The London Daily News

11 September, 2009 10:07 (GMT +01:00)

“Blog Off” Coleman brands bloggers "lone voices"

"The bloggers were lone voices crying in the wilderness" - Mayor of Barnet Brian Coleman

Local Politics Desk

Brian Coleman the Mayor of Barnet and Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden was in exuberant mood yesterday evening at a celebration held in a north London bar following the decision by Barnet Council to impose no sanctions following the guilty verdict of the Barnet standards sub-committee.

"A consistent and vicious campaign by individuals linked to Barnet local politics has continued unanswered"; was how one Coleman supporter at the celebration held at the Haven bar in restaurant described the "war of the blogs" against the current Mayor of Barnet.
Supporters of Brian Coleman also underlined their determination to respond to unsubstantiated allegations made against the Barnet Conservative Party and its leading members, including Brian Coleman and Barnet council leader Mike Freer amongst others.

The Mayor of Barnet Brian Coleman speaking exclusively to the London Daily News said:

"The bloggers were lone voices crying in the wilderness".

The mood at the event signalled a new chapter amongst the friends of Brian Coleman that firm action was needed to deal with the continual campaign against him, and allow one of the capitals leading public servants to do his job and improve London and Barnet.

The decision by Barnet Council:

Sanctions

The sub-committee has carefully considered the representations made by Councillor Brian Coleman’s legal representative on the issue of sanctions.

We unanimously concur with Councillor Coleman’s legal representative that this is a case where our finding of a breach of Para 3(1) of the London Borough of Barnet Members Code of Conduct is sufficient and therefore we do not propose to apply any sanction.

When issuing the formal decision notice we will at the same time set out the reasons as to why we have concluded that a sanction need not be applied.

The sub-committee is proposing to offer to the council advice of a general nature relevant to the circumstances of this case

Details of that advice will be made public at the same time as the decision notice is published.

Statement of the Standards Sub-Committee, Barnet Council.

The sub-committee has taken into account all of the submissions made by the independent investigator and Councillor Coleman’s legal representative, both written and oral, including those relating to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

After very careful consideration of those matters, the sub-committee has unanimously concluded that the e-mail sent by Cllr Brian Coleman to Mr Roger Tichborne on 5 March 2009 amounted to a breach of Paragraph 3(1) of the London Borough of Barnet Members’ Code of Conduct.

The reasons for our decision will be set out in writing in a decision notice to be sent to the parties within 14 days of today’s date.

The decision notice will be published in the local press as required by regulations.

photo credit: The London Daily News - No unauthorised use of the photo is permitted

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