Dear fellow elected members, I was hoping I would not have to send this email. I was hoping the - Friday 23 June 2017

By Putting Hartlepool First

Dear fellow elected members, I was hoping I would not have to send this email. I was hoping the majority of members would have seen sense last night and voted down the 31 increase in allowances, alas, that did not happen. Thus, I felt compelled to write to you all to express fully my feelings on the matter. It is very difficult to fully articulate my thoughts in whole council, given many of you voted to limit my (and other councillors) contribution to just 180 seconds in debate. That coupled with the constant heckling and interruptions my verbal contributions are subjected to by some members (which happened again last night) make building a persuasive argument difficult. However, in written form, in a less heated situation than a council chamber on such an emotive issue, thoughts on the matter can be expressed more thoroughly. My view is accepting a 31 rise in allowances is perhaps the most scandalous thing I have seen in our council chamber in recent years (Besides the lies, fraud and corruption associated with the Manor Residents Association scandal of course). We have largely, without any shadow of a doubt, the most inept, shambolic, greedy and morally repugnant set of councillors in England. Granted there are some who I do not include in that statement above. I was pleased, in part, to see three abstentions within the Labour group last night. That said, I would have preferred those who abstained to have had the courage to vote against rather than simply opt out of voting. I cannot comprehend how a party who profess to be socialist in terms of political policy and practice could knowing vote through a rise in allowances of 31. When Henri de SaintSimon coined the term socialism he did it as an alternative viewpoint to individualism. Individualism works on the premise that a person puts themselves and their own interests before those of others in society. It is literally the polar opposite to socialism. What most of you did last night, voting yourselves a rise of 31, was in no uncertain terms a textbook example of individualism. You were given countless opportunities to put the tens of thousands of pounds this increase will cost the taxpayer of Hartlepool to better use. A more socialist use. But you rejected the opportunity to do so, instead grabbing the money for yourselves in a very grubby distasteful fashion. Those of you who voted through the rise should be ashamed. I know you WONT be ashamed though, because you lack to morality and judgement to even understand why what you have done is wrong. As a side note, I was extremely disappointed to see Councillor Lindridge gleefully accept the rise last night and to even have the brass neck to point out how he doesnt even really need it. That was a particularly bizarre and insensitive thing to boast about in one of the most socially deprived boroughs in Northern Europe. Before being elected Jim spoke to me in person about how he was going to go into our council and he would be his own man. He even how he was going to quote Sort out those AkersBelchers. However, it seems his principles have a price. That price being just sort of 8,000 per year. I also noted that Jim described myself and others as his learned friends last night. For the record, the term my learned friend(s) is used by solicitors or barristers in a courtroom. Not councillors. Its derived from the fact that they (solicitors and barristers) have actually had a specialist education and have learnt the ins and outs of our complex legal system. The term my learned friend therefore is not really justified when describing property developers, the unemployed, retired carpet salesmen and such like. In fact, I imagine the only time some members of the Labour group have been called to the bar was to get a round in. Finally, I realise I speak from the heart. I realise I upset people within our council, particularly some members of the Labour Group. But I also know there are some who agree with me who stand under the Labour banner. However, those who do agree with me, at present, do not have the courage to back me up publicly. I hope they will have the morality and courage to do so one day. Kind regards Cllr Riddle.

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