BULLYING IS AN UGGLY BUSINESS

“OPEN and transparent” – two words that allude to being honest, possessing integrity, a nod to what normal people consider basic common decency; all things that Wirral Council is not, has not been in recent years, and has no hope of becoming in the near future, either.

How so?

Let’s talk bullying.

Let’s talk, specifically – as the council very much does not care to – of the somewhat interesting notion that a notorious manipulator within Wirral Council has very recently been awarded the princely sum of £48,000 of your council tax money – tax-free, kids, natch – because they were the victim of “ill treatment” by one of the council’s other, equally notorious bullies.

How one bully can get such a massive sum when we’re cutting services left, right and centre, is anyone’s guess. Certainly, there is no issue with a loss of income because they remain in place. So it’s presumably – unless the council deigns to confirm otherwise, which it has resolutely refused to do on the grounds of protecting an employee’s privacy – “damages”.

As usual, no matter where the axe falls on Wirral Council services because of “the cuts”, there is always, always, ALWAYS money to be found to kindly ask employees to STFU.

(Remember those words: “Open and transparent?” Let them howl around your mind right now, like an orchestral echo performed by a murder of crows or an unkindness of ravens.)

Both individuals in this case remain very much part of the organisation. They are, to keen council observers like us, at least, household names. If you’re unfortunate enough to work in Brighton Street, you’ll be more than familiar with the pair of them.

Neither has ever swept a street, fixed a lamppost, filled in a pothole, helped someone vulnerable to be safe from harm or emptied someone else’s green bin.

It would be  impossible not to be familiar with them – think vessels, loud noises, that sort of thing. But Lord and Lady Leaks are obliged to nod to the law of the land in these matters – the same way Wirral Council does when not responding to anything of legitimate public interest while lashing your money around like a hideously drunken sailor – so we’ll have to name the duo at a later date.

What makes this situation so farcical, and then absolutely obscene is the spectre of the arch-manipulator rewarded for feelings hurt by a former comrade yet they still manage to limp on at work with a more than generous salary when there appears to be no evidence of an investigation,no assessment of “damages”,no legal advice and no scrutiny  ( which no doubt offers considerable food for thought for Freedom of Information fans).

There’s still, after all these years, after all these inquiries, after all the payouts to the culpable but unsackable, something very rotten and uggly at the heart of matters in Brighton Street.

You have to pay for it through your council tax – but you’re not allowed to know about it.

Open and transparent indeed. Hark! There’s that orchestra again – playing a horribly discordant and mournful refrain……