Merry Christmas and a Happy 2015

Labour party double standards...

Readers may recall April this year - Labour party stalwarts called in the Police when independent Councillor Gareth Fairhurst posted a message on twitter during a Wigan council meeting.
The incident got national press coverage and caused much embarrassment for the Labour party when it backfired on them when they were criticised for their heavy handedness.

Fast forward to yesterdays Parliamentary debate on food banks. Ashton in Makerfield's  Labour MP Yvonne Fovargue stands up to make a speech. It must have been riveting as and low and behold what do we see?  6 Labour MPs happy playing away on laptops and phones!

Talk about double standards...

Commonwealth or EU: Which is best for Britain’s future?

Luke Stanley Writes in the Commentator...

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/5113/commonwealth_or_eu_which_is_best_for_britain_s_future

Every day more and more powers are transferred to Brussels, whilst the Great British Public are left emasculated and none the wiser.

Furthermore, continental Europe is in long term economic decline. Presently, the EU28 countries amount to only 19 percent of world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) -- the most common measurement of economic strength. Meanwhile the Commonwealth is only slightly behind on 16 percent.

As Ruth Lea attested in City AM, by 2025 the Commonwealth will have surpassed the EU. More importantly, the Commonwealth has a population of over 2 billion people, 4 times the population of the EU! In the age of containerisation and cheap sea trade, this presents an enormous and largely unrealised market for British business.

If Britain has to choose between Europe and the Commonwealth, the best long-term economic choice is clearly the Commonwealth.

However, Britain does not need to choose. In 1948 war-time leader Winston Churchill famously argued Britain stood at the centre of three economic, political and cultural circles -- Europe, the Anglosphere and the Commonwealth. This is just as true today as it was when he delivered his speech.

An independent Britain would be able to negotiate a free trade agreement with the EU, just as the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states -- Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein -- all do.

More importantly, it could form free trade agreements with Commonwealth states currently shunned by the EU such as Australia and New Zealand. The Lisbon Treaty allows us to remain within the EU as long as we like whilst we conclude our exit negotiations. In this time we can agree trade agreements with as many countries as we wish before Brexiting.

Trading with the Commonwealth and the EU would give the UK unrestricted access to 32 percent of world GDP. Add to this the EFTA countries and the USA -- the only major Anglosphere country not in the Commonwealth -- and this rises to an astonishing 52 percent! This is even before we start forming trade agreements with emerging markets in the Far East and South America.

Only an independent Britain will be able to take advantage of our unique position at the centre of Churchill’s three concentric circles -- Europe, the Anglosphere and the Commonwealth. If we want to Get Britain Out, we must continue to present the very real economic benefits and positive future Brexit will bring.

Only then will the Great British Public ignore the scaremongering of the Establishment, take the plunge and vote for independence in the In/Out referendum our current Prime Minister has promised us if Conservatives gain a majority at the next general election.

Luke Stanley is a Research Assistant at Get Britain Out

Wigan council fits 5,000 wrong lights

Wigan Councils new £11 million LED lighting scheme has hit the buffers after it has been found to have replaced 5,000 existing lights with LED blue lights that may have health concerns.

However what is surprising is that with what appears to be little regard for these concerns, it has admitted it will continue to press on with fitting  LED blue lights and not switch to warmer amber ‘CCT’ lights until the new year.

Lux Review (the official publication of the Lighting Industry Association) has printed a story concerning the issue that Wigan residents know nothing about.  Full story here

Wigan Council has confirmed our report from last week that it is abandoning blue-tinged LED luminaires in favour of warmer colour models, although it downplayed any possible health concerns it had for the colder lamps. Wigan has already replaced about 5,500 streetlights so far out of 31,000 units.’ ‘The first phase will continue with the colder temperature 5,700 K models, but Wigan will shift to a warmer, 'CCT' (correlated colour temperature) when it moves into residential areas in the spring’

Wigan Council told national campaigner Simon Nicholas that it would now deploy the ‘warmer’ lights. Wigan Council had written to Simon Nicholas after he expressed concerns about the LED retrofit, including possible harmful health effects from blue-tinged light such as sleep disruption and possible links to cancer.

Assistant Director of infrastructure Mark Tilley is quoted as saying ‘We are aware of some of the claims being made with regards to the potential impact on health of LEDs with rich blue light content,' Tilley told Lux. 'However, we are not aware of any of these claims being specifically linked to LEDs being used in street lighting applications but do understand that LEDs with a lower CCT have not been linked to these claims in the same way.'

See the daily politics video here

Its clear that Labour run Wigan council did not learn from others mistakes.

The Manchester Evening news reported in May 2013 that Trafford council did a u–turn on its LED lighting scheme after concerns were raised after research by scientists from Madrid University suggests that light emitted by LEDs could damage retinas, especially of children. An American study found that the lights could suppress melatonin, a brain hormone that regulates sleep.

Story here;  A town hall has performed a U-turn on planned ‘UFO’ street lights 

A report by Derbyshire Council here seems to indicates why Wigan Council are having to shift away from Blue lights.

‘High blue light content of LED, over 5000K, has been cited as having the potential for stimulating the circadian rhythm and disrupting sleep patterns.

A mid-range light colour (CCT) of 4000K with a colour rendering index greater than 80 would create a balance between the need to keep energy consumption to a minimum and limiting the amount of blue light emitted. 

Despite being one of Lords Smith's flagship policies, even with such a simple task as changing a light bulb the Labour party have problems!

Labour run Wigan Council offers £6,000 cash prizes to staff turning up for work.

Hit with a £4 million sickness absence bill last year, Wigan council has a novel idea to encourage staff to turn into work (we thought that’s what they got paid for, but what do we know).

The ‘Attendance Reward Scheme’ introduced in April 2013 rewards staff for achieving 100% attendance,  4 times a year staff are entered into a cash prize draw and have the opportunity to win £1,000, £500 or £250, costing taxpayers some £6,000 per year in total.

Staff that achieve 100% attendance over a 12 month period also get an extra day off.

Records show sickness absences were up in January 2013 with peak sickness on Mondays (nationally referred to as Blue Mondays). So Wigan council ran another cash prize draw in January 2014 to compensate.

This follows on from the recent scheme ‘pick up ya poo and win £50’ operated by the councils dog wardens (we kid you not).

Full council report here

Has Haigh Hall been sold to private developers?

In the usual spin Wigan council reports here of the development of Haigh Hall, now 'Haigh Woodland Park development'.

http://www.wigan.gov.uk/Resident/Leisure/Haigh-Woodland-Park-development.aspx
Haigh Hall will become a four star boutique hotel with spa and fitness centre. A cycle centre will also be developed and the court yard will house cafes/bars/restaurants.

Has Wigan Council secretly sold Haigh Hall we ask?

Or in line with their Tory tendencies has Wigan Labour party signed another disastrous Private Finance Agreement and saddled Wigan taxpayers with millions of pounds of debt for the next 150 years?
Despite their rhetoric many readers of this blog know that the council has privatised most of the councils work. From issuing littler penalties to child care to social services, the Labour party has privatised it all, allowing private companies to make massive profits.

The worse case seems to be the Wigan life centre, that conversion from Wigan Baths, saddled taxpayers and their children with £68 million of debt.
http://ukipwigan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/like-swim-that-will-be-203-million.html

Wigan Council makes no mention of the financial agreement with the private firm, Contessa Hotels Ltd, but you can bet its not good news for the taxpayer. -
In 2010 the company dropped out of a contract with Warrington council over a similar project at Walton Hall. Those plans its reported, would have seen part of the public land closed off except to those using the hotel and a 150 year lease signed.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/burnley/8195802.print/

http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/8312789.print/

http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/8337446.Council_reputation__tarnished__over_Walton_Hall/

Wigan votes yes to Lord Mayor, 102 yes votes to 230,000

People may remember this from 2009 when only 102 people voted for an elected mayor for Wigan.

http://www.leylandguardian.co.uk/news/local/town-apathy-in-mayor-vote-1-201784

Despite this Lord Smith is pushing ahead with his plans to become the first Lord Mayor of Manchester

Moves for Wigan to have its own Boris Johnson-style elected Mayor have been met with apathy!

Despite a huge consultation exercise of 230,000 adults registered as residents in Wigan borough, just 123 have bothered to vote on whether we should have our own Mayor. But of those who did bother to take part, more than 82 per cent of the respondents wanted an elected Mayor for Wigan, with 17.3 percent (21 respondents) preferring the 'Leader' system.

A special meeting of the full council will be held on Wednesday to hear the results.

Councillors are being urged to endorse the current Leader and Cabinet model from May's town hall elections. But from next year the Leader, currently Lord Peter Smith, will have a fixed term of office of four years with enhanced executive powers and the Cabinet will be limited to a maximum of 10.

The Metro's consultation took the form of an article in their Borough Life magazine, which is sent to 139,000 Wigan homes.

Others articles were carried in the Evening Post and our sister titles, the Wigan Observer plus the Wigan/Leigh Reporters. The consultation was also highlighted on the council's website, with a link to a dedicated electronic survey form.

Members of the public were also invited to send in their views. The response rate actually works out at a pitiful 0.051 per cent.

A council spokesman acknowledged that the response rate had been "extremely low" and therefore any weight given to it would be difficult to evaluate.

Angry Independent Coun Norman Bradbury – a former member of the ruling Labour group himself – dismissed the consultation exercise as a "insult to democracy." But Borough Solicitor Kevin Lawson said: "Wigan has done as much as most councils to consult residents. "But the fact is that, for whatever reason, it does not appear to be a subject that has interested most people."

Even Lisa Nandy Labour MP has criticised the backroom tactics that went on..

http://www.lisanandy.co.uk/news/we-need-a-real-debate-on-devolution-and-an-end-to-backroom-deals/

Labour run Wigan council puts £1/2 million counselling service out to private companies

Did you know that Labour run Wigan council has privatised numerous services despite Wigan Labour party claiming to be the party opposed to privatisation?

One such contract is below for counselling services recently put out to tender and worth up to £1/2 million to private companies.

Wigan Council

Title:

084 – Referred Counselling Service

Additional Categorisation(s):

None

Summary:

The Referred Counselling Service will provide support and counselling for all referred Parents, Children & Young People who meet the service criteria.  The service will focus on providing:

A contribution to the 0-5 Mental Health service for infants and children by providing support and counselling for parents identified as suffering from post natal depression and other vulnerabilities.

Supporting the specific vulnerabilities, identified within the targeted groups, and by offering counselling to priority groups.

Responding to the needs of newly emerging groups, specific incidents and emergencies as may occur within the Borough.

Indicative budget:

£300,000 contract value for 3 years of service delivery, equating to £100,000 a year.

The contract could be extended by a further 2 years (£200,000).

Address:

Targeted and Specialist Commissioning Team, People Directorate: Children, Adults and Families, Wigan Council
Progress House, Westwood Park Drive
Wigan
Greater Manchester
WN3 4HH
United Kingdom

Key Dates

Estimated contract start date:

11/11/2014

Other Information

Estimated Value (£):

300000

Contract Period:

36 (months)

Anticipated Extension Period:

24 (months)

Wigan council hit with £72,000 compensation claim for 1 unfair dismissal claim

Incompetence hits Labour run Wigan council again as it's reported by Thompsons Solictors that they have recently dealt with an unfair dismissal claim, taking Wigan council to the cleaners for £72,000.

Jamie Humphries, from Thompsons Solicitors, said: “It is astonishing that the Council thought it right that our client should have to re-apply for the job she was already doing and then thought it right to dismiss her when she scored just below a competency bar of which the Council’s own Redeployment Procedure made no mention. We are happy to have been able to work with UNISON to secure the maximum amount of compensation possible and we hope this goes some way to help our client in dealing with the financial stress that her premature dismissal has cost her.”

Full story here..

Wigan Labour MP slated by Wigan Athletic fans

Labour MP Lisa Nandy has been slated by Wigan Athletic fans after writing to Dave Whelan to criticise the potential signing of Malky Mackay as new manager.

Numerous fans took to twitter to lambast the MP.

Some even put a lot of work on the desk top publishing software to make their feelings known.

Labour Leader of Wigan council blasted by own party over bid to become Mayor of Manchester

See the full story here; http://www.wigantoday.net/news/local/labour-fury-over-county-boris-plan-1-6948878

Lord Smith of Leigh, leader of Labour run Wigan council has been openly criticised by his own local Labour party in his bid to become the first mayor of Greater Manchester.

Apparently Lord Smith failed to notify anyone, including his own Labour Councillors of his agreement with Tory chancellor George Osborne over a Mayor for Greater Manchester.

Criticised as “shocking and anti-democratic” the Labour party even admitted that the borough had massively rejected a Boris-style elected Mayor just two years ago. 

Makerfield CLP chairman Sir Ian McCartney said ‘The first most people at the CLP, members and Councillors, knew about this was seeing Peter Smith sharing a platform with the Tory Chancellor on the television news that evening as they made the announcement’, ‘there is something distinctly anti-democratic about the way this is being handled that really does ring the alarm bells’

Labour run Wigan council fails to pay its staff the minimum wage

January 2013 – Labour MP Lisa Nandy praises her Labour run Wigan Council for pledging to pay staff a living wage ‘It’s time the Government followed Wigan Council’s example’

Lisa calls on Government to follow Wigan Council’s example and pay the Living Wage

Lisa Nandy supported by Wigan Labour Councillors Cllr Lawrence Hunt, Cllr Paul Collins, Cllr Jo Platt, Cllr Mike Crosby, Cllr Mike McLoughlin, and Cllr. Damian Edwardson sign up to the living wage pledge; 

MP backs campaign for the living wage in Wigan

Fast forward to November 2014 when it has been discovered that 2 years later not only do Wigan council not pay a living wage but they are receiving complaints from staff and the unions for not paying the minimum wage.

Wigan Council - carer minimum wage ‘injustice’

Exactly the same thing happened with zero hours contracts;

http://ukipwigan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/wigan-labour-mp-says-no-to-zero-hours.html

Figures released for Female Genital Mutilation in England

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has reported that in September 2014 alone, 467 female patients treated at acute NHS hospital trusts in England were newly identified as having been subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM).

Read the press release here http://www.hscic.gov.uk/5147

Shocking report shows legal system has failed children in Wigan & Greater Manchester

The report entitled 'Real Voices' by MP Ann Coffey is a sad reflection of the way child sex abuse cases are dealt with in Greater Manchester (including Wigan) in the 21st century.

The report found here, covers many issues but we are highlighting a couple;

The conviction rates in Greater Manchester for sexual offences involving a child under 16 for the six years from 2008 to 2013, included rape, sexual assaults, gross indecency and sexual grooming is appalling.

'Compiled by the House of Commons library, the figures show that the total recorded crime for nine types of sexual offences against children under 16 in Greater Manchester was 12,879, and yet only 2,341 defendants were taken to court of those only 1,078 were found guilty'

There was criticism of Wigan’s safeguarding children’s board, they and other boards didn’t respond to requests for information...

'I wrote to the chairs of the Local Safeguarding Children Boards in February specifically asking about the incidence and trends of CSE in their areas. I was disappointed that only six of the ten LSCBs gave any figures and fewer than six responded to the question about trends in CSE in their area. I understand the reluctance to discuss numbers publically because of the fear of reputational damage, but if the public are to be better informed and if attitudes are to change, we require a greater degree of openness.'

In Wigan there has been an increase in victims in the last twelve months but as per the above no figures have been produced.

Furious parents accuse Wigan council of ignoring repeated allegations of neglect and abuse of disabled children in its schools

Disability News Service spoke to six wigan families, all of whom have complained about the way their children have been treated, they said school governors, Wigan council, Ofsted and the Department for Education have all failed to act, over a string of complaints,

Full story here;

http://disabilitynewsservice.com/2014/10/council-ignored-school-abuse-allegations-say-parents/

Wigan Council criticised by charity after 400 pupils left primary school with unacceptably poor reading abilities.

Labour run Wigan council has been slated by literacy charity Beanstalk after it was discovered nearly 400 children were going to secondary school who did not meet basic minimum requirement of their age group 

Amy Lewis, Beanstalk area manager for the North West, said: “It is truly shocking that so many children leave primary school unable to read confidently. We are urgently looking for more volunteer reading helpers to provide vital one-to-one support in local schools.

Wigan Council’s education department refused to comment on the issue.

Trust the Labour party on education? 40 years in control of education in Wigan and they fail 400 children this year alone.

Full story here...

http://www.wigantoday.net/news/education/hundreds-of-children-fail-to-reach-minimum-literacy-standard-1-6863160

Labour run Wigan Council closes more care centres - profits before care

Despite the objections of disabled residents,  Labour run Wigan Council has continued to bash away at the services it provides to the most vulnerable in our community.
Incredibly the council has decided to close day centres in Wigan borough to improve social isolation and loneliness, with even more work being put out to private companies.

The following will remain open;
Central Day Centre,
Etherstone Day Centre,
Broadmead Day Centre,
Selkirk hub,
Hunter Lodge Day Centre

But the following will close;
Fourways Day Centre and Assessment Centre in Tyldesley
Heath Road Day Centre in Ashton-in-Makerfield
Heathside Day Centre in Leigh.
The Ullswater service, which currently runs from Broadmead, will also stop running
Future Steps and Chapter One, services currently delivered by Wigan Council, will be put out to tender, further increasing the use of private companies by the Council to deliver care.

Cllr Keith Cunliffe, cabinet member for adult social care and health at Wigan Council (you may remember him, the heavy smoker who led the Councils stop smoking campaign) has admitted that the council will save money and it was one of the reasons for the change.
He also admitted, as he has done so before, that many of the buildings Labour run Wigan council operates from, are old and not fit for purpose.

UKIP Wigan opposes the use of private companies to deliver care for profits and says services for the elderly and disabled should be improved on and not closed.

Get Ukip!

Well said.....

Get Ukip
Published on the 18 October 2014  14:50

CONGRATULATIONS to Ukip for securing their first MP and just missing out on a second in a Labour heartland.

The best the Tories can do is not fight Ukip on their policies, but use the mantra “Vote Ukip, get Miliband” instead. The only reason the Tories can use this is that under the present system (with the current exception of a coalition government) we are given a choice of a Labour or Conservative government. They take it in turns and as a result largely take us for granted and do what’s best in politicians’ interests, not ours.

What would be fair is, of course, full proportional representation. Then every vote cast actually contributes towards what we the people want. Under full PR, there is no such thing as a ‘wasted vote’.

Research in the marginal seats shows that Labour is as much at risk as the Tories from Ukip. So what I say is “Vote Ukip, get Ukip”. Only Ukip gives us any hope of electoral reform, which is actually the biggest issue in politics as it would guarantee that everyone is heard.

Then the Tories would have to fight elections on policies as opposed to pathetic scaremongering.

Then Labour would not be able to sit back and hope that Ukip will hand them an undeserved victory on a plate.

Phillip Smith
address supplied

Scandal hits Wigan Councillors again

It seems they are never out of the news for some misdemeanour or other.

The latest embarrassment to hit Wigan Council is that it has been claimed that 2 Labour Councillors have stopped living in the Borough sometime ago, yet continue to claim thousands of pounds in allowances.

It's claimed that Cllr Joy Birch has even left the country and has been living in Ireland but she continued to receive thousands in council payments.

Cllr Kelly Ready is believed to be in Blackpool. Although she attends town hall meetings, residents say she hasn't been seen in the Orrell ward for sometime (a fellow Labour Councillor makes no reference to her attending any surgeries in the Ward). Out and about in Orrell, her ward residents have complained to UKIP that calls to Cllr Ready go unanswered with issues they raise not being dealt with.

Lord Smith makes no comment..

We put to Lord Smith of Leigh,  leader of the Labour run Council to confirm if the locations of his Councillors were true,  he made no comment. Readers can draw their own conclusions but one Councillor has now resigned according to another Wigan Councillors blog www.garethfairhurst.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/labour-cllr-lives-in-ireland.html

If this information is correct, (although not illegal) it is yet another example of the poor standards we are seeing from the Council and the Labour party in particular. If Councillors are unable to complete their functions, then the should not be making money for the jobs they are suppose to do.

This isn't the first time this has happened believe it or not, the Lib Dems had two Wigan Councillors move to Australia, see the story here http://www.wigantoday.net/news/local/aussie-based-councillors-paid-allowances-1-172109

Lord Smith couldn't have said it better, when speaking at the time he said;
"This is a disgrace and Councillors should not be paid if they are not doing their important council work"
"In addition to the financial scandal, these Councillors are not representing the interests of the public who elect them."
"The public should ask their candidates for council seats, will they attend regularly to act on behalf of their constituents."

We also remind Lord Smith that he opposed with other Labour Councillors UKIP's policy of cutting back on Councillors to save money. Labour Councillors claimed that the work they have to do requires three Councillors for each ward.

Clearly that's not true.

Cllr Ready's phone goes to an answering machine, whilst Cllr Birch's phone is already disconnected. So we ask Lord Smith;

Why didn't Cllr Birch stand down when she left the country.
Who knew in the Labour party she had moved away, was she told by the Labour party not to stand down?
Where exactly is Cllr Ready now? Has she also been told to attend council meetings to prevent a by election?
Which of his other Labour Councillors live outside the borough?

We smell a Rat (run) - incompetent Wigan council strikes again

7 years ago Wigan Council closed the right hand turn into clapgate lane from the A49 at the Marus Bridge roundabout (see orginal story here). At a cost of thousands the council justified the decision on safety grounds.

Now the council is to put the junction back in its original form, wasting tens of thousands of taxpayers money in doing so ....

Plans can be found here

Labour run Wigan Council admits to hacking 3 Councillors e-mails

If you're ever complained to your Councillor by e-mail or telephone regarding a confidential issue or complained about staff, or services, there's a chance that Wigan Council staff may also have been reading your correspondence.

Wigan Council refused to admit that its staff were hacking peoples e-mails.
After failing to provide the information for 7 months an intervention by the ICO has forced Wigan Council to disclose the information;

Wigan Council have finally admitted to hacking 3 Councillors IT, but fail to identify who they have hacked, how often or who authorised it....
The Council admits it keeps no records of dates and number of times the Councillors records are accessed.

Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2014 5:51 PM
Subject: Freedom of Information Requests - ID 5335

I am writing to respond to your freedom of information request   This request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
The response to your request is detailed below.
Examination of how the Council maintained network and supported devices are utilised is periodically performed by Internal Audit to assess all staff and members compliance with the Council's Acceptable Use of ICT and IT Security policies. This includes appropriate examination of logs in relation to network security, internet, emails and text messages. Authorisation to perform these functions is contained within the Constitution. Where any suspected irregularities are identified then further detailed investigations are conducted and reported accordingly. Internal Audit activities are reported 6 monthly to the Audit, Governance and Improvement Review Committee and also in the Council's statutory disclosure document.
In addition to these planned reviews, ad hoc investigations are also performed where there is suspected misuse of Council provided IT based services that could lead to disciplinary action against officers and/or Members and/or referral to the Police for prosecution where appropriate.
As outlined in your request I can provide the following information.
Access to specific members records was as follows:
2012/13 - 2 members
2013/14 - 1 additional member
The reason for access to all records was due to investigations.
There is no record maintained of the exact dates and number of times records are accessed as all occasions would have been required for the purpose of the investigations.
If you are unhappy with any aspect of this response, an independent senior officer will review this decision. Please let me know if you would like to arrange this.You can also complain to the Information Commissioner, who is the regulator for Freedom of Information. His website is www.informationcommisioner.gov.uk and his helpline number is 0303 1231113.
His staff may ask you to exhaust our internal complaints procedure if you choose to complain to his office now.
May I take this opportunity to apologise for the delay in responding to your request, this is due to the high volumes currently being received.

Yours Sincerely


Data Protection and Freedom of Information OfficerResources Directorate
Legal & Risk
Wigan Council
Town Hall
Wigan
WN1 1YN

x

Wigan Council refuses to call on Councillors accessing pornography on Council laptops & mobile phones to resign.

Many will know the story of ‘Porno Bob’ also known as Wigan Cllr Robert Bleakley and his accessing of pornography on his taxpayer funded mobile phone and laptop.

WIGAN COUNCILLOR SHAME

The ruling Labour party on Wigan Council tabled a motion at the full council meeting on Wednesday 24th Sept 2014 calling on Cllr Bleakley to resign, which passed unanimously.

However (and was unreported in the media) wanting to go one better, independent Cllr Garth Fairhurst tabled a motion calling for all Wigan Councillors who accessed pornography to be called on to resign. He also called for resignations if they were found to have misused taxpayer’s money in claiming expenses.

Cllr Fairhurst said ‘ This way the Council would send out a clear message that we as a Council would not tolerate porn on Council equipment like their, laptops, Blackberry's or iPads’

Incredibly the ruling Labour party opposed this and voted it down, in effect giving Councillors the green light to access pornography and fiddle expenses without facing any kind of censure by the Council.

This raises the question that UKIP wanting answering; have Labour party Councillors also been accessing pornography and abusing their telephones and are they concerned that they will be caught doing so in the near future?

Wigan Labour party do have a history of this kind of thing (accessing child pornography, expense scandals and racism) and many will suspect that they haven’t identified other councillors for political reasons.

Even Cllr Fairhurst said; ‘I can only draw the conclusion that Labour are not bothered about their Cllrs that have porn on their Laptops. That is disgusting and now Labour have let Standards continue to be in the gutter by voting against  the motion. It seems to me that Labour don't mind their Cllrs to misuse their Council Equipment for accessing porn otherwise they would have voted with my motion’
http://garethfairhurst.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/labour-vote-against-banning-porn-on.html

Watchdog puts Wigan Council on monitoring list over FOI response delays

Wigan Council joins 3 other councils in being monitored over poor delays over Freedom of Information requests.

Labour Politicians come out fighting over St Helens Labour candidate..

It looks as if Labour politicians can get it right sometimes.....

Labour MP Shaun Woodward, 55,  describes his replacement - Labour candidate for St Helens Marie Rimmer as a "true fighter"

Rt. Hon. Margaret Hodge MP describes Labour candidate for St Helens: “She's a natural fighter"

Shadow cabinet member Maria Eagle said: "Marie Rimmer has long been a doughty fighter for Merseyside"

It had to happen.....

Former Merseyside council leader Marie Rimmer charged over alleged assault at Scottish independence polling station

Although in fairness our Wigan Labour Councillors have been doing this kind of thing for years. 

Councillor fined for attack on ex-RL star

Labour run Wigan Council admits it has no idea were £96,000 has gone.

Poor Wigan Labour MP Lisa Nandy got her timing badly wrong this week and was left with a touch of egg on her face.

As shadow Cabinet Office minister she lambasted the Tories over its 'Big society' idea in Parliament. Lisa told the House of Commons: “We now know that the Government’s Big Society lies in tatters’ after the cabinet office announced it was trying to recoup £33,994 it had donated to a charity, see the full story in the independent here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/big-society-in-tatters-says-labour--as-charity-funds-face-recall-9727658.html

Bad timing for Lisa however, because  it was announced at the same time that that her own Labour run Wigan council has just admitted losing 3 times that amount, some £96,000 donated to a music group.  At a lost a lost to explain were the money had disappeared to, her local Wigan council staff have admitted ‘the council has no idea where the £96,000 has gone'


http://www.wigantoday.net/news/local/music-group-s-funding-cut-as-96k-of-public-money-goes-missing-1-6834827


If the Tories policy is in tatters over £33k, is Labour’s policy down the toilet for 96k?

Labour in threat to sue its own MP in row over 'backward Northerners’.

Labour has threatened to sue one of its own MPs, Austin Mitchell, after he claimed a senior aide to Ed Miliband referred to Northerners as ‘backward’....

Austin Mitchell said Miss Yearley made the comment to him and also claimed she talked to him like 'an educationally subnormal pensioner'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2733374/Labour-threat-sue-MP-row-backward-Northerners-Veteran-clashes-Eds-woman-fixer-call-female-lists.html

Like a swim? that will be £203 million please

Wigan Council's accounts for 2013/2014 show a little known Private Finance Imitative contract to convert Wigan Baths into the new life centre.

Although claiming to be opposed to privatisation, Wigan Labour run council has to pay a total bill of a whopping £203 million over 25 years

Although in fairness the Council receives a PFI grant from the Government to part fund the scheme, the annual grant is £6 million, but it still leaves the council committed to making payments estimated at £68.2m!

Cash strapped Ashton in Makerfield Labour MP claims 36p mileage expenses

House of Commons expenses records show Ashton in Makerfield  Labour MP Yvonne Foverage claimed 36p for a 0.8 mile journey last year.

The trip undertaken on 15/11/2013 (assuming that the 0.8 of a mile was a round trip) may only have involves a journey of some 600 metres in new money (3 times around a football pitch)

Clearly the MP must be hard up, although her salary is £67,000 that doesn't include expenses and allowances.

Although if she is short of funds she could also turn to her husband Cllr Paul Kenny, who current holds several different taxpayer funded positions - salary unreported.....

We do know he received a £15k allowances rise from Wigan council in 2013.

Weekly bin collections expensive claims Wigan Council Leader, as his council reserves hit record £91 Million

Weekly bin collections will cost labour run Wigan council 0.12% of its income

Responding to taxpayers complaints about maggot infestation, smells and other health concerns over the summer, Labour leader of Wigan Council Lord Smith has said a return to weekly bin collections would cost £1 million to reintroduce.

Lord Smith said it would be bad for the environment, a “real waste” of resources and a 'foolish notion', to return to weekly collections demanded by many residents.

Many residents wonder what Lord Smith intends to spend our money on at a time when the council's usable reserves hit a record £91.7 million, up £21 million from last year.

Claims that £1 million is excessive cannot be substantiated when in reality a council the size of Wigan could easily accommodate such a move, given last year its income totalled £836 million.

This is the same Lord Smith who's Labour party agreed to; Councillors expenses of £1.4m, replacing perfectly functioning street light bulbs at a cost of £11m, keeping Manchester airport shares worth £36m and signed a privatisation contract to run Wigan Baths costing £68m .

Lisa Nandy MP Labour Shadow Minister for civil society speaks positively about UKIPs influence on politics

Lisa Nandy: “The forces in British politics at the moment are all on the right”

The Labour MP for Wigan talks about the need for her party to appeal to people who feel “very insecure” and “lack control over their own lives and communities”.

Lisa Nandy, Labour MP for Wigan.

Lisa Nandy is not Parliament’s biggest fan. After four years as an MP, she is “pretty much as frustrated as I was before”.

Enjoying a sumptuous day on the House of Commons terrace, there would seem much to be cheery about. But the Shadow Minister for Civil Society isn’t sitting too comfortably. “I used to think Parliament should move to Wigan (her constituency) but then I realised I’d be at work all the time,” she jokes. “The problem is wherever we are we spend too much time together.”

As one of only six female Asian MPs in the Commons, Nandy is well aware that Westminster still does not do a good job of resembling the outside world. She was selected as Labour candidate for Wigan in 2010 from an all-women shortlist and still believes that such shortlists are necessary. “Look at the difference they’ve made to the Labour party,” she says. The Labour frontbench in Prime Minister’s Questions often contains as many women as men.

While women still only make up 23 per cent of the House of Commons, at least the direction of travel is positive: the figure has never been higher. But the opposite is true of working-class representation. Nandy says that extending the principle of shortlisting to class type “becomes more problematic with working class because it’s self defining, so that’s quite difficult.”

And, as Nandy admits, even MPs born into a working class background are far removed from it in the halls of Westminster. “I was talking to Ian Mearns, who’s the MP for Gateshead, and he was certainly born into a working class family and had a very working class upbringing, but he now earns £65,000 a year and wears a suit to work and commutes to London. Is he still working class? Probably not.”

Labour’s relationship with the wonk world has come under increased scrutiny with the Guardian’s finding that the majority of candidates in marginal and incumbent seats in 2015 come from political backgrounds. Nandy, who was a policy adviser for The Children’s Society and elected to Hammersmith and Fulham council at the age of 26, could be considered part of it. But she believes that the problem is less Labour’s reliance on those with political backgrounds than the “real lack of routes, for many of the young people that I represent, to be able to get involved in politics,” she says. Nandy cites the familiar problem of unpaid internships, and the lack of apprenticeship schemes in political parties.

Championing localism and giving power away from Westminster is fashionable among all parties, and Nandy shares this enthusiasm. She describes the IPPR’s recent Condition of Britain report as “the most interesting thing in British politics” because “what that recognises is there are a lot of people across this country who lack control over their own lives and communities.” Nandy’s solution to restore trust in Britain’s institutions, who have taken such a battering over the past five years, “is to involve people in them, so they can see for themselves that things are getting better and to open them up and make them much more transparent and a voice for when things are going wrong.”

Her faith in the power of people volunteering in their communities is a little reminiscent of David Cameron’s in opposition. “The government talked a very good game before the 2010 election, with the big society agenda,” she says. “Government is a partner with people, it’s how you built a stronger society. You don’t do it too them, but you do it with them.” The problem with the Conservative approach, she contends, is “they’re so ideologically blinkered they don’t see any role for the state at all.”

She takes particular aim at Chris Grayling’s war on ’elf and safety. “Actually the biggest barriers to volunteering are not litigation, they’re time. People need the confidence and capacity to be able to make changes in their own community,” Nandy says. “It’s a lot to ask people to give up time to make change in their communities and that’s why the economic agenda Labour has around extending free child care and boosting the living wage, all of those things are hugely important because time is the biggest barrier to get them involved. “

Yet while Labour has a small, but stubborn, lead in the polls, there has not been any great surge on the left during the Coalition. “If you look at the forces in British politics at the moment – leaving aside the Greens, who after Caroline Lucas have largely collapsed – but if you look at the forces that there are, they’re all on the right,” Nandy admits. She attributes this to people feeling “very insecure” and “not knowing what their lives are going to look like, not knowing what their opportunities are going to be for their kids in the future.”

What Nandy describes as “the shrill, sour, hopeless politics” represented by Ukip is what Labour must fight against. “They set up straw men and knock them down. ‘You can’t get a job because of immigration, you can’t get a house because of immigration.’ Well actually there are much bigger issues around that, around building houses and demographic change, and creating meaningful career paths for people and fixing the economy.” Labour’s challenge is to articulate this without being to seen to promise the world: “I’m a bit sceptical about words like radical and bold.”

Yet Nandy believes that Ukip have been a positive force on British politics in one way. By making more seats competitive at the general election, Ukip ensure that “votes are actively sought and not taken for granted”. They have contributed to the end of what Nandy calls the “old election model” of “fighting for a diminishing number of votes in a diminishing number of seats”.

One effect will be to place a greater burden on creaky party machines. On one level, that should gravely concern Labour: it is likely that they will be outspent by a margin of at least two-to-one by the Conservatives between now and next May. But Nandy believes that the involvement of the American community organiser Arnie Graf means that Labour should not be fearful.

After next May, she says, “the most important thing that Ed Miliband will have done in relation to the Labour party was the decision to take on Arnie Graf, to completely redesign our organisational structure and hardwire it into the DNA of what our party does.”

If that proves to be right, Nandy will become a minister at the age of 35 – and have the chance to make good on the frustration she feels today.

Wigan council admits its day care centres are falling to peices

In a surprise admission Wigan council directors have admitted that four day centres are to close or be redeveloped due to them being either too small or falling to pieces.

Affecting some 400 residents this is yet another example of the Labour run council cutting front line services to the public in the name of making money.

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/northwest/11360478.Council_bosses_answer_questions_on_social_care_changes/

http://www.leighjournal.co.uk/news/11360478.Council_bosses_answer_questions_on_social_care_changes/

In the same month Wigan council published its accounts and at page 87 of its reported noted that its publicity budget had increased by £140,000.

Wigan council - we want local amenities not adverts

Wigan councils 2013-2014 accounts

Can't sleep?, need to read something, kindle not charged? read Wigan Councils accounts for 2013-2014 here.

Squirrelled away on Wigan Councils Website so no one can locate them and scrutinise them.....

Labour run Wigan Council recruits 5 full time spin Doctors

Despite claims of a financial crisis and making millions of pounds in cuts, Labour run Wigan council has advertised for 5 full time spin doctors to improve its image on twitter, facebook and the media.

This will be seen by many as an attempt to put style over substance and will be seen as a kick in the teeth to hardworking front line council staff who have been made redundant.

Volunteers giving their time for nothing for Wigan Council will likewise be upset that the ruling Labour party has found over £150,000 a year to employ several spin doctors to 'manage and enhance our reputation on a local, regional and national basis' in the run up to the 2015 general election.

Residents already annoyed at the poor service they receive from the council, will be surprised that the Labour party's priority is 'spin' rather than providing a better service. No extra bin men, no extra social workers or carers, no money to repair day centres,  but hundreds of thousands of pounds allocated to improving the Labour partys image in Wigan

Many believe that this is a reaction to UKIP's encroachment into traditional Labour territory. The Wigan Labour party grandees, frightened by UKIP's showing in the polls are now having to devote more and more time and money into fending off  the challenge of UKIP in Wigan.

UKIP the party of the working class in Wigan would not have cut staff to employ 5 spins doctors when the money could have gone to protecting and improving front line services. A crew of 5 extra bin men, 5 extra carers, a team of 5 constantly repairing potholes in Wigan, is where we would have put the money first.

Telegraph - Ukip voters will make Ed Miliband Prime Minister, Labour claims

Telegraph.co.uk8 July 2014

Ukip voters will make Ed Miliband Prime Minister, Labour claims

If just nine per cent of voters support Ukip then Ed Miliband will become prime minister, according to Labour researchers

Ed Miliband will become prime minister if Ukip wins more than nine per cent of the vote in next year’s general election, Labour advisers have calculated.
Mr Miliband’s strategists have calculated that a significant vote for the Eurosceptic party will cost the Conservatives enough seats to put Labour in office, The Telegraph has learnt.
Senior Labour figures say that, despite losses to Ukip in recent local elections, Mr Miliband’s team believe their party has a lot to gain from its advances and the final result in May’s general election may hinge on how Mr Farage's party performs.
Ukip took three per cent of the vote in 2010, but has since seen its polling figures soar. It took 27 per cent in the European elections, and is at about 13 per cent in current opinion polls.
Polling by Lord Ashcroft, a Tory peer, has shown that of those people who backed Ukip in this year’s European elections, 52 per cent had voted Conservative in 2010. Only 15 per cent were former Labour voters. Labour sources say the party’s private polling suggests a similar split, leading Mr Miliband’s team to conclude that Ukip is a bigger threat to the Tories than Labour.
“The Tories lose a lot more than we do from a decent Ukip performance,” said a senior Labour campaign source. “The whole election could hang on how many of their current voters stick with them next May.”
Some Opposition figures, including Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, and Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, have called for the party to take a tougher line on Ukip, fearing that Mr Farage’s party will eat into Labour’s traditional working-class vote.
But others involved in the Labour election campaign have persuaded Mr Miliband that Ukip gains are good for Labour’s prospects.
Another Lord Ashcroft poll last week showed that Ukip was performing well enough in marginal constituencies to take at least two Commons seats, Thurrock and South Thanet, both currently held by the Tories.
Senior Conservatives admit privately that winning back a significant number of today’s Ukip supporters is a “strategic priority” for them.
Lynton Crosby, the Conservatives’ polling adviser, has told colleagues that Ukip voters could be divided into three distinct groups: “natural” Tories who would return to the party next year; waverers who could be persuaded to return, and a smaller group of irreconcilables who were permanently lost to the Conservatives.
Some Tory strategists that the best way to win back wavering Ukip supporters is by warning them that a vote for Mr Farage’s party helps Labour.
As a response to that argument, Mr Farage has been talking up Ukip’s ability to take votes away from Labour, highlighting his party’s gains in Labour areas.
Earlier this month, the Ukip leader proposed a deal with the Tories in which the Conservatives would agree not to contest working-class marginals where he claimed Ukip could defeat Labour. In exchange, Ukip would not run candidates in more affluent Tory-held seats.
Without such a deal, Mr Farage said a solid Ukip vote among working-class voters meant “there are a number of seats here that [Conservatives] probably aren’t going to win but that Labour probably is going to win.”
Some senior Ukip figures have even suggested that their party could cost the Tories enough seats – and win enough of their own – to end up holding the balance of power in a hung Parliament in a close election.
A ComRes poll in May commissioned by Ukip donor Paul Sykes found that 37 per cent of Ukip voters said that they were “certain” to support the party at the general election. Another 49 per cent said that they were “likely” to do so.
The British Election Study, an academic project, found in May that more than half of people, 57.6 per cent, intending to vote for UKIP in this year’s European Parliament election intend to stick with the party in the 2015 general election. The proportion was half that number at 25.5 per cent in 2009.
The prospect of losing seats to Labour because of Ukip has added to Conservative fears over the current constituency boundaries, which Tories argue are slanted against them because the urban seats where Labour traditionally wins are smaller than Tory strongholds in the suburbs and countryside.
That means Labour needs fewer votes nationwide to win enough Commons seats for a majority.
The Conservatives attempted to redraw the boundaries in 2011 but we’re thwarted by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
An all-Tory Government would make a fresh attempt to redraw the boundaries soon after taking office, party sources have said.
One Conservative MP said: “Ukip is not just a dark-blue party. They are picking up votes in Grimsby and in Bradford and other key Labour seats.
“Yet again Ed Miliband’s office seems to be about 10 years behind the curve. While they are taking votes from the Tories, Ukip are also taking votes away from Labour which could cancel out any benefit Miliband sees.”