LRJ : An Unofficial Announcement

Here we have a social media post from our old friend and correspondent Cllr Louise Reecejones (LRJ). We’ve omitted 2 paragraphs ( containing either personal details or plugs for her charity) , other than that all words , as far as we know, are LRJ’s own. We’ve decided to publish in the public interest mainly because it would appear that LRJ has “made the move to withdrawn (sic) from politics” and therefore surely the local electorate need to know exactly what this means:

Last night I made the move to withdrawn (sic) from politics due to the extreme stress the constant targeting I have faced personally that has put extreme pressure on my health , this is not stress from those residents that I have served as that has been an absolute pleasure.

I would like to thank the one Labour councillor who had wished me well ……., it shows there is at least one good person . I won’t name them as I wouldn’t want them targeted. (Although I believe they can hold their own)

I believe in Jeremy Corbyn and what Labour stands for , I have principles I will not push to one side in order to make friends , I will not stand by an watch bully’s (sic) at work and I will not keep quiet to stop myself being bullied as I was not brought up that way.

My purpose was to make change and make a difference to children and adults with disabilities. I don’t believe in the current climate that there is any intention to change things on Wirral. I see so many children and their families in crisis and more energy is given to try and discredit me through the press , than change a way of working xx

I’ve not gone anywhere and will be back stronger than ever ,just without the noose … 

First thing to say is that we have no problem believing that some local Labour councillors ” can hold their own” – let’s face it many of them don’t have a choice! The second thing to say is that LRJ doesn’t paint a pretty picture of what it’s like being a local Labour councillor does she?  However we don’t appear to have had any official confirmation from the local Labour group or Wirral Council that indeed LRJ no longer features among their ranks . Whilst LRJ is still listed on Wirral Council website as a councillor for the Pensby and Thingwall ward – and presumably still collecting her council allowances  – she was a notable absentee from this week’s annual Wirral Council budget meeting held earlier this week.

The Nolan Principles in motion : Comrade LRJ putting on a show of solidarity with Comrade Foulkesy (mate of Comrade Crabby)  – awks!

If she is true to her word we have to say we will be sad to see LRJ go ( pass us an onion) as she was such good source of stories for us if nothing else. Who could forget her epic feud with ex – Labour councillor Jim ‘Crabby’ Crabtree  and how that ended up with him getting a criminal conviction ? LRJ then went from victim to victimiser and ended up falling foul of Wirral Council’s pisspoor ‘Standards’ ( ha!ha!) regime, refusing to apologise to either members of the public that she’d badmouthed on social media or councillors who feigned being ‘appalled’ at her conduct. Let’s face it the councillors were just miffed she didn’t meekly ‘ Do-a-Foulkesy’ and say she’d been very naughty and she wouldn’t do it again……..until the next time. She then threatened Wirral Council and former and current Monitoring Officer ( Surjit Tour and Philip McCourt respectively) with legal action. We also understand she made further allegations against another Labour councillor ( but respect and decorum prevents us from pursuing that particular story any further).

We have to say that from our first post that mentioned LRJ and which dealt with her original suspension by North West Labour Party in May 2015 we always thought her days were numbered. Therefore she appears to have done well to have lasted this long before apparently throwing in the towel. As we said at the time her only hope was to foster a friendship with Frank Field. He wasn’t keen and her fate was sealed. Read more here : Suspension Suspense

Whatever the situation we suspect that the local Labour group will want to keep very quiet on this one – at least until after the local elections in May.  But will LRJ?

Mystery Figure

One of the many curious aspects of this week’s  Jim ‘Crabby’ Crabtree conviction was the quote :  ‘You need to pay back the £19,000 bitch, or I will do what happened to that MP today’ which was addressed to Cllr Louise Reecejones and as we now know referred to the murdered MP, Jo Cox.

Never has the mention of a sum of money so troubled the minds of  Wirral Leaks and its readers since the infamous £48,000 paid to former Wirral Council head of communications, Emma Degg.

£19,000 seems to be such a random, arbitrary figure  – or is it?

Unfortunately as Crabtree pleaded guilty he was spared cross examination and so the finer details of his threat were not heard in court. Subsequently Reecejones has also failed to enlighten us on the significance of the £19,000 in her exclusive interview with the Wirral Globe :

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/15022017.Wirral_councillor_victim_of_death_threat_call_describes_her_shock_when_she_realised_it_was_made_by_former_colleague/

So what are we to make of this £19,000 ? –  an amount plucked out of the air in a drunken tirade or does it refer to matters which have been under-reported ?

We have reason to believe that the crux of this particular matter harks back to a time when both Crabtree and Reecejones were suspended , facing separate allegations and under investigation by the North West Labour Party – but not by the local Labour Party .

https://wirralleaks.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/suspension-suspense/

Indeed we believe that what unfolded in this highly damaging case to the reputation of the local Labour group is due to a total absence of leadership. Also , witness the fact that despite this shameful case making the national newspapers (Daily Mirror and Daily Mail) that no prominent local Labour politician has issued a word of support for Reecejones or has been prepared to condemn Crabtree for his ‘despicable’ conduct.

However we have reason to understand that the £19,000 Crabtree referred to was not owed to him personally but was rather what he believed was owed, for some reason, to Wirral Council by Cllr Reecejones. Information we have received suggests this money was for the implementation of the special education needs and disability reforms given to Wirral Council by the Department for Education and there have been claims it was allegedly misused.

Although Reecejones was investigated , cleared of any wrongdoing and reinstated  , Crabtree was given a formal warning about his conduct which related to quite separate matters which we have covered extensively on Wirral Leaks. He subsequently failed to be selected as Labour’s ward representative for Bidston & St. James . Could this have been the cause of deep abiding resentment that let led to last June’s cataclysmic phone call ?

Meanwhile we are promised that  : “There are more newsworthy issues to yet come out about LRJ in the not too distant future. “

Perhaps then we will finally find out what the £19K is all about – just as we eventually found out that the £48K that Degg received was a result of allegedly being bullied and harassed by ex – council leader and ex – mayor Cllr Steve ‘Foulkesy’ Foulkes.

Some of the local Labour group are a lovely bunch, aren’t they?.

Suspension Suspense

Following the time-honoured tradition of burying bad news it was announced (or rather it was dragged out of them) just prior to the elections ,that the North West Labour Party had suspended Wirral Labour Councillor Louise Reece Jones pending a further investigation.As you can see from the press report they are desperately trying to keep this one on media lockdown. HERE

Consequently, we have been asked whether we know why Cllr.Reecejones had been suspended – and needless to say – we do.

This is Wirral Council we’re talking about – where leaks are in direct proportion to secrets.

We publicly stated on Twitter that we wouldn’t want to jeopardise due process (an alien concept at Wallasey Town Hall) so we’ll keep a watching brief on this development for now.

We expect the usual – a report to be released on Christmas Eve stating how robustly Labour Party investigated the matter and there will be press release stating either a) there is no case to answer or b) appropriate sanction will be made as such misconduct will not be tolerated (unless you’re Cllr.Steve Foulkes or Cllr.George Davies).

Talking of which we were excited about new kid on the blog “The Morton Distortions” written by Wirral Council whistleblower Martin Morton but somewhat like Cllr.Reece jones that currently also seems to be in a state of suspended animation.

From what we’d read there were a couple of revelations about the Wirralgate scandal which we didn’t know about – but much of it we already knew and had already disclosed.

We’re just waiting information from a couple of sources and we’re ready to publish “The Definitive Guide to Wirralgate”.

Might we suggest that it might be useful to her if Cllr Reecejones reads the guide so as to understand what conduct the local Labour group think is or is not acceptable.

Failing that we think her only hope is to foster a friendship with Frankenfield very,very quickly or her days are numbered.