THE INSIDE FROM THE OUTSIDER

 

 

 

 Rory MP and the faulty

Riverside boilers

Man of many parts Rory Stewart is the author of a  much- acclaimed new book  which he  describes  as a  “memoir from within”.

 “Politics On the Edge” tells the story of Mr Stewart`s  rise from being a political outsider to standing for prime minister and then being sacked by the Conservative Party.

“Politics On the Edge”has become particularly popular in Mr Stewart`s former constituency, Penrith and the Border. The book`s cover tells us that he retains”a profound affection” for the constituency..

That affection was  built up in the  ten years he was M.P and much of  his constituency work  is described in the book…part of his memoir from within.

Mr Stewart,  spent a lot of time helping  about 80 constituents in Longtown who had serious problems with their landlord, Riverside Housing Association of Liverpool and the boilers fitted to their homes.The boiler issue caused a great deal of suffering.

Concerns were also raised at that time about the governance of Riverside. These concerns were, and continue to be, the principal campaigning issue of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation  which publishes this blog and lobbied Mr Stewart on the issue.

 The Federation claimed then and have consistently claimed that Riverside is a bossy, undemocratic, and inefficient organisation which is accountable to no-one but itself.

For those reasons, the Longtown boiler issue has not been solved and the faulty boilers are still in place.

Mr Stewart, an academic ,former soldier and former politician  is now president of the non-profit organisation GiveDirectly. He is also a visiting fellow at Yale University`s Jackson School and the co-host with Alastair Campbell` of the U.K`s leading podcast The Rest is Politics.

  Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`Federation. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 52

 

 

LITTLE PEOPLE WERE DESPISED

 

Accounting fails

the Post Office

Surprise surprise!… today there is a report of a second  flawed IT system used by the Post Office which  also led to wrongful convictions. The report is in the i newspaper. A second flawed system is something you might expect after the ITV drama, Mr Bates versus the Post Office!

Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation which publishes this blog   sees similarities between the issues  highlighted in the two Post Office scandals, now top of the nation`s agenda and the issues that have concerned  the Federation for many years. These issues are about accountability.

The Financial Times sums up the accountability issue in its headline over an article on the first scandal by Camilla Cavendish.”The UK has an  accountablity problem- just look at the Post Office” says the headline.

Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation could  write a similar headline over the  story of its long fight against housing associations, particularly the Liverpool based Riverside Housing Associaiton.   Riverside, the Federation has said a thousand times over the years  is accountable to no one but itself.

The extent of the first scandal, so vividly screened  increases by the day,The extent of the newly-exposed  second scandal has yet to be fully revealed by the newspaper.

What does the i newspaper report today?

It says that former sub postmaster Steve Marston,67,was convicted of fraud and false accounting in 1998 after adopting the Capture IT system and suffering a £64,000 shortfall at his Post Office in Greater Manchester.

Labour MP Kevan Jones says he is in touch with about five or six potential victims of Capture and thinks there is likely to be many more.

Camilla Cavendish writes:”The Post Office victims were up against a self-serving apparatchik class which despises little people, is adept at covering its tracks and is a an increasing feature of modern Britain.

“We have the same pattern in other trajedies where public or quasi public bodies either fail to  join the dots or actively conspire in cover ups.”

 She cites these examples:the deaths of babies at a Morecambe Bay hospital: the sexual abuse of girls at Rotherham: and failings in the death of baby Peter Connelly.

She concludes that there are very few stories of ordinary people taking on large organisations and winning .” But there will be  even fewer wins in future if this issue is not fixed straight away.”

  Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`Federation. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522