THE PARTNER of local Labour leader Cllr Simon Blackburn has hit back at claims on this site that he is a champagne socialist.
An irate Gillian Campbell, who will be standing as a Labour candidate for Grange Park in next year’s local elections, blasted True Blackpudlian for a series of stinging attacks on her partner;
Whilst I am sure my views will not be welcome here on this “right leaning site”, I have been directed here by a friend who is annoyed ( as am I looking at the comments) that the person calling himself ‘True Blackpudlian’ seems to think that because my family live in a ‘middle-class area’ and my partner of 15 years has a ‘well-paid job’, his is somehow not fit to represent the people of Brunswick.
I would just like to set the record straight. Yes, we live in a nice (rented) house, and yes Simon has a good job ( he has just passed a Masters in Social Work, something that we as a family had to make a lot of sacrifices for) but to imply that he is not the person who should represent Brunswick because of this, is frankly ridiculous. It is precisely because of Simon’s experience, both as a politican and social worker, and the life we have shared together that he is EXACTLY the right person for the job to be both Brunswick councillor, and the Labour Group Leader. So, True Blackpudlian,BEFORE you think you have the right to call people “cocky, arrogant and smarmy”, (I believe you have used ‘slimy’ on occassions as well) I would thank you to remember that is the man I am proud to share my life and three beautiful children with, and suggest that you are wrong to make judgements about people and their situations when you don’t actually know anything about them. You may have a problem with Simon and frankly that’s absolutely fine,( I know he couldn’t actually care less) but can I just point out that you don’t like it when people insult you or your views. If you want this site to consist of only people with your viewpoint and political bias, I suggest it is made a members only site….
Oh, and just to let you know, I myself am standing for the Labour Party at next Mays election for Grange Park. If you would care for a biography of my life before then, just to see if you deem my working-class background suitable enough to be picked for this position, just pop into the house, you know, the posh one down by Booths.
Champagne socialists – my arse.
This is one of my favourite replies ever on this site, aside from one that Simon himself made a while back before I took my one-month sabbatical. So thanks for that Gillian, and of course you are welcome to post on this site any time. The authors might be right leaning, but that doesn’t mean the comments have to be.
Cllr Blackburn’s qualities as councillor for Brunswick ward can’t really be questioned unless you’ve experienced them. But with a cabinet system which grants full decision making power to six Conservative mainstays and excludes the other thirty-six councillors, what influence could Blackburn possibly have as a minority opposition councillor?
We have seen in Fylde a situation where a small number of councillors create a Politbüro and make all the decisions behind closed doors. I think it is fair to say this has not served them particularly well, leaving them down the financial Swannee in the process. Blackpool’s cabinet could quite easily be referred to in the same context and they have certainly blown the coffers.
"Right, who wants some?"
In both cases, a cabinet system populated by Tories has embarked on an uncontrollable tax and spend rampage; something more affiliated with Labour. It got so desperate in Fylde that they attempted to ramp up council tax beyond the government-imposed limit by devolving services to local parishes which could then apply their own tax.
Clearly these practises are out of character given that traditional Conservative values proffer more restrained spending, lower taxes and an encouragement of private sector investment rather than top-down control freakery. So why does it happen?
They often say about referees in the Premier League that they make rash or controversial decisions because they want all the attention, and I believe this applies to council cabinets as well. Cabinets get power mad and want to be celebrities. They want their names stamped on big money projects so they can tell their grandchildren, “look, little Johnny! I built that!”
Regardless of party, cabinets are able to dream up a scheme and implement it without any regard to the feasibility, practicality, and effect upon those that elected them. It is my belief that when the Conservatives wiped Labour out of the town hall last time round, they were determined to demonstrate that they were ‘doing things’ because the perception was that Roy Fisher’s Labour group had rested on their laurels. Cue lots of random, odd projects with big price tags that have provided no benefit to the town at all. We also have decisions that don’t really make a lot of sense when looking at the bigger picture.
Let’s take the Blackpool South station scenario. Maxine Callow has publicly declared in the Gazette that she wants to close it so that trains terminate at the Pleasure Beach ‘to help them with their business’. This, in my view, is incredibly narrow minded, ignorant of those that elected them and suggests that there might be some kind of link between the council cabinet and a third party which doesnt fit well with the Nolan principles of public life.
Regardless of the systemic decline in Blackpool’s fortunes since Central Station was closed in 1964, severing the limb of Blackpool South kills off a useful station whose passenger numbers have gone up over 20% to around 115,000 in the last 4 years. Currently the plan to close the station is on hold, but according to Blackpool South MP Gordon Marsden it is not scrapped and could re-enter the fray at any time. I accept that the Pleasure Beach is a core attraction, but look at the history: do we really want to cut off basic infrastructure just so Amanda Thompson can make a bit more money?
People have kicked up a fuss about it but we’re all just pissing in the wind, just like Mr Marsden is. The council cabinet will decide whether it’s a goer or not, and it really doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Poor old Simon Blackburn can jump up and down screaming about it, but really he has no influence in this current system apart from getting support via soundbites on Radio Wave. He provides a link between us plebs on the ground and overpaid, underworked council desk jockeys, but his participation in key decision making is nil.
It all makes sense, though.
If the cabinet were to be influenced by other councillors (or indeed the many public consultations they perform) and their ideas were repeatedly found to be lacking, then it would make no sense for the cabinet to be made up of those people. They obviously don’t want that, and don’t want to be seen as indecisive so they remain behind an impervious shield digging themselves into holes. The cabinet system positively discourages outside input because the cabinet can never be seen to be wrong.
It looked nice, if you like oil-stained brickwork, but the first version of St. John’s Square wasn’t practical. People were walking along imaginary pavements, afraid to cross the shared space. Every time a little old lady wrote to the Gazette about it Peter Callow was in the paper promising to ban something or other. Ernest Hemingway once said, “the first draft of anything is shit” and it was as if he was referring specifically to this project. Almost a year after its completion we are now reaching a state of play which has had an iterative thought process applied to it – albeit a reactive one which has been played out in public at immense cost and disruption.
Every draft of the Talbot Gateway is shit, too, and despite numerous lip-serving consultations the council cabinet have still not changed the plan and are determined to get their office block which will magically inspire loads of private sector investment. Except it wont.
The damage is constantly being done and locals are suffering at the expense of the Conservative cabinet and its policy.
Everyone’s probably forgotten about the Starr Gate tram depot debacle by now, but what did the council cabinet do? Such was their arrogance and empowerment, they started building it without even gaining planning permission amidst a huge uproar from locals.
You have the council leader setting aside a £500,000 war-chest to fight an audacious legal battle against Preston because of the perceived harm their regeneration might do to retail in Blackpool. Why didn’t he think the of the harm that his fucking tram depot might do to the house prices in that area? Why didn’t he care so much about something much closer to home?
Why scrap a reportedly great scheme to improve traffic flow down South Park Drive in order to tart up the promenade? It’s all pretty and never practical. Locals always come last and the gritting and pot-hole farce is a lasting reminder.
The council cabinet is so insulated that it does not realise that you don’t revitalise a town centre by monetarily exiling people from it. I’ve just been to Cornwall and drove through plenty of places that were marked “Free Parking”. Even in places like St. Ives and Newquay it was only £5.00 to park all day. In Blackpool, it’s £7.50 for 12 hours. Cllr Fowler claims that parking is ‘not a cash cow’ yet only a few months ago he trebled car parking prices. This is the same councillor that advocates the use of CCTV to issue retrospective fines for those that drop people off in restricted areas. Welcome to Blackpool.
Local entrepreneur Joey Blower had it right in 2008 when he said;
“I love Blackpool but I think it’s about time the council thought about the impact such high parking charges have on visitor numbers.”
Parking aside, what of the businesses themselves?
Businesses on Birley Street were unfortunately in the path of the council cabinet’s big ideas. Their outside seating areas were decimated in the council’s pursuit of spending money and building a legacy, such that the council had to hand out thousands of pounds of compensation to owners. Small beer though; around £5m was spent to bulldoze the outdoor seating areas and create a sculpture that looks like an overgrown air-conditioning duct snaking into the ground. They actually thought people would come to Blackpool to see it, as they do Blackpool Tower.
Despite huge opposition, the council cabinet went on and committed the project anyway seemingly because it had a big price tag, council figureheads like saying ‘multi-million pound’ in the local press and because they know people see big price tags and immediately think it’s great. The fact that they’re employing a man to sit in a booth all day there playing health and safety messages when he spots a straggling pedestrian who has dared to brave the setting of H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds tells you that this scheme was ill thought out.
What’s better for Blackpool: a street with a metal tube, rubbish sound and light show and no businesses, or a street full of businesses? As the Americans say, you do the math.
The council cabinet were so desperate to spend more and more millions of pounds on Birley Street when it didn’t need it such that when a disastrous arson attack struck Clifton Street, leaving many businesses struggling to survive, the council had run out of money and will to do anything about it. Birley Street got five million pounds. Eight million if you include the Harveys revamp for Blackpool Coastal Housing opposite West Coast Rock Cafe. Clifton Street got the bottom of the barrel – twenty grand.
But wait just one second. Julian Kearsley was paid off almost ten times that amount. So was Steve Pullan. How can this be right? The beating heart of the town is starved of blood and left by the cabinet to die away whilst two council cronies reap the rewards of being made redundant from the public sector.
The cabinet system in Blackpool has produced the town that six councillors want and not what the public want. They have a town that is improving aesthetically but doesn’t work. A lot has been spent with little to show for it. Basic services have been neglected and jobs are being axed, but cronies are seen right with six-figure payouts whilst secret loan deals are agreed to third parties.
The council cabinet are helpless in allowing the town to implode because in part they have blown the bank, much like the Fylde Politbüro, but at least they aren’t closing swimming pools yet.
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Anyone reading this splendid article and then considers voting Callow back in,needs to be sectioned.This article should be the epitaph of Cunt Callow’s career.
Absolute genius Phil,hits more nails on the head than Jewsons and crucifies Callow et al,perfectly.
So Gillian what plans have you and Simon for sorting out Blackpool?
Its a serious question and please reply,Blackpool needs fresh blood and vision.Its gone past party loyalty now.
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As I said the other day I am entitled to an opinion on Blackburn and if Gillian Campbell doesn’t like it then so be it, but I am entitled to my views. I certainly won’t be backing either of them as I despise socialists and the Labour Party. What Blackpool really does need is a better MP, I think it is a great travesty Marsden go re-elected.
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Surely you can’t think that the Callows and Co are doing a fantastic job? Or maybe you do, if so – why?!
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No I don’t but I don’t want another Labour council, this council is an (albeit mild) improvement on the Labour council and I don’t like Blackburn, as I have said before I find him smarmy and arrogant like his predecessor Roy Fisher. I want Labour kept out full stop. In an ideal world we would elect an independent council, party politics aside but what are the chances of that.
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I don’t agree. I think this bunch are basically the same as Fisher’s lot and will suffer in the same way in May.
I think you’re getting too obsessed with ideology and losing focus on the actual issues. Locally, does political party actually matter? I don’t really believe it does.
For instance, this council has spent like Gordon Brown, but it’s Conservative. How do you figure that?
If Mr Blackburn were to contest Norbreck, you’d have to look at the track records. Blackburn has campaigned for local services such as roads, refuse collection, and so on. So he has something to be held accountable for which would benefit locals (although things as basic as this should be a given regardless of councillor).
Mr Callow’s track record is one of reckless spending on desperate schemes, even harping back to supercasinos fairly recently.
Would you rather have £10m in the council coffers now with more people employed, cash to sort the pot holes and a war chest to help business, or would you rather have a metal pipe stuck in the ground down Birley Street and an oily brickwork pavement at St. John’s?
The only idea for regeneration Mr Callow has come up with is to relocate the public sector in the town centre, and this comes at a humongous cost (£3m Harveys refit + Talbot Gateway).
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You have a good point there, I am a Conservative because I despise socialism and their ‘spend spend spend’ attitude. I am a Conservative because I believe in small Government, minimal Government interference in the public sector and lower taxes. However I must add it is Labour that often tries to claim credit for most of these ‘grand schemes’ like Talbot Gateway and then as usual when things go wrong they wash their hands of the matter.
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Yeah, that is true.
I’m rubbish at explaining stuff today but the point I was trying to get across was that these people elected into power at the moment are labelled Conservative, but if you look at their actions they are anything but.
It all boils down to which group of people you trust the most, and to be honest I don’t trust any of them.
Sadly with our voting system, we’re back to the same thing as in the general election: you’ve got to vote for the second placed candidate to oust the incumbent.
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Excellent point, but I just cannot bring myself to vote Labour, it goes against everything I believe in and I can’t stand the thought of Blackburn as Council Leader, its like Roy Fisher Mark II
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I think Simon deserves a chance to explain his views on regeneration, that useless turd sucker Callow has to go.(read that Mr solicitor!)
This is no longer about party politics,but about putting Blackpool first.
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Oh and also, I’m not some sort of Simon Blackburn bum-chum now – I just respect him because unlike some people he hasn’t got a legal team crawling this site and he can ‘take it’.
I can change, I can change.. !
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I must say that is a fair point although nothing libellous has been said about him. I do respect him on that level. Politicians should be able to accept being unpopular, its not a job you go into to be liked, generally speaking, polticians (of all parties) should be thick-skinned enough to accept criticism.
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Nothing libellous just insulting and incorrect and all that happened someone came on and explained why your wrong and your right True when you say politicians (of all parties) should be thick-skinned enough to accept criticism. But then so should people who are willing to offer it and insults aren’t really criticisms are they.
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My comments were not ‘insulting’ and ‘incorrect’, I am entitled to my views and that is what I think of Blackburn just because you don’t agree with my views doesn’t mean they are ‘incorrect’ and I was not being insulting I think he is smarmy and arrogant.
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I would say calling a committed Labour councillor (and I would also say calling a committed conservative councillor a Tory toff) a champagne socialist an insult and it is clear people around him found it insulting and words like slimy and arrogant fairly insulting to. You also said that a certain ex councillor had been cleared of all wrong doing that’s incorrect isn’t it.
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I called him a champagne socialist for good reason, not because he is Labour. I do not feel it is an insult, it is my view. I feel he is a champagne socialist and I am not wrong simply because you disagree.
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So what is your good reason for calling him a champagne socialist?
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Could not agree more with you Phil,unfortunately Clifton Street has seen its first victims,I have been informed that the Green Parrot has now closed its doors and Rocos Italian restaurant has now closed,won’t be long before others go the same way and yet the council still drag there feet on helping the businesses on this street,despite the traders on the street holding various meetings with Alan Cavill and Eileen the town centre bid manager,they have been promised extra lighting to better illuminate the street with the help of the illuminations department and yet they are still waiting, despite been told that this would be done in July as the street is very dark with them silly lights that they have put up there,although we have been informed that they conform to the minimum lighting standards, they have asked for the ugly hoardings to be put further back on the old Yates site to open up the sight of the road better and to help promote the businesses up Clifton St and Talbot Road but this does not seem possible according to Cavill. I know how much Kartels business rates are that Blackpool council collect on behalf of the Government and there are many other business on the street that contribute as well to the government coffers at this moment of time and yet receive nothing to help them during these difficult times which came about when Yates burnt down,it has made Clifton St a no go area at night, if trade continues to drop, then how much longer will these bussinesses contribute to the system,before they close down and board up.
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A traders’ association is deaperately needed, complete with some publicity. I would have thought the Gazette would jump on a story involving significant closures such as the Green Parrot.
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Good point Phil, that is the first I have heard about that. But then when does the Gazette ever print important stories? Look at all those column inches they wasted on Hamish Howitt and his illegal activities and the pro-Labour bias, they are not interested in proper news, they only want sensationalist stories.
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What would you do to get Clifton Street going again TB?
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I like the suggestion of a trader’s group, the jobsworths like Cavill aren’t going to do anything. But I think we should get a private developer in to do something with the old Yates, something modern and exciting like a mixed-use scheme and also maybe redevelop Talbot Square. Also though I hate to admit this comes from Preston but it is a good idea. In Preston on Fishergate they have signs listing the shops/businesses on the small side streets.
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Yep, the signs are a good idea.
The trouble with the Yates’ site is that the land owners are doing nothing with it.
I don’t know whether they can be compelled to, either.
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Do you know who the land owners are out of interest? I may actually write an article on this subject because I can think of plenty of derelict abandoned sites in Blackpool where potential is not being recognised.
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TB ,its great to have philtheone back!
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It certainly is, I have written my first article for months as well. Its a subject I have been dying to write about for ages.
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cant wait to see it!
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Might be Scottish & Newcastle, but I’m not sure.
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Pretending my name is TB for a moment, I would consider:
1. A period of time (such as a year or two) that would allow for a ‘rebate’ on business rates. I know it’s not a local tax, but there’s no reason why a discount can’t be applied, however small. I’m sure smaller traders and new businesses would benefit.
2. Rip up all of the disabled parking. Who goes down Clifton Street to park? Only people who want to use disabled spots.
3. Stop fucking about with the highways. All. The. Goddamn. Time.
4. Discuss and arrange amicably with traders any plans for future roadworks, with plenty of notice about intentions.
5. Look in to how the owners of the Yates’ site can be helped to “get things moving”. If there are no immediate plans, perhaps a temporary “town centre green” could be arranged with them? Grass and benches aren’t much more expensive than the amount Maxine Callow spunked on those grotesque hoardings she had put up. Of course, there’s a downside – it might not fare too well with all the Chavs, dossers and skanks that hang around Talbot Square at various times of day.
6. Scrap the Blackpool BID. It’s an onerous burden on businesses that are already overburdened by tax and regulations and it clearly isn’t delivering results.
7. Look at forming a street group. It can’t do any harm and skills and resources can be pooled to generate ideas and strategy for the street. Collectively, I’m sure they can achieve a lot more than sitting in solitude, quietly waiting to go to the wall.
8. Approach the owners of empty properties and discuss how they can be kept clean and well-maintained, ensuring that the street is as bright and welcoming as possible, given the circumstances.
9. Organise an agreement amongst traders to keep sections of the street clean and tidy, reducing reliance on the council for street cleaning.
10.Think about a theme for the street… Birley Street has “War of the Worlds”. Being really ambitious, what about looking to attract the “Pink Pound”?
On the subject of the Green Parrot, that site has had a mixed history, although I can categorically say that the extortionate prices charged there put me off from going. As a town, we really shouldn’t be putting a premium on quality.
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All the traders on Clifton St get together for these meetings Phil and have input,the gazette has never been invited to attend these meetings but I think it would be a good idea to invite them to the next one,although the traders are getting to the point of wondering if it is worth turning up to these meetings because of all the false promises that never seem to materialise from the council representatives.
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I honestly do not believe The Gasjet would bother to turn up like I said they are only interested in sensationalist stories they can hype up. Someone once told me of a project they were doing and they invited the Gasjet who took no interest. They were more interested in the Queens Park Lidl planning application being rejected.
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The Gaggedzette if it wanted could do a lot of stories but wont,it could do a 2 page article on Callow asking, WHAT NOW FOR BLACKPOOL? It wont.
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I think this does should that this council has to go it has no ideas and seem unwilling to receive any this is not about national issues but local ones.
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agreed there John,and then Wyre can go before they gridlock the area.
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Well I’ll be honest. Although Talbot Gateway looks to be a terrible plan on the whole I’d say the council isn’t bad. Your officers are certainly a lot better calibre than most at Fylde I’ve had experience of. The problems Blackpool has are long entrenched and no local party’s yet managed to get a proper grip of it because there’s too much finance required for most things and that is out of their control. But everyone that is a councillor works for the town for little in return.
The cabinet system needs reforming now. It doesn’t matter who’s in power in it – once you only get “yes men” able to question you, you start to make bad decisions because no-one dares to point out any flaws. Under this system once Callow’s in charge, Blackburn has no say and vice versa. The only thing they can do is to try to get the local press to take up their case – which they’ll do when it’s politically expediant to do so rather than when it makes most difference to Blackpool’s taxpayers because quite naturally they want to do everything they can to gain power.
I do think though that local councillors should welcome sites like this because it gives them feedback. Sometimes of course they’ll be matters which cause them concern and they need correcting – but this gives them a chance to do so rather than people just talking behing their backs where they probably won’t get right of reply.
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If you don’t have the cabinet system Phil, what do you suggest.
Whilst agreeing there have been mistakes, I think any council at the end of it’s term should be able to say “this is what we have done” and I think in the newly revampted St John’s Square we have a public space that the town can be proud off.
I do take your point though that the people of Blackpool should be involved with decisions, as I’ve said before the people of Blackpool are Blackpool’s biggest asset, they often have an uncanny knack of telling you what needs to be done and how, whilst groups like the Friends of the Grand show that we have the people who use their love and time to make a difference on key projects.
What we need in the forthcoming election is direction as well as leadership and that must include more than just “fixing the potholes”, we want to see our political parties offer a vision for Blackpool that builds on what we have, what is coming on line over the next two years and how they are going to do it, in short we need a plan.
Exciting times ahead and I can’t wait to get stuck in.
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True Zim but they seem to have no plan or vision thats the problem,theres only the ice dome and thats it,nothing.
If the ice dome falls through,Blackpool will be truly fucked.
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What I propose is to allow the 42 elected councillors to have a free vote.
Of course, the outcome might well be the same as with an autonomous cabinet, but at least we will be able to judge opposition to the various schemes and see which councillors actually stand up for their electorate rather than just kneel down and fellate the council leader (metaphorically speaking).
I think this is important because it demonstrates who actually represents your views and who doesn’t, and aside from pre-election propaganda we can’t really make that choice right now. Actions speak louder than words, so they say!
It would also prevent me tarring all members of one party with the same brush if, for instance, some Tories voted against their cabinet. But I assume the Town Hall Taliban probably has their thought police whipping all of their members into line anyway.
Assuming the cabinet stays, I would have less of a problem with them drumming up ideas and submitting them into a full council chamber for approval or rejection with feedback. The trouble is, party politics comes into it and it wouldn’t be an objective process.
Obviously, it’s not practical to give every member of the public a soap box, but via their councillors they should be able to say that their views have been taken into consideration and will not be walked over by party policy.
The cabinet system does not facilitate that.
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And regarding St. John’s Square, the problem I have with it is not the end product, but the process that it took to reach it.
They’ve had to change it a million times and even redo half the roads in town because they failed to realise at the design stage that allowing big stinking buses to steamroller across an oily brickwork littered with old ladies and tourists with cameras was a recipe for disaster.
It might be a nice looking square, albeit fairly ill-maintained, but be under no illusions that it’s harmed businesses, harmed cabbies such that they have to travel further and charge people more, and upset the elderly and those with disabilities.
No, it’s not affected me, but I can empathise with those that it has affected. It appears this quality is severely lacking in some of our representatives.
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