Hockley Valley Resort
How often does William go there? Spoilt b*stards aren’t you.
That might be a strange title but people who are aware that they have any kind of ‘mental health’ issue (be it anxiety, depression, stress, cognitive disorder, anti-social, fear of being around others or mixed mental/physical dis-ease) are people who have to face the struggle of gaining or re-gaining self control and to a much more enduring level than ‘regular’ people. (Bear in mind most people will experience mental health ‘deviance’/issues at some point in their lives or at least know someone who will.) This ever increasing number of people are constantly struggling to be in more control of themselves and at peace and positive – ‘peace and positivity’ sounds very zen/yogi doesn’t it? Well it is. Yoga practitioners/healthy living fans are not the only ones trying to achieve self control, mental health sufferers are more on the level of initiates trying to achieve a level that sometimes seems superhuman or divine. Why is that? For sufferers it’s because they’re seen as dangerous or a threat and start believing it themselves with intrusive thoughts and stigma which turns into self-harm and/or introverted-ness, much public perception sees them as linked to criminal behaviour and that’s a common yet extreme stereotype. For spiritual practitioners and religious people who are not Masonic/club members the ethos is that we can’t control our surroundings or society but we can control ourselves and we reach within ourselves to be at peace with the space without. Gaining or re-gaining self-control doesn’t mean that you’re dangerous to society, no one thinks that of priests/equivalent public/civil figures that way until they realize the scale of molestation, punishment and discrimination that goes on in most organized religion not to mention that religion is constantly used as a tool/excuse for resource grabbing and ethnic cleansing i.e. war, they are seen as the forefront of and to spirituality. Gaining or re-gaining self-control just means you’re trying to achieve it consciously rather than unconsciously e.g. trying to modify or get rid of a habit or addiction such as food, smoking or alcohol. But unlike spirituality (‘positive mental health’ where people are happy or comfortable being aware of and perhaps reaching out to people and places we can’t see) people with ‘negative mental health’ (where they’re being overwhelmed) struggle an every day battle with every thing; they might love something/one very much but have horrible thoughts about them or feel propelled to do something they don’t want to do so are constantly fighting it, trying to make peace with it, trying to control the ‘urge’. The point is they know they don’t want the pressure/’desire’ to think/do these possible things and so they’re constantly trying to be stronger to make sure they don’t, perhaps even making it so that they can’t do those things.
Terms I use:
(Obviously ‘mental health’ just means your mental health but it’s become a phrase that mean problems with your mental health and associated with illness.)
Positive ‘mental health’ – people who are ok with being called and/or calling themselves psychic, medium, spiritualist, priest, very religious person (meta-narrative believer), person who hears/feels comforting presences, person who purposely trains/opens themselves up to be aware of more (a part of Hinduism and Buddhism for example).
Negative ‘mental health’ – hear/feels/sees presences and/or thoughts that are not welcome.
Both are the same thing, both are aware of something else or a deeper part of consciousness whether mental, physical or both (imo they’re interconnected, I don’t believe the body is just temporal or merely a ‘suit’, I believe it to very important and capable of memory/consciousness, I don’t think it’s all in the brain where many think the mind is based, I think the mind is all over) but both don’t have the same effects for people.
There’s also the problem of ‘fantasy’ – believing in something that differs from general sensory reality such as believing in miracles and miraculous people/beings in religions or having a psychosis on an individual basis doesn’t mean it’s all fictitious. It’s easy to say ‘oh that’s their belief’ or ‘that’s their psychosis’ and the more time that passes and if the belief system becomes normalized we are able to see it as less threatening (remember when most religions or new branches of religion comes into being there is conflict and usually bloodshed). It’s part of their fantasy, it didn’t really happen, it doesn’t happen, they’re paranoid, susceptible, gullible, open to persuasion, a somnambulist etc. With one label the whole experience can be discredited or made easier to ignore, we assume that we understand their situation because we associate them with the things we’ve come across but that isn’t necessarily fair.
It’s a quandary; public opinion is becoming more informed and slightly more tolerant of people who hear voices for example (and many people do and will hear them at some point in their lives, not constantly but will hear a voice now and then and rationalize it ‘oh I thought I heard something, must have been this or that’, put it down as one of those strange experiences and possibly forget it) so the name ‘schizophrenia’ for example is met with a bit more compassion. However in the medical industry the labels and even diagnosis of ‘schizophrenia’, ‘multiple personality disorder’ and such are being discouraged with the general term ‘psychosis’ preferred partially because there’s so much about the mind and consciousness that we don’t know and that can affect us all in different ways. There are overlying patterns but it has to be seen on a more patient by patient basis rather than a one-size-fits-all model. But the word ‘psychosis’ hits a fear trigger in public, it’s compared with ‘psycho’, ‘socio’, ‘off-kilter’, ‘problem’, ‘dangerous’ etc so there’s a conflict between public and medical/associated institution perception which doesn’t help sufferers. That’s a factor of labeling in general and affects everybody in some way, we all fall into groups and classifications but ‘psychosis’ is pretty controversial in public even if common in healthcare.
I was told specialists that my sympathy and empathy are a ‘gift’, “a really beautiful gift that can’t be developed or learned easily, it’s not a talent in people it’s something you just have or don’t, a beautiful gift” (because I’m an easy crier and very easily relate to people and am able to get them to relate to each other) but when it’s taken advantage of such as in my situation it can be detrimental to me [or/and not to those who’d benefit]. That’s not to say I shouldn’t be but it has taken over. Another told me “what you’re going through is no judgement on you, you have to constantly remember that, it’s not judgement on you, this is not who you are or what you’re like, it shows, it really shows that it’s the opposite of you, these things playing out so horribly shows that you care so much about everybody and everything and that you have so much love.” I innately know that but it means so much to be told. My psychosis takes needing to know that I’m still a good person and a beautiful person, always have been and always will be to another level – it’s such a deep trauma and hurts so badly, like I’ve known nothing but war and home invasion my entire life and I just need respite and my privacy respected and to know that I’m not a bother, a burden nor an embarrassment and I don’t need to be hidden away either. I know how terrible it is for people to feel awful, in so much pain and in practically a merciless/pitiless position over physical beauty and identification let alone how I feel most of the time. This whole situation with ‘William’ (in regards to older blog posts) has made me feel like I need to be reminded that I’m actually a really likable person, I make people laugh, feel better about themselves, I want to know about them, to comfort in a deeply humane way and can easily understand their frustrations and am willing to in the first place. The problem with ‘William’ is that it was a romantic scenario and so has left the usual chasm of needing to be loved/knowing that you’re loveable, that ‘he’ should have loved me but didn’t. Ironically I didn’t need or want it to begin with and then I gave too much and he didn’t actually show me any love me at all, quite the opposite and tried to make it so that I couldn’t talk about what was/is going on. I’ve also been told by specialists that my case is “exceptional” and “extraordinary” (not in a good way), extremely frightening for me but not in a way that reflects badly on myself (something that ‘William’/his ‘people’ have done to/made me feel as if I’m bad, dirty, disgusting, ugly, ignorant, cybernetic/nothing but a tool, a ‘mark’ etc). My case is even harder to explain than ordinarily but not singular in a way that makes me more of a ‘threat’ – as society is led to see us – than one of the many other people in similar undiagnosed ‘psychoses’.
To transition on a slightly satirical note: I recently came across an automated system that asks you “if are terminally ill or have less than 6 months to live please press 1 otherwise please press 2” and in the circumstances it was just so insulting that I had to bitterly laugh and thought “no but I’d like to be so just so I don’t have to put up with this anymore”. That’s no disrespect to the terminally ill or prescribed as close to death but when you’ve got ‘mental health’ (that should actually mean you’ve got good health because you’ve got a healthy mind, our language is backwards because instead it sounds like you’ve got something contagious and bad) you are put behind those with ‘physical [ill] health’ and not seen as as much of a priority though we have similar and the same horror stories about dealing with institutions as those with ‘physical illness’ as a norm plus ‘physical illness’ causes ‘mental illness’ and vice versa. Come on when so much ‘mental health’ leads to self-destructive thoughts and vulnerability aren’t we eligible for the whole ‘living and possibly dying with dignity’ debate as well?
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Insanity as a symptom of humanity?
Nepal: It’s now a criminal act to force women into menstruation huts
Source: RT, Thu, 10 Aug 2017 21:28 UTC © Prakash Mathema / AFP
The Nepalese government has made it a criminal act to force women into cowsheds while they’re on their periods. The ancient Hindu tradition sends menstruating females into the sheds to keep so-called “impurity” out of the home.
Although the practice – called ‘chhaupadi’ – was banned by the Supreme Court in 2005, it remains common in Nepal’s remote west.
However, the government has now made the practice a criminal act that could come with jail time.
“The parliament has a passed a new law that makes chhaupadi a criminal act,” lawmaker Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, who headed a parliamentary panel that finalized the legislation, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“Anyone forcing women into seclusion during their period can now be sentenced to three months in jail.”
The new law will come into force within a year, according to Pokharel, as authorities want to spread awareness of the legislation before cracking down on offenders.
Some Nepalese communities believe they will fall victim to misfortune such as natural disaster if females are not sent into isolation while menstruating.
However, the practice – which exposes them to rape by men and attacks by wild animals – has led to the deaths of several women.
Just last month, a 19-year-old died from a snake bite while she was staying in a shed in the district of Dailekh. In December, another girl suffocated to death in a poorly-ventilated shed in the Achham district.
[Sott] Comment: Nepali teen dies from snake bite in ‘menstruation hut’
In addition to sending females into isolation, some communities also ban them from drinking milk and feed them less food while they are on their periods.
The law against banishing women to cowsheds has been praised by the National Alliance for Women’s Human Rights Defenders, a local Nepalese activist group, which has called the practice “inhumane.”
The group’s head has called on community members and activists to “remain vigilant and report any case of chhaupadi.”
“Such vigilance will force the government to strictly enforce the law,” Renu Rajbhandari said, as quoted by Reuters.
The ban comes after the United Nations joined up with the youth-led organization Restless Development Nepal in April, in order to push for an end to the practice which the organization said subjects women to “cold and isolation, often at risk of illness and animal attacks.”
The ancient and ongoing demonization of women is something else; I knew females were banned in temples and from even doing home pujas, even touching religious iconography at home but thinking natural disasters occur if they’re not shamed/isolated from the community and basically warning the entire community that they’re on their periods? And from one of the most spiritual places on Earth with some of the most enlightened learning and on the flipside fighting. It just highlights the hypocrisy and elitism of learning of the initiated. Hinduism and it’s later offshoots such as Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism are linked to vast amounts of knowledge on consciousness, how we function biologically, nature, space, how to live etc and yet these places somehow have and still have complete depravity, degradation and domineering behaviours. How are the rest of us supposed to cope if they can’t get it right?
It reminds me of people around the world who used to think it was bad luck to have females aboard a boat and blame misfortune on them and yes it included storms, hurricanes and being sunk. People are insane, what passes for ‘normal’ is based on how many of us are doing the same thing at any given time.
Fairytales are atmospheric, creepy and often cruel showing us temptation in the form of hope usually after great turmoil and sacrifice. They’re not often stories for children but more warnings as Pamela Travers herself claimed she didn’t write the Mary Poppins books for children. To some of us they can be seen as culmination of learning and with her tempestuous life perhaps a yearning – Ms Poppins being someone she wanted to be or wanted to guide her through the storm? Poppins being someone who glided through extremities like only few and a ‘nanny’ (granny, Dark Mother figure – remember the Dark Mother is an honourary title, she doesn’t have to be a Mother).
The remakes of well known fairytales in recent years have emphasized further that they are not really ‘family friendly’ and even modern authors from Roald Dahl to J. K. Rowling have shown us ‘dark’ children’s and young adult fiction, easily read by adults, and yet they hold a map for childhood. Dystopian themes have made it to the forefront of youth fiction – but then did they ever really leave? The scary has always been at home with musical folk tales and poems of old and are always present watching and coming closer to us from the periphery, they sometimes get watered by the likes of Disney but even Disney shows protagonists in danger. Is it a safe ‘threat’ we hanker for like that of a roller coaster where we feel the thrill but never the peril or is there something in us that really wants to fall? We never really face the unknown we just go round in circles, patterns and trends.
But Disney was right to excise from Mary Poppins the Zen mysticism and symbolism, about which academics had preposterously written lectures and learned papers. And although Disney’s songwriters the Sherman Brothers are on record as finding Travers “a hellcat” to work with (“like having two weeks of ulcers”), she comes across in the film as ultimately sympathetic, commanding respect for facing up with spirit to the Disney men. Travers was fond of saying that all women pass through three phases: nymph, mother, crone.
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As Lawson writes, in the initial days of Disney’s charm offensive, P L Travers “fell into Walt’s embrace like a lovesick fool, but the fortune he gave her almost made up for the betrayal”. She got $100,000 upfront and 5 per cent of the gross, so she had to forgive “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and dancing penguins. And after five years of “uneasy wedlock”, the film emerged – unsubtle, sugary, sentimental; “gorgeous, but all wrapped round mediocrity of thought” – and won five Oscars. Sam Goldwyn wrote an open letter saying everyone in the world should see it. Never mind that Disney’s editions of Mary Poppins books outsold hers; her own sales trebled. She would later say that she had written “a small unpretentious book, but as full of meat as a sausage is. The film made it grandiose, pretentious and took all the stuffing out of the story.” But she always praised Julie Andrews and even thought Dick Van Dyke’s cockney was “really not too bad”. She discussed a possible sequel without objection.
http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2013/12/strange-life-creator-mary-poppins
Was he right to White wash (his own life and business White washed of course)? I love the Mary Poppins film (and I can understand why Emma Thompson was chosen to portray P. L. Travers due to her role as Nanny McPhee – the films of which I didn’t really like – and her bearing in general) but I’m aware there was more going on in her life and in the series. It seems as if Travers got caught up in great knowledge and mixed with great cultural icons who themselves did the same but like many were far too a bohemian, rich, elite set indulgent and immature for the wisdom they sought/practiced.
Too bad we can’t all be like the characters we create and adore; perhaps she wanted Mary Poppins but had some of that in her aunts and would have been better off with Granny/Mistress Weatherwax (another Dark Mother/Witch/Wise Woman/Crone figure) from Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’, whom many of us love… At a distance and with great respect and perhaps some bitterness and begrudgement, and she was the ‘good one’ out of her and her sister 😉 !
What we want and need are sometimes two very different things.
Discerning the Nature of Free Will
In the chapter entitled, “John and Barbara’s Story,” a starling, a wise bird, visits the nursery at Cherry Tree Lane and communes with Mary Poppins and the babies, John and Barbara. Through their conversation, we become aware that the babies, the starling, and Mary Poppins understand the language of the wind, the stars, and the sunlight. However, the starling laments that the children will soon forget everything about where they came from. The children, of course, vehemently protest. Soon, however, they do forget.
This theme is explored further in the chapter entitled, “The New One” in Mary Poppins Comes Back. When the baby Annabel is born, the starling makes another visit, and he turns somersaults on the windowsill, clapping his wings wildly together each time his head comes up. “What a treat!” he pants, when at last he stands up straight. (Now he had someone to whom he could speak again.) The starling asks Annabel to tell the fledgling that accompanies him to tell where she came from:
“I am earth and air and fire and water,” she said softly. “ I come from the Dark where all things have their beginnings. I come from the sea and its tides, I come from the sky and its stars, I come from the sun and its brightness—and I come from the forest of earth. Slowly, I moved at first always sleeping and dreaming. I remembered all I had been and I thought of all I shall be. And when I had dreamed my dream I awoke and came swiftly. I heard the stars singing as I came and I felt warm wings about me. I passed the beasts of the jungle and came through the dark, deep waters.” “It was a long journey! A long journey indeed!” said the starling softly, lifting his head from his breast. “And ah, so soon forgotten!”
This episode is reminiscent of the soul’s encounter with the river Lethe in Greek mythology. The souls of the dead bathe there before they are born, so they will not remember their previous history and choices made before birth (karma) until their life is over. If we knew what happened in past lives with the people we know in the present, we might avoid these people and many of life’s experiences. How can we operate with free will and choice if we know our sacred contracts, asks Caroline Myss, author of Sacred Contracts. In The Secrets of Dr. Traverner, Diane Fortune, the occult fiction writer of the early twentieth century, wrote about a character who refused to come completely into her body because she knew her fate and was afraid to face it. This presents the paradox that from ignorance we exercise free will; from knowledge we forfeit our right to choose.
The above link explores symbolism in the Mary Poppins series and Travers was herself an ardent student of mythology and culture which brings us to one of her passions, a passion of intrigue with eternal beauty.
I’m not going to explain the symbolism in ‘Sleeping Beauty’ such as a the Spinners/Fates/Wheels but simply quote some of Travers’ own words as found in the ‘Afterword‘ of her book ‘About The Sleeping Beauty’. Therein she outlines five versions of the story from different cultures following her own refashioning. Bear in mind that I do not agree with everything.
The idea of the sleeper, of somebody hidden from mortal eye, waiting until the time shall ripen has always been dear to folkly mind – Snow White asleep in her glass coffin, Brynhild behind her wall of fire, Charlemagne in the heart of France, King Arthur in the Isle of Avalon, Frederick Barbarossa under his mountain in Thuringia. Muchukunda, the Hindu King, slept through eons until he was awakened by the Lord Krishna; Oisin of Ireland dreamed of Tir N’an Og for over three hundred years. Psyche in her magic sleep is a type of Sleeping Beauty, Sumerian Ishtar in the underworld may be said to be another. Holga the Dane is sleeping and waiting, and so, they say, is Sir Francis Drake. Quetzalcoatl of Mexico and Virochoca of Peru are both sleepers. Morgan le Fay of France and England and Dame Holle of Germany are sleeping in raths and cairns.
The themes of the sleeper is as old as the memory of man. Where it first arose we do no know. One can never find where myth and fairy tale begin any more than one can find wild wheat growing. They are not invented, that is certain. They germinate from seeds sown by an unknown hand. ‘The Authors’, as the poet William Blake has said, ‘are in Eternity’, and we must be content to leave them there. The story is, after all, what matters.
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The appearance of this lady at the Christening [in her version of ‘Sleeping Beauty’] is the great moment of the tale, the hook from which everything hangs. Properly to understand why this is so we must turn to Wise Women in general and their role in the world of men. To begin with they are not mortal women. They are sisters, rather, of the Sirens, kin to the Fates and the World Mothers. As such, as creatures of another dimension, myth and legend have been at pains to embody them in other than human shape – the winged female figures of Homer, the bird headed women of the Irish tales, the wild women of ancient Russia with square heads and hairy bodies and the wisplike Jinn of the Middle East who were not allowed grosser forms than those of fire and smoke. It was to do away with their pantomime image and give them their proper weight and authority that our version provided the Wise Women with their hairless heads of gold and silver and made their golden and silver feet hover a little above the earth as the gods do on the Greek vases. And in dressing them in colours of the spectrum that the Thirteen are parts of the single whole and the opposites complementary.
For it should be remembered that no Wise Woman or Fairy is in herself either good or bad; she takes on one aspect or the other according to the laws of the story and necessity of events. The powers of these ladies are equivocal. They change with changing circumstances; they are as swift to take umbrage as they are to bestow a boon; they curse and bless with equal gusto. Each Wise Woman is, in fact, an aspect of the Hindu goddess, Kali, who carries in her multiple hands the powers of good and evil.
It is clear, therefore, that the Thirteenth Wise Woman becomes the Wicked Fairy solely for the purpose of one particular story. It was by chance that she received no invitation; it might just as well have been one of her sisters. So, thrust by circumstance into her role, she acts according to law.
Up she rises, ostensibly to avenge an insult but in reality to thrust the story and keep the drama moving. She becomes the necessary antagonist, placed there to show that whatever is ‘other’, opposite and fearful, is indispensable an instrument of creation as any force for good. The pulling of the Devas an Asuras in opposite directions churn the ocean of life in the Hindu myth and the interaction of the good and the bad Fairies produces the fairy tale. The Thirteenth Wise Woman stands as the guardian of the threshold, the paradoxical adversary without whose presence no threshold may be passed.
This is the role played in so many stories by the Wicked Stepmother. The true mother, by her very nature, is bound to preserve, protect and comfort; this is why she is so often disposed of before the story begins. It is the stepmother, her cold heart unwittingly cooperating with the hero’s need, who thrusts the child from the warm hearth, out from the sheltering walls of home to find his own true way.
Powers such as these, at once demonic and divine, are not to be taken lightly. They give a name to evil, free it, and bring it to the light. For evil will out, they sharply warn us, no matter how deeply buried…
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Without the Wicked Fairy there would have been no story. She not the heroine, is the goddess in the machine.
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But if the Prince is a mysterious figure, how much more so is she who is the crux of the story, the maiden of surpassing beauty asleep behind her wall of thorns, she whom men from the beginning of time have pondered on and treasured. I say the beginning of time with intent, for when a woman is the chief character in a story it is a sign of its antiquity. It takes us back to those cloudy eras when the world was rule not, as it was in later years, by a god but by the Great Goddess. Here, as with the Prince, is a heroine who has ostensibly nothing to do, nothing to suffer. She is endowed with every blessing and grace and happy fortune, no slights or indignities are put upon her as is the case with her sister heroines, Show White, Cinderella, Little Two-Eyes, or the Goose Girl. She simply has to follow her fate, prick her finger, and fall asleep. But perhaps – is this what the story is telling us? – perhaps it is not a simple thing to do to faithfully follow one’s fate…
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Who is she, this peerless beauty, this hidden sleeping figure that has kindled the imaginations of so many generations and for whom children go about on tiptoe lest she be too soon wakened?
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[My comment: The Princess is the representative on Earth, the Earth as the creation, she is the illuminated light illuminated from the light of the Mother like the moon to the sun; part divine, part mortal – the link between the Mother and potential creation, and the created. She is the Daughter and in a story involving a love interest she is like Persephone, abducted or tricked into staying in manifestation, separated from the Creator like a tool/weapon/treasure. She is the Fallen, fallen with creation which in itself is fallen because it is no longer with/an immediate part of the Creator. In this story and many she is Fallen by the actions of a Father figure and she is then through transformation of some kind, here it is sleep, rescued by the Dark Mother.]
There are those who see the tale exclusively as a nature myth, as the earth in spring, personified as a maiden, awaking from the long dark sleep of winter; or as a hidden deep in the earth until the kiss of the sun makes it send forth leaves. This is undoubtedly as aspect of the story. But a symbol, by the very fact of being a symbol, has not one sole and absolute meaning. It throws out light in every direction. Meaning comes pouring from it.
As well as being a nature myth, it is also possible that there are elements of a secret and forgotten ritual in the theme, reminders of initiation ceremonies where the neophyte dies – or sleeps – on one level and wakes on another, as a chrysalis wakes into butterfly. Or again it may be that since all fairy tales hark back to myth we are present here at the death and resurrection of a goddess, of Persephone down in the underworld biding her time until she returns to earth.
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So, face to face with the Sleeping Beauty – who has long been the dream of every man and the hope of every woman – we find ourselves compelled to ask what is it in us that at a certain moment suddenly falls asleep? Who lies hidden deep within us? And who will come to wake us, what aspect of ourselves?
[My comment: And hopefully they shall not waken us with a kiss.]
Are we dealing here with the sleeping soul and all the external affairs of life that hem it in and hide it’ something that falls asleep after childhood; something that not to waken would make life meaningless? To give an answer, supposing we had it, would be breaking the law of the fairy tale. And perhaps no answer is necessary. It is enough that we ponder upon and love the story and ask ourselves the question.
I think she may have had a more conclusive answer being so well educated and thoughtful in her work and only seemed to naval gaze (as we all do at times) in wistful, poetic moments to make the prose (including her ‘afterword’) richer. Perhaps she thought the keys to the tale/threshold/door were not for us to know.
I respect the young girl who was raped i.e. arranged marriage, to an old man, and then told by another ‘old man’ aka an ‘angel’ on behalf of an even older ‘man’ aka ‘God’ that she was having a special boy/son who was later called ‘the son of Man’ and even later ‘the Son of God’ and the baby was visited by ‘three Kings/Wise men’ (always the ‘three’). That poor girl her whole life and body was dominated by men, human and otherwise, and mansplaining. She had no chance, her existence was all planned out – if ‘he’ the chosen one, her son, was born knowing what would happen why choose to have his Mother’s life mapped out as well? He didn’t like how hard his life was/the direction in which it went and he knew in advance – both intentionally and unintentionally demonstrating that knowing something and go through it are two different things so why add to that and choose a girl who had no life/opportunity/choice at all? At least he could talk to God (or someone) and perhaps get an answer, she couldn’t at all as far as we know and it sounds like God or he and God (if they were even related in an immediate familial sense) picked a vulnerable/easily taken advantage of person to impose their plan(s) on. How nice. How good. Not. That is one of the types of innocent they were supposed to protect no? And no it wasn’t an honour or even an obligation/honour of duty as she may have seen it, she didn’t have a choice – she was a young girl she couldn’t make such big decisions herself let alone with informed, understood consent and she shouldn’t have had to – her choices were made for her. A child like the children in the world today who are married off and/or are children who have children and many of the rest of us in the world agree that even though it’s cultural we have moved on and/or we don’t like it/it’s not right and those who don’t mind are either of the ‘it’s not our children and there’s not much we can do about it so we don’t bother/just leave them to it’ mentality and those that want that kind of thing are deemed pedophiles.
Her festival including fasting period is almost overshadowed and even undone by:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfiguration_of_Jesus
‘The Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus is celebrated by the most Christian denominations on August 06, 2017. Transfiguration is considered a major feast, numbered among the twelve Great Feasts in Orthodoxy. In all these churches, if the feast falls on a Sunday, its liturgy is not combined with the Sunday liturgy, but completely replaces it.
The Transfiguration is the second of the “Three Feasts of the Saviour in August”, the other two being the Procession of the Cross on August 1 and the Icon of Christ Not Made by Hand on August 16. The Transfiguration is preceded by a one-day Forefeast and is followed by an Afterfeast of eight days, ending the day before the Forefeast of the Dormition.
The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported in the New Testament in which Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant upon a mountain. Jesus and three of his apostles go to a mountain (the Mount of Transfiguration). On the mountain, Jesus begins to shine with bright rays of light, the prophets Moses and Elijah appear next to him and he speaks with them. Jesus is then called “Son” by a voice in the sky, assumed to be God the Father, as in the Baptism of Jesus.
In Christian teachings, the Transfiguration is a pivotal moment, and the setting on the mountain is presented as the point where human nature meets God: the meeting place for the temporal and the eternal, with Jesus himself as the connecting point, acting as the bridge between heaven and earth.
So even though I’m not Catholic or Christian I wouldn’t mind showing respect to this great female icon and I already have shown her recognition and sympathy by posting this and acknowledging this day two weeks ago but I don’t and didn’t need to fast even if I was of the necessary religious persuasion. Know why? I’m vegan and I fast/abstain more than that every day and I don’t even see it as fasting, vegans act every day for a better world via compassion to other creatures, the environment, human health and their own health. We don’t do too badly by the ethos of the New Testament do we. (Ha just recently I told a cleric I wasn’t going to have honey no matter what and outlined the reasons why even though it’s seen in many texts and science as a cure-all even in treatment for what I suffer from, so there. At first he was surprised and laughing but when I said I don’t laugh at his beliefs and it’s not funny he apologized, listened and quickly learned my ethos to be kind to all creatures great and small as something to be respected.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dormition_of_the_Mother_of_God
“Dormition of the Virgin” redirects here.
The Dormition of the Mother of God (Greek: Κοίμησις Θεοτόκου, Koímēsis Theotokou often anglicized as Kimisis, Slavonic: Успение Пресвятыя Богородицы, Uspenie Presvetia Bogoroditsi) is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches which commemorates the “falling asleep” or death of Mary the Theotokos (“Mother of God”, literally translated as God-bearer), and her bodily resurrection before being taken up into heaven. It is celebrated on August 15 (August 28, N.S. for those following the Julian Calendar) as the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God. The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the Dormition not on a fixed date, but on the Sunday nearest August 15.
Dormition fast
The Feast of the Dormition is preceded by a two-week fast, referred to as the Dormition Fast. From August 1 to August 14 (inclusive) Orthodox and Eastern Catholics fast from red meat, poultry, meat products, dairy products (eggs and milk products), fish, oil, and wine. The Dormition Fast is a stricter fast than either the Nativity Fast (Advent) or the Apostles’ Fast, with only wine and oil (but no fish) allowed on weekends. As with the other Fasts of the Church year, there is a Great Feast that falls during the Fast; in this case, the Transfiguration (August 6), on which fish, wine and oil are allowed.
In some places, the services on weekdays during the Fast are similar to the services during Great Lent (with some variations). Many churches and monasteries in the Russian tradition perform the lenten services on at least the first day of the Dormition Fast. In the Greek tradition, during the Fast either the Great Paraklesis (Supplicatory Canon) or the Small Paraklesis is celebrated every evening except Saturday evening and the Eves of the Transfiguration and the Dormition.[1]
The first day of the Dormition Fast is a feast day called the Procession of the Cross (August 1), on which day it is customary to have an outdoor procession and perform the Lesser Blessing of Water.
Significance of the feast
In Orthodoxy and Catholicism, in the language of the scripture, death is often called a “sleeping” or “falling asleep” (Greek κοίμησις; whence κοιμητήριον > coemetērium > cemetery, “a place of sleeping”). A prominent example of this is the name of this feast; another is the Dormition of Anna, Mary’s mother. [My comment – remember Anna and Anna-Marie stem from Ishtar and Inanna.]
Up until the 5th century Church Fathers do not mention the Dormition of the Virgin and to the 6th century Dormition was not celebrated among the Christians as a holy day.[2]
For example, Epiphanius of Salamis, a Jew by birth, born in Phoenicia, converted to Christianity in adulthood and lived as a monk for over 20 years in Palestine with 335-340 for 362 years, writes in “Panarion” in “Contra antidicomarianst” about the death of the Virgin Mary following: “If any think [ I ] am mistaken, moreover, let them search through the scriptures any neither find Mary’s death, nor whether or not she died, nor whether or not she was buried — even though John surely traveled throughout Asia. And yet, nowhere does he say that he took the holy Virgin with him. Scripture simply kept silence because of the overwhelming wonder, not to throw men’s minds into consternation [my comment – I doubt it was out of wonder and/or respect, morelike patriarchy like some people’s gospels downplaying Mary Magdalene’s role]. For I dare not say — though I have my suspicions, I keep silent. Perhaps, just as her death is not to be found, so I may have found some traces of the holy and blessed Virgin.[3]” “The holy virgin may have died and been buried — her falling asleep was with honor, her death in purity, her crown in virginity. Or she may have been put to death — as the scripture says, “And a sword shall pierce through her soul” — her fame is among the martyrs and her holy body, by which light rose on the world, [rests] amid blessings. Or she may have remained alive, for God is not incapable of doing whatever he wills. No one knows her end. But we must not honor the saints to excess; we must honor their Master. It is time for the error of those who have gone astray to cease.[4]” Christians in the late 4th century had different opinions regarding Mary’s death; some believed that she was martyred. For this reason, Ambrose, for example, wrote: “Neither the letter of Scripture nor Tradition does not teach us that Mary had left this life as a consequence of suffering from bodily ulcers.”[5]
The events of the Dormition of the Virgin, and the burial of several known apocrypha: “Tale of the Dormition of the Virgin” Pseudo-John the Theologian (V emerged in the mid-century or later),[6] “De transitu Virginis Mariae” Pseudo-Melito of Sardis (5th century),[7] the composition of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, “According to John, Archbishop of Thessalonica.” One of these apocrypha placed in the “History of the Church” Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos.[8] All listed Apocrypha quite late (5th and 6th century) and differ from each other content.
Therefore, the Church was not taken all their content, but only the basic idea that the Virgin Mary blissfully rested and Her soul was adopted by her Son Jesus Christ at Dormition. According to Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos in his “History of the Church,” the emperor Maurice (582—602), issued an edict which set the date for the celebration of the Dormition – August 15.[9] After that Christians in the empire began to celebrate the death of the Virgin Mary. Patriarch of Jerusalem Modestus (630—632) preaching, said at this celebration, regrets the lack of specific information about the death of the Virgin Mary.[10] In Rome the feast called Dormitio Beatae Virginis set by Pope Sergius I (687-701), borrowed from Constantinople.[11]
According to later Catholic tradition, Mary, having spent her life after Pentecost supporting and serving the nascent Church, was living in the house of the Apostle John, in Jerusalem, when the Archangel Gabriel revealed to her that her death would occur three days later. The apostles, scattered throughout the world, are said to have been miraculously transported to be at her side when she died. The sole exception was Thomas, who had been delayed. He is said to have arrived three days after her death in a cloud above her tomb and to have seen her body leaving to heaven. He asked her “Where are you going, O Holy One?” and then she took off her girdle and gave it to him and said “Receive this my friend” then she disappeared.[12] Thomas was taken to his fellow Apostles and asked to see her grave so that he could bid her goodbye. Mary had been buried in Gethsemane, according to her request. When they arrived at the grave, her body was gone, leaving a sweet fragrance. An apparition is said to have confirmed that Christ had taken her body to heaven after three days to be reunited with her soul. Orthodox theology teaches that the Theotokos has already undergone the bodily resurrection which all will experience at the second coming, and stands in heaven in that glorified state which the other righteous ones will only enjoy after the Last Judgment.[13]
Dormition versus Assumption
The Dormition of the Theotokos is celebrated on August 15 (August 28, N.S. for those following the Julian Calendar), the same calendar day as the Roman Catholic Feast of the Assumption of Mary. The Dormition and the Assumption are different names for the same event, Mary’s departure from the earth, although the beliefs are not necessarily identical.
The Orthodox Church specifically holds one of two Roman Catholic alternative beliefs, teaching that Mary died a natural death, like any human being; that her soul was received by Christ upon death; and that her body was resurrected on the third day after her repose, at which time she was taken up, bodily only, into heaven when the apostles, miraculously transported from the ends of the earth, found her tomb to be empty.[14]
While some Roman Catholics agree with the Orthodox that this happened after Mary’s death, others hold that she did not experience death and she was “assumed” into heaven in bodily form, just as her son Jesus ascended. However, Pope Pius XII alludes to the fact of her death at least five times, but left open the question of whether or not Mary actually underwent death in connection with her departure, in his Apostolic constitution, Munificentissimus Deus (1950), which dogmatically defined ex cathedra (i.e., infallibly) the Assumption.
On 25 June 1997 during a General Audience Pope John Paul II stated that Mary experienced natural death prior to her assumption into Heaven, stating:
It is true that in Revelation death is presented as a punishment for sin. However, the fact that the Church proclaims Mary free from original sin [my comment – sex though note that being raped and taken advantage of sexually in any way is still sex/sexual it’s not the victim’s fault and they are still innocent, perhaps even ‘innocent’ sexually in some people’s eyes too] by a unique divine privilege does not lead to the conclusion that she also received physical immortality. The Mother is not superior to the Son [my comment – was she not a chosen one as well? Who suffered and died not only for ‘God’/’his’ but for people as well?] who underwent death, giving it a new meaning and changing it into a means of salvation. Involved in Christ’s redemptive work and associated in his saving sacrifice, Mary was able to share in his suffering and death for the sake of humanity’s Redemption [my comment – ‘redemption’ nothing much has happened since has it? And the ‘second coming’ is supposedly about humanity’s ‘ascension’ – we haven’t even made up for any of our ‘crimes’ yet]. What Severus of Antioch says about Christ also applies to her: “Without a preliminary death, how could the Resurrection have taken place?” (Antijulianistica, Beirut 1931, 194f.). To share in Christ’s Resurrection, Mary had first to share in his death. The New Testament provides no information on the circumstances of Mary’s death. This silence leads one to suppose that it happened naturally, with no detail particularly worthy of mention. [My comment – seriously???] If this were not the case, how could the information about it have remained hidden from her contemporaries and not have been passed down to us in some way? [My comment – It’s called selective storytelling or truth telling, his-story and patriarchy, religious/culture ommission.] As to the cause of Mary’s death, the opinions that wish to exclude her from death by natural causes seem groundless. It is more important to look for the Blessed Virgin’s spiritual attitude at the moment of her departure from this world. In this regard, St Francis de Sales maintains that Mary’s death was due to a transport of love. He speaks of a dying “in love, from love and through love”, going so far as to say that the Mother of God died of love for her Son Jesus (Treatise on the Love of God, bk. 7, ch. XIII-XIV). Whatever from the physical point of view was the organic, biological cause of the end of her bodily life, it can be said that for Mary the passage from this life to the next was the full development of grace in glory, so that no death can ever be so fittingly described as a “dormition” as hers.”[15]
Both views agree that she was taken up into heaven bodily. The specific belief of the Orthodox is expressed in their liturgical texts used of the feast of the Dormition.[14]
The Eastern Catholic observance of the feast corresponds to that of their Orthodox counterparts, whether Eastern Orthodox or Oriental Orthodox.
More info about the practises of Dormition and Assumption on the above link and here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assumption_of_Mary
So being a pure being, Mary was ressurected like Jesus? Mary in relation to Ishtar/Inanna i.e. Venus (Venus the planet and Venus/Aphrodite) the Morning Star? Ishtar/Inanna are goddesses of a race(s) which isn’t always known for dying but when they do so it’s usually dramatic and can involve resurrection or at least metaphor for death an ressurection e.g. the decent into the underworld/netherworld giving up mortal ‘trappings’ such as sexuality and clothing/graces facing the Dark Mother, seven levels and then ascent. Obviously by the time they became Mary ‘Mother of [a] Christ’ (the earlier and longest lived in history ‘Christ’ in history being Krishna – and the fact that he (avatar of Vishnu), Shiv[a] and Brahm[a] are not the be all and end all nor absolute creators in Hinduism or even pre-Vedic Hinduism, they’re not creators at all and at times of extreme distress usually of their own making call forth and pretend to pay tribute to the Mother of all Lalit[h]a – she is above all of the Hindu Mother Goddesses, she was there first*) came along the sensuality, sexuality, aggressiveness and cleverness of Ishtar/Inanna/Venus/Aphrodite was turned into the perfect innocent (but still typically a rape victim – many goddesses and divine females suffer rape) non-sexual free of ‘sin’ being even though she was married and even though ‘God’ choosing to use her baby to either be or be possessed by another ‘soul’/character (later commonly known as ‘Jesus’).
Either way kudos to her, she had it tough.
P.S. Interestingly enough as per the Gregorian calendar August 15 [1947 after WWII] is the anniversary of the Independence of India – the oldest still living Mother Goddess (though twisted/morphed version) culture.
*Ancient gods and God herself are written/told to spend much of their time sleeping (‘dormition’/asleep), dreaming and breathing/meditating – the breath of/or brahma i.e. the inwards and outwards motion of breath is the same as the movement of the universe and creation predominantly our galaxy towards and outwards from its centre and the Maya is the illusion/dream/barrier/veil between creation and potential or dreaming and waking, truth and lie. Creation/existence as we know it is seen as a dream perhaps even a daydream or forced dream and part of the or a cycle of breath of God.
P.I.E – Paedophile Information Exchange
I saved these some years ago and now I can’t access these sites so I figured I post them for posterity, the original blog they came from is awesome and thankfully still online:
From – Cuthulan’s Blog –
As a follow up to my previous post about child molesters in the Government and the blackmail potential
”http://cuthulan.wordpress.com/2010/01/07/uk-government-blackmailed-into-war-blair-covers-mps-paedophile-ring-and-the-dunblane-massacre/“
Here is a FOI (Freedom Of Information) request about alleged peadophiles past and present with connections to the Halls of power today.
A Freedom of Information request to Home Office by Derek Canning LLB [HONS] and Francis.P.
A LIST OF CHILD SEX OFFENDERS INSIDE THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT
Tory Party General election candidate, Michael Powell – Convicted and jailed for 3 years for downloading hardcore child porn.
Tory Party Liaison Manager on the London Assembly, Douglas Campbell, who’s job includes running the Tory GLA website. Arrested for allegedly downloading child porn. He is currently suspended while the Police investigation continues.
Labour Councillor (North Lincolnshire) David Spooner – Convicted and jailed for 1 year for masturbating in front of 2 young boys.
Tory Party Councillor (Folkestone – in Leader, Michael Howard’s constituency), Robert Richdale – 41 year history of crime, involving 30 convictions and 5 prison sentences. Richdales enormous criminal record, which covers 10 pages of A4 paper, includes convictions for assault, theft, causing death by dangerous driving, forgery, drugs offences, possession of an offensive weapon, and sex attacks against underage schoolgirls. The Tory Party election campaign literature described Richdale as “a family man” who had a “compassionate personality”
Tory Party Councillor (Wickbar/Bristol) Roger Talboys – Convicted and jailed for 6 years for multiple sex attacks on children.
Tory Party Councillor ( Stratford-upon-Avon ) Christopher Pilkington – Convicted of downloading hardcore child porn on his PC.
Labour Councillor (Newton Aycliffe) Martin Locklyn – Convicted and jailed for 15 years for sexually abusing 3 14-year-old boys.
Prominent Labour Party activist Mark Tann (who has met Tony & Cherie at Party functions) recently got a 15-year sentence for raping a 4-year old girl on 2 separate occasions.
.Tory Party MP (Billericay) Harvey Proctor – Stood trial for sex offences of a sado-masochistic nature against teenage boys.
Tory Party Mayor ( North Tyneside ), Chris Morgan – Forced to resign after being arrested twice in 2 weeks, for indecent assault on a 15-year old girl, and for suspicion of downloading child porn.
Labour Party activist and serial child-molester Mark Trotter, who died from AIDS before he could be convicted.
Labour Councillor (Manchester), George Harding – Charged with indecent assault on a girl of 12.
Tory Party councillor ( Coventry ), Peter Stidworthy – Charged with indecent assault of a 15-year old boy.
Tory Party Councillor (Folkestone – in Leader, Michael Howard’s constituency), Robert Richdale – 41 year history of crime,
Labour Mayor (Westhoughton/Lancashire) Nicholas Green – Convicted and jailed for 10 years for 3 rapes and 13 counts of indecent assault.
Labour Councillor (Manchester), George Harding – Charged with indecent assault on a girl of 12.
William Straw – Son of Labour Foreign Secretary, and former Home Secretary – Jack Straw, was cautioned by Police for drug dealing, amid a frantic Government attempt to cover up the matter and gag the media as to his identity. Jack Straw also has a brother who was convicted of a sex attack on a schoolgirl.
Homosexual mass murderer; Dennis Nielsen, who strangled and dismembered 16 young men in the 1980`s, was also a highly active member of Labour fringe groups such as the Anti-Nazi League, and the SWP. That’s when he wasn’t busy boiling peoples heads in a pot, or masturbating over the corpses of his victims.
Lib-Dem Council candidate (Tower Hamlets), Justin Sillman – Convicted and jailed for 2 years for sexual abuse of young boys.
Lib-Dem Councillor and Mayoral Candidate ( Sheffield ), Francis Butler- Prosecuted for indecent assault of a young boy.
Lib-Dem Councillor ( Stockport ) Neil Derbyshire – Sexually assaulted a 16-year old boy in a public toilet. He was caught with a plastic bag containing lubricant, plastic surgical gloves, a condom, and underpants.
Lib-Dem Councillor ( Preston ), Bill Chadwick – Charged with: Making an indecent photograph of a child, Incitement to rape, Incitement to murder, Incitement to kidnap, and Incitement to torture. Chadwick’s gay lover – Alan Valentine, is also a Lib-Dem councillor.
High Level Masons such as Chief Superintendent Gordon Angelsea and at least 12 of his colleagues were “let off the hook” for sexual abuse crimes on children (some of who are now dead) in the North Wales Paedophile Ring Cover-Up.
High Level Government Masons such as Lord McAlpine, ex aid to Margaret Thatcher, was accused by numerous children of sexual crimes in the North Wales Child Abuse Cover-Ups. He escaped public exposure by a specifically appointed Masonic Paedophile Judge,Lord Cullen who was appointed to the investigation and “100 year cover up” of Thomas Hamilton’s Mass Murder spree – were BOTH members of the same “boy’s club”.
Thomas Hamilton was the name of the Mass Murderer responsible for the Dunblane Massacre. He was a Freemason.Thomas Hamilton was granted a gun licence by his Masonic “brother” Inspector McMurdo, to a amass his arsenal of weapons, even although he was well known to be of “odd character” with paedophilic tendencies. The two Liaison Officers assigned to the murder investigation of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were known to the British Police hierarchy as Paedophiles at least 3 months prior to the investigation, due to Operation Ore.
According to media reports, the names of 2 former Labour Cabinet Ministers said to be `Household names` appear on the `Operation Ore ` list of subscribers to hard-core child pornography. The same FBI investigation, which led to the arrest of rock star Pete Townshend. So who are they Mr Gordon Brown?
BUT I think we can work that one out for ourselves……see post
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June 2008 – Timothy Edmeades, 33, Labour Party super activist and events organiser to Labour Lord Mayor abused his position of trust when he sexually assaulted the two children on swimming trips.
October 2011 – A councillor has narrowly avoided jail after he admitted to a doctor that he had been looking at child abuse images. John Butcher had 400 images of child abuse on the computers – 48 of these were at level four, one level below the very worst kind of images.
May 2005 – Liam Temple – Labour Councillor and former Mayor (Halton/Cheshire), convicted of `Inciting a child under 16 to commit an act of gross indecency. He was jailed for six months at Chester Crown Court for offering a 12-year-old girl money to grope her
September 2008 – Members of the Establishment refused to accept paedophiles depravity. Roger Took was sentenced this February to a minimum of four-and-a-half years in prison as part of an indeterminate sentence for 17 other crimes relating to child abuse. They included molesting two of his step-granddaughters and the possession of 260 photographs, including 102 ‘Level 5s’, which mean they contain images of children being tortured or raped.
November 2008 – TWO men jailed for sexual activity with 14-year-old girls had been thrown out of the British National Party when their offences came to light, it has been revealed. Ian Richard Hindle, 32, of Church Walk, Blackburn, and Andrew Paul Wells, 49, were jailed on Thursday for a total of five years and three months.
Febuary 2004 – FORMER Bentham councillor, John Pilkington, has been jailed for 21 months after amassing a huge quantity of sickening child pornography over a seven year period. “Yours is one of the worst collections of child pornography it has been my misfortune to have to look at,” said Judge Scott Wolstenholme.
August 2008 – A tory ex-deputy mayor who sexually assaulted a teenage girl and kept child porn while a member of police authority was spared jail. Ben Redsell, 29, admitted assaulting the 19-year-old at her home after a night out in Colchester, Essex, last August and also 10 child offences.Police had found indecent images of children, which dated from 2000, at his home in Melton, Suffolk.
January 2006 – THE arrest of the man at the head of a massive paedophile network led police to a pervert in Coventry, it has emerged. Roderick Rowley, who stood as a candidate for the BNP in Coventry’s Woodlands Ward in the local elections in 2004, was jailed for 15 months in December after sending obscene images involving children.
November 2008 – A former city councillor was given a five-year jail sentence for molesting an 11-year-old boy and threatening the youngster’s mother in a bid to cover his tracks. Ex-Paston councillorGilbert Benn (48) was locked up at Peterborough Crown Court yesterday having earlier been found guilty of twice attempting to rape the young boy in the city.
Terry Power was a Labour Party Councillor in Dagenham, London. Terry Power would roam the streets looking to prey on youngsters who found themselves in a ‘hard up’ lifestyle from single parent families. He molested and took indecent photos of 3 young boys. Power known as the Beast of Dagenham was found guilty but only given a 30 month jail sentence. The photos of the children the labour party councillor took were shown to the jury who were sickened by what Terry Power had done
2003 – Labour Councillor (Newham/London), Greg Vincent, who was the Election Agent to Labour MP Tony Banks at the 2001 General Election – was convicted and given a 2-year community rehabilitation order in 2003, for possession of hardcore child abuse films and photos, featuring children as young as 8.
August 2006 – THE former chairman of Long Sutton Parish Council has been jailed for three months after admitting downloading and distributing child pornography. Christopher Duckworth, 64, of Bingham Court, Long Sutton, admitted five charges of distributing indecent images of children
August 2003 – A senior clerk at the House of Commons who used his work computer to download hardcore child pornography has been jailed for one year. Phillip Lyon was also found guilty on Tuesday of using his home computer to collect more than 1,000 images of children – some of whom were toddlers subjected to “disgusting” sexual acts.
April 2012 – An ex-councillor caught downloading indecent images of children walked free from court after a judge said he had ‘contributed’ to society. Andrew Lamont, 53, copied 207 images of girls as young as eight to his computer, 27 of which were level four, the second most serious level.
Dec 2009 – A Labour councillor who was arrested in a Belfast hotel room in 2007 with his 17-year-old boyfriend has failed in a bid to bring a legal challenge against police. Hull City councillor Steven Bayes, 47, was found with his boyfriend Dale Martin, who was 17 when he was arrested. At the time, the legal age of consent for gay sex in Northern Ireland was 18. This has now been lowered to 16, in line with the rest of the UK.
June 2007 – A Hampshire councillor who set up a spy camera to secretly film a woman and two teenage girls using his bathroom has been jailed for four months. Neil Redrup, a Ministry of Defence database manager at the time, put the camera in an airing cupboard with the lens spying through a hole at his home. Redrup, 45, regularly invited teenagers to parties at his home
2008 – A former Tory politician has been jailed for six and a half years for five sex offences involving three girls under 14 yrs old, including one charge of rape. Stephen Mullins, 52, formerly of Links Avenue, Hellesdon, was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court
May 2007 – A man responsible for distributing indecent images of children to an online paedophile network was yesterday sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. Lib Dem council candidate 26-year-old Karl Lindon, a civil servant from Camberwell, London SE5 was arrested when his details were found on a computer seized in a separate arrest.
Dec 2008 – A former deputy mayor and councillor of Harrogate has been sentenced to eight months in prison for attempting to groom a 13-year-old girl for sex.
Morris Lightfoot, of Dryden Close, Bilton, Harrogate, was caught in a sting operation by an administrator on a social networking site.
April 2009 – A councillor was jailed for six years yesterday after police found an illegal gun and 2000 indecent images of kids at his home. Officers were called to Wigan Town Hall after being told thatJoseph Shaw had been caught with indecent images of children on his home computer.
June 2009 – A FORMER Conservative councillor who became “infatuated” with a 13-year-old girl and sexually assaulted her has been jailed for eight years. David Kirton, (55), of Longbanks, Harlow, admitted committing three sexual offences on the girl during an eight month period.
November 2011 – The agent of Labour MP Chris Bryant has been imprisoned after he was caught with a huge stash of ‘the most serious child pornography police have ever seen’. Stephen Carnell, who was a chairman on a primary school board of governors in Mr Bryant’s south Wales constituency, was sentenced to three years in jail.
September 2002 – FORMER Tory Councillor Louise Burrows failed to convince Doncaster Magistrates that she was acting in self-defence when she was found guilty of attacking three children with a whip after a window in her house had been smashed. A 13-yr-old boy was left with bruising to his left leg after being hit three times; a nine-year-old boy was hit twice and a 12-yr-old girl was slapped as she attempted to ride off on her bicycle. The magistrate gave Burrows a 6-mth community rehabilitation order and ordered her to pay compensation of £75 each to both boys, plus costs of £300.
2004 – Tory Councillor (Felixstowe/Suffolk), David Smith – Accepted a police caution for downloading child porn in 2004. Placed on the sex offenders register for 5 years.
Sir Ian Horobin was Convicted and jailed for 4 years for indecency in 1952, after paying young boys for sex. Sir Ian Macdonald Horobin (16 November 1899 – 5 June 1976) was a British Conservative Party politician.
July 2004 – An ex-Tory party official who went on the run after raping a six-year-old girl has been jailed for 10 years. Stephen Mertens, 53, was arrested in May 1990 while secretary of the Hackney and South Shoreditch Conservative Association.
2001 – Former Tory Party councillor (Bradford/Yorkshire), Jim Merrick – Received a 9-month jail sentence (suspended) and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years in 2001 after being convicted of multiple sex attacks on little girls between the ages of 9 and 12.
2001 – Former Lord Mayor of Portsmouth & Tory Party Council Leader jailed. Freddie Emery-Wallis found guilty of indecently assaulting two boys and jailed for nine months in 2001. Emery-Wallis attacked the two teenage paperboys above the shop he owned in Leith Avenue, Paulsgrove, in the 1960s and 1970s.
1987 – Tory Party MP (Billericay/Essex) Harvey Proctor – Convicted and fined a total of £1,450 in 1987, for sex offences of a sado-masochistic nature against teenage boys, and was forced to resign.
Feb 1997 – CONSERVATIVE councillor Michael Howden, jailed for five-and-a-half years for the rape of a teenage girl. Howden’s high profile Liverpool Crown Court case came to a dramatic end, when he was jailed for the rape and sexually molesting another 17-year-old girl.
July 1999 – A teacher and former Tory parliamentary candidate was jailed for child Net porn offences yesterday. Michael Powell, 51, was sentenced to three years by Cardiff Crown Court for downloading 16,600 pictures of children from the Web. Powell, who was conservative Mayor of Bridgend, South Wales, in 1984
March 2009 – A WOULD-BE Exeter city councillor who was jailed for four years after offering to pay £500 for sex with young girls is no longer a member of the Labour Party. Richard Harris, 28, of Union Street, Exeter, who was jailed for four years after admitting seven charges of inciting sexual activity, had unsuccessfully contested seats across the city at elections in 2006, 2007 and last year for Labour.
July 2005 – DISGRACED ex-councillor Dean Jenkins was jailed yesterday for possessing, making and distributing thousands of pornographic images of children. Newport crown court heard the images of young boys ranged from level one to the most severe, level five.
July 2004 – A former councillor who indecently assaulted an eight-year-old girl has been jailed for two-and-a-half years. David Mills, 55, preyed on the child, now aged 16, as she played in her bedroom when he babysat.
July 2001 – A FORMER North-East aide of Prime Minister Tony Blair has been jailed for 15 years for an “appalling” string of sex offences against teenage boys. Martyn Locklin, 41, of Ladybower, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, was found guilty by the jury of eight men and four women at Teesside Crown Court
July 2007 – A FORMER councillor jailed for indecently touching an 11-year-old girl failed yesterday in a bid to overturn his conviction. Fifty-six-year-old Harry Devine was branded a danger to young girls following his trial, at Durham Crown Court.Devine was also found to have home videos of girls in swimming costumes, in which the camera zoomed in on their private parts.
August 2011 – FORMER Derby City Council leader Maurice Burgess has been jailed for five years for child sex offences. Ex-Liberal Democrat leader Burgess has admitted indecently assaulting four boys, aged seven to 11 years old, between 1989 and 1994.
Feb 2011 – THE owner of a taxi firm has been banned from driving schoolchildren after he sexually touched a teenage girl. Sadiq Choudhry, a councillor who runs 24 7 Private Hire, in Swadlincote, was convicted by a jury of four offences of sexual activity with a child.
November 2008 – A former teacher and Erewash councillor at a Leicestershire school has been convicted of making and possessing indecent child images. Robert Dockerill, 32, from Crook, County Durham, denied the charges but was found guilty
August 2010 – A SERIAL pervert, who admitted he was sexually attracted to girls aged 8 to 12 after police found 810 indecent images in his Derby home, has been jailed. Derby Crown Court heard that former music teacher and Green Party candidate Gary Anderson had been convicted in 2000 and 2003 for similar offences.
January 2012 – A FORMER Chelmsford ex-Conservative councillor mayor has failed in a High Court bid to clear his name over possessing child pornography. David Lee, 48, of Rushleydale, Springfield, was given a caution by Essex Police in August 2008 after indecent images of children were found on computer equipment at his home.
March 2009 – A FORMER Wirral Tory councillor led a secret life looking at indecent images of children. While his wife and two daughters slept upstairs, Ian McKellar spent hours poring over child porn downloaded from the internet onto his computer. The court heard that the 1913 images mainly involved girls aged between 12 – 14, sometimes naked
November 2003 – A HIGH school teacher & Ex-Vale Royal Borough and Kingsley councillor has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after indecently assaulting two vulnerable pupils who had turned to him for help. David Reaper has been banned from working with young children and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.
October 2011 – A BNP councillor who downloaded and distributed child pornography on the internet has been jailed for 16 months. Gavin Leist (20), of Ratcliffe Road, Loughborough, admitted three counts of possessing indecent images and three of distributing them, between 2008 and 2010.
October 2003 – A DISGRACED former school governor and town and district councillor, convicted of collecting child porn on his personal computer, has been offered honorary membership of a community association. Grandfather, Keith Rogers from Birch Coppice, Droitwich, was fined £5,000 by Worcester Magistrates a fortnight ago after police found nearly 2,000 indecent images of children on his computer equipment.
Febuary 2008 – A FORMER Malvern Hills councillor was branded a “dirty old man” by a judge but escaped jail for possessing indecent photographs of children. Michael Angell was given a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years at Hereford Crown Court
April 2012 – A disgraced former Cumbrian council chairman has been jailed for four years after admitting abusing a school boy. Tony Brunskill, 66, is already serving a 10 year sentence for offences against three school boys.Carlisle Crown Court was told this morning that the latest crimes, carried out between 1979 and 1981, happened when the boy was aged between 11 and 13.
January 2004 – A councillor found guilty of downloading and storing indecent images of children on his council computer has been disqualified from standing for office for five years. Tory Chris Pilkington, who lives in Shipston, was re-elected for the Vale of the Red Horse ward, which includes Tysoe, Edgehill, Whatcote and Pillerton Priors, with a 384 majority in May 2002
March 2009 – A FORMER Worcester UKIP candidate –- who has since converted to Islam – has been sentenced for possessing indecent photographs of children. Jason Phillips, who stood in the city’s 2007 elections for the Arboretum ward, had previously admitted downloading two indecent images of a child.
April 2012 – The former leader of Worcestershire County Council who sexually abused a Sunday school pupil while he was a church minister has been jailed for four years. George Lord, who represented Alvechurch, also sexually assaulted a “vulnerable” teenager in the council chamber when he ran the local authority. Lord, 79, who had previously admitted three charges of indecent assault and was found guilty of sexual assault
August 2002 – A DISGRACED councillor who sexually assaulted a 16-year-old boy has quit. Neil Derbyshire had refused to give up his Stockport council seat despite being ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register after he admitted indecent assault and attempting to procure an act of gross indecency.
April 2009 – David Charles, a councillor in the St Andrew’s ward in Hornchurch, was sentenced to a six month suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to 16 counts of possessing pornographic images of youngsters. He was also ordered to pay court costs of £500 and remain on the sex offenders list for 7 years
May 2003 – A former school governor and ex-local councillor is starting a two year jail sentence for downloading more than 42,000 paedophilic images, including 2,500 movies. Alec Dyer-Atkins and 45 other people were arrested last July for their membership of a major, Internet-based paedophile network, known as the Shadows Brotherhood
June 2011 – A former Labour councillor who downloaded child pornography from the internet was shopped to police by his partner. Adrian Cirket, 54, was arrested after the mother of three of his five children, spotted the illegal cache on his laptop computer. Forensic experts discovered more than 500 sexual images of children – some as young as five years old – on the ex-councillor’s computer which he had downloaded over 3 years
October 2001 – A former assistant director of social services, magistrate and Labour councillor has been jailed for abusing boys in a children’s home scandal which may have had as many as 70 victims over 30 years, it emerged yesterday. Alan Prescott, 62, who was described at the Old Bailey as a “pillar of his local community”, was sentenced to two years in prison after admitting indecently assaulting four boys in his care between 1970 and 1980 while he was
superintendent of a Tower Hamlets children’s home.
April 2006 – FORMER Cowes town councillor David Christopher Hill has been jailed for two years and banned from working with children indefinitely after admitting child sex offences. Hill, 59, of High Street, Cowes, pleaded guilty to two charges of inciting indecency with a child and four counts of indecent assault
July 2011 – A PREDATORY paedophile has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for abusing eight children. William Barber was a respected councillor, school governor and “pillar of the community” in Brockworth, but he was secretly preying on vulnerable children as young as five. Guilty of 18 charges of indecently assaulting or committing gross indecency with his eight victims over a 13 year period
June 2003 – A paedophile babysitter who gained the trust of a mother by showing a picture of himself with Tony and Cherie Blair, was jailed today for 15 years. Prominent Labour Party activist Mark Tann, from Whitstable in Kent, pleaded guilty to 24 charges at Canterbury Crown Court including two counts of rape against a four-year-old girl
July 2008 – TORY chiefs are demanding that a newly-elected councillor quit after he was exposed as a violent paedophile with a 41-year history of crimes. Pervert Robert Richdale got the backing of the local party faithful in leader Michael Howard’s own constituency despite having 30 convictions involving 65 offences and FIVE jail sentences. In 1973, a six-month sentence for indecently assaulting underage girls. In 1997,received a caution for a sexual crime involving a girl of 14.
June 2008 – A FORMER Councillor has escaped jail for downloading thousands of child porn images. Peter O’Brian, 46, formally of Drakes Way, Hatfield, was given a 3 yr com order and is attending rehabilitation for his sick addiction. The ex-councillor pleaded guilty to 11 counts of making indecent images of children and two counts of possessing indecent images of children.
July 2011 – A PAEDOPHILE who described his collection of indecent images of children as ‘art’ has been jailed for 15 months after admitting a string of child sex offences. Ex councillor Martin Fisher, of Queens Road, Whitstable, was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court today after earlier pleading guilty to five counts of sexual assault, three of which were against a girl under 13, and possessing and making indecent images of children.3 additional offences of indecent assault on a child under 14 will remain on file
Jan 2001 – A Labour councillor has been jailed for seven years for raping a nine-year-old child. Iestyn Tudor Davies, 50, from Brackla in Bridgend, south Wales, carried out the sex attacks on the girl while his magistrate wife Pamela slept just yards away in the next bedroom.
June 2006 – GANG sex, blackmail, death threats, lighter gas sniffing and sex for rent this man used them all in decades of perversion against young girls and a single mother. Paedophile Eric Coates and his father, Former Labour Councillor Raymond Coates, preyed on those who came into contact with them in their Huby home and elsewhere, Leeds Crown Court heard. Eric, 51, formerly of Huby, is serving 14 years behind bars after pleading guilty to 15 sexual crimes
against girls aged 11 to 14 and a single mother of three.
Febuary 2005 – Labour Councillor (Coxhoe, Durham) Les Sheppard was convicted in 2004 on ten counts of indecent assault on young girls. Jailed for 2 years and placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years. Teeside Crown Court heard how 71 year-old Cllr Sheppard lured his victims into his gold Porsche before driving them to remote spots, where he would submit them to sickening sex attacks
August 2009 – A former mayor & Labour councillor escaped jail after being convicted of possessing and distributing child pornography. Stewart Brown, 60, admitted 21 offences of possessing indecent images of children and one of distributing pictures. Brown, of Nutclough, Hebden Bridge, admitted all the charges, some of which were said to relate to images of girls as young as three
May 2009 – A disgraced former Walsall councillor who left a computer memory stick containing child porn behind after a town hall meeting was fined £443. Jonathan Phillips was placed on the sex offenders register for two years
March 2010 – Keith Potts, 60, who is a former Labour Party councillor, and served on Chester-le- Street District Council, accepted a police caution for possessing 24 indecent images of children. He must sign on the sex offenders register for two years.
March 2012 – A former Leicester city councillor who caused a political storm by describing Gordon Brown as “the worst Prime Minister in history”, pestered two schoolgirls for sex and indecently assaulted a young woman. Manish Sood kissed a 22-year-old on her bottom in the guise of “therapy” and offered to pay two girls, aged 14 and 15, to visit his home for “massages”
Nov 2011 – A Labour councillor with close links to Harriet Harman and Tessa Jowell has been jailed for attempting grooming an underage girl for sex. John Friary has been jailed for 15 months after he was caught attempting to sexually groom a child online.
January 2007 – A councillor been sent to jail for five years after molesting two 11-year-old girls while he was a school governor. Bob Hargreaves, 62, who was elected to Bradford Metropolitan District Council in 2004, was given five years in jail.
December 2006 – A former Labour Party organiser has been jailed for 15 months for grooming a 13-year-old boy on the internet. Peter Tuffley, 28, was working in the North West when he took the teenager back to his flat in Liverpool after they met through an internet chatroom.Tuffley was also sentenced to six months imprisonment, to run concurrently, for abducting the youngster
September 2006 – The former leader of Dartford Borough Council has been given a three-year community rehabilitation order for downloading child porn. Kenneth Leadbeater, 50, pleaded guilty before magistrates in June to 14 counts of making indecent images of children. Police found 320 images of indecent images of boys on his computer
September 2006 – A former Redruth councillor has been jailed for indecently assaulting a young girl. Andrew Trathen, 52, of Rose Row in Redruth, denied intentionally sexually touching the girl
April 2008 – A DEVIOUS paedophile convicted of possessing images of child pornography on his computer has been fined £100 for failing to comply with his community order and warned he could go to jail if he does so again. Disgraced former Haverhill town councillor Mabon Dane, 38, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court where he denied breaching the order imposed on him in 2006 when he was found guilty after a trial of 16 charges of making indecent images of children
and one of possessing them
Febuary 2005 – A man who served Leeds for 10 years as a Labour councillor has been given a suspended jail term for possessing pornographic images of young girls. Lee Benson, 46, of Yew Tree Lane, Colton, pleaded guilty at Leeds Crown Court to 12 counts of possessing indecent images of children
January 2005 – A city councillor has been jailed for two years after he used his car to lure schoolgirls for sex assaults. Leslie Sheppard, 71, of The Grove, Coxhoe, County Durham, was found guilty of nine indecent assaults and one attempt on three girls aged nine to 13
January 2005 – Tunstall councillor Lee Wanger was found guilty of encouraging the spread of internet child porn after logging on to a website under investigation. He was fined £250 and placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years
March 2004 – A former teacher and Labour councillor walked free from court after admitting viewing child porn. Nelson Bland, 50, from Reading, was sentenced to 100 hours community service. Bland had earlier admitted 16 counts of making indecent images of children and one count of distributing child porn
June 2004 – A councillor who admitted taking indecent pictures of a 14-year-old girl has been placed on the sex offender’s register. Graham White, 61, from Woodside, pleaded guilty to four counts of taking indecent photographs of a minor
March 2004 – A former Perth councillor who downloaded child pornography has been banned from owning a computer after escaping a jail sentence. Disgraced SNP politician Iain Hunter was found guilty of accessing child porn at home and in his party office
March 2003 – An ex-political leader in Lancashire has admitted accessing child pornography from the internet. William Chadwickpleaded guilty, at Liverpool Crown Court, to 18 offences of making indecent photographs of children. Chadwick, who was leader of the Lib-Dem group in Preston, was fined £1,000 and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life
August 2008 – A disgraced former Coventry city councillor has been given a six month suspended jail sentence for downloading hundreds of child porn images. Peter Stidworthy, 53, appeared at Coventry Crown Court. The images were found when he took his computer into a shop for repair
January 2002 – A former Bedfordshire Conservative council leader has been jailed for 18 months for indecently assaulting two girls. Albert Whinnett, 73, was chairman of South Bedfordshire District Council in 1984. Judge Ronald Moss told him had he been younger and in better health the sentence would have been four or five years
November 2009 – A young Tory has been jailed for six months after he admitted downloading sickening child porn. Alister Cooling, 27, who writes for the Conservative Home website and campaigned for London Mayor Boris Johnson, owned films featuring girls as young as five being abused. The pervert also downloaded a bestiality film
September 2007 – Three people who abused two children during a six-hour orgy arranged over the internet have been jailed. Liberal Democract activist Archibald Wood, 60, from Tavistock, Devon, was jailed for seven years. After communicating with Wood over the internet, another man took the 13-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl to the private property in Fleet
December 2008 – He was the urbane gent who waited on the Royal Family for nine years – first serving the Queen at Buckingham Palace and then her mother. But throughout his service Paul Kidd was leading a double life as a serial child abuser who molested a number of boys over a 30-year period. Kidd, even stood for election as a UK Independent Party candidate in Dukinfield and Stalybridge
January 2003 – FORMER Weymouth councillor David Crosland has been found guilty of child pornography charges. Some of the photographs showed young girls performing sex acts with adult males
April 2004 – TOP Tory councillor Mike Oram has been urged to quit after appearing in court on child pornography related charges. Oram, who has represented Blandford East since 1999, admitted one charge of making an indecent photograph of a child and another of inciting the distribution of pseudo-photographs of children under the age of 16. Oram was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £87 costs
May 2011 – A child protection charity has attacked an “appallingly lenient” decision not to jail a former Lambeth councillor who admitted possessing more than 94,000 images/videos of abused children. Toren Smith, of Lilford Road, Camberwell, was given a two year suspended sentence at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, after earlier pleading guilty to 24 counts of possessing and making indecent images of children
Feb 2012 – A former SDLP councillor from Londonderry has been given a probation order after admitting two charges of sexual assault against a child. The girl was 11 at the time of the attack. William McCorriston, 77, from Phillip Street, was also placed on the sex offenders register for five years. The young girl told her mother he had kissed her, and felt her body over her clothing. She also said that weeks earlier, he had kissed her on the cheeks and then the lips
Feb 2012 – A Darlington councillor has been jailed for sexually assaulting a girl and having pictures of child abuse.Married father-of-three Mark Burton, 43, of Middleham Road, Darlington, was chairman of a committee responsible for children’s welfare.He was jailed for 22 months at Teesside CC. Burton took advantage of the schoolgirl following a drunken party
Dec 2011 – A FORMER councillor has described how he considered suicide after being arrested on child pornography charges. Nathan Bale, former Cornwall councillor for Bude and Stratton North, viewed indecent images of children online over an eight-year period.Bale, of Penfound Gardens, Bude, was ordered to attend a sex offenders’ programme
Nov 2011 – THE agent of leading Labour MP Chris Bryant was jailed for three years yesterday for having an “appalling” hoard of vile child pornography. Disgraced Stephen Carnell, who helped shadow Justice Minister Mr Bryant to victory in last year’s election, was caught with over 12,500 sick images and videos of children. A court heard the 58-year-old former councillor and school governors’ chairman had amassed some of the most serious child porn police had ever seen.
December 2011 – A FORMER councillor was jailed for three years for indecently assaulting a girl more than 14 years ago. David Woodfinden, 70, of Lon Ely, Llanfairtalhaiarn, was sentenced at Liverpool C/C. He had pleaded guilty on November 22 to four indecent assaults on the same girl aged under 16 in between 1993-97.
Tory Party Councillor (Wickbar/Bristol) Roger Talboys – Convicted and jailed for 6 years for multiple sex attacks on children.
Labour Councillor (North Lincolnshire) David Spooner – Convicted and jailed for 1 year for masturbating in front of 2 young boys.
Labour Mayor (Westhoughton/Lancashire) Nicholas Green – Convicted and jailed for 10 years for 3 rapes and 13 counts of indecent assault against little girls between the age of 6 and 10. He raped one woman on her wedding day.
Labour Parliamentary candidate (Cheadle/Cheshire), Paul Diggert – Subject of a 2002 police investigation into the alleged procurement of underage girls for sexual purposes via internet chatrooms. According to the `Sunday Mirror` (3/11/02), Diggert had admitted to having four underage girls that he was `grooming` for sex.
In 2004 Diggert was convicted of making and distributing indecent pictures of children
1999 – Michael Cunningham, who is a member of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from Northern Ireland has pleaded guilty to 13 charges of child sex abuse. He admitted indecently assaulting two girls aged six and seven in a series of charges dating back to 1979
MP, Harriet Harman argued for incest to be decriminalised and argued that sexually explicit photographs of children should be legal unless it could be proven that the subject had suffered harm or that the an inference to that effect or to the effect that harm might have been caused could reasonably be drawn from the images themselves
1992 – A FORMER Labour councillor and her lover who ‘terrified’ a 15 yr-old girl in 3-in-a-bed sex sessions were jailed.Susan Smith, 33, the former member for St Martins ward in the London borough of Lambeth, was sentenced to a total of 18 mths.Ronald Lineker, 53,who was said to have transvestite tendencies, was jailed for 3 years after being convicted of two charges of indecent assault and six of unlawful sexual intercourse
2005 – A FORMER Conservative councillor has been branded “a menace to young women” and sent to jail for two-and-a-half years for a string of sex attacks. Michael Robinson, 59, pleaded guilty to two indecent assaults and four sexual assaults on four women who worked at his new age and body piercing shop. One of his victims was just 15-years-old.
2007 – A FORMER councillor has been jailed for five years at Cardiff crown court for raping a 15 yr old girl. Alan Jolly, 68, of Lower Salisbury Street, Tredegar got into bed with her and raped her.When arrested, Jolly claimed she was an active participant, suggested going to bed and instigated the sex.
Jan 2012 – A preacher who stood as a Conservative candidate for Holyrood has been jailed for eight years for a 15-year campaign of child abuse. John Smart, 48, preyed on three youngsters he met at the Edinburgh City Mission.He began abusing one of his victims when the boy was just 3 years old
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These are still online
http://liarsbuggersandthieves.blogspot.co.uk/2006/11/tory-criminals.html
https://www.stormfront.org/forum/t284532/
http://yournewswire.com/shocking-list-of-mps-convicted-of-child-sex-offences/
Labour Councillor (Northampton/Northamptonshire), and former School Governor, Alec Dyer-Atkins – Convicted and jailed for 2 years in 2003 for downloading more than 42,000 pictures and films described in court as “Horrifying images of child abuse”. Dyer-Atkins was a member of an international paedophile ring called `The Shadows Brotherhood` which was successfully penetrated following sterling work by Britain’s National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU). Commenting on the conviction of the depraved Labour Party beast, NHTCU Deputy Head, Mick Deats said: “This man had some of the worst images on his computers that officers from this unit have ever viewed”.
Tory Party General election candidate, Michael Powell – Convicted and jailed for 3 years for downloading hardcore child porn.
. Tory Party Councillor (Wickbar/Bristol) Roger Talboys – Convicted and jailed for 6 years for multiple sex attacks on children.
. Tory Party Vice-Chairman of Welsh Conservatives, Andrew Baker – Received a banning order for stalking women.
. Tory Party MP (Billericay) Harvey Proctor – Stood trial for sex offences of a sado-masochistic nature against teenage boys, and was forced to resign.
. Tory Party Councillor ( Stratford-upon-Avon ) Christopher Pilkington – Convicted of downloading hardcore child porn on his PC. Placed on sex offenders register and forced to resign.
. Tory Party councillor ( Coventry ), Peter Stidworthy – Charged with indecent assault of a 15-year old boy.
. Tory Party Mayor ( North Tyneside ), Chris Morgan – Forced to resign after being arrested twice in 2 weeks, for indecent assault on a 15-year old girl, and for suspicion of downloading child porn.
. Tory Party MEP, Tom Spencer – Caught smuggling drugs and porn through customs.
. Tory Party councillor and former Mayor (Wrexham), Michael Morris – Convicted and put on probation for 2 years, for the indecent assault of another man, which was captured on CCTV.
. Tory Party Liaison Manager on the London Assembly, Douglas Campbell, who’s job includes running the Tory GLA website – Arrested for allegedly downloading child porn. He is currently suspended while the Police investigation continues.
. Labour Councillor (Newton Aycliffe) Martin Locklyn – Convicted and jailed for 15 years for sexually abusing 3 14-year-old boys.
. Labour Councillor (North Lincolnshire) David Spooner – Convicted and jailed for 1 year for masturbating in front of 2 young boys.
. Labour Mayor (Westhoughton/Lancashire) Nicholas Green – Convicted and jailed for 10 years for 3 rapes and 13 counts of indecent assault against little girls between the age of 6 and 10. He raped one woman on her wedding day.
. Labour Mayor (Todmordon) John Winstanley – Convicted and jailed for rape and threats to kill. After raping and threatening to kill his terrified victim, Winstanley then ordered the woman to go on all fours before urinating on her.
. Prominent Labour Party activist Mark Tann (who has met Tony & Cherie at Party functions) recently got a 15-year sentence for raping a 4-year old girl on 2 separate occasions.
. Labour’s current Parliamentary Candidate (Reading East) Tony Page – Has 2 Convictions for Acts of Gross Indecency` in public toilets.
. Labour Mayor (Burnley) Mark Swainston – Convicted of sex offences in public toilet.
. Entire Labour Party conspired to conceal the activities of Labour Party activist and serial child-molester Mark Trotter, who died from AIDS before he could be convicted.
. Labour Councillor (North Yorkshire) Raymond Coats – Court appearance for indecently assaulting a woman.
. Labour MP (Rhonda Valley) Chris Bryant poses in his pants on the Internet to advertise himself for casual gay sex encounters. Describes himself as “Horny as bu**ery” and says, “I’d love a good long f**k”.
. Labour Councillor (Manchester), George Harding – Charged with indecent assault on a girl of 12.
. Labour MP Ron Davies was mugged by a Rasta on Clapham Common while cruising for gay sex. He was photographed again by the media recently, engaged in some `man-on-man` action in a field off a motorway. “I was only looking for badgers” he said.
. Labour Councillor (Durham), Derrick Payne – Arrested by Police following a sex attack.
. Labour MP, Joe Ashton – Caught up in a Police raid while frequenting a brothel. Tried to lie his way out of the scandal.
. Labour Councillor (Shropshire), Derek Woodvine – Arrested by Police in anti-porn operation.
. Labour Councillor (Basildon), Tony Wright – Forced to resign after being caught using his council computer to download porn.
. Labour MP (Sheffield), Clive Betts – Suspended from Parliament for 7 days after being caught forging immigration papers to extend the stay of his Brazilian rent-boy gay lover.
* Senior clerk Phillip Lyon, who arranges the weekly Prime Minister’s Question Time for Tony Blair, was arrested after vice cops raided his Commons office.Lyon, 37, is accused of making indecent images of children. * The Labour Party in Calderdale has been plunged into a crisis as their lead candidate, and former Mayor of Hebden Royd, Stewart Brown, has been arrested on suspicion of child porn offences.
Labour Councillor and Deputy Council Leader (Northumberland), John Whiteman, who was also a senior member of the local police authority – Convicted and fined in 2002 for soliciting a prostitute in the red light district of Middlesbrough. The court heard Whitman was arrested in his car as Police discovered him in a “state of undress” with a lady of the night he had just paid £35 for sex. He subsequently resigned from the council.
Labour Councillor (Stoke/Staffordshire), Michael Barnes, put forward a motion in July 2004 to change the constitution of Stoke-on-Trent Council. The proposed amendments were designed to prevent the City’s two British National Party councillors from chairing any committees, so as to `protect` the good citizens of Stoke from the beastly BNP types they’d voted for in huge numbers to represent them. As Mr Barnes explained to the local paper, the move was “to prevent the BNP from exerting more influence”, and was “in the best interests of the people of Stoke-on-Trent”. A few months later, in November 2004, the civic-minded and virtuous Councillor Barnes appeared at North Staffordshire Magistrates Court, to face seven different charges relating to child pornography
Labour Councillor (Durham), Derrick Payne – Arrested by Police following a sex attack
Labour Councillor and former Mayor (Halton/Cheshire), Liam Temple – Convicted in 2004 of `Inciting a child under 16 to commit an act of gross indecency` after the 58-year old Labour pervert had attempted to molest a 12-year old girl. During the case, the brave youngster told the court via a video link: “He said if I let him touch me he would give me money”.
Labour Councillor (Coxhoe/Durham), Les Sheppard – Convicted in 2004 on ten counts of indecent assault on young girls. Jailed for 2 years, and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years. Teeside Crown Court heard how 71 year old Cllr Sheppard lured his victims into his gold Porsche before driving them to remote spots, where he would submit them to sickening sex attacks. After his arrest, the Labour nonce-case told police “I love women, but you do things which you regret”. Sheppard’s `women` victims were between 9 and 13 years old.
According to media reports, the names of 2 former Labour Cabinet Ministers said to be `Household names` appear on the `Operation Ore` list of subscribers to hard-core child pornography. The same FBI investigation, which led to the arrest of rock star Pete Townshend. So who are they Mr. Blair?
Yusef Azad – One of Ken Livingston’s overpaid left-wing cronies on the London Assembly gravy train – Resigned from his 60K-plus a year job `assisting` Assembly members, after being arrested on suspicion of downloading child porn in 2003.
Labour Councillor (Wokingham/Berkshire), Nelson Bland – Convicted on 16 counts of possession and distribution of hardcore child porn in 2004. Sentenced to community service, placed on the sex offender’s register and ordered to attend rehabilitation classes for paedophiles. Bland used his own teenage daughters computer to hoard his grotesque gallery of child abuse, which was discovered by police during a search of Bland`s home, when they arrested him in connection with the murder of a Nottingham businessman
Labour Councillor and Mayor-Elect (Merton/London), Sam Chaudry – Due to become Merton’s first Asian Mayor, before he was arrested, tried and convicted of multiple sex attacks on young girls in 1999. One of his victims was a 5-year old.
Labour Councillor (Halton/Leeds), Lee Benson – Convicted and awaiting sentence in 2005, after pleading guilty on 12 counts of possession of indecent images of children, featuring youngsters between the ages of 5 and 11. Benson, who has a child of his own, repaid the fools who voted for him by storing his revolting kiddie porn collection on the computer provided for him by the council. Benson has been `suspended` – not expelled – by the Labour Party, which means his name remains on the Labour Party membership list, as well as on the sex offenders register. As to which is the more shameful – take your pick!
Labour Councillor (Bridgend/South Wales), Iestyn Tudor Davies – Convicted, jailed for 7 years, and placed on the sex offender’s register for life in 2005, for repeatedly raping a 9-year old girl
Labour Councillor (Newham/London), Greg Vincent, who was the Election Agent to Labour MP Tony Banks at the 2001 General Election – Convicted and given a 2-year community rehabilitation order in 2003, for possession of hardcore kiddie porn films and photos, featuring children as young as 8. One of the photos the Labour Councillor found so entertaining, featured – as described in court – a girl aged around 10, naked except for a dog-collar, being assaulted and abused while her hands were tied behind her back around a beam. Vincent was also a School Governor
Prominent Edinburgh Labour party activist and election candidate, Rab Knox – Convicted and jailed for 3 years in 2005 for a horrific sex attack on a woman passenger in his taxi cab.
Labour Party Official (North West England Regional Officer, and parliamentary adviser to the Home Office Minister responsible for crime and policing, Hazel Blears), Peter Tuffley – Convicted and jailed for 15 months and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years in 2006, for the sexual molestation of a 13-year old boy that he had previously `groomed` on the internet. Tuffley was described as a `rising star` within the Labour Party – which is nothing to be proud of either
Labour Councillor (Hornchurch/Essex), Alan Prescott, who was also a senior magistrate – Convicted and jailed for 2 years in 2001, for molesting children at the East London care home where he was the superintendent. Prescott, described in court as a “pillar of his local community” admitted carrying out sex attacks on four teenage boys as they slept in their beds
Labour Parliamentary candidate (Cheadle/Cheshire), Paul Diggert – Subject of a 2002 police investigation into the alleged procurement of underage girls for sexual purposes via internet chatrooms. According to the `Sunday Mirror` (3/11/02), Diggert had admitted to having four underage girls that he was `grooming` for sex. In 2004 Diggert was convicted of making and distributing indecent pictures of children
Labour Councillor (Dagenham/London), Terry Power – Forced to resign in 1999 after being arrested and charged with sex attacks on teenage boys. Details of trial and conviction to follow.
Labour Councillor (Westlands/Worcestershire), Keith Rogers – Convicted, fined, and placed on the sex offender’s register in 2003, after downloading over 2,000 hardcore child porn photos on his computer
Labour councillor Ex-Paston councillor Gilbert Benn (48) A former city councillor was a five-year jail sentence for molesting an 11-year-old boy and threatening the youngster’s mother in a bid to cover his tracks.
A FORMER Wirral Tory councillor led a secret life looking at indecent images of children. While his wife and two daughters slept upstairs, Ian McKellar spent hours poring over child porn downloaded from the internet onto his computer. Ex-Tory councillor was sentenced after admitting child porn charges
Former Children’s Minister and prior to that, chair of the Campaign For Civil Liberties Harriet Harmann while in CCL, collaborated with the Pedophile Information Exchange and another pedophile activist groups in a campaign to decriminalise/legalise child pornography.
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http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/22/sex-offender-refuses-to-resign-from-council
Mike Buckley
Localism Act 2011
After found being into child pornography refused to quit due to his ‘responsibility’ to constituents.
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http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/22/sex-offender-refuses-to-resign-from-council
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I used to live opposite Jersey and every time I looked that way I thought of this:
http://www.childrenscreamingtobeheard.com/jerseychildren-loaned-rich-pedophile-yachtsmen/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1580284/Secrets-and-terror-of-Jersey-care-home.html
I was expecting habitats more like their natural setting rather our normal countryside with a bit of customization, below are some of the animals we saw.
NOTE: Don’t use your camera flash on animals in zoos, parks etc – the buildup affects their eyesight, many sea creatures in aquariums for example had reduced vision to blindness. I’ve reminded people on occasion myself and then the customer service assistants realize they should be doing the same and step up. Also I don’t support animals in captivity not even out of their country a lot of the time, this trip had exceptional circumstances.
As usual euthanasia and patient assisted suicide (PAS) is something that is decided for us by people (usually church/religion and/or state) who like to fully control every aspect of our lives including the most important parts.
Ironically enough I was just pressing the point to someone recently that barristers and hence judges have the title ‘Justice’ (when presiding/judging) which shows the kind of country and world we live in. They act like [and might think] they’re non-human entities/concept/Plato’s ‘forms’ created or in existence to ‘govern’ us (‘fairly’ – according to ‘might [money/funds] is right’ ideology), mostly chosen by people like them with a Silver spoon in their mouths and not through meritocracy or an egalitarian society. The listener did not believe me… And they’re always wrong.
The problem with the Noel Conway case is that he is fighting for the right to be heard and to possibly change the law, which you can do when you go to the High Court. What that means is even if he wins he won’t win permission to have a say over his own life, it’s getting the issue of the blanket ban on euthanasia and PAS to be debated again. The courts and parliament are too busy passing the buck between each other on deciding who or how to change the law if at all. Parliament in general (both Houses, not just the government) have shown over the years that they have little interest in doing so and don’t want to address whether they’re breaking Human Rights in denying choice either.
As far as I’m concerned a person should be able to end their life (especially as they don’t choose to live in the first place, their parents make that choice) whenever they want (and no I don’t on a whim or bad mood) but if we’re going the ‘doctor recommended’ route then it shouldn’t just be the terminally ill and patients with diagnosis (not all patients are diagnosed they can be under constant review), any patient who finds their life unbearable should have their wishes honoured. Plenty of them were suffering long before they became patients, plenty have lost all hope and plenty don’t have the strength or resources to terminate themselves in a peaceful, painless way. All they’re asking for is that doctors/medical professionals carry out the death part of their jobs fully. The profession is not just about life and preserving it no matter what and then patients dying because everything they tried failed and so the health professionals can’t blame themselves or face insurance/court backlash, it’s about full respect of your charge/patient. It’s about death rites and being there for them i.e. you assist in bringing them into the world, you’re there for them in between and it’s also your job to help take them out as well in the kindest possible way, before their suffering outweighs their quality of life. That’s not just the job of priests. Death is also a part of healing and many cultures know and have known that for millenia. We’re too far removed from what it feels like to be human and to be part of humanity, opting to be slaves to protocol instead and the ideology of ‘it’s my job, I might not agree but that’s what the rules say’ as a way of pushing aside and negating personal responsibility.
What are people supposed to do whilst the health industry, religion and politicians/monarchy are ‘playing God’ or ‘representative(s) of God’? It’s obvious that the divide between rich and poor keeps getting wider, that suicide rates and going abroad for euthanasia or PAS has increased especially in times of austerity (more stress = more illness and being affected younger) so why the reluctance to ‘allow’ people their ‘god-given‘ or ‘universal rights’ or quite frankly their human/being alive rights? In regards to those who perpetuate the class systems why hesitate to let the ‘surplus population’/’useless eaters’ (but still consumers though if on the NHS they’re pretty much going to suffer more and longer anyway) choose for themselves. Why is this even an issue about rich and poor? The rich worldwide and especially those with stakes in ‘Silicon Valley’/modern tech get to finance and have accessibility to both life lengthening procedures and costly euthanasia/PAS whereas the rest of us are left to wrist slashing, homemade concoctions, overdosing, overdosing plus alcohol, gas, traffic accidents (yes I know about the Leicester incident and news coverage the next day about dementia patients and motorways), drowning and all the rest of it, a lot of which goes horribly wrong. Seriously if guns were allowed in this country many people would’ve taken that way out and I don’t blame them.
Some people are very practical and realize that death is part of life and have been ready to live a decent life both moral and as a good citizen but also ready to die at any moment if it just so happens e.g. you get hit by a bus or something (almost happened to me recently lol and puts me in mind of what I and two friends – one Catholic and one Christian – used to say to each other every time we left each other “see you [insert time/date], god willing!” As a joke but one of those painfully true ones; and no I’m not religious I don’t even ascribe to a school of philosophy). You live your life in a way that you can be proud of, dutifully and well informed so that whenever ‘your time comes’ your relationships with people can end in a way that you don’t regret too much and your ‘house is in order’. You don’t have to be old-aged for that, I was ready to die by approximately 10 years old and have always supported euthanasia and abortion – pro-choice for both. I was ready for that as well as to live a life full of goals, optimism and health. Basically I knew that life can go in any direction and I was prepared/preparing. You don’t have to old to be wise. (And my title isn’t ‘Justice’ either thank goodness/ethics but my name is ‘Gift/Vision of God’ which outranks the former and is exceptional… I didn’t choose it though so I’ll beat down any god/demon/’other’ willing or unwilling to go the boxing rounds *ahem*.)
https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/news/noel-conway-case-high-court-july/
Noel Conway case to be heard in July
Press release | 23rd May 2017
Judicial review on assisted dying will be heard at the High Court in the week commencing 17th July 2017 by three judges over five days.
A judicial review brought by a man with terminal motor neurone disease to challenge the current law on assisted dying is due to be heard at the High Court in mid-July, following a directions hearing which took place yesterday (Monday 22nd May 2017). The Noel Conway v Ministry of Justice case, which is supported by Dignity in Dying, will be heard by three judges over five days in the week commencing the 17th of July 2017.
Noel Conway, 67, a retired college lecturer from Shropshire, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a form of motor neurone disease, in November 2014. His condition is incurable and he is not expected to live beyond the next 12 months. Noel feels that he is prevented from exercising his right to choice and control over his death under the current law. He fears that without a change in the law he may be forced to suffer against his wishes. Noel, supported by Dignity in Dying, has instructed law firm Irwin Mitchell to bring this case to fight for his right to have the option of an assisted death when he is in his final six months of life.
Noel said:
“I am delighted that my case will be heard in full at the High Court in July. I am glad to hear that, given the importance of the case, it will be presided over by three judges over five days – a testament to how deserving this issue is of full and proper consideration.
“I have brought this case to fight for choice and control at the end of life – for me and for all terminally ill people and their loved ones who are being failed by the current law. I know I am going to die anyway, but how and when should be up to me. To have the option of an assisted death in this country would provide me with great reassurance and comfort. It would allow me to decide when I am ready to go, rather than be forced into a premature death by travelling abroad or be left at the mercy of a cruel illness.”
Sarah Wootton, Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying, said:
“We are pleased that Noel’s case will get the full High Court hearing it deserves and that his health has been taken in account when expediting the case.
“The current law means that terminally ill Britons are being forced to suffer against their wishes or take drastic measures at home and abroad in order to wrest back control over their deaths. Noel, supported by Dignity in Dying, wants the courts to examine the evidence in full and decide if a blanket ban on assisted dying is lawful.
“We are indebted to Noel and his family for devoting their time and energy to this hugely important case and we look forward to the High Court hearing in July.”
Yogi Amin, partner and head of public law and human rights at Irwin Mitchell, added:
“Noel would like the choice to be able to die with dignity. The world has changed phenomenally in the past few decades with many medical advances but the law on assisted dying for those who are terminally ill hasn’t changed for more than 50 years.
“Three judges will now hear his case in the High Court over five days which shows the level of importance this judicial review case has. The Court will be considering detailed evidence and legal arguments about whether a blanket ban breaches our Human Rights law.”
***ENDS***
For further information, photos and interviews with representatives from Dignity in Dying, please contact ellie.ball@dignityindying.org.uk / 07725 433 025 / 0207 479 7732 or thomas.davies@dignityindying.org.uk / 0207 479 7734
For interviews with representatives from Irwin Mitchell, please contact pressoffice@irwinmitchell.com / 0114 274 4666
Notes to Editor
About the case
Noel Conway, 67, from Shrewsbury, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a form of motor neurone disease, in November 2014. His condition is incurable and terminal – he is not expected to live beyond the next 12 months.Noel feels that he is prevented from exercising his right to choice and control over his death under the current law. He fears that without a change in the law he may be forced to suffer against his wishes. Noel is bringing this case against the Ministry of Justice to fight for his right to have the option of an assisted death when he is in his final six months of life.
Noel attended the High Court on March 21st to request permission to bring a legal case.
On Thursday 30th March 2017, a decision was handed down denying permission for the case to proceed. Noel Conway’s legal team successfully appealed this decision on Tuesday 11th April 2017, meaning the case will proceed to a full hearing at the High Court. A directions hearing on Monday 22nd May 2017 determined the procedural arrangements for the High Court hearing, namely that it will take place in the week commencing the 17th of July 2017 over five days, heard by three judges. The courts close for summer on Monday 31st July, and reopen on Monday 2nd October. It is anticipated that a decision will be published on the Conway case after the summer recess.
Also on the morning of Monday 22nd May, the court considered the case of Omid T, a separate legal case to that of Noel Conway. Omid T does not have a terminal diagnosis and is calling for assisted suicide to be made available to anyone who is suffering unbearably, not just those who are dying. His case was granted permission to proceed but it will not be joined with Noel Conway’s.
About Dignity in Dying
Dignity in Dying campaigns for greater choice, control and access to services at the end of life. It advocates providing terminally ill adults with the option of an assisted death, within strict legal safeguards, and for universal access to high quality end-of-life care.
For more information, visit http://www.dignityindying.org.ukAbout Irwin Mitchell
Irwin Mitchell is over 100 years old and is one of the largest law firms in the UK. Last year Irwin Mitchell merged with Thomas Eggar LLP expanding its presence in London and the South East and has also acquired specialist Personal Injury firm MPH Solicitors and private wealth firm Berkeley Law in the past few years.The firm is ranked as a market-leading personal legal services firm in the independent Legal 500 and Chambers UK guides to UK law with over 100 lawyers personally recommended. For more information, visit http://www.irwinmitchell.com
This was the most recent decision before the upcoming July hearing.
High Court Judgment: Noel Conway -v- Secretary of State for Justice
30 March 2017 |High Court|CivilNeutral Citation Number: [2017] EWHC640 (Admin)
Case no: CO/6421/2016
In the High Court of Justice
Queen’s Bench Division
Administrative Court
Divisional Court
Date: 30/03/2017
Before:
Lord Justice Burnett
Mr Justice Charles
Mr Justice Jay
Between:
The Queen (on the application of Noel Douglas Conway) – Claimant
– and –
Secretary of State for Justice – Defendant
https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/conway-v-justice-secretary-judgment.pdf
Followed on from Governments and Bodies Can’t Investigate Themselves Impartially
It just gets worse and worse and worse and worse… People need to be stripped of titles, investigated, charged and convicted properly and companies shut down. Community cooperatives/management would have done better than local and central government on this.
Grenfell Tower fire: MPs attack Kensington council for failure to spend £270m reserves on housing
The council responsible for Grenfell Tower, where at least 58 people are now thought to have lost their lives after Wednesday’s horrific fire, has been accused of carrying out “unacceptable” financial practises after it emerged the borough had stockpiled £274m of usable reserves following years of chronic underspending.
Labour MP for Tottenham David Lammy, whose friend Khadija Saye was killed in the blaze, said very serious questions needed to be asked about why the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) was running a budget surplus despite repeated warnings from residents that the block posed a fire risk. The shadow Communities Secretary Andrew Gwynne said the council needed to “immediately explain itself” over why the funds were not used to ensure safe housing.
“If some of this money was spent on sprinkler systems and non-flammable cladding we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Mr Lammy told The Independent.
“Residents are saying that they feel as though they have been treated as second-class citizens because they are poor. It cannot be right that the council ran a budget surplus whilst families in their borough were living in such unsafe housing. That is simply unacceptable.
“The people of Kensington and Chelsea are angry and they have every right to be. We need answers and we need justice. Serious questions have to be asked about why the council was running a budget surplus when the Grenfell residents were warning about fire risks.”
Mr Gwynne said: “The council needs to immediately explain why these funds were not used to ensure safe housing for Kensington and Chelsea residents. There are too many opportunities for this tragedy to have been avoided.
At this time of intense stress and trauma, the least that these communities deserve are answers.”
In 2013/14, RBKC underspent by £30m “thanks to an overachieving efficiency drive,” according to Council Leader Nick Paget-Brown. [My Comment – this guy chats too much, he’s been allowed to why? https://fashionthatpays.wordpress.com/2017/06/16/grenfell-tower-conservative-tory-failures/%5D Instead of reinvesting the funds, top rate council tax-payers were subsequently offered a £100 rebate to account for the overspend.
“In deciding what to do with it, we have taken the view that it is simply wrong to discount from our calculations those whose money this was in the first place. In short, we think the right place for it is back with our residents,” Mr Paget-Brown wrote at the time.
While some of the reserve money is ring-fenced, the revelation follows claims that additional spending on the west London block could have prevented the tragedy that killed at least 58 people on Wednesday.
Questions were raised about the cladding that was fitted to the building during a 2015 refurbishment, which experts suggested may have helped the flames spread more rapidly throughout the tower than they would otherwise have.
Fitting a fire-resistant alternative would have cost as little as £5,000 extra to instal. The British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association also said installing a sprinkler system would cost just £200,000.
“We have heard that the council gave residents a £100 rebate in 2014, when just £5,000 would have paid for non-flammable cladding on the outside of Grenfell Tower,” Mr Lammy said.
It follows claims by Labour Councillor Robert Atkinson the council was “bribing the electorate with its own money” after it “systematically and deliberately created underspends”.
“Our suspicion, based on past experience, remains that this council will bring in and hoard the people’s money in non election years (such as this) only to give it back as a pre-election bribe immediately before a council election – such as next year,” he said in a speech after 2017’s budget was announced.
“We think this council’s long standing practises of, every year, running huge underspends in its revenue budgets which it then transfers into Capital reserves is wrong, and, given the damage to services that has resulted over many years from the squeezing of revenue budgets it is not to put too fine a point on it – wicked.”
Mr Paget-Brown justified the rebate in 2014, saying it could not be ploughed back into services because it was a “one-off surplus”. Despite this, over the last four years, the General Fund at RBKC has consistently underspent, with draft figures for 2016/2017 showing a surplus of £10m.
The underspend figures come in contrast to those produced by the Borough of Islington, which has a similar demographic makeup to Kensington. In 2015/16, the Council underspent by £0.2m. In the same year, Newham, one of London’s poorest boroughs, underspent by £311,000.
The Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy details three reasons for a council to have reserves, one of which is to act as a “contingency cushion” for unexpected emergencies or events. But residents of the gutted block were growing increasingly angry over the council’s relief efforts following the fire.
Protesters stormed Kensington Town Hall chanting “justice” on Friday, carrying a list of demands they said authorities must meet. The Government was criticised for seemingly U-turning on a pledge to rehouse residents affected by the blaze within the borough, admitting on Friday that they may have to be relocated to other areas in London.
Despite the budget surplus, it appeared the RBKC was struggling to find accommodation in the borough for residents who were left homeless in the blaze.
Grieving relatives of the dead pointed to the repeated failures by those managing the properties to prevent such a tragedy on an unprecedented scale.
Residents of Grenfell Tower complained two years ago about the refurbishment of the building being done “using cheap materials” and workmanship that “cut corners”, The Independent revealed.
They later claimed the RBKC had done nothing to address their concerns.
It has also emerged that in order to save money, the council ditched the original proposed contractor, Leadbitter, for the refurbishment, and instead went with Rydon, a cheaper bid for the work.
In July 2013 the council’s Housing and Property Scrutiny Committee proposed to “market test the works through an open tender” after noting: “Leadbitter currently estimate the cost of the works to be £1.6m above the current, proposed budget.”
Rydon eventually completed the refurbishment in May 2016, for £2.5m less than the £11.278m quoted by Leadbitter.
Rydon has repeatedly said that all the refurbishment work carried out at Grenfell Tower met both building and fire regulation standards and was signed off by the council.
The Independent has contacted the RBKC for comment.
Another point is – usually businesses and institutions do their best to spend as much of their budgets as possible in order to justify them in the first place and make sure they get the same if not more funding in future, not less because they’ve been ‘efficient’. How did the money keep flooding in to Kensington and Chelsea despite not needing it because they never spent it?
And if they’ve got £270-4m in axillary, um isn’t this as deserving/qualifying a case as it gets? Why are the victims of Grenfell Tower only getting a measly £5m fund? Why is it even a possibility that they’ll be moved from their borough? Pay the f*cking private landlords b*stards, put ’em up in Buckingham Palace for all I care (yes I know it’s in Westminster) just stop being like some of the worst tyrants on the planet that you often advertise yourselves as superheroes and saviours against and go to war with and then moan about their people when you do the same to them and your own. Stop being like them and pay the price for your crimes against humanity, our animal companions and the environment.
Written
on August 13, 2017