“Let me be clear to you, if you do not want to take decisions in the remainder of this administration, I expect you to resign from the cabinet.
“I’m not having you playing these games. I will remove your portfolio, you will have no portfolio, and you can be doing nothing.
“But we are not deferring decisions. Get that through your fucking thick skull, John.”
Listening to Greenwich Council leader Chris Roberts verbally abuse cabinet member John Fahy by voicemail, it’s less the swearing that shocks – it’s the threat to terminate a colleague’s career.
The existence of the voicemail was revealed on this website on Monday, but now the News Shopper has published the voicemail and and identified its recipient as being the cabinet member for health, and sometime leadership rival to Roberts. (Clip from the News Shopper via Audioboo – contains industrial language.) https://i0.wp.com/853.london/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ns_greenwich.jpg?resize=300%2C330&ssl=1
Yes, we’re really lucky to have Heidi Alexander as our MP in Lewisham. She could just as easily have been the kind of politician we have become used to in Greenwich, where the most sought after post is Cabinet Member For Keeping Your Head Down. Plaudits indeed for Mark Chandler and this website too. Dare I write a letter to News Shopper about it? (Grateful thanks to all the good people who have supported me over the last six weeks).
If the local Labour Party is too scared to deal with this kind of thing, what on earth does that say about their political abilities?
The use of “John” at the end of the third sentence is both reassuring and supportive.
Mr. Fahy has been helping residents of Royal Arsenal fight Berkeley Homes and Southern Housing regarding the insane energy charges Berkeley negotiated with SSE. Residents are not allowed to change their energy supplier for 20-25 years (no one seems to know the actual length) and SSE are allowed to charge whatever they want.
No one else seems to care, including Nick Raynsford, that residents are being forced to pay over £1.40 a day in standing charges that they were not informed about prior to habitation.
As new phases of Royal Arsenal are now being tendered for energy services, Mr. Fahy has openly challenged Berkeley to renegotiate the entire deal with SSE for the benefit of residents (many of whom are in social or shared ownership homes that are supposed to be classified as ‘affordable housing’). These charges are crippling most residents.
Additionally Southern Housing have miscalculated service charges for 2012 and have sent demands to residents asking for an additional £400-£500 each! Mr. Fahy has challenged this mismanagement on our behalves as well.
Notwithstanding his own personal circumstances of course, Royal Arsenal Residents will lose an important voice of support if this treatment of Mr. Fahy is allowed to continue.
Does make you wonder about Cllrs who are now running for selection as MP in Greenwich and Woolwich, and their unwillingness to stand up against this. Suspect they kept a low profile so they would have a easier ride for the MP selection
Mr Fahy has always struck me as a man perfectly capable of fighting his own political battles, so a bit of swearing at him on the phone doesn’t really worry me, he would have heard a lot worse I’m sure.
But we need some context. What was the threat about? What decision(s) does he want to defer?
Sorry if I missed it, still dopier than normal after my op.
I am sure Councillor Fahy can handle the odd use of the ‘F BOMB’. But far worse is the idea that a councillor cannot make a suggestion about decision-making for future events without being threatened with being stripped of his portfolio. And now Mark Chandler from News Shopper is reporting that the complaint that was handed to the London Labour Group has been referred to… [wait for it folks]… the Greenwich Labour Group, chief whip Ray Walker specifically. So Councillor Roberts mate will be deciding if there was any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, blanket silence from senior members of Greenwich Labour.
I didn’t realise that Councillor Fahy was fighting Berkeley Homes over energy costs. He certainly gets my support on that.
Sadly, many managers make climb their way up the organisational ladder by bullying people but it’s simply idiotic for him to record such a message on someone’s voicemail! He’s clearly lost the plot.