Tory Attack Dog says protester was pretending to be blind...

Astonishing attack on one of the most respected charities in the country from a Tory council who claims that a protester carrying a white stick and wearing shades was pretending to be blind...

Guide Dogs for the Blind are incensed by the attack.

The Deputy Leader of Kensington and Chelsea who claims the protest was a scam would surely not make such a bizarre claim without the evidence to back it up.

Or is he just barking...?

Cameron's flip-flop on fixed-term parliaments...

David Cameron managed to call for an immediate general election - and fixed term parliaments - all in the same speech today!

But Paul Waugh of the London Standard quickly spotted what can only be described as a Cameron flip-flop.

As well as pointing out that David Cameron's deputy William Hague is less than convinced about fixed-term parliaments, he recalls a senior Tory speaking of the real drawbacks of fixed-term parliaments...

So who was warning against the idea when interviewed a few months ago by Andrew Marr?

Er, step forward David Cameron!

Now Quentin's in the frame over expenses...

Stamford MP Quentin Davies has become the second Lincolnshire MP facing questions over his parliamentary expenses after apparently claiming more than £10,000 for window repairs at his "second home", an 18th Century Manor House here in Lincolnshire.

It follows revelations about Douglas Hogg's claims for moat-cleaning at public expense at his "second home" - a 13th Century country pile also in Lincolnshire.

Earlier this week, on the day there were further revelations about claims by his wife, "Lady" Hogg, the Sleaford MP announced he will step down at the next General Election.

Both Mr Hogg and Mr Davies apparently claimed that their "first home" was a London flat...

Moat man and his 'Lady' keep it in the family...

The unfortunately named Douglas Hogg, the Lincolnshire MP apparently caught with his snout in the trough has announced he will step down at the next General Election.

So-called Grandee Mr Hogg is MP for Sleaford and North Hykeham where I grew up. When the scandal was first exposed, former Agriculture Minister Mr Hogg, or Viscount Hailsham to give him his proper title, claimed he'd done nothing wrong and refused to pay back a penny of his outrageous claim for £2,000 to clean the moat at his 13th Century country estate in Lincolnshire.

Today, several days later, the Right Honourable member Mr Hogg says he now entirely understands the public anger over disgraceful excesses in expense claims allegedly made by MPs of all parties - including Labour.

Mr Hogg claimed his main residence wasn't his country pile in Lincolnshire at all - but a flat in London. He then apparently claimed £20,000 a year in public funds to clean his moat, repair the stables, tune the piano and employ a lady to look after his second home in Lincolnshire.

Presumably the lady looking after the family home is not Lady Hogg, his wife, who is facing an under investigation investigation herself, it was revealed today.

The so-called Lady Hogg is said to have attempted to justified a claim for £5,594 overnight expenses by saying her main home was, unlike her husband's...OUTSIDE London!

What a stench.

Must the manure.

Upside down justice...?

A Deepings teenager who fractured a man's skull and left him permanently deaf in one ear in a vicious unprovoked attack has escaped going to prison.

It seems the Judge accepted that the 19-year-old lad from Thackers Way acted 'out of character' after a row with his girlfriend by attacking the 45-year-old man.

Apparently, he's an achiever who wants to go to University and has a great future ahead of him.

That's the teenager, you understand, not the victim.

UPDATE: So, no prison for causing long term suffering to a man. In contrast, in another court case, a Lincolnshire has - no doubt quite rightly - been given a jail sentence for causing suffering...to a dog.

First female top gun is a yellow-belly...

Good to see that the first female jet pilot to join the Red Arrows in their 44-year history hails from our great land of Lincolnshire, home of the Royal Air Force.

Not sure exactly where in our county Flt. Lt. Kirsty Moore calls home, but I'm sure she's proud to be a Yellow Belly!

SKDC keeps up their wall of silence...

Just received South Kesteven District Council's reply to my Freedom of Information request about the costs of the sudden mysterious departure of their Chief Exec who quit and cleared his desk on the same day...

I asked if reports in the Grantham Journal were true that Duncan Kerr had walked (or cycled) away with a year's salary for doing nothing. At £2,000 a week, that adds up to well over £100,000 - from a council that says it can't afford to allow local pensioners to use their bus passes before 9.30am.

The legal language in SKDC's reply can be summed up in a sentence:

How we spend your money is nothing to do with you.

So much for Freedom of Information!

Why I'm not standing...

I've cocked-up bigtime. I had intended to defend my seat at Lincolnshire County Council in the local elections next month.

But due to a simple mix-up, I didn't make the deadline to get correctly completed nomination forms delivered to SKDC's offices in Grantham. The mix-up was entirely my fault, and I apologise to everyone who has supported me.

It's no consolation that I wasn't the only one to get it so wrong. At least one other would-be candidate - who shall remain nameless - from another party - was turned away a few minutes before the deadline because three of those who had signed his forms nominating him were not resident in the ward in which he wanted to stand.

No complaints of course. The deadline is a legal requirement and I missed it!

So my eight years serving as county councillor for Deeping St James end in three weeks time. It's been a real privilege to have been given the opportunity to represent my local community on Lincolnshire County Council and Lincolnshire Police Authority.

On June 4th, DSJ people have a choice between a local Green candidate, a local LibDem candidate and a Tory district councillor who lives in Stamford.

I trust local people will support the candidate most likely to stand up for the needs of DSJ people as I have tried to do for the past eight years.

I look forward to continuing to serve my community in other roles - tonight, for example as a trustee on United Charities, helping to distribute funds to those most in need.

Tomorrow night, it's the annual meeting of the parish council where I'll be presenting awards to people who make a difference to our community.

I won't stop campaigning on local issues - such as achieving a permanent home for Deepings Rugby Club, and supporting home grown, value-for-money recycling.

And of course, I won't stop the campaign I started almost ten years ago - fighting for bus pass justice for Deepings pensioners from South Kesteven District Council.

Conway lectures MPs on expenses...

Derek Conway, the Tory MP exposed for caught wrongly paying his sons public money has just had the bare-faced cheek to speak in the House of Commons...in the debate on MPs expenses...!!

Brass neck or what?

Meetings...

Busy evening of meetings last night: rushed home from London in time for Trustees meeting of United Charities, followed by Deeping School Governors which didn't finish until well past ten o'clock. Long day for me, but I suspect not as long as Head Teacher Chris Beckett's. Monthly parish council tonight...

Three sacked in council fraud probe...

Three council employees sacked and another three reported to the police in an anti-fraud investigation at Lincolnshire County Council.

BBC picks up story on Chief Exec's departure

Our local Council seems to think how they spend our money has nothing to do with us taxpayers. Isn't that what the following statement means...?

"For reasons of confidentiality we can't discuss the specific details of Duncan Kerr's departure from SKDC."

That was SKDC's response to BBC Radio Lincolnshire who ran an interview with me on Drivetime this evening. The interview followed my official challenge to South Kesteven District Council to reveal the facts that will establish whether reports are true that they have handed their Chief Exec more than £100,000 to quit his job.

In days gone by, a council might have got away with hiding behind an anonymous statement which basically says 'mind your own business'. But now we have the Freedom of Information Act which will force some answers and hopefully prise out the real costs of Duncan Kerr's sudden departure last week.

I'm very disappointed there's still no word on this affair from any of those who were elected to the Grantham-based Council to stand up for residents of Deeping St James.

Holding the Executive accountable is a key role of any councillor and I would urge my colleagues on SKDC to end their wall of silence and come clean with the residents they are supposed to represent.

Certainly, I won't be taking 'mind your own business' for an answer.

After running the interview with me this evening, and SK's bland response, BBC Lincolnshire reported that both they and the Grantham Journal have also put in Freedom of Information requests about the affair.

Hopefully, between us, we'll get to the truth and the real costs.

Keep watching!

Has Chief Exec been handed £100k to go...?

With unconfirmed reports that the Chief Exec of SKDC has trousered more than £100,000 to clear his desk - and with a wall of silence from the Conservatives who run the council - I've today lodged Freedom of Information questions today to try to get to the truth of the affair.

I had hoped the Council would come clean by now and reveal the costs to the public purse. But it seems not even the report in the Grantham Journal that he has collected over £100k has flushed them out.

I'm not a member of SKDC - but as a county councillor I saw first hand the disgraceful behaviour that went on to get rid of the Chief Exec of Lincolnshire County Council following the jailing of Conservative Leader Jim Speechley.

That scandal cost local taxpayers £400,000 in the payoff alone.

This time, with no word either from those elected to stand up for the Deepings in Grantham, more than a week after the Chief Exec of SKDC went, the FOI route seems the only way...

Duncan Kerr apparently cleared his desk last Monday after a secret meeting of elected councillors.

I posted HERE and HERE.

Watch this space!

Could you rescue a St Bernard...?

If you loved 101 Dalmatians, you may like the tale of the 100 St Bernards, who Peterborough RSPCA are trying to find homes for.

It may seem ironic, but 100 of the famous giant mountain rescue dogs are themselves in need of help after being found starving at a local kennels.

Wonder if they're still bred for their brandy?

Determined to ask the awkward questions...

Surprised that I seem to be the only local councillor calling for more information about the cost of the mysterious sudden departure of the Chief Executive of South Kesteven District Council.

I was interviewed for the Oakham-based Oak FM last night and quoted in today's Stamford Mercury trying to get the Conservatives who run SKDC to come clean and reveal what deal has been agreed - and at what expense to the public purse.

Linda Neal, the Conservative Leader of SKDC is denying that Duncan's departure is sudden, claiming she's been speaking with him all year about him going!

But she hasn't explained why the man we paid £105,000 a year to run our district council cleared his desk on the day of a secret meeting of councillors earlier this week, and apparently biked into the sunset.

Given that I'd been hearing rumours that the Tories wanted rid of him, I find it hard to accept that he's walked - or biked - from his £105k a year job without negotiating a generous severance deal.

I'm surprised no other local councillor else seems to be speaking out in the local media - specially as the Tories in Lincolnshire have form on getting rid of chief execs (after Tory Leader of the county council Jim Speechley was jailed for abuse of office, they launched a witch-hunt to sack David Bowles. He agreed to go for a payoff of £400,000- and we're all still paying the price of Speechley...)

Given what I know about the Speechley scandal and the cover-up antics at County Hall which followed his imprisonment, I'm determined to get the the bottom of the cost of Duncan Kerr's departure.

Someone has to speak up on behalf of local taxpayers and get answers about how much Duncan's departure is costing us all...and I full intend to keep asking the awkward questions.

Watch this space.