Live here.
So far, and I confess to being unfamiliar with most faces and voices and in any case being distracted by a child with an upset stomach, it looks like the Tory members of the committee are trying to give Mr. Cooke a platform to air his dislike of Ken Livingstone and TfL while the Chair of the committee is trying to concentrate on Mr. Cooke’s statement. So far, then, going by the party lines.
Update 1:
He’s apparently apologised and accepted that it was inappropriate. No advice was taken by Cooke from the Chief Executive, which was one of the points I made yesterday, and itself is in breach of the rules.
Update 2:
Tories still backing their man. Doesn’t bode well for accountability, evidently they like him. He’s supposed to be the independent voice of the London traveller, not the Tory voice of the London traveller.
Update 3:
Caroline Pidgeon (LD) putting the boot in in no uncertain terms.
James Cleverly (Con) called it a ‘witch hunt’.
Richard Tracey (Con) called it a ’storm in a teacup’ but a ‘technical breach’.
Update 4:
They’ve voted that Cooke breached his terms. Cleverly abstained, couldn’t make out the other voting.
Update 5:
Jenny Jones thinks that sanctions are desirable, but I get the impressions she wouldn’t support the ultimate sanction of dismissing Cooke.
Update 6:
Cleverly’s back again, mouthing off about how great it is to have political disagreements. That’s not really the point here, James, since Brian Cooke is in trouble for his inappropriately timed political agreement with Boris Johnson.
Update 7:
The Chair is proposing voting down the list of sanctions from toughest to no action, until a majority is reached. She herself seems to be going for straight dismissal.
Update 8:
He’s gone. Jones abstained, but I think the voting went 4-3 (there must be two absences). The three Tories voted against.
Update 9:
Cleverly is still blowing off steam - apparently the Deputy Chair of Travelwatch is Labour councillor Lorna Reith. Funny how it’s inappropriate for a Labour supporter to chair it, but a Tory supporter is fine. And with that, it all concludes.
More coverage elsewhere:
Tory Troll
Tags: 5 Comments
5 responses so far ↓
Seems strange that Jenny Jones articulated a position where she opposed a sacking (but supported censure) and then abstained in the vote on the question of an immediate termination.
“Funny how it’s inappropriate for a Labour supporter to chair it, but a Tory supporter is fine.”
i think the point James Cleverley made was that it would perhaps not be credible to sack the chairman of Travelwatch for what appear to be partisan interventions, only then to be replaced with a Labour councillor.
Agreed, but the point was that Brian Cooke was sacked for misusing his position as Chairman to promote a particular candidate in breach of the clear rules he’d signed up to. Cleverly’s point is therefore valid if Lorna Reith has been using her position as Deputy Chair to promote a particular candidate. If she hasn’t been*, it’s partisan double-standards. James is rather new at this, and was visibly angry, which is probably why he came up with an argument with a big hole in.
Jenny Jones I suspect would have voted for a lesser sanction, if it had got that far, on the basis of his previous record, but of course the instant dismissal won on the first round, so we never found out what she or the Tories would have gone for.
* It would be unsurprising if she hasn’t been using her position as a Labour councillor to promote Ken Livingstone, of course, but she should have kept this separate from her work with London Travelwatch, as indeed should Brian Cooke.
Good report, and good outcome – thanks Tom.
Cooke is not necessarily going to be replaced by Reith. The committee are going to write to the board to see if anyone is interested in the interim position. The selection process for the permanent Chair is already underway and should conclude in September.
Thanks for the clarification - at the time I was being continually pestered for games of Mario Kart by the aforementioned ill offspring and only heard the Deputy being mentioned as a well-qualified figure, Cleverly’s subsequent complaint that it looked a trifle odd to appoint an entirely partisan figure when you’ve just sacked the previous chap for partisan activities and the suggestion that they seek an interim appointment rather than appointing the Deputy. I must have missed the final decision. Glad to set the record straight.