Crescent. School kids are using the car park as a short cut to either get to school or home, due to this their anti-social behaviour is getting out of control.. I been getting kids throwing stones at my house or kicking my fence which is a nightmare.
We have had no support whats so ever since we moved here in July… Police did mention putting up gates to stop school kids using the the car park as a short cut, but who in right mind will pay so much money for this!!
Apologies…. In my last post I meant to say Cllr Ed DID NOT say he was at the meeting.
My point is that the editor has implied that because Cllr Ed wasn’t at the meeting he has no knowledge or right to state what went on !
Is that the role of an editor? I thought editors and ‘journalists’ were supposed to be impartial? clearly not the case on this blog.
Oh, and can ANY councillor answer my questions or will the answers they give show that the office move fiasco is, as we suspect, another waste of tax payers hard earned cash?
My god what a nasty bunch of people we have on here with their comments i dont think this is the right place to be doing that maybe in Private would be better than on a open forum like this
I write this with reference to a slanderous comment made by ‘Cllr’ Ed Rose about ‘Kerala dancing girls’. I am an office-bearer of the Kerala Association of Bradley Stoke & South Gloucestershire (KABS), a non-profitable and non-political, social and cultural organisation. We are law-abiding citizens of this land. We organise various social, cultural and charitable events and aims to exert our efforts for social integration, spreading goodwill and harmony among communities.
Majority of our members are engineers and medical professionals, working in this society. Our programmes are funded solely by the voluntary contributions of our members. We try to keep away from political discussions. Ed Rose, as you have mentioned us as a costly affair, let me tell you, we never ever availed any public funds. What ever we have done is at our own expenses.
Our community is in anguish and resentment reading Ed Rose’s comments. We strongly feel that Ed Rose dragged our community’s name into disrepute and used words in his comments deliberately to insult us. The comment about ‘Kerala’ was made totally out of context. It was quite unwarranted, outrageous and despicable. Such defamatory comments should not come from a person holding a public office.
We are not sure why he is unfortunately spreading lies about us. If he could present any evidences to his comments, we look forward to it. We strongly protest the insulting comment against our community and demand a statement of apology from Ed Rose immediately through this website comments forum. We hope he shall politely do that.
James, I am sorry to hear that you, like Francine, are suffering from anti-social behaviour and will make Cllrs Hopkinson and Pomfret aware when I meet them later today.
I will take the opportunity to emphasise that, while Jack Lopresti is usually in Parliament Monday to Thursday his office in Bradley Stoke is open Monday to Friday until 6pm. Any and every constituent is welcome to drop in and talk over their concerrns with Liz and Mike, plus Jack when he is there.
Jack also holds fortnightly surgeries around the constituency for which you can book an appointment. 01454 617783 jack.lopresti.mp@parliament.uk
Cllr Trevor Jones
Jack’s Constituency Chairman
I find myself in the very unusual position of wanting to stand up for our elected officials, so far they have been called idiots, morons, pathetic etc. Our Mayor is branded a child and a whole political party called nutters, oh and leaked whispers our MP won’t take on your case if you are not a Tory (still not sure how he could tell, perhaps they have a special handshake – sorry, no that was one of the other allegations)
Not saying it hasn’t made me smile but these are people who were elected by this town\area to do a job. All for holding them to account but some of this is abuse.
We know that Cllrs read this forum and on a human level I don’t like the idea of people seeing themselves called these sorts of things, I doubt we would say them to their face.
Really enjoyed the substance of the comments though
Concerned about your Cllr Rose’s about my refusal to attend a meeting that I was invited to, I recall a passing comment at the polling station when I was a little preoccupied, but this was never followed up with an email request to attend with a time and place. I’m sure if there was anything pertinent to Meadowbank ward or the council Cllr Rose will report to the relevant people. I did intend to ask Cllr Rose for details at the strategy meeting…but he wasn’t there!
As to the comment about us “sloths” having a knees up at the opening of the town council offices (this really conjurs up a colourful picture, maybe Attenborough would like this) i would like to advise you that as a member of the public at the time of the invitations I wasn’t invited and Cllr Elaine Hardwick had already sent her apologies due to work commitments.
Many Thanks
Paul
Well said Chris! Ghost, how well do you know the mayor on a personal level and what makes you qualified to call her silly??? Seems a tad harsh when I doubt you have met her. Can’t see you being a genius yourself!
Jack Lopresti abandoned Filton many months ago when his SGlos conservative grip was lost at the last elections.
He appears at every photo opportunity but never any town issues
Where is the promised ability to remove your MP from office if you are not happy with the performance as promised by David Cameron? Four years is too long without a review
On the matter of new council office spare a thought for Filton who had to foot the £100,000 bill for a plush new office which was the project of then conservative Cllr Brian Freeguard, who promptly left after losing the last elections.
Filton and Bradley Stoke deserve better and residents should demand a public meeting to question our MP on these matters.
If Ben Walker thinks the District Council newsletter does not suffer the same fate as the MPs leaflet, then he is not fit to be councillor. #whataf***ingplonker
Felix, atleast the district newsletter is a little more informative about local issues rather than Jacks letter of “oh, look at me and who im having my picture taken with” nonsense! No suprise he turned up for the council office opening, what more could he have wanted, free drinks and a photo shoot?
It was mentioned that Ben Walker voted for the new council offices, was this when he was still under Tory rule and had to toe the party line?
And as for Rajesh and his Kerula girls, where is the slander? If anything Cllr Rose did you a favour by mentioning you, as looking at your website, you haven’t had any events since last year! Be thankful of the free publicity in this age of austerity! But, and this comes as no surprise, the President of the KABS is Cllr Tom Aditya, so of course, if any offence can be taken then Tom is going to take it, especially as it was mentioned by a UKip councillor!! But as always it comes down to the conservatives having the majority seats so lets ignore everyones views, those of the people in our wards but especially those UKip councillors!!!
“dancing girls” is a degrotary term in India and in past was used for strippers & prostitutes, hence can cause offence.
British ruled India for 200 years and were very versed with local cultures. Cllr Ed could have used any other word like troupe or group and that wouldn’t have caused any offence.
@Rajesh: please tell Tom that his ego is becoming too big for people of Bradley Stoke to handle. I can certainly tell you he has become a laughing stock within wider Asian community. He is doing more harm to us rather than good.
All these So say Councillors that have commented on this web site should be sacked from their jobs as Councilors ,they are a total disgrace going by some of the comments they have made on here.It shows people what they are really like that they are not fit for Office and to serve anyone.
I thought Catholics were not encouraged to join the Masons?
@CllrEdRose
“In reply to the editor, absolutely correct that I was unable to attend that meeting, however it doesn’t exclude me from the various ‘private’ emails that always circulate prior to meetings where contentious aspects are spoken of, even if some possibly put up in jest.”
If these emails were sent in your role as a councillor they should not be sent ‘privately’ and should be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
If I ask for those emails – would you be able to comply, or are you circumventining your responsibilities by using private email accounts?
Just wondered..
Lol! Bradley Stoke local government is becoming as fraught as that in Filton (which is something we should NOT be aspiring to!).
Setting aside the party-political bickering (and I still maintain that parties should be banned from local government – they are nothing but a hinderance to local development), the crux of this story is that councillors were planning an opening `ceremony’ at all. How absolutely ridiculous! It’s an OFFICE for goodness sake. I actually have no reservations about its being built if it does save money in the long-term, but to spend more money than is absolutely necessary, in these time of abject austerity is criminal. When private companies move into a new office they don’t have such hooha – they just move their staff in and get them to get on with work. It should be no different for councils.
As for the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the local MP, I suggest you subscribe to theyworkforyou.com – you can subscribe to an email alert whenever Hansard mentions his activity in Westminster. You’ll get an idea of who he is representing. He does seem to table questions with certain themes – planning restrictions for developers, release of spectrum for mobile phone operators (can’t imagine where that could be coming from in the FABS constituency). I’ll leave it to you to look and decide who he is representing.
Good website that Bert. our Jack is an interesting character based in his voting record:
– Votes to increase VAT
– votes for greater EU integration
– Votes for university tuition fees
A voting record such as this coupled with his disgusting behaviour regarding the airfield will ensure he will be looking for another job in 2 years time.
I am new to this portal. Plz excuse, if my words are not of much superior quality. I was really appalled reading Cllr Ed Rose comments. I have no problems with the UKIP party, and have voted for it during the last European Union Elections too. But I felt that this person is using his evil mind to create communal frictions in this society. His intentions are definitely dubious. Otherwise, why should he insert ‘Kerala’ before dancing girls in his comments? We don’t bother at all, if he was using simply ‘dancing girls’ to attack his political opponents. His insertion of our community’s name has no justifications.
Kerala is a state in the southern part of India renowned for its natural beauty and spices. Why should a petty councillor in a far away land slot in that place name in his comments against his rivals here? He caused much damage; and hurt us a lot. Rajesh openly challenged him to show the evidences to prove his statements, but we haven’t seen any trace of him. We demanded a public apology, but he hide inside his cocoon. We feel that he is a nasty venomous coward. Otherwise, why can’t he admit his mistake? Or is he absconding?
If he was using those words to make a wailed attack on Cllr Tom Aditya, again that also indicates his clear lack of integrity. One thing @ Ed Rose and @ Bakribaba have to understand is that our community is not living at Tom Aditya’s expense. We are hard-working citizens and we don’t need anyone’s support to live. If you have any political differences with Tom, that is not an excuse to slander against our ladies.
@ Allison, you are absolutely wrong. We all knew all our members and friends in this region well, and we never had any public advertisement about our programmes and we have no intentions of doing that in the near future too. Our programmes and activities are mainly intended for our members at this moment and we don’t need such stupid adverts like yours.
All politicians including Cllr Tom Aditya is open to public scrutiny and let them live in that way. We have no problems with that. But we are law abiding souls, who never made any fuss in the society so far. Many say that we are too silent. In those situations, why should a spiteful person holding public office and his cronies spread smear against us. They need to be punished.
@ Bakribaba, most of the Asians including you and Tom Aditya may be egoistic. But I really doubt your intention to make such an unproven statement at this time and your false claim on behalf of Asians. I am a person, working in the Asian Community, but I haven’t heard any such complaints yet. I found Tom as a reasonable man, friendly in his own way to everyone. Everyone is slightly different, isn’t it? I don’t think, as a Councillor, he should give any special preference to Asians. His responsibility is to work for good of the town he has been elected to represent and treat everyone equally. Even if he has done anything wrong (which I am not aware), please don’t use that as an opportunity to malign our community’s name. We are not interested in your politics.
Please let this be a public affair. Please bring Jock Strap Lie. Please also have a stall with plenty of eggs which can be sold at £1 each to chuck at him. We’ll pay for the office in no time. I’d buy £20 quids worth straight away.
Mayor Charlotte Walker did not attend tonight’s Full Council meeting (apology tendered). Other absentees: Cllr Tony Griffiths and Cllr Kim Harris.
Does anyone else want to see the “Kerala Dancing girls” now?
My colleague from Calicut has just explained them to me…..sounds great.
Maybe not for the opening of an office, though….
I’ve been thinking about this whole ‘dancing girl’ business. Must admit initially I thought it was just a throwaway comment made by Cllr Rose whilst trying to make a point about certain members of the Council wanting to have a celebration, but it has clearly caused offence to a number of people.
If I offend someone, I apologise. Rajesh, Bakri & Sudha have all explained why they are offended so I think it entirely appropriate that Cllr Rose apologise for any offence he caused (however inadvertently).
News from last night’s Full Council meeting:
An item (12.6.1) was listed on the meeting’s agenda for “grant/aid youth grant aid” for the “Kerala Group”.
When the item came up for discussion, the Town Clerk explained that she had been notified by a “Mr Josef” that the group had decided against making an application despite earlier indicating an intention to do so.
Following this, Cllr Ed Rose challenged Cllr Tom Aditya to explain why he had not verbally “declared an interest” in the matter.
The Town Clerk pointed out that Cllr Aditya’s interest in “Kerala Association of Bradley Stoke” was listed on the Declarations of Interest sheet on the back of the agenda and there had been no need for him to leave the room (as might be required by the Councillors’ Code of Conduct), since no decision was needed due to the withdrawal of the application.
Sudha, I’m not advertising for you! and for someone who is demanding a public apology from a person for using the term “dancing girls” I think you are in for a long wait! Whilst I appreciate that term in India is derogatory, not so the case here, In Britain we call Prostitutes and strippers errr…prostitutes and strippers! So please don’t refer to me as stupid as I may have to demand a public apology! Just to be clear.. can only Asians belong to the Kerula association??
Oh come on this is getting silly.
@Allison, firstly Sudha makes it pretty clear that English is not her first language so I think it a little unfair to pick up on a specific word.
Secondly, she doesn’t actually even call you stupid, just your comment about advertising,
Thirdly, what on earth is the relevance of whether or not only Asians (presumably those whose come or hail from Kerala, rather than the whole continent) are able to join?
Finally what on earth is wrong with apologising for offending someone? Isn’t it the same courtesy you would extend to someone if you accidentally trod on their toe? Nobody is accusing Cllr Rose of casual racism or deliberate harm. Why not say sorry, I just don’t get it
My point Chris is that the whole thread is ridiculous! My attempt at keeping it light hearted obviously backfired but really…. I think this has blown out of all proportion! I merely stated that all this attention was maybe “good” for the Kerala Association, I don’t think everyone should be running around apologising every time they “offend” someone as we would have time for nothing else, it seems everyone is offended by something these days! Taking offence is subjective and if not intended as such, why the need for apology? And as for English not being Sudhas first language that is apparent in the opening paragraph but the remainder of the text is that of a person with a very high grasp of the English language. I quote ” we don’t need such stupid adverts like yours” Implies I have written an advert that Sudha feels is stupid, which in turn implies that I am stupid, Am i offended? well thats subjective, Is it a crime to be offended?….Not yet……!
@Cllr Trevor Jones
I am entirely sure that Jack Lopresti’s email system is working wonderfully well. I am equally sure that he chooses to ignore emails he does not give a damn about.
I have voted for him, naively, for many years. Its only since I started requesting help, advice and interest from him on local issues that I have realised what a total idiot he is. I will not vote for him ever again.
Oh, my Gosh! This’s absolutely ridiculous. Anyone can sense now allison mirrors another ukip ben walker or has he become the ‘guru’ of subjective relativity’? don’t be over smart and push ur filth at others. This whole fiasco could be Ed Rose tactics to get the spot light? I fear so. God bless.
ha ha ha , Sue, you are rambling like Ed Rose! looking for conspiracies! Please don’t compare me to a ukip councillor, I might be offended!
ha ha ha, allison, i never knew being a ukip is that disgusting. if that is life taught u, i am sorry.
Photo of Jack Lopresti MP at the official opening:
http://www.jacklopresti.com/news/opening-of-bradley-stoke-town-council-offices/165