Listen to Janey Godley’s voice over on the Laura Kuenssberg interview here

“My God, have we been cheated! Absolutely shafted. Seventy two billion paid in dividends! Sixty billion of debt! Nearly three million hours pumping out raw sewage in 2021! Three billion litres lost in leaks every day! Just 14 per cent of our rivers with “good” ecological status and every single one polluted to some extent. Studies say that will soon be down to 6 per cent without massive intervention.”

Feargal Sharkey on river pollution, interviewed by Robert Crampton www.thetimes.co.uk

Away from the leadership fun, businesswoman Michelle Mone is back in the headlines after sitting down with the BBC in an attempt to rehabilitate her reputation. She has been facing accusations that she and her husband failed to declare their interest in a major PPE contract awarded during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

London Playbook Sunday Crunch www.politico.eu 

Her argument: Mone claims she and her husband Doug Barrowman have been made scapegoats for the government’s wider failings over PPE. The pair last week issued a YouTube documentary trying to clear their name, alleging a Department for Health official told them they could pay to make a National Crime Agency investigation go away — an accusation they repeated in the BBC interview this morning.   

Sorry about that: Mone and Barrowman emphatically denied their involvement in PPE Medpro in statements issued by their lawyers when the story first surfaced. They admitted involvement through lawyers last month, but on the BBC this morning, Mone admitted they had lied. “I wasn’t trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, and I regret and I’m sorry for not saying straight out, yes, I am involved.” 

Case for the defense: Mone went on to insist: “DHSC [the health department], the NHS, the Cabinet Office, they all knew of my involvement,” but said she didn’t want the press intrusion when she was asked by the press about her links. 

Did Dowden know: Asked if he knew about the links, Dowden, albeit culture secretary at the time, told the BBC: “No, I didn’t.”

Did it work? The Laura Kuenssberg show panel made up of actor Brian Cox, presenter Susanna Reid and Tory MP Robert Buckland were pretty unanimously scathing about her case for the defense, particularly that she had lied because of fears of press intrusion. Reid said it was “utterly remarkable she does not see how sensitive this is for people.”

Not just a title: Buckland had little time for the excuses: “When you’re in the House of Lords, it’s not just like a bauble or a title, it’s a public role,” he said, explaining it was up to members of both houses to declare their interests. 

Why it matters: Labour wants to make political capital out of this. Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting was quick out of the blocks this morning claiming government attempts to claw back money from PPE contracts gone wrong had been “pathetic,” and keen to pin failings on Sunak himself. “It’s his name on all of those checks. He was the Chancellor who was splashing the cash.”

From inews.co.uk 

The Liberal Democrats have called for Baroness Mone to be kicked out of the Conservative Party, with the party’s Cabinet Office spokesperson Christine Jardine calling the situation “shameful”.

“It is jaw-dropping that Michelle Mone has admitted lying to the country over this shameful PPE scandal and is now trying to play the victim card. She repeatedly denied she would make money from this contract, now it emerges she’s set to profit to the tune of millions,” she said.

“Rishi Sunak was too weak to withdraw the Conservative whip from Baroness Mone when this scandal emerged last year. He must finally do the right thing now. The Prime Minister should kick Michelle Mone out of the Conservative Party and withdraw the whip if she has the gall to return to the Lords.

She continued: “This shameful saga is an insult to the British public and shows why we need to bring an end to this Conservative cronyism and sleaze at the next election.”

A campaign for a ‘Buy British’ section on supermarkets’ online stores supported by Devon’s Liberal Democrat MP Richard Foord has first major success as Morrisons launch ‘British’ section online.

Lewis Clarke www.devonlive.com

In August 2023 Mr Foord, Member of Parliament for Tiverton & Honiton, joined with 120 other cross-Party MPs to sign an open letter calling on supermarkets to highlight the very best of British produce by implementing a ‘Buy British’ section online.

The letter stated ‘Our ask is simple, create a tab that collates produce from farmers,’ citing consumer choice, environmental benefits and support for farmers as reasons to make the change.

Now, Morrisons chief executive Rami Baitiéh confirmed that “we have implemented a ‘British’ section to morrisons.com which enables customers to quickly navigate to British [produce]”. This includes homegrown meat, dairy, fish and vegetables.

This new section of the website, which groups together key British lines, can be found via the ‘Shop Groceries’ drop-down menu on the morrisons.com homepage, with Morrisons saying they “intend to continue developing this section of the website and highlight new lines as they come into season.” Food has been increasingly imported in recent years, which is unhelpful for local producers and bad for the environment.

In addition to the letter, over 27,000 people have signed a National Farmers Union (NFU) petition in support of a ‘Buy British’ section online and on Back British Farming Day, September 13th, the Government endorsed the campaign and called for industry-led action by supermarkets.

Commenting on the news, Richard Foord MP said: “I applaud Morrisons for making this small but meaningful change to help customers know how they can buy British produce more easily. We know that Devon has some of the best farmers in the world, and it’s right that we showcase them.

“The reaction to this campaign has been overwhelmingly positive, with producers across the country supporting the call and consumers asking why supermarkets weren’t doing it already.

“The ball is now firmly in the courts of other supermarkets. I hope they will follow suit and implement the ‘Buy British’ section soon. I look forward to seeing the new display at the Tiverton store in the coming weeks.”

Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers Union, said: “It’s great to see Morrison’s launching a ‘British’ section online to signpost shoppers to British produce – something we have been asking retailers to commit to since 2016.

“We know from our own independent survey that 86% of the public want to buy more British food and this simple change with an online button will help shoppers just do that.

“I hope today’s news will pave the way for other supermarkets to follow suit.”

Bullying, that is: seeking to harm, intimidate, or coerce (someone perceived as vulnerable); is never acceptable.

But, as a search of EDW archives reveals, it is a term banded around frequently in local councils. 

Owl suspects that it is sometimes confused with the cut and thrust of political debate between those holding strongly opposing views.

The investigation reported on by Grant Thornton to the Audit & Governance Committee (see press article below) dates from allegations made by Mark Williams in 2021. These allegations arose from a survey he appears to have conducted after the new political leadership took over EDDC in June 2020.

Background

Following the 2019 elections, the Tories lost overall control of EDDC but formed a working arrangement with Independents under the leadership of Ben Ingham (then an Independent who has subsequently returned to the Conservative Party). 

In May 2020, after a series of defections, this arrangement broke down and a new Majority Group was formed. (A coalition between the East Devon Alliance Independents, other Independents and the LibDems, but excluding the Tories).

The opportunity for a smooth transition was dashed when Conservative Cllr and Council Chairman, Stuart Hughes, took the opportunity provided by a change in legislation by the government, relating to Covid, to cancel the May Annual Council Meeting. Constitutionally this is when leadership elections are held. The Tories held only one third of the seats at the time.

This decision created a constitutional crisis and required five extraordinary general meetings to be convened, under Covid restrictions, to formally make the change.

Given this fraught background with the Tories trying any means to retain some vestige of control it is perhaps not surprising that the atmosphere in EDDC was somewhat tense.

The CEO, Mark Williams, held the keys to facilitate a smooth transition. Indeed it was his duty as EDDC’s senior public servant, acting apolitically, to ensure it.

Owl has always found it incongruous that it was the CEO who was the first to make allegations of bullying so soon after the transfer of power, as the new administration was bedding in. 

Owl has similarly found difficulty in understanding why, a year later, Mark Williams appeared to drag his heels over setting up the inquiry into how John Humphreys continued as a councillor, then alderman, for three years whilst under investigation by the police, without a safeguarding risk assessment. The final Verita report records the difficulties the authors had in getting him to respond to questions about new information that had come to light.

Grant Thornton findings

Despite this, the message coming out of the Grant Thornton audit is positive. A message strongly reinforced by the comments made in the Audit & Governance Committee by recently elected Cllr Charlotte Fitzgerald (Independent, Budleigh and Raleigh), who comes with fresh, and younger eyes, to the scene, see below.

Allegations of bullying at East Devon District Council

 Will Goddard www.exmouthjournal.co.uk

East Devon District Council has had an “unacceptable culture” of behaviour, an external auditor has found.

There were allegations of bullying by some council officers and elected councillors, according to an independent report from audit firm Grant Thornton, which looked at a period between April 2021 and March 2023.

The report found “poor working relationships” meant there was a “significant weakness” in how the council was governed.

The firm heard suggestions some councillors didn’t stand for re-election because of behaviour and culture at the council, which at the time was controlled by a political group called the East Devon Alliance.

On a positive note, the auditor found “many excellent examples” of officers and councillors working well together during the pandemic and said relationships between “most officers and portfolio holders were generally effective”.

Grant Thornton has given the council several recommendations on how to fix problems in the way it is governed.

These include having a zero-tolerance policy on bullying, and revising the code of conduct and the protocols for how councillors and officers interact to include examples of unacceptable behaviour and sanctions. 

The council’s management said it already had such a policy, and that refresher training would be provided.

Cllr Helen Parr (Conservative, Coly Valley) found the report “extremely concerning” and said: “It’s all very well doing training of new councillors, but it goes back to the people who were in the council at the times you looked at and whether they have changed their behaviour. 

“I think it’s very questionable whether all this training has made behaviour changes. 

“Culture comes from the top and that’s where we needed to have changes.  

“It’s upsetting that we are a council with this problem when three, four years back we got the Investors in People platinum award.  

“This council was an excellent council and now we have a report like this. I’m extremely worried about it.”

Cllr Charlotte Fitzgerald (Independent, Budleigh and Raleigh), who was elected in May, described the report’s findings as “foreign” to her experience so far.  

She said: “I’ve only been on the council for eight months, I wasn’t here at the time that this report covers.  

“I don’t recognise an unacceptable culture in any of my interactions so far. The officers have just been absolutely positive and constructive. 

“We have had a change of councillors, we’ve had quite a lot of turnover in the last election.

“There’s also been a turnover of a significant amount of the senior executive leadership team in the last six to 12 months. 

“I don’t want to dismiss or diminish the concerns that are raised here.

“But… it does seem to me that a lot of action is and has been taken in the last year or so to address some of these issues.  

“I’m really looking forward to the next report… so we can actually see Grant Thornton’s external assessment of how we’re tracking against some of the recommendations that have been made.” 

Councillors voted to keep track of the auditor’s recommendations to see whether they are implemented. 

Footnote

Helen Parr says: “Culture comes from the top and that’s where we needed to have changes.”  Owl agrees and thinks that significant changes have already happened.