The Mayor of Camden, Cllr Omar Faruque Ansari, has been questioned at a police station by investigators from the Department of Work and Pensions. The Lib Dems have suspended him as a councillor although he has not so far resigned as Mayor. Cllr Andrew Marshall, leader of the Conservative Group who are minority coalition partners with the […]
Birmingham Council has passed the following motion on ID Cards at their Full Council on Tuesday night. This council reaffirms its resistance to Identity Cards. Despite widespread political and public opposition, the Government appear intent on pursuing the implementation at a reported cost of£4.74billion for British and Irish Nationals and an additional £311million for Foreign […]
Mark Wallace of the Taxpayers Alliance monitors a lot of Town Hall waste – but has a particular sense of outrage at councils that turn a blind eye to fraud. Working at the TPA, I see a lot of remarkable examples of ways in which taxpayers’ money can be poured down the drain. Despite the […]
Over on CentreRight Alex Deane has written against CCTV. In the comments thread Gavin Barwell, a Conservative Cabinet member on Croydon Council and our PPC for Croydon Central, has written a defence of CCTV. I thought it deserved a bit more prominence: "I am responsible for community safety in Croydon, London's largest borough. Whilst Alex […]
A new report from the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution has backed Councils reducing their street lighting. On the argument that more street lighting means less crime the reprot expresses scepticism. It says the evidence cited for this is often where increased street lighting was brough in at the same time as other crime reduction […]
Chief Constables should trust the people – and welcome accountability to directly elected police commissioners – says Mark Wallace of the Taxpayers Alliance. This week the police have launched a new crackdown. It’s not on guns, or knives or drugs – it’s not even on the petty offences that many forces love to go after […]
Labour run Tameside Council has hired a private security firm, Peak Combined Services, to police Armadale Road in Dukinfield. It has ordered the patrols, in response to uncontrollable youth annoyance and anti-social behaviour in the area. However, the Conservatives have slammed the patrols, and called them a “panic measure that exposes the systematic failure of Labour’s […]
Centre for Social Cohesion Research Fellow, Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, has a challenge for the Mayor of London Boris Johnson. In the Sunday Express, the Centre for Social Cohesion revealed that the Conservative London Mayor's office has worked alongside Mohamed Ali Harrath, who is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice for "terrorism", "counterfeiting" and "crimes involving […]
Cllr Bill Thomas has resigned as leader of Labour controlled Sandwell Council after being charged by the police with theft of a cheque. He will appear at Sutton Coldfield Magistrates on October 30. Sandwell is among the politically correct Councils in Britain – this is in a highly competitive field. They propose a Gypsy Awareness Month in schools […]
Cllr David Parsons, the Conservative leader of Leicestershire County Council, says Fiona Pilkington suicide shows we must "take ownership" of problems in our community – not leave the responsibility to someone else. This applies to the police, councils but also to citizens. The tragic circumstances surrounding the deaths of Fiona Pilkington and her daughter, Francecca, in […]
Like the rest of the country I am angered by the bureuacratic failures that ended up with Fiona Pilkington being driven to suicide. I also reflect on the responsibility that the 20,000 out of 60 million of us in this country who have the honour to be local councillors face to prevent such cases happening. […]
A BBC report suggests that the police often aren't making full use of the CCTV cameras at their disposal. Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville says that "most forces do not have systems to retrieve, process CCTV crime scene images." He thinks that rather than spending money on more cameras we should work out how to […]
Cllr Andrew Povey, the new Conservative leader of Surrey County Council, has been outlining his priorities. Among his proposals is to give £1 million to Surrey Police specifically to tackle speeding. "Surrey Police has noted that it comes top of the concerns expressed to them by the public," says Cllr Povey. This is surprising. In […]
It is perfectly understandable that when complaints of crime and anti social behaviour are met with indifference those complaining become exasperated and angry. But a libel case currently taking place against Labour-run Slough Council is a particularly serious example. Jane Clift saw children uprooting plants in a local park. When she talked to the adults charged with […]
So much for liberalism. The Lib Dem-run Northampton Borough Council appears to get at the cutting edge of Orwellian intrusion. They have introduced talking CCTV cameras, mostly with recorded messages but also with the facility for the CCTV operators to issue specific commands. According the Daily Mirror a couple were spotted having sex and told to […]