SATURDAY REALITY CHECK | THE BARNET BLOGGERS
The Barnet Bloggers | An Appreciation
Who are they?
We don't know because they use nicknames although the most prolific and with the biggest readership is Barnet Eye who runs a music studio in Mill Hill. A quick look around Google shows around 10 years ago he used to be a Labour supporter but seems to have defected to the Liberal Democrats in recent years. Mrs Angry has also outed her name on Twitter and claims*(See below comment) to be a journalist. Although there are no articles in the public domain under her name.* Several others go under names such as Mr Reasonable, Mr Mustard. Etc. None as far as we have been able to ascertain have any qualifications in politics or have even worked in Local or National Government or even for parties. This is an opinion piece and we think their actions are totally amateur, and some others say clueless. They say the same about anyone who votes Conservative of course.
Age and Wealth Profile
It seems that most are in the late 50s in the mortgage paid for category like many other active tweeters/bloggers. We think they are all home owners and obviously Barnet Eye are property owners with their studios. Not really the left wingers you would expect. They just like pretending they are down with the working classes. We are allowed to speculate because this is the nature of blogging. Their comments on Social Media over the years show this lifestyle. Since the 1980s the Left Wing have lived in Finchley in Barnet and used the press and then social media to show off these negative comments about first the Thatcher government in recent times the Conservative Council. It makes Barnet a toxic place for political debate. Recently they tried to say Barnet had banned free speech, when the reality was that multiple questions were banned due to misuse.
Their Views
Strangely you can't actually find any. They rant and rave at the Conservative led Council about every policy. Yet, not a single one seems to have any positive or workable ideas. They basically moan and groan like the average 13 year old. They are against everything and everyone but themselves. Occasionally they stand for election. Luckily the public have not seen fit to elect them. So their claims of scrutiny are self made and based on no significant public support.
What do they do?
Nothing useful. They moan and tweet and blog. Barnet Eye blogs over 30 long columns a month, and one of them set up a parody account based on this blog and has tweeted nearly 500 times in just a few weeks. This advertising has made our followers grow quickly. So we can see some positives. If only they could do something real like work full time in a food bank or care home or for a charity shop rather than be unpaid keyboard warriors, but they couldn't tell everyone what to do if they had to do some hard work.
Should They Retire?
No. Their combined waffle is probably helping to highlight the good things that Barnet Council is doing. In fact since they started their blogs the Conservatives have won every local election in Barnet and when they started Labour had the MP in the National election in Hendon Constituency and now it is Matthew Offord for the Conservatives. So facts say they help show the lack of ideas that the opposition has. Rather than have any policies they provide a constant moan which drives voters to the positive Conservative party. They have a success rate of Zero. The Conservative Council encourages them to moan and groan, like a cat playing with a dying bird. They are the main reason voters stay with the Capita Run Council. In any other place they would have been voted out, but the Bloggers have shown the alternative could be worse. It is a perverse Project Fear.
Our View | appreciation
So Barnet Bloggers keep on blogging because you help the Conservative Council win elections. Fact.
* please note Mrs Angrys comments below. We are happy with the right to reply. Mrs Angry has commented on the accuracy of our limited comment on her blog. We are.happy to accept her correction as we were clear that we did not find any information about her in the public domain We thank her for her correction.
Who are they?
We don't know because they use nicknames although the most prolific and with the biggest readership is Barnet Eye who runs a music studio in Mill Hill. A quick look around Google shows around 10 years ago he used to be a Labour supporter but seems to have defected to the Liberal Democrats in recent years. Mrs Angry has also outed her name on Twitter and claims*(See below comment) to be a journalist. Although there are no articles in the public domain under her name.* Several others go under names such as Mr Reasonable, Mr Mustard. Etc. None as far as we have been able to ascertain have any qualifications in politics or have even worked in Local or National Government or even for parties. This is an opinion piece and we think their actions are totally amateur, and some others say clueless. They say the same about anyone who votes Conservative of course.
Age and Wealth Profile
It seems that most are in the late 50s in the mortgage paid for category like many other active tweeters/bloggers. We think they are all home owners and obviously Barnet Eye are property owners with their studios. Not really the left wingers you would expect. They just like pretending they are down with the working classes. We are allowed to speculate because this is the nature of blogging. Their comments on Social Media over the years show this lifestyle. Since the 1980s the Left Wing have lived in Finchley in Barnet and used the press and then social media to show off these negative comments about first the Thatcher government in recent times the Conservative Council. It makes Barnet a toxic place for political debate. Recently they tried to say Barnet had banned free speech, when the reality was that multiple questions were banned due to misuse.
Their Views
Strangely you can't actually find any. They rant and rave at the Conservative led Council about every policy. Yet, not a single one seems to have any positive or workable ideas. They basically moan and groan like the average 13 year old. They are against everything and everyone but themselves. Occasionally they stand for election. Luckily the public have not seen fit to elect them. So their claims of scrutiny are self made and based on no significant public support.
What do they do?
Nothing useful. They moan and tweet and blog. Barnet Eye blogs over 30 long columns a month, and one of them set up a parody account based on this blog and has tweeted nearly 500 times in just a few weeks. This advertising has made our followers grow quickly. So we can see some positives. If only they could do something real like work full time in a food bank or care home or for a charity shop rather than be unpaid keyboard warriors, but they couldn't tell everyone what to do if they had to do some hard work.
Should They Retire?
No. Their combined waffle is probably helping to highlight the good things that Barnet Council is doing. In fact since they started their blogs the Conservatives have won every local election in Barnet and when they started Labour had the MP in the National election in Hendon Constituency and now it is Matthew Offord for the Conservatives. So facts say they help show the lack of ideas that the opposition has. Rather than have any policies they provide a constant moan which drives voters to the positive Conservative party. They have a success rate of Zero. The Conservative Council encourages them to moan and groan, like a cat playing with a dying bird. They are the main reason voters stay with the Capita Run Council. In any other place they would have been voted out, but the Bloggers have shown the alternative could be worse. It is a perverse Project Fear.
Our View | appreciation
So Barnet Bloggers keep on blogging because you help the Conservative Council win elections. Fact.
* please note Mrs Angrys comments below. We are happy with the right to reply. Mrs Angry has commented on the accuracy of our limited comment on her blog. We are.happy to accept her correction as we were clear that we did not find any information about her in the public domain We thank her for her correction.
Dear Mr Mark Richards:
ReplyDeleteMy attention has been drawn to this inaccurate and arguably defamatory post. I shall correct your errors and expect you to amend your post accordingly.
I am a fully trained journalist, and NUJ member. I work mainly in research now but I do publish both online and in print, including one of the best selling publications in the UK - without a by line, as is the custom in such journals.
I have also worked in local government in four different posts, the last one for six years.
Your remarks about my mortgage are a. inaccurate and b. not a matter of public interest.
If you continue to publish inaccurate personal data I will have no hesitation in taking appropriate action, following legal advice.
Now find something more useful to do with your time.
Your comments were noted. Thank you. 😁
DeleteDear Even Better Mill Hill, It is disappointing that you should find it necessary to get so personal and offensive so quickly. You have made assertions about me which say more about your perceptions, assumptions and prejudices than mine. I would welcome the opportunity to have an open discussion with you about the performance of Barnet Council so that you can understand why I believe it is necessary to hold them to account but maybe you just want to be rude which is entirely your prerogative.
ReplyDeleteI think we had a discussion on the Broadway twitter a while back and I do enjoy your work regarding some issues. I just don't understand what you get out of it. I've never been to a Barnet Council meeting because I'm sure they are incredibly dull and boring. With all the fantastic theatres, concert halls, sports venues in this brilliant city I can't understand the attraction of committee papers being droned about for hours unless it directly effects you. Seeing as Capita run things the council is just a management committee delegating the actions to a far away cost saving profiteering outfit. Until Capita go surely it is even more pointless than ever.
Delete