Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Wednesday Cyril: Private Eye Double for Roch LDs


Never thought I'd be writing this but ... "Congratulations to Rochdale Lib Dems!" That would be for doing the double over Private Eye! HP Sauce AND Rotten Boroughs in the same edition. Brilliant stuff.

IN SHORT: Cyril got his bank to buy TBA shares not so he could speak at shareholders' meetings. But because he thought he'd, ahem, make a killing as they were undervalued. And Rowen had better shape up or ship out.

THEY MISSED: Rochdale Lib Dems deciding this Monday on buying up Water Rates debt not so that they could protect residents but so that they could EVICT poor people for water rates arrears. This sets a nice national precedent which other cuddly Lib Dem authorities might like to extend to Gas and Electricity. The partner being United Utilities this time. Rather than Jeremy Thorpe's Rediffusion.

Rochdale Labour Group have Rediffused to have any part in this anti-resident madness. No wonder the maverick Chris Davies MEP was encouraging residents to cut down on water. Only last week.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

So, the criminal charge of insider trading could be added to Cyril Smith's RAP sheet?

Buy asbestos company shares at a low price and sell at a high price as a result of promoting the company and deadly product in Parliament and in the pages of the local Rochdale Obscurer.

Did Cyril actually buy the shares? Who were his bankers he apparently instructed in 1982? Is he absolutely sure he handed cash over for these shares? Did he get a receipt for his Register of Interests? Is it possible the shares were a gift from T&N for services rendered?

Cheap T&N shares were part of the rescue package that brought city whiz Sir Francis (later Lord) Tombs to reign over the deadly multinational in 1982. The deal was simple - if Tombs could increase the T&N share price then he was set to make a killing.

Corporate share options from 1982. Who else got in on the deal?

Perhaps Cyril Smith, an influential and useful politician and advocate who was already on first name terms with the T&N directors?

With Private Eye investigating Cyril's bullying response to the New Statesman article, yet again, this larger than life character has been caught out telling lies.

Lies. Misleading statements known to be untrue. About his role promoting a product widely known at the time to cause terminal cancer in workers, consumers and bystanders exposed to this dusty, deadly but profitable mineral.

Now it has been confirmed Cyril Smith remains a major Rochdale Lib Dem fundraiser but the Electoral Commission returns are a hell of a mess.

Has he been laundering money? Who has been giving cash to the Rochdale Lib Dems. Have they been getting anything in return for the cash bribes, er sorry, donations?

Those words from Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne's speech about more police to catch criminals must still be ringing in the ears of Rowen and Hennighan as they drive up the M6 in silence, teeth gritted and arses twitching.

Anonymous said...

On the issue of water rate arrears.

I think you'll find that most of this has come about through sheer dereliction of duty by United Utilities, particularly their utterly useless legal department that has allowed this to fester for far too long as has now passed the buck

Anonymous said...

Anon 19:50,
bullshit.

This is down to a very dodgy deal where RMBC decided to buy the debt off UU.

Good for short term balance sheets. Absofuckinglutely stupid in the mid to long term.

UU did RMBC like a kipper.

What's next? RMBC to collect milk and Ben Shaws pop debt?

And who was the financial genius in charge of the finance portfolio at the time of this utterly stupid deal?

Step forward, international Arab Sheik advsior man of mystery... Cllr Elwyn Watkins.

The pompous arse who has dissapeared off the face of the earth yet still collects an allowance as a Healey Ward councillor.

Perhaps he could milk the Sheik for a few quid when the RBH water bill black hole shows itself in its full fucked up glory.

With wankers like this running Rochdale they are all doooomed.

Proper chips of the bent old spankers block.

Scary, fucked up, useless morons who couldn't run a piss up in a brewery.

Anonymous said...

Rochdale Lib Dems in Double Dutch Door Action.

A Rochdale Obscurer headline? Hah.

Has Dave Shennighan got back from Bornemouth yet? Not a poular guy with his boss Paul Rowen, who is sick of getting funny looks from fellow sandal flip flop, corduroy trouser wearers in the hotel lobby at check out this afternoon? All clutching fresh copies of Private Eye.

Naughty boy Hennigan all he has got from Bournemouth is a headache and a stick of rock up his arse. Keep it up Dodgy Dave and it could be a duty free sized Toblerone next.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Chris Paul said...

These "hilarious" lines about Hennigan's bottom are wearing very very thin indeed. It may pass for humour in the gutters of Rochdale but not here.

No more of that please chaps.

Stick to reasonable allegations:

He's a drunk. He's a bully. He's a liar. He's doing political shenanigans on the tax payer. He's out of control. He sticks up for Cyril. And the rest of the RLD crew too.

Isn't that enough to be going on with boys and girls?

The interesting thing about the donations via the Friends at Emma Street and from the LD Group is that they have not persisted, or at least the declarations have not persisted, post the election of Mr Rowen.

Some kind of recycled rent deal has appeared post election. But it has only been declared the once.

Why is this?

Have the donations and the rent thing really stopped?

What was the rent for the whole of the Lib Dem HQ offices now part-occupied by Rowen BEFORE his election?

Why has the rent for his portion alone gone up 500% compared to the former total?

Is this contrived to rook the tax payer at all?

Why have former political workers - 1.5 out of two as of end of April 2005 - been taken over by Rowen's parliamentary allowance as openly reported in RLD accounts?

Have these 1.5 workers paid for by the party one day been taken over by the taxpayer? With our money?

Have the donations been replaced by slush funds and indirect tax payer support for a political party?

And/or are they actually continuing, just not being accounted for properly?

Chris Paul said...

Anon 23:53

I shall be pleased to receive any evidence you may have of the allegations you make.

I am liking the "by sheer coincidence" line vs Cyril's favoured rellie in concept at least. But I am not seeing this type of health and safety measure attached to your accusations about Rowen's fencing and brown envelopes.

Please take more care. You might like to rewrite the comment taking this into account?

I'm going to be taking the above down unless evidence or the confidence that the evidence exists is in my email box within 30 minutes. By 00:45 am Thursday.

Chris Paul said...

Here is the comment originally posted at 17 September, 2008 23:53 which I've had to remove but now offer with the required cautions and redactions.

Anon 23:53 alleged:

Paul Rowen and Cyril Smith are up to their necks in planning sleeze.

While this is the 'word on the street' and there are some coincidences to be observed LOL have yet to see ANY HARD EVIDENCE for any planning sleaze from these two stalwarts of the RLD posse. We must treat this vague, generalised comment with a pinch of salt.

Many professionals who have to put certain expenses through the books know all about it.

Ditto, no evidence. Can be given no weight at this stage.

Take [Name of Corporation redacted] for example. They had a spot of bother with a new nightclub in Rochdale back in the late 90's and then again in 2001. [Name of Club redacted].

Need to research the planning history for this site. No further information at the present time.

Initial planning ended up being a touch tricky. Some councillor by the name of Paul Rowen overlooking it. Sir Cyril Smith's brother Norman was on the planning committee.

This will be a matter of public record if true. No time to check minutes at this point.

As if by magic the planning problems were solved. Cllr Rowen got a nice new fence and a bit of a tax free tickle.

These serious and very specific allegations of benefits to an elected member of council are no more than anonymous allegations at this point. Completely unreliable.

By sheer co-incidence Cyril's Rotarian nephew also got a job at [X]. Cyril also had access to the nightclub during the day for the odd meeting.

Eminently checkable.

Politicians getting kickbacks from nightclubs. Nothing that new but still illegal if planning or pecuniary advantage, personal or party, has been obtained.

Obviously this would be illegal, even back in the dark ages. If it were true.

Bent politicians must always chance facing their memesis one day.

Very true. Do they come clean, or build layers of lies on lies is the real test of their mettle.

Anonymous said...

memesis? bit like Nemesis?