Off to see the golly panto, insha'Allah……….rumour has it that not only will the press and public be told to leave the room when the Part 2 agenda item is reached but in fact the public and press won’t even get into the room in the first place!

 

Before I reach for my Wikichondria, let’s speculate about what kind of kangaroo court is being set up here: a three-legged one or koala-bear type one? The mind goggles. .. Cllr Barnett falls down the stairs while talking on her cell-phone to her lawyer and she wakes up to find herself being transported to a distant land and she herself is turned into a golly with twisted irony via her Romany roots and, like an episode of Upton’s series of Adventures , she is just about to be cannibalised and the erstwhile companions who she is supposed to be protecting in fact turn against her. . .. . Nightmare on Tisbury Road. .. .

Rumours abound. . . Not the best environment for careful consideration of the facts. . . indeed, one wonders how the panel can dispel the fog of malice. .. ..

Here are some unanswered questions the audience will never hear: Why did the Investigation Officer never interview the Reporter, whose headline “Councillor urges shop to carry on selling gollywogs” started the whole farrago? (Note: not the actual headline, but let’s not allow the facts interfere with any panto-line story. )

 

To what extent was Cllr Barnett double-verballed - by reporter and later by the Investigation Officer when he writes “Cllr Barnett confirmed that the statements attributed to her in the Argus are broadly accurate.” ? (Note: when findings are allegedly so finely balanced on the scale of mobile justice, the accused deserves better. )

 

Did the reporter ever caution her that she should be very careful about discussing images of golly-dolls if she wearing her hat as a councillor?

Where is the term “zero tolerance” defined in the document: “The Council’s values and corporate priorities – Tackling Inequality: Cohesive and Safe Communities”? It is not.

========= The meeting will not be web-casted.