Saturday 27 June 2009

Unavailable for Comment


The Barnet Press has published an article this week highlighting the heavily redacted expenses claims for Barnet’s three MPs.

The paper interviewed Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers and Hendon MP Andrew Dismore. However, Finchley MP Rudi Vis was “unavailable for comment” which simply proves his total lack of respect to the electorate who voted for him and helped pay for his retirement house by the coast.

In the same week, the Barnet Times featured an article about Brian Coleman’s obscene £400 taxi fare at taxpayers’ expense. When the paper contacted Coleman for a comment, he hung up the phone.

Coleman’s contempt for the taxpayer is becoming tiresome. If you go into public life, you are answerable to the public for your actions, whether you like it or not.

As Mayor of Barnet, Coleman no doubt hopes the newspapers will publish favourable articles about him every week with accompanying photos of him wearing the ceremonial bling. But if he is not prepared to answer legitimate questions about his abuse of the expenses system, then he forfeits the right to such publicity.

Not The Barnet Times suggests that our two local papers starve Coleman of the oxygen of publicity he so desperately craves unless and until he is prepared to justify his conduct to the public at a time when other serial troughers have been forced to reimburse taxpayers for their similar greed.

2 comments:

Brian Coleman (aka Mr Toad) has GOT to go! said...

Another great post DCMD.

I see that Dave Hill also notes Coleman's "seemingly invincible insouciance" at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/29/taxi-expenses-boris-johnson

Don't Call Me Dave said...

In the old days when Brian Coleman did something stupid, the media would make a big fuss about it but the storm would die down eventually. However, times they are a changing. The reason Coleman detests bloggers is because we keep everything in the public eye and we don’t forget.

Like a dinosaur, Coleman is unable to adapt to the new reality. Politicians can no longer get away with obscene troughing and his old tactic of ignoring the public in the hope that we will go away, simply won’t work. As you succinctly put it, Brian Coleman has got to go. The Conservative Party must understand that if they do not deal with Coleman, the voters will.