Freer’s Phoney MBA

Giving an interview to The Guardian yesterday, former council leader Mike Freer was clearly playing to his Socialist fan base audience when he called for the creation of “a common database on individuals that would prevent people being approached time and time again by different arms of the state” - even though Conservative Party policy is to oppose such databases.

But far more interesting than the interview was Freer’s c.v. It seems that the Tory candidate for Finchley & Golders Green studied accountancy and business law at Stirling University but flunked did not take his finals. No wonder Barnet taxpayers lost all that money in Iceland!

Astonishingly, however, Freer is claiming to have been awarded a “BT Vital Vision executive MBA, Harvard, Stamford and Berkley US” [sic]. To receive an MBA from one of America’s finest universities is a magnificent achievement, but from three? Outstanding!

As regular readers will recall, in 2007 Mike Freer spent £5,000 of taxpayers money attending the Vital Vision conference organised by British Telecom. But that is all it was - a conference. A spokesman for BT told Not The Barnet Times:

“BT’s Vital Vision programme does not offer a recognised qualification in educational terms however it is recognised by the Public sector as a distinguished programme. Berkeley University gives out a completion certificate to prove they have attended the full course.”

So there we have it. Mike Freer spends two weekends in America at our expense, receives an attendance certificate and then tells the world he has an MBA!

In the days when politicians were honourable, being caught telling an untruth on your c.v. was a resigning matter.