Labour run Wigan council refuses to say if it is hacking into emails and phone messages

Despite a number of requests since January, Wigan council staff have refused to say whether they are accessing confidential e-mails and phone messages sent to and from Wigan Councillors.

Residents are concerned that private e-mails and phone messages sent to Councillors may have been accessed without permission by council staff.

Often e-mails and correspondence contain private information regarding issues of concern, in seeking support from their Councillor residents are sometimes in conflict with Wigan council staff and they expect a certain degree of confidentiality. However in clear breach of data protection legislation, the council has made no comment as to why, when and how often such e-mails and messages are accessed by council staff. Nor do they say who authorises such access.

Wigan council has previous form for this and it was recently discovered that Labour Councillors were passing private e-mails from residents amongst themselves;

www.wigantoday.net/news/local/mayor-kept-rule-breach-under-wraps-1-6554475 

The Mayor himself was investigated by the standards board for passing confidential e-mails to his son, regarding the tendering process for some land. He also tried to keep the information quiet.

According to press reports Cllr Clive Morgan standing for re-election is under investigation by the standards board, also it is believed over a similar issue.

UKIP in Wigan will seek the truth and the Information Commissioner's Office will be contacted.

Wigan Council should come clean and admit if they have been hacking e-mails and phone messages of residents.

UKIP Wigan V Wigan Labour party policies

We managed to track down some policies for Wigan Labour.

A detailed analysis to follow (which shouldn't take that long it's only 6 lines long), but for now see if you can guess which page is Wigan Labours policies and which is UKIP's

UKIP establish a clear lead for the European elections

Voting intentions poll shows LAB 27% (-3), UKIP 36% (+7), CON 18% (-3), LIB DEM 10% (+1), OTHER 9% (-2)

The latest TNS European election poll reveals that over the last three weeks support for UKIP has increased meaning they have now established a clear lead over Labour.

The percentage of people planning to vote for UKIP now stands at 36%; an increase of seven percentage points since the last TNS poll (conducted at the beginning of April). UKIP now have a commanding lead of nine points over the Labour party, who have dropped down into second with a projected vote share of 27%.

Looking at this further, we can see that a significant proportion of the UKIP support is made up of people who did not vote or who voted for the Conservatives in the 2009 European elections. The former group is one that might concern Nigel Farage and the UKIP leadership as there is no guarantee that they will turn out to vote on May 22nd.

The Conservatives remain in third place with 18% of support (down three points). The Liberal Democrats are in a distant fourth place with only 10% of people intending to vote for them.

Local and Euro Elections - 22nd May 2014

UKIP Candidates in the local 2014

Wigan Council Elections

Ward UKIP Candidate

Abram Janet Markland

Ashton John Littler

Aspull New Springs

Whelley                         Maureen McCoy

Bryn Stephen Jones

Douglas Derek Wilkes

Ince Ross Wright

Lowton East Sandra Atherton

Orrell Philip Easton

Pemberton Alan Freeman

Shevington with

Lower Ground               Arnold Foster

Standish with Langtree Joanne Bradley

Wigan Central Keith Jones

Wigan West John  Atherton

Winstanley Andrew Collinson

Worsley Mesnes Gillian Gibson

Britain’s aid budget second only to the United States

Britain spent £10.6 billion on official development assistance in 2013, up from £8.3 billion in 2012, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – a hike of 27.8 per cent.....

Wigan Labour council awards a 27% £30,000 payrise to deputy CEO

Sneaking under the radar in this year's council budget, is the never spoken about Wigan council directors pay rises. Not officially announced and 12 months after the event, you have to do some calculations and a freedom of information request to find out what increases they got, which in this economic climate will surprise you..

Who's this on the left playing fireman?

He's little known Paul McKevitt, Deputy Chief Executive of Wigan Council.

Last year awarded by the ruling Labour party a £30,052 pay rise. Taking his salary to £140k just 2k less than the Prime Minister

To put that into prospective for you....

Wigan Council CEO says ' You need to hold your councillor responsible through the ballot box for their behaviour when casting your vote'

www.wigan.gov.uk/News/Articles/2014/April/Your-council-needs-you-says-Wigan-boss.aspx

Donna Hall Chief Executive of Wigan Council supports change on Wigan Council;

In a recent article on the Wigan Council website she recommends not voting for existing councillors and kicking them out via the Ballot box.

Donna Hall said: “I know people feel apathetic and that voting doesn’t matter but that really isn’t the case. Everything the council does is governed by Councillors and who you vote for really makes a difference.

“As part of The Deal, our informal contract with the public, we want people to be more active citizens and be engaged with the council and their communities. We’re a public institution belonging to every resident of the borough and your council needs you.”

Recent standards issues involving elected Councillors has also highlighted the importance of having your say. Donna Hall said: “The unacceptable behaviour of a few of our Councillors has attracted a lot of negative publicity for the council. A lot of the feedback we’ve been getting from the public has been asking why we can’t just get rid of these individuals.

“But that’s not how the system works. It’s the voters who get to pick who represents them. You need to hold your Councillor responsible through the ballot box for their behaviour when casting your vote.”