Leicester Mercury political correspondent
Archive for August, 2010
Veejay’s ‘Era of Openness’ tested
Aug 18th
When he took up the role of council leader earlier this year, Veejay Patel made a bold pledge. That his administration would be the most open we’d ever seen.
The headline on the story trumpeted Veejay’s “Era of Openness”, and it’s something I tested this week.
I requested some data through the press office which, on analysis, may or may not prove controversial. Nevertheless, it was easily accessible and should have already been compiled into the required format.
Unsurprisingly, the press office told me I had to submit the request as an FOI, because there was too much data to compile. I was faced with a potential delay of a month to access council information.
Pulling out the tattered copy of the story which I always have to hand on my desk, I fired off an email to Veejay questioning the decision given his previous promise.
Within two hours I received an email from his assistant with the relevant figures.
He may only been in office for a few months, but so far he’s upholding his pledge of openness. Long may it continue.
He’s back
Aug 16th
Jet-setting county council leader David Parsons is back at his desk today after a few weeks Down Under.
Part holiday, part local goverment circuit, he arrived back last week – just in time to suspend cabinet member Tony Kershaw over an assault allegation.
Rumours that Parsons now wants an extended Local Enterprise Partnership with Perth, Australia, are unconfirmed.
Monkey business up north
Aug 4th
American lawyers, anonymous bloggers, and Californian courtrooms.
It’s like a John Grisham novel up at South Tyneside Council, where bosses have unleashed legal experts on both sides of the Atlantic.
Their aim? To unmask an anonymous blogger who appeared on the political scene in the north east for a year with a mix of scoops and scandal. The (unverified) leaked document shows a senior council solicitor admitting that they’ve hit a brick wall, and are struggling to find who was behind the blog.
The blog itself closed a year ago, but reappeared last week and posted the document as its first ‘scoop’. I have chosen not to link to the blog due to its content.
I, of course, have a personal interest in seeing him unmasked. He was the blogger who nicknamed me ‘Birdman MacLean’ after a photograph of me being attacked by a seagull was published (right).
The document itself is a fascinating insight into what goes on behind closed doors at local authorities across the country.
One would imagine this investigation has been going on for some time, but I’m informed that not even the main opposition group knew of the legal action.
Surely questions will now be asked by the north east media about who signed off on the legal escapade, exactly how much it has cost so far, and why opposition members weren’t told.
