In the week that the Council created a new team of vigilante dustbin inspectors, snooping through peoples bins, TDC's latest press release reveals details of their Margate task force operations last month which involved up to 40 agencies from HMRC to Police and trading standards who took part in something called "Operation Streetweek" poking around the mean streets of Cliftonville.
No doubt it was all carried out to a high standard and everything was above board but to be honest for me it sounds rather sinister and authoritarian.
We learn from their press release that they have focused on Northdown Road visiting 382 properties at which resulted in 47 referrals to other agencies, these very apparently from housing enforcement concerns through to health concerns and of course minor drugs offenses.
I understand that this is a sort of annual event, when bureaucrats feel the need for the sun on their backs and a bit of fresh air, some exercise, perhaps a bit of finger waggling, so they get away from the desks and harass the people of Northdown and Cliftonville.
Those of us who have good luck not to live in or around Northdown Road are probably quite happy to see the authorities poke around, since quite a few people are reticent to go anywhere near the place these days.
However I just wondered about the legality and frankly the attitude of Thanet council, since when did they become a police force who are the Margate task force, who appointed them and who asked a bunch of publicrats to act as arbiter how people live.
Some aspects for instance cabinet member Elizabeth Greene, said that over 5500 properties have been visited since Streetweek activities began and then goes for a bit of street credibility by referring to needs being assessed, at street level, also the most worrying thing is the reference to officers "gaining valuable intelligence" from the community, you can just imagine TDC officers mounting covert surveillance on any of us under RIPA Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.
I personally hate it, when public services and authorities start to express their values, as if they have a place to do so.
The press release does not ask or give the views of any of the 382 occupants of properties that have been visited I just wonder what their opinions are, of having a posse of local authority police, Tax and immigration people turn up uninvited it might be slightly more interesting than the complacent view of our labour run council.
What occurs the rest of the year, who knows but maybe Margate Task force could perhaps make themselves present year round.
Finally for whatever reason, many in this area have more than a fair share of deprivation and I doubt that a mishmash of local services rattling peoples doors is the answer, Cliftonville's problems are the result of politicians, mainly Labour since they engineered the situation in which the lowest paid have become poorer. Politicians need to start looking at improving living standards.
Interesting piece Tony. When I attended one of the Peer Review Sessions I found I was the only community member in attendance and the rest were made up of these task force representatives who only really wanted to blow their own trumpet, and I struggled to be heard, with my comments not making it into the report in any meaningful way. What a mess!
ReplyDeleteIm sure there is some benefit in these encounters, however I think the problems of Norhtdown need a better approach money or good ideas.
ReplyDeleteI get the impression that recent benefits changes have increased pressures in Northdown Road, and police cars circling endlessly seem to highlight how ineffectual previous multi discipline purges have been.
This area needs more jobs and less people
Interesting points Tony but a bit unfair given something needs to be done to stop Cliftonville being worse. That said 40 agencies seems a lot and none of the offences luckily seem particulalry awful. Maybe given so few streets in Cliftonville - and after years no major improvements - we need half a dozen publicrats walking around and cull most of the others and redirect the budget to creating jobs etc?
ReplyDeleteThey can't win, can they? You moan if the area is in decline, then moan when there's a concentrated effort to do something. What would you want - a letter written to every household asking if they would mind very much if someone called round to chat about what you call "minor" drug offences, phoney benefits claims, criminal activity etc?
ReplyDeleteWe have mackinley the new tory candidate claiming thanet as his second home. Never hearf of him ot seen him. Has anyone? Parachute candidates like this undermine demcracy why is he not standing in his own area?
DeleteCan you think of a Thanet-based Tory who'd make a suitable candidate? I can't.
DeleteWhy not? And if not then that's a terrible reflection on Thanet Tories. Craig is just a chancer isn't he? Why has he never appeared in Thanet before now and why cannot he get elected in his own town?
DeleteCraig loves Thanet enough to park his boat here and appear a few months before the election!
DeleteYou didn't answer my question so I'll try again: Can you think of a Thanet-based Tory who'd make a suitable candidate?
DeleteI don't know thanet tories but let me repeat so you can answer. Why can you not name a suitable csndidate? And why has Craig been invisible until now. And my point being such parachute candidates undermine democracy don't they? His loyalty and efforts are the party not thanet
DeleteJust refuse to vote for any parachute candidate and they should be banned unless they've lived somewhere for say 5 years. No doubt Sandys will up sticks next year and head back to Pimlico
DeleteEven foreigners like Farage are treating our parliamentary seat as a plaything for his political career. Parachute candidates should be banned as parliament seats are for local people to be represented
DeleteTaxpayers Alliance now pointing out what an awful investment for TDC Manston would be - yet Farage and UKIP want to reopen it?
DeleteWhat's happening with manston or pleasurama or dreamland? Iris is looking ineffective already
DeleteTaxpayers Alliance need to check their facts. Riveroak have offered to pay all costs, therefore Manston won't cost TDC a penny!
DeleteHhhmmkm but Tdc need to check the Riveroak business plan as it was rejected by the consultants as feeble. Manston is finished and good riddance. Why Farage thinks it should be kept open is ludicrous
DeleteYes especially as Farage knows it's on the water supply. But then he doesn't live here so why bother...?
Delete13.51. As Cliftonville residents were not represented at the peer review you could argue everything is hunky dory. But of course we know the vibes from the streets suggests otherwise. If structures to hold authority to account are deliberately obscured or dismantled (and I bear witness to this) then we should all be concerned about that.
ReplyDeleteWhat a bloody good post, Tony! Agreed, it's all getting a bit Gestapo, isn't it? It's time to start putting this government back in it's place, before we have jackboots on the streets.
ReplyDeleteWe can't have any more of these 'officers' [PUBLIC SERVANTS] barging into people's homes unannounced, rifling their privacy and reporting them to the child-snatchers. Unless we nip this in the bud, we'll be living in the DDR.
Government was created by man, to protect the property of man, that's all it is tasked to do. If the government loses the plot, it is the duty of man to put it back on track. It is a lot easier than most people think, and we can all do it on an individual basis.
We need to relearn what is to behave as a man or woman again, instead of the corporate slaves that we have been programmed into thinking that we are.
Cut out the soap operas and learn about the law of the land, which is common law. It is the only solution because it is so incredibly powerful.
Forget trying to take them on within their legal system; you can't beat them, because they hold all the aces. Forget petitions, forget appeals, forget the party whip system in parliament. It's all rigged.
Had to chuckle at the RIPA site. Who do they think they are kidding?
DeleteThe world and his wife knows that Governments are responsible for 99.999999% of all-know terrorism on this planet... as in false-flag black-ops; from the great fire of London to the recent Malaysian Airlines disaster, taking in NYC's Twin Towers along the way, the same bunch of sneaky bastards done them all.
Of course, such acts of parliament are really only intended to invade our privacy and restrict our lives even more.
Fortunately, these acts of parliament have no bearing on man or woman whatsoever. Common law cannot be changed by acts of parliament.
Eh? The great fire of london and the missing malaysia airline were deliberate acts by government?
DeleteYep, well black-ops rather than acts; the former to create the City of London financial centre, and of course the privately owned Bank Of England; the latter to foment war between NATO and Russia.
DeleteBy government, I mean the real power behind the facade that most folk think of as government. It goes by many names, East India Co., City of London Corporation, International Bankers, etc.
The act I refer to is the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, linked to in Tony's post, which is the solution part of the hegelian dialectic 'problem, reaction, solution'.
First they blow something up and blame someone else (problem), then there is a huge public outcry, stirred up by the media (reaction), then the facade government takes action, by declaring war or passing acts that impinge on our freedoms (solution). In the case of RIPA, it was passed as a result of the London underground and bus bombings of 2005, I think.
Conspiracy nonsense. Of course governments as well as rogue elements within it kill people or stage terrorist incidents. But neither of the incidents were more than accidents. Ridiculous
DeleteWas it an accident that the water wheels on the Thames were sabotaged?
DeleteIf Flight 17 was an accident, why is Russia being (wrongly) villified for it?
To get back on topic, the government first creates problem areas and lets the situation get out of hand, then when people complain they send in the goon squads, which just happen to be primed and ready for action (how much is this all costing us??), then as people gradually become acclimatised, the goon squads will become part of everyday life.
Although when they come knocking on my door, they had better know the law, or it's going to end up costing them plenty.
Eh? Water wheels? Russia is being blamed for supplying missiles to the pro-Russian separatists or for Russian troops shooting the plane down. Or it could be the Ukrainians we don't know yet but it's no conspiracy. Flying over a warzone is being blamed on Malaysian Airlines.
DeleteGovernment didn't create the mess of Cliftonville although it certainly hasn't helped or improved it. That's no conspiracy just a need to sack under-performing civil servants as they do in other towns. Filming council meetings, no secret meetings and FOI will all help with accountability.
Water wheels to supply water to extinguish the flames, they were deliberately sabotaged by French and Wallonian jesuits, the same mob that were torching the slums.
DeleteThe Cestui que Vie Act 1666 was passed through parliament on the same day the fire was started. That act forms the basis of the debt money system that is unfortunately still plaguing us today.
You might not know who brought MH17 down, but I do and Russia played no part in it whatsoever; Mossad have their people embedded within the fascist Ukrainian junta, the Timoshenko woman is one of them. It was a joint effort between the fascists and the zionists.
Mossad had their people embedded within the US government pre 9/11, that was a joint venture by the fascists (CIA/Neocons) and the zionists (Mossad).
The Crown and it's subsidiaries have technology to control civilian airliners remotely, the parallel intelligence community are of the opinion that this technology was used on 9/11.
Government is responsible for creating the mess that is the UK today. It is deliberate, not accidental. Anyone who believes that these things are happening by accident is seriously naive.
Haha zionists mossads jesuits cia ridiculous conspiracy hype. Nect you'll be saying the Thanet gun range was involved. And somehow you know who downed the airliner? Yeah right
DeleteThe Cestui Act was for the assets of people lost at sea presumed dead for 7 years. Perfectly reasonable and nothing to do with the Bank of England or Great Fire.
DeleteIn 1665 Britain was infected with the deadly plague -
DeleteIn 1666 a great fire then did rage -
But while London was burning down, yes let me repeat that; WHILE LONDON WAS BURNING DOWN -
The parliment of the day decided to hold a special sessions, where they all sat down -
For the right time had come for them to now set in motion -
There would never be a better chance, time, opportunity, amongst all that commotion -
And what they did truly amazed me, you won’t believe what they did you see…
They pasted through the “Cestui Que Vie Act” of 1666 -
Which today STILL EXISTS -
So please, have no doubt, for what this Act is all about -
Is because of the great plague and fire, now hear me:
THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHO WAS ALIVE OR DEAD – Truly.
So they passed it through first in Latin -
So the commoners couldn’t read it -
So they knew not what was happening;
Then they decided to print it in French…
As if that’s going to make any sense?!
For the only ones who could read it were the well off you see -
Who had the right bloodline or ancestry -
So, believe you me, until you tell them you are actually ALIVE, we are all DEAD!!!
Go let your brain cells now figure that out; inside your unique head.
Maybe it was Mossad....all laws were in latin or french or english and few people could read anyway. And we're all dead because of one 1666 act and your sayso. Yawn. This is just random thanet conspiracy idiocy
DeleteIt was, together with the fascist mob, and it's not random, it's all connected; and it is not idiocy, it's real history.
DeleteWe are presumed dead or missing overseas and the government administers our estates to the tune of tens of millions per head, which they spend as they see fit; for example, by handing it to corporations intent on destroying us.
The internet is for more than just pornography mate, (is that why you are yawning in the middle of the day?)... check it out, it can be really fascinating.
Utter rubbish and conspiracy fantasy like the thanet gun ranges or cummins ira plot. Yawn.
DeleteThere must be something to it, or else you would not keep trying to discredit me.
DeleteIf you believe it is rubbish, why not just gloss over it, ignore it? Eh?
Ridiculous logic for ridiculous views.It is utter rubbish and I am bored of you spouting it.
DeleteAnother weak reply from a boring ignoramus.
DeleteI'm drawing line under this exchange before Tony does.
Quite right Rick for you have nothing to add. Why not write your own blog for your gun range etc crap.
DeleteYes Tony. 40 "Agencies". This in an area that has such a poor history of even multi police force co-operation. For example the well known distrust of Kent Police by the Met and even by Customs. (Such as when Kenny Noye offered to obtain a crate of illegally imported uzis to prove the numbers of weapons being brought in. Wasn't it Kent Police who refused to conduct inquiry called for by customs ?)
ReplyDeleteThat is not a really strong foundation for the Kent Police mocking and ignoring complaints about uzis in use at a local Thanet range is it ? Be fair.
The Met disclosed as little of their Brinks Mat inquiry as possible to leaky Kent Police. And even Det Supt Biddis running the Stephen Cameron and Ken Speakman murder inquiries formed a secure unit within Kent Police who shared nothing with "Colleagues".
In 1992 Met Police dealt with a UDA paramilitary base in Margate. Terrorists importing drugs and making hits. Such as the killing of London supergrass David Norris. How did loyalist paramilitaries operate with such impunity in Kent ? A force that turned a blind eye to uzi import and distribution.
We know that "E" was manufactured in Thanet and we know that warrant raids were leaked from within Kent Police to targets of scheduled warrant raids. Yet again what happened to multi force approach like the Met UDA murder and drugs case or the Essex Pat Tate murder ? Had Kent manufacture been a source of "E" to the Noye funded Essex drugs pushers.
Ironically whilst the above debacles were unfolding Thanet had a Police Commander who championed Intelligence targetting and Zero tolerance. He wrote a column in the Gazette. He didn't think the criminal justice system was working as the courts returned too many not guilty verdicts. He announced that police are no longer a service but are a "Force of Social Control". The multi agency dustbin sniffers were born.
Just look at the Kent Police refusal to investigate the corruption at TDC. Why has there not been an investigation and arrests? Allowing pension payoffs means the public are being defrauded twice.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteMoores hasn't resigned.
DeleteFunny I thought he had - just delaying it until next year to keep taking the council wages? Surely he must be able to explain and justify the 0% fraud before then?
DeleteMr Moores does need to explain this 0% issue. Providing secret payrises with public funds is fraud. Has Bob Bayford asked the required questions?
DeleteThe new Margate town council should help prevent the margate party duffers ruling for all of thanet. 17 councillors is too many though 9 per town seems right
DeleteSame idiots though....
DeleteWe could do with a blacklist of councillors to not re-elect
DeleteWho should be blacklisted?
DeleteTim Garbutt?
DeleteNot a councillor: which tdc councillors should be blacklisted was the topic. ..
DeleteKent Police seems excellent compared to the Met with recent reports by the Police themselves of corrupt cops working with drugs gangs and stealing back confiscated drugs etc. Then there's Plebgate and the vanishing notebooks and Deepcut barracks and Surrey Police. Or police early-pensioned off whenever there's criminal charges...or is that Macgonigal?
ReplyDeleteIs Macgonigal still AWOL? And we are still paying her?
DeleteMcGonigal signed a duplicate letter in her role as returning officer explaining the new voter registration malarkey, so clearly working flat out from home
DeleteShe's not at TDC but is the Returning Officer and CEO and Finance Director? The woman's amazing
DeleteThe Samuel-Mcgonigal-White years have been disastrous for Thanet. Who's in charge at TDC now?
DeleteWe need a police investigation into Infratil and TDC removing the pollution monitors. And no monitoting at all under Gloag. What were they thinking? They could pollute the public and get away with it?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete