Cllr Harry Phibbs is a hypocrite, says Private Eye, for taking 60% extra while criticising council salaries

The Hammersmith Tory councillors who have sneakily hatched a secret plan - which they have tried to cover up - to ensure Boris's agreement for the loathed Town Hall plans if he wins are the usual roll call of rotters.

They include Stephen Greenhalgh, Nick Botterill, Mark Loveday, Greg Smith and Andrew Johnson. And of course, Harry Phibbs. No such list of shame would be complete without him.

On which note, our attention has been drawn to yet another exposé of El Phibbo in Private Eye (in the 6-19 April issue). Last time, the Eye claimed Phibbs was pompous. This time they reveal he is a hypocrite, enjoying a  60 per cent increase in his allowance while criticising much smaller increases in local council salaries.

The Eye also recalls its description a quarter of a century ago of Phibbs as "The world's most unpleasant Young Conservative". As a grown-up, we'd say he has quite a lot of competition, not least in Hammersmith & Fulham.

Secretive Tory Hammersmith: Britain's least transparent council puts two fingers up to freedom of information

So the Hammersmith Tories and Boris look likely to push through the monstrous King Street development if Boris wins. One of the many grubby aspects of this shocking story is the Tories' desperate attempt to keep their plan secret.

How did Britain's self-proclaimed "most transparent council" do this? By exempting the minutes of the relevant meeting from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

If the document hadn't been leaked to Andy Slaughter MP, we would be none the wiser.

What weasels these Tories are.

Confirmed: Hidden Tory plan to push through loathed King Street plan if Boris wins

Well, we've said it all along. Contrary to misinformed reports at the time, Boris Johnson did not put an end to the monstrous King Street development in December.

We said then that all he had done was ask the council temporarily to withdraw the proposal as he thought it would lose him votes. Hammersmith Tory council was free to submit it at any time.

And that is exactly what it is now clear the Tories will do if Boris wins.

As the Shepherd's Bush blog reports today, our MP Andy Slaughter has come across secret council documents that reveal the council is currently preparing three options for King Street to submit to Boris.

Only the first option, called "As is", would not require restarting the whole planning process. And there is no way the Tories want to reopen the whole can of worms

So if Boris wins, it looks as though "As is" will go ahead. Blocks of luxury flats will be thrown up that destroy the riverside views, a home for blind and an art deco cinema will be demolished and a local park will be cut up.

We agree with today's statement by the leader of Hammersmith's Labour group, Cllr Steve Cowan: "The evidence is now clear, re-elect Boris Johnson and get the Town Hall scheme back."

Cllr Cowan adds: "Local residents will view this as a serious blow to Boris Johnson's integrity and it comes off the back of his less than honest approach with the Fulham Super Sewer and the Shepherds Bush Market demolition. Mayor Johnson and H&F Conservatives should now release all the minutes and records of the secret conversations they had about the Hammersmith Town Hall office scheme and tell the public exactly what was plotted last December."

Did Hammersmith Tories know Boris was misleading voters about his opposition to the super sewer?

So Boris Johnson misled voters when he said at a public meeting on 7 March that he was opposed to Thames Water locating one of its main tunnel sites in Carnwath Road SW6, having actually approved Thames's application one month earlier on 7 February (see details here).

One of the questions this now raises is whether the Hammersmith & Fulham Tories knew Boris was being less than honest when after the meeting they proclaimed "Boris attacks Super Sewer" on their blog.

This stated, "Speaking at the Hammersmith Town Hall on Wednesday evening the Mayor of London Boris Johnson attacked the self serving proposal from Thames Water for a gold plated £4.1 billion Super Sewer. If the scheme goes ahead it threatens terrible environmental damage and pushing many households into water poverty with higher bills" (see here).

When they made this claim about their mayor, we presume the local Tories couldn't have known Boris was being misleading. He was doubtless pulling the wool over their eyes, too, wasn't he?

Documents expose how Boris has deceived west Londoners over Shepherd's Bush Market and super sewer

Official documents reveal that Boris Johnson has been deceiving Hammersmith & Fulham residents over his support for the Shepherd's Bush Market property speculation scheme and the siting of Thames Water's super sewer in Carnwatch Road. He has given the impression he is opposed but has signed off on documents that show the opposite. This raises questions about will happen to the suspended King Street scheme if Boris is re-elected.

Deception No. 1: Shepherd's Bush Market
Property speculator Orion's plans for Shepherds' Bush Market will see Goldhawk Road shops demolished, market traders losing their rights and seven-storey blocks of flats looming over the Green. At the People's Question Time on 7 March, Boris feigned ignorance of this and said it was a matter for H&F Tory council. The next day, he told the Fulham and Hammersmith Chronicle, "I will do whatever I can to protect the traders at Shepherd's Bush Market" (see here).

Yet it now transpires that Boris had ALREADY told the council in a letter of 29 February that he had no objection to the market redevelopment. He knew about it and he supported it. 

Well done to Andy Slaughter MP for ferreting this out and to the Shepherd's Bush Blog for spelling out what appears to be a straight lie (see details and documents here).

To make matters worse, as Andy points out (see here), Boris's early approval enabled the Tory council to rush the market scheme through before 1 April, enabling the developers to avoid paying a Crossrail levy that will take some of the Crossrail cost burden off taxpayers' shoulders. A further blow by the Tories for property speculators over ordinary people. 

Deception No. 2: Super sewer and Carnwath Road
At the People's Question Time on 7 March, Boris also gave the impression he was against the proposal to locate Thames's Water's super sewer at Carnwath Road in SW6.

Yet it turns out this was far from the truth. Boris had actually ALREADY supported the use of the Carnwath Road site on 7 February in his formal response to a consultation.

Well done again to Andy Slaughter for exposing this (see here). The Shepherds Bush Blog goes into useful detail, including Boris's subsequent attempt at spin, here.

Deception No. 3: King Street?
Boris Johnson's proven track record of deception means that those who persist in believing the loathed King Street property speculation scheme is dead need to think again.

As we have made clear (see here), Boris has NOT killed the King Street scheme off but has just forced Tory H&F council to put it on hold for now. On his form to date, if Boris is elected, we have no doubt the plan will be resubmitted and he will approve it. A home for the blind and an art deco cinema will be demolished, a local park will be chopped up and skyscrapers of luxury flats will blight the skyline.

There is an alternative
Electing Ken Livingstone will mean an end to any dodgy dealings between the Tories and property speculators. On a recent visit to Hammersmith, Ken pledged that as mayor he would "immediately open up the records to examine any areas of inappropriate collusion" between property developers and the council or the Boris Johnson mayoralty and campaign.

UPDATE
The Guardian's London blogger Dave Hill has set out Boris's super-sewer lies in great detail here. Dave says, "Is any more of this sort of business going on as Boris seeks to hold on to his support in inner west London? I think you will be told."

Property developers behind Hammersmith Tories' West Ken demolition plan arrested for corruption

Just a week after the Guardian featured West Kensington residents' pain and frustration in the face of Tory Hammersmith & Fulham council's plan to demolish their estate, the two property speculators behind the scheme have been arrested for corruption. See details in the ever-sharp Cowan Report here.

What this means for the Tories' much-loathed plans for the estate isn't yet clear but on past form, we're unlikely to get a straight answer any time soon.

After all, less than a fortnight ago, Tory councillors twisted every which way to justify not putting their plans to a vote of the West Ken residents because they knew they'd lose. See details here.

They also tried to cover up their intentions from the very beginning. As Labour group leader Steve Cowan recalls, when the Fulham Chronicle first exposed the planned demolition of the West Ken and Gibbs Green homes, "The Council's PR department actually threatened that newspaper with legal action unless they retracted the story. But within six months the Council had officially started consulting on its proposal and last Monday night they altered the Council’s planning documents to make it easier to demolish all the homes in that area."

Ken plans Energy Co-operative to put £120 back in Londoners' pockets

News from the Ken campaign - a great idea to help ordinary people in place of Boris's bombast and bluster

Ken Livingstone today announced his support for the Big Switch campaign and released his plan for a London Energy Co-operative, the latest of his policies to put money back in Londoners’ pockets.

Through harnessing the buying power of Transport for London, the biggest purchaser of electricity in London, and the rest of the GLA Group, the London Energy Co-operative will be able to purchase energy on the wholesale markets, giving Londoners a cheaper alternative to rip-off energy suppliers.

Members of the co-operative would be given a stake in their own energy company. Savings will be realised through both lower bills on average, as well as an annual dividend if the co-operative operates at a profit.

It has been estimated that through setting up the co-operative, Ken Livingstone could save Londoners up to £120 off their bills.

Ken is also supporting the Big Switch campaign, led by Which? and 38 Degrees, which he believes will be able to negotiate cheaper bills for Londoners now.

He said: “Soaring energy bills are hitting Londoners hard. I’m pledging to tackle London’s rising living costs on everything from fares and housing to childcare and energy bills.  

"The collective purchasing approach taken by the Big Switch is a simple but potentially trailblazing way to help bring down soaring energy bills. When people come together, they’ll have more power to negotiate cheaper energy bills with the big energy companies.”

“But to break the stranglehold of the ‘Big Six,’ and get a better deal in the long-term we will need more competition. I will set up a London Energy Co-operative that will seek to break the power of rip-off energy companies and provide a cheaper alternative for the millions of families that are struggling with their bills.”

“Average energy bills have risen by over £300 per year while Tory Mayor Johnson has been in office, yet he has failed to act. At the heart of this election is a clear choice for Londoners – a Mayor who will take action to ease the squeeze Londoners are facing or an out of touch Mayor who will cost Londoners dear.”

Private Eye unpersuaded by "pompous" Harry Phibbs as Hammersmith Tories panic over exposé of their tax-dodging use of consultants

"There's rising panic among the Tories who run Hammersmith and Fulham council as scrutiny of their easy-going attitude to the employment of tax-avoiding 'consultants' in senior roles increases", according to the latest Private Eye (see full story below).

For those coming new to this scandal, details of the council's overuse of consultants and its related tax dodge are here.

Now Tory councillor Harry Phibbs has penned "a pompous letter" protesting about the Eye's exposé of this scandal. He also attacked the BBC because a recent edition of the award-winning File on 4 carried the story of Hammersmith's dodgy dealings - see here.

As Private Eye points out, when it comes to facts - as opposed to foam - Phibbs offers nothing to refute the accusation that the Tories have not been tax-compliant in their use of consultants and are potentially looking at a whopping £15 million bill for back tax.

Indeed, Phibbs and his his colleagues in Britain's self-proclaimed "most transparent" council blocked a recent Labour request to make all the figures public.

Until the Tories open the books, all the pompous bluster in the world won't take away the smell of fish in Hammersmith town hall.

Private Eye, 23 March-5April 2012

Hammersmith Tory council faces a £15m black hole in its finances thanks to dodgy tax arrangements

“H&F currently owes HMRC around £15m in unpaid taxes and fines”. So says this week’s Private Eye (see below - and see previous blogs with more detail here and here).

£15 million is equivalent to a 25% increase in council tax.

In other words, if HM Revenue & Customs rules against the hopelessly inefficient Tories, local residents could end up paying a quarter more for their services. Or face yet more cuts.

To make matters worse, Britain’s least transparent council is blocking any attempt to shed light on the matter. 

When Labour councillors at last week’s budget meeting called for the council to ensure its tax obligations were met and up to date and to report full details of any back taxes and fines issued by HMRC, Tory councillors voted to block this.

A £15 million potential black hole and a refusal to be open. Only in Tory Hammersmith & Fulham.

Private Eye, "Rotten Boroughs" section, 9-22 March 2012

Hammersmith teenagers will benefit from Ken's plan to restore education allowance in London

One of the most short-sighted things the Tory-led government did when they took power was to end the education maintenance allowance (EMA), which helps teenagers from poorer backgrounds stay on at school.

The EMA offered every young person a chance to get ahead, no matter their background. It kept the dole queues down and gave the country a better-educated workforce. Sadly, that wasn't how axeman Michael Gove saw it.

Now Ken Livingstone has promised to restore the EMA in London if elected.

In a day dominated locally by news of Hammersmith Tories' cuts to services for women, children and young people, this is good news.

And well done to Hammersmith Labour's own James Mills, who leads the Save EMA campaign.

All we need to do now is kick Boris out. You can sign up to help the Ken campaign here.