OPEN LETTER: BRISTOL UNIVERSITY FREE SPEECH SOCIETY

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In light of the recent tragedy in Christchurch, New Zealand where 50 Muslims were killed, members of the University of Bristol Islamic Society (BRISOC) were deeply troubled to find out that a problematic event is taking place on campus on Monday the 25th March.

The Free Speech Society have invited Emma Fox from The Henry Jackson Society (HJS) to speak in the Queen’s Building regarding Islam and Muslims. The Henry Jackson Society is a right-wing think tank . The ex-director, Douglas Murray, said “Conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board: Europe must look like a less attractive proposition”, and he has also called for the banning of “all immigration into Europe from Muslim countries.

Fox herself has quoted organisations attempting to tackle Islamophobia as “legitimising extremism”. Her reports trying to discredit Islamophobia Awareness Month are without evidence and inflammatory, and the fact that they are titled “Profiting from Prejudice” is deeply offensive, as it suggests Muslims are wrong to raise concerns about the discrimination they face. The events in Christchurch show that there is nothing to profit from prejudice, but that many lives have been, and will be lost due to hate speech.

Muslim students and members of BRISOC have met with members of the Free Speech Society to express our concerns, however, no efforts have been made to change the trajectory of the event, or even to allow a chance for adequate representation from the Muslim community. Free speech is important, but not so that it can be used as an excuse to make one group feel disproportionately vulnerable. There must be a balance between the expression of the opinions of an individual and the safety of minority groups. The greater the position of influence an individual or a group holds, the greater care and responsibility must be taken in what they say. There is the risk that this event is more likely to be attended by those who already have dangerous prejudices against Muslims, and that this speaker could radicalise them into committing violence.

Even though the event was organised before the attack in New Zealand occurred, these types of events hosting Islamophobic rhetoric spread anti-Muslim hate, which inevitably leads to violence, as we have seen in Christchurch and across the UK over the last week. Bristol’s Muslim students and community alike are still hurting. It is not enough to be sorry for violence after it has taken place, we need to take action to stop the hate speech that creates the conditions for this violence, otherwise the cycle of hate will continue and escalate.

We as Muslims are scared and do not feel safe at University and in wider society, and it is a shame that the Free Speech Society want to exploit the vulnerability of Muslims on campus. With ‘copycat’ attacks happening all over the country and support being shown towards the gunman even within Bristol, the one place we should feel safe is on our campus. It is highly insensitive, to say the least, that the Free Speech Society think it is appropriate to host such an event in light of the recent wave of Islamophobic violence across the Western world.

We plead with you all to stand with us in solidarity against Islamophobic hate speech and call for the Free Speech Society to either cancel or postpone this event until they rethink the negative discourse they are promoting, and have a level discussion with Muslim representation present.

We will be protesting Islamophobia and this event outside the Queen’s Building at 5.45pm on Monday the 25th March if it goes ahead on this date and will remain in place until the event is over. We will have several speakers who will speak on the impact that Islamophobic hate speech brings to the world.

  • Sally Patterson, Equality and Liberation Access Officer
  • Khadija Meghrawi, University of Bristol Interfaith Forum, Brisoc Interfaith rep, Muslim Medics Outreach Officer
  • Dan Moxham – BIS
  • Kofo Sodiq-Ajala
  • Ayasha Abbasy – Pres Secretary of Bristol University Research Society (BURS), University of Bristol
  • Aaminah Hafezi- Co-president of Bristol University Islamic Society (BRISOC)
  • Azza Abdulla, NUS NEC and Education Officer, Leicester SU
  • Muna Ali, Student Trustee, Union of Kingston Students
  • Mariam Bhaila – University of Bath
  • Hiba Abdo – University of Bristol – undergraduate
  • Magda Feisal- BME Network, University of Bristol
  • Nelima Hossain, University of Bristol undergraduate
  • Syirah Ami – President of the Feminist Society, NUS Delegate, Incoming Women’s Network Chair, University of Bristol
  • Mounir Benzineb – University of Bristol
  • Kazim Kazim – University of Bristol
  • Thanaj Amin – University of Bristol
  • Zoulikha Belblidia- University of Bristol
  • Nurin Jazlina – ( Undergraduate student , UoB )
  • Khuzaima Bhatti- University of Bristol
  • Nasra Ayub – Undergraduate Education Officer Bristol SU
  • Nana Agyare- University of Bristol BME Network
  • Abdulahi Mohamed-University of Bristol
  • Mohamed Salhi, Education Officer, KCLSU
  • Maria Flores Rodero: University of Bristol
  • Hussain Abass: Bristol Islamic Society
  • Saaleh Khan – University of Bristol
  • Zoya Rashid – University of Bristol
  • Abubakar Siddique Muqaddas – University of Bristol
  • Farzana Akter – University of Bristol
  • Sorwar Ali – University of Bristol
  • Juliana Mohamad Noor, President, CoLCSU
  • Aamir Mohamed – Bristol Islamic Society (Brothers VP)
  • Shamus Butt – President of Muslim Medics Bristol, University of Bristol
  • Zayd Amjad – General Secretary, Muslim Medics Bristol
  • Shamima Khonat – Community, Campaigns & Citizenship, University of Manchester SU
  • Emma Tran – University of Bristol
  • Shasha Sosrowardoyo, University of Bristol
  • Vanessa Wilson, Student Living Officer at the Bristol SU
  • Amera Hussain – President of Durdham JCR, University of Bristol
  • Izzie Foster, University of Bristol
  • Shahid Akram – Former Chair- BMCS
  • Nic Aaron – PhD student, University of Bristol
  • Abdullah Okud, President, Sheffield Hallam Students Union, Chair, Hallam Race Network, Union Development Committee, NUS
  • Sian Amekuedi – President of the Feminist Society, University of Bristol
  • Alex May – Co-President of the Green Party Society, University of Bristol
  • Ruth Day – Chair, Bristol Labour Students and NUS delegate
  • Dylan Woodward – Secretary, Bristol Labour Students
  • Safia Cissoko- University of Bristol
  • Zain Choudhry – Students’ Union at UWE President 2017/18
  • Manish Khatri – NUS Scotland International Students Officer
  • Grey Fraser – UoB LGBT+ Soc VP
  • Thara Lawal – Equality Rep of Durdham JCR University of Bristol
  • Wyn Turner – University of Bristol
  • Durham Intersectional Feminism Society
  • Shuyej Uddin – University of Bristol
  • Sky Richardson-Griffiths – University of Bristol
  • Felix Manocha-Seymour, Disabled Students’ Network Chair
  • Ilnur Miftakhov – University of Bristol masters student
  • Rhys Shaw – University of Bristol Student.
  • Sally Emerson – Chair of the Education Network, Bristol SU
  • Delina Yohannes – University of Bristol
  • Zee Adamson Leggett – Bristol resident
  • Amr Alwishah- VP welfare and Campaigns Cardiff University Students Union
  • Larissa Kennedy, Education Officer, Warwick SU
  • Ilyas Nagdee, NUS Black Students Officer
  • Jason Palmer, incoming ELA Officer, president of Bristol DramSoc, Trainer for Bristol Debating Union, LGBT+ Soc Committee
  • Manar Lamzini- University of Bristol
  • Roy Kiruri – University of Bristol Law Club Careers Secretary and African Caribbean Society International Students Representative
  • Nabeela Mowlana, Welfare and Community Officer Sheffield Hallam SU, NUS NEC
  • Ffion Lewis, LGBT+ Society Secretary and incoming LGBT+ Network Chair
  • Ella Alalade, ELA Officer of Bristol DramSoc, Writing Rep for Bristol Spotlights
  • Hadya Shawki – University of Bristol
  • Zamzam Ibrahim – NUS Vice President
  • Luke Tyers – Bristol Cut the Rent, Bristol Student-Staff Solidarity
  • Mark Carver, University of Bristol
  • Usman Butt, University of Bristol
  • Yvette Parry (Undergraduate Student, UoB)
  • Phoebe Rose Gilmore (MSc Student, UoB)
  • Georgia Homer (Undergraduate Student, UoB)
  • Suzie Beckley (Undergraduate Student, UoB)
  • Sula Shepherd (MSc Student, UoB)
  • Siavash Minoukadeh, UoB Undergraduate student
  • Linn Meyer (Bsc Student , UoB)
  • Matthew Randell, President of UkeSoc, University of Bristol
  • Nura E. Alyah, Chair of LGBT+ Network, University of Bristol
  • Sheriff Muhammed Education Officer, Sheffield Hallam SU
  • Amy Hornsby (MSc Student, UoB, Vice-President Bristol Friends of Palestine)
  • Georgia-Mari Spencer (MSc, UoB)
  • Barakat Hussain, University of Bristol, President of Feed the Homeless society
  • Abdelrahman Otify (Undergraduate Student, UoB)
  • Ahd Othman (PhD, UoB)
  • Maggie Kadembo,University of Bristol BME Network
  • Gabriel Oben (Undergraduate Student, UoB)
  • Aisling Duignan-Murphy (Undergraduate Student, UoB)
  • Omar Chowdhury – Bangla Society President and ACS Events Officer, Incoming Chair of the BME Network, University of Bristol
  • Mohamed El Gosbi, UWE
  • Joseph Hartland, 3D Helical Theme lead for UoB Medical School
  • Samya Sarfaraz – Vice President Muslim Medics Bristol, University of Bristol
  • Aishani Kumaran Sitaraman (MArts, University of Bristol)
  • Nazifa Zaman (Co-BAME officer Warwick Labour)
  • Mohamed Yousuf (University of Warwick)
  • Laura Lunn-Bates, NUS NEC
  • Raza Muhammad – Univerity of Bristol
  • Catreya Mably – University of Bristol
  • Beck Throup – University of Bristol, LGBT+ Society President
  • Mohanad W. ElNaggar – University of Bristol, UG.
  • Ahmed Ali- LBSU Equality & Diversity Officer Elect.
  • Murtaza Shah- University of Bristol
  • Taj Ali- Ethnic Minorities Officer (University of Warwick)
  • Millie Jacoby (University of Warwick)
  • Thandeka Bero (University of Sussex)
  • Fraser Amos Co-Chair Warwick Labour
  • Saifur Rahman (University of Warwick)
  • Imadul Chowdhury (President, Brighton and Sussex Medical School ISOC)
  • F Bham, UWE
  • Aminah Saleem (University of Warwick)
  • Anastasia Maryukhta (Radio Host, University of Bristol)
  • Roisin Jacobson – Secretary of the Sociology Society, University of Bristol
  • Alicia Donaldson (University of Bristol)
  • Olivia Goodwin – University of Bristol Women’s Football Development Captain and Centaur Society Junior IVSA Rep
  • Lucy Russell (University of Bristol, President of Bristol Debating Union)
  • Ella Wells – Bristol resident
  • Safiah Afifi (Cardiff University) – FOSIS Wales & West
  • Saira Fazili (Vice President, University of Bristol Pakistan Society)
  • Adeeb Hussain (President, UoB Pakistan Society)
  • Sana Mahmud, undergraduate student at UOB
  • Abyd Quinn Aziz Cardiff University UCU Equalities Officer
  • Aishah Bukhari (Keele University)
  • Temi Jones – Durdham JCR vice president, University of Bristol
  • Christian Cockle – University of Bristol
  • sam shahabi – university of bristol
  • Megan Clarke – CoChair Warwick Labour
  • Amy Best – Hiatt Baker JCR President, University of Bristol
  • Lucy MacDonald Connolly University of Bristol
  • Nuramin Hakimi bin Nurhashim – University of Bristol
  • Zhafyra Irdina Anuar – University of Bristol
  • Humaid Ghori – Brighton and Sussex Medical School
  • Katie Hall – Bristol Medical School
  • Ashfath Ifham – Cardiff University
  • Henry Willis – Bristol Medical School
  • Amin Lmoh – Warwick Labour Secretary, University of Warwick
  • Ahmed Yasin – University of Bristol
  • Lowri Luxton – People & Planet, University of Bristol
  • Savannah Coombe, University of Bristol Undergraduate, President Liberal Arts Society
  • Lucy Hitchens – President of the University of Bristol Medical Law Society
  • Ahlam Nagi-Cardiff University
  • Sharmeen Lupa Ghazi – Swansea resident
  • Hillary Gyebi-Ababio, Chair of the Widening Participation Network, Incoming Undergraduate Education Officer
  • David Tyoember – BME Officer, Imperial College London
  • Maheen Hussain – Marketing rep (Bristol Islamic soc), Advisor (Pakistan soc)
  • Nur Syakirah Sulaiman – University of Bristol
  • Scarlet Shepard – University of Bristol graduate
  • Hana Sadida – University of Nottingham
  • Syaraf Izzati – University of Bristol
  • BeTengku Arifah Syakirah – Uni of Bristol
  • Alani Anazim – University of Bristol
  • Ella Wilkinson, University of Wales Trinity St. David
  • Khadijah Ginwalla, Treasurer Muslim Medics Bristol, BMEdics Committee and Medical school course representative, University of Bristol
  • Khairul Ain binti Kamarudin, Secretary Students for Global Health Bristol, University of Bristol.
  • Hisyam Azlan – Welfare executive of MCS, University of  Bristol
  • Fikri Farid – University of  Bristol
  • Alif Fadzil – Media executive of mcs, University of  Bristol
  • Adam Hadi – President of MCS, University of  Bristol
  • Jessica Fenlon – University of Bristol
  • Amara Iqbal – Bristol resident
  • Harriet Martin-Jones – Bath Spa University Vice-President Opportunities
  • Afdhol Zofran, student University of Bristol
  • Claire Sosienski Smith, Women’s Officer, Cambridge University Students’ Union
  • Abdullah Imran: University of Bath
  • Nadia Benzineb: University of Warwick
  • Hamizah Haidi: PhD candidate, University of Cambridge
  • Myriam Kans NUS NEC
  • Nur Adina – University of Bristol
  • Madeleine Daly, University of Nottingham.

PLAQUE ATTACKED

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PLAQUE ATTACKED

Efforts to add a so-called ‘corrective plaque’ to Edward Colston’s statue on the Centre have descended into farce thanks to INTERFERENCE from our local bat shit crazy rich mans’ club, the SOCIETY OF MERCHANT VENTURERS, desperate to defend the reputation of their slave trading hero.

The idea behind a corrective plaque was to stop the constant – and often entertaining – VANDALISM of the statue by members of the public. Over the years we’ve woken up to find the statue yarn bombed, with its face painted white, with graffiti scrawled across it and with various corrective plaques superglued to it, usually LISTING COLSTON CAREER HIGHLIGHTS the current plaque misses out.

To address this, last year, the council hired historian Dr Madge Dresser to work with young people to produce a second plaque for the statue. Plenty of ideas came back highlighting Colston’s role in the SLAVE TRADE as well as aspects of his political, religious, charitable and business life that are OVERLOOKED on the existing plaque from the Victorian era.

Dr Dresser delivered her ideas to Peter “Arse” Insole, an architectural officer at the council and then the trouble started. The Venturers immediately employed AMATEUR HISTORIAN Francis Greenacre to LOBBY Insole on their behalf and an unknown number of private meetings between Insole and Greenacre with neither notes nor minutes retained have taken place.

Now, we’re reliably informed, the following information will definitely not appear on any new plaque: any reference to Colston being a TORY; any mention of the SOCIETY OF MERCHANT VENTURERS; the number of children TRANSPORTED by Colston’s ships; the number of children who DIED on Colston’s ships; any mention of Colston’s religious and political BIGOTRY; any mention of Colston’s involvement in the SPANISH SLAVE TRADE and any mention of his INSIDER TRADING in South Seas Company.

Never mind, we’ll all just have to go back to vandalising the Venturer’s reactionary monstrosity instead.

TRUST FUND TWAT’S TITS-UP INCEST JIBE SCORES A ‘FULL PARTRIDGE’

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TRUST FUND TWAT

It’s all going fabulously tits-up at BBC Radio Bristol at the moment. The local station, widely acknowledged as a publicly funded job creation scheme for POSH THICKOES, is currently run by the extraordinarily dim “Gymkhana” Jess Rudkin.

Now, the failing station’s failing golden boy ‘star’ DJ, James “Posh Cunt” Hanson – personally appointed by Gymkhana Jess – may have finally marched our embarrassing BBC local radio station into full ALAN PARTRIDGE TERRITORY. This follows the broadcast of a ‘hilarious’ self-penned ‘parody’ song by Posh Cunt characterising women in Hartcliffe as a bunch of SLAGS up for a bit of DOGGING and INCEST!

Hanson learned his, er, streetwise chops at  £25k a year CLIFTON COLLEGE, one of the country’s leading public schools for boys, followed by five years of unpaid internships at various shite radio stations around the country as well as an unpaid stint with fellow TORY PUBLIC SCHOOL TWAT, Charlotte Leslie when she was MP for Bristol North West.

Unsurprisingly, the wealthy Tory trust fund twit’s dirty little anti-woman ditty didn’t go down well in south Bristol when he broadcast it on his Saturday show on 9 March. Neither did his REFUSAL TO APOLOGISE to women south of the city on his show on Saturday 16 March. Instead the entitled little shit sneered that women just needed “TO GET OVER IT“.

Posh Cunt has now been officially DISAPPEARED by the BBC for a few weeks while his boss and biggest and, quite possibly, only fan “Gymkhana” Jess deals with a mountain of COMPLAINTS about their hilarious gag. So far, Gymkhana Jess has largely spent her time explaining Posh Cunt’s also got a character called ‘Sebastian the Stokes Croft hipster’. This somehow makes sexually DEROGATORY REMARKS by a young entitled man towards women perfectly all right then.

Jess’s also whining to anybody daft enough to listen to her drivel about the “unpleasant online discussions” her and Posh Cunt’s DEEPLY UNPLEASANT GAG generated. Presumably on the basis that these over-privileged twats can broadcast what the fuck they like about us but we must be ever so respectful towards them because they went to the right school?

Do the loons at Radio Bristol think Bristol is some sort of feudal system where the peasants are obliged to show a bunch of witless public school arseholes and their reactionary views respect?

ONE RULE FOR THEM …

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Dim Labour cabinet member for women, children and young people, Councillor Helen “Oh My” Godwin has come up with an INTERESTING WHEEZE.

She’s demanding a new maternity leave policy from the council, which would mean that councillors have BETTER maternity benefits and pay than their council employee plebs. This is the same Oh My Godwin who told Full Council in 2016 that she wouldn’t support a cost of living increase in councillor expenses while people were LOSING THEIR JOBS!

No doubt it’s just a coincidence that her friend and Labour cabinet colleague Nicola “La La” Beech is just about to pop off and have a sprog? And if the new rules are passed then La La would be entitled to these ENHANCED maternity benefits through her £40k a year councillors wedge.

Isn’t it nice to see senior Labour councillors looking after themselves so well?

COSTLY CARBON NEUTRAL FUTURE JOY

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bristol-energy

Our old friend Old Sparky from Private Eye’s ‘Keeping The Lights On’ column cast his eye over municipal ENERGY RESELLING COMPANIES again in January. He explained that Notttingham City Council’s Robin Hood Energy would require its THIRD bailout in a year very soon.

He then observed, “the municipal energy supply model is FINANCIALLY UNVIABLE“. A message virtually everybody now gets except the Reverend Rees and his gormless sidekick, responsible for council finance, Craig “Crapita” Cheney.

Early in January, on the day Bristol City Council-owned Bristol Energy announced a further LOSS of £11.2million for 2018, Cheney cheerily announced that the company was at a “at a turning point where it can now begin to play a greater role in the city’s journey towards a CARBON NEUTRAL FUTURE.”

What a load of bollocks. How can running up a DEBT, now standing at over £30million – that will never be repaid – help our future? Carbon neutral buzzwords or not?

The Reverend and Cheney need to shut their energy business fiasco down today and apologise to the people of Bristol for wasting their money.

DERANGED ACADEMY TRASHES PUBLIC OPEN SPACE

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StokeLodge004

Cotham School’s determination to fence off their Stoke Lodge playing fields to “safeguard” pupils and keep the local community OUT has moved quickly from a little over-enthusiastic to stark raving bonkers in a remarkably short space of time.

The BATTLE over Stoke Lodge has been RAGING since 2011 and efforts to keep the city council land, used as recreational space by the community since 1947, public were finally thrown out by the High Court last year when it rejected a Town Green registration by Bristol City Council.

Now Cotham School are going ahead with their unpopular £160k plan to fence off most of the 26 acre site using dubious ‘PERMITTED DEVELOPMENT’ rules signed off by council planning officers. These rules conveniently stop the issue coming to a planning committee, despite the fact that the school’s plans are OPPOSED by the community, their councillors and their MP, Darren “Dipshit” Jones.

Although all is not quite going to plan for the school, who, since moving contractors on to the site in January, have been caught UNLAWFULLY attempting to put fence posts through the roots of ancient and protected trees and close enough to a badger sett to endanger the animals. Both actions are unlawful and the school already has been forced to quickly redraw their plans TWICE while on site.

Quite why the school needs to fence off the land, let alone DESTROY our city’s NATURAL HABITAT in the process, is something of a mystery. Many schools use public land WITHOUT FENCING as playing fields and, even, OFSTED, has agreed there’s no safeguarding reason why the land should be fenced off and the community effectively THROWN OFF THEIR OWN LAND.

Why can’t this annoying little school run by destructive nature-hating loonies share the space?

‘DAVE’ OF WESTBURY-ON-TRYM ROTARY CLUB DECLARES HIMSELF BRISTOL’S INTERIM MAYOR

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By Lucy Balderdash for the Nazi Post

A surprise YouTube video announcement was made today as a hitherto unknown ‘Dave’ stepped forward and declared himself as interim elected Mayor of Bristol, declaring his intention to ‘restore democracy’ to the benighted city.

‘Far too long have we’ve languished under the oppression of the dictator in charge of Bristol City Council,’ said Dave. ‘The state of crisis in the city is intolerable. I call on BCC’s departmental managers to immediately transfer their loyalty to me, and in return I’ll grant those who do a pardon once I take office.’

Consternation at this announcement ensued at College Green, where the Revd. Rees shortly appeared with his response in a fanfare in front of the Counts Louse, flanked by his redoubtable deputy Asher Craig. ‘I will not stand down to this impostor,’ he said. ‘I alone was elected to implement Tory austerity in Bristol, not this “Dave”. I’ve done the job Tessa [Theresa May] gave me well. It’s nothing but an unconstitutional coup organised by my persecutors: those allegedly-homeless racist vagabonds in the Bear Pit and disgusting anarchists working together.’

Dave however claimed to have rather received the tweeted support of other council Mayors including the new Mayor of South Kensington Council, Steve Bannon, and from Bristol’s Merchant Venturers via Mayor-No-More George Ferguson. ‘This proves that not only UK councils but also the international business community is solidly behind me,’ he said. ‘Donald Trump added his tweet of support this afternoon.’

Bristol’s city centre homeless were asked for their opinion of the crisis. ‘Can you give me your coat?’ said a shivering man in a blanket down Broadmead. ‘I’m fucking freezing to death out here.’

MARVIN’S MARVELOUS MANIFESTO

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Manifesto

Keeping his manifesto promises was always going to be challenging for the Reverend Rees, not least because we calculated at the time that it contained about 78 UNCOSTED PROMISES in all. However, what we couldn’t predict was how the Reverend would smash through any BARRIERS TO FAILURE quite so spectacularly.

Top of the list must come his promise to “COMPLETE THE ARENA“, which has now been downgraded to, “I will cancel the existing arena project I promised and instead support a global corporation’s efforts to build an arena in Filton named after an obscure dead bloke who owned our local privatised water utility scam”.

Meanwhile in terms of the Reverend’s highly contested housing promise – “WE WILL BUILD 2,000 NEW HOMES – 800 affordable – a year (by 2020)” – his housing guru, Paul “Wolfie” Smith continues to carefully calibrate the spin with the line that his PROJECTIONS are on target … Even if the actual number of houses being built isn’t!

Then there’s the recycling promise. The Reverend’s recently promoted former waste boss, The Former Socialist Known as Kye Dudd simply CHANGED THE TARGET and hoped no one would notice. We will “increase recycling, setting a target of 55% for all waste by 2020,” thundered the Reverend’s manifesto in 2016.

Fast forward to 2019 and we find The Former Socialist Known as Dudd’s waste overseer, Bristol Waste managing director Tony Lawless telling the Nazi Post, “We are delighted to see Bristol is on track to meet its ambitious RECYCLING RATE OF 50 PER CENT BY 2020.”

The comment came after the Reverend’s council managed to announce in January a measly ONE PER CENT increase in recycling rates since 2015 to 46%. Nothing like enough of an increase to reach 50 per cent, never mind 55 per cent, by 2020 as promised in their manifesto.

Have Rees and Dudd changed their promise in a vain attempt to claim they have courageously fallen a little short of a hugely ambitious target and hope we’ll not notice?

LOOKING KINDLY ON THE CORPORATES WATCH

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Legal_&_General_logo.svg

The Reverend Rees’s most recent Q&A on Facebook found him in top lying form explaining his super tough policy on developers who FAILED TO DELIVER on affordable housing for the city.

“If on your piece land you FAIL TO DELIVER what Bristol needs, we won’t be very impressed by that and WE WON’T LOOK KINDLY on that when we’re looking to develop our own land and looking for partners to come and develop with us,” he boomed from his Facebook pulpit.

But is this the same Reverend Rees who’s apparently awarded a lucrative contract to a London-based corporate, LEGAL AND GENERAL (L&G) to create a mixed use development on the extremely VALUABLE council-owned Arena Island site? And is this the same L&G that was exposed last autumn as only offering 4 AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS out of a potential 120 on another valuable Temple Quarter site on Bread Street?

When it comes to saying one thing and doing another, the Reverend really is on to something. Indeed, it would appear that the Reverend and his personally appointed £200k a year friend and regeneration chief, Colin “Head Boy” Molton, have looked INCREDIBLY KINDLY on L&G despite them totally failing to “DELIVER WHAT BRISTOL NEEDS” in Temple Quarter and have, instead, embarked on an expensive planning appeal process to get exactly what L&G needs at the city’s expense.

When he was first MYSTERIOUSLY APPOINTED by persons unknown, virtually the first thing Head Boy Molton did was visit the London offices of L&G ALONE on12 December 2017. He met them again ON HIS OWN at the Council House on 24 January 2018. On 5 March 2018 he had a telephone call with representatives of L&G and “NO NOTES FROM THE CONVERSATION EXIST“. On 8 June 2018 Molton and the Reverend met representatives of L&G in the Mayor’s Offices.

Early on Tuesday 2 October 2018, the Reverend and and Colin Molton attended a breakfast with representatives of Legal &  General and the Bristol Chamber of Commerce & Initiative on “how we can create renewed infrastructure, housing, energy and urban regeneration in Bristol”. Later that morning the Reverend and Molton met with the CEO and the Head of Public Affairs of L&G at City Hall and “NO NOTES FROM THIS MEETING EXIST“.

During this time the Reverend and Molton FAILED to meet with arena developers, Arena Island Ltd at all. Then on 23 August 2018 L&G released a press statement titled ‘Legal & General unveils vision for major urban regeneration project at the Temple Island (former Arena Island) site in Bristol’.

Failing to deliver for Bristol seems to work rather well for some corporate developers who have the ear of the right people doesn’t it?

WHISTLING IN THE WIND

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WHISTLING IN THE WIND

Council bosses continue to deliver a pile of NONSENSICAL CRAP instead of working WHISTLEBLOWING ARRANGEMENTS for their staff.

Delivering their ‘Annual Review of Whistleblowing Arrangements’ to the Audit Committee, bosses trumpeted to councillors that their review included “a survey of 100 CITY COUNCIL EMPLOYEES“.

Although the sheepish bosses went on to admit “the response rate to the survey was limited with only 22 RESPONSES RECEIVED“. This means around 0.3 per cent of council staff were actually surveyed, which seems a rather small amount to be building a working policy around.

The information gathered from the small amount of staff brave enough to respond was, however, deeply worrying. As staff admitted they have not reported concerns due to “FEAR OF REPRISAL” and “CONCERN THAT NOTHING WOULD BE DONE.”

Audit bosses response to this, supported by the city council’s hapless HR department, was to advise the Audit Committee that they needed to “REINFORCE THE MESSAGE“. Even though “the message” coming through to staff appears to be “don’t you dare blow the whistle at Bristol City Council”

After discussing the matter for a while, councillors concluded that their HR department needed to take responsibility for “REINFORCING THE MESSAGE” so that staff understood that whistleblowers have legal protections and any allegations of malpractice are taken seriously (honest guv, ed).

An odd decision since their current Director of HR and Workforce, John “Bedwetter” Walsh, appointed last year, was working as a senior HR consultant in Wakefield in 2006 when six social workers were SUMMARILY DISMISSED for trying to reveal serious children’s SAFEGUARDING CONCERNS.

The concerns were regarding children living in care homes run by Wakefield Council who were being exposed to DRUGS and were at risk of SEXUAL EXPLOITATION. Within a month of making their complaints in January 2006, the whistleblowing workers were FIRED. Wakefield Council then tried to get the six workers placed on a government blacklist usually reserved for SEX OFFENDERS.

Bedwetter scarpered from Wakefield in March 2006, before the fallout from the affair, which cost the council £1 MILLION in an out of court settlement to the exonerated social workers. There was also red faces all round at the council when it publicly emerged that they had sought to protect potential CHILD ABUSERS at the expense of WHISTLEBLOWING SOCIAL WORKERS.

Is Bedwetter Walsh really the best person Bristol City Council can find to promote a better deal for whistleblowers?