A Middle Class Messiah of Privatisation
David Henshaw was in fine form recently, he was speaking in Australia and gave
a talk entitled
'From Beatlemania to Community mania: An example of a revolutionary
local government'. This rabble rousing call to pen pushers was an
'address' to
the
'Communities in Control Conference' in Melbourne on the 7th June 2004. Maybe
that's why his tan is looking a little bit more orange of late. Australia is a place he
has been on several occasions, Henshaw's a bit of a glutton for Globetrotting, especially
when the public fund it. He has seen the inside of more aeroplanes than some of Easyjets
orange attired flight staff.
Henshaw is a middle class messiah of privatisation who is willing to fly halfway round
the world to put the boot into the working class, who, by and large, pay his wages. Anyone
attending the speech or address he gave in Australia could be forgiven that Liverpool has
now completely turned into some middle class paradise; you could almost imagine none of
our pensioners were being kicked out of care homes by the thousand. Henshaw is a spin-doctor,
not as nauseating as the slippery creature of Darkness Mandleson, but both there
'talents'
amount to being devious, having a good selective memory and being ruthless enough
to sack anyone for the
'cause' of privatisation. He is halfway between working
class and middle class - the working class mostly think he is a bit of a clown
and the real middle class posh types will look down upon David, yet see him as a
useful tool to use, as will the rich landowners taking over Liverpool. David is
prepared to act as a mouthpiece for the trendy right wing middle class
'neo conservative'
types, and the posh minority who are trying to usurp our local democracy and buy
off Liverpools ex council property. Henshaw does not like the working class, but
is happy to split the profits on selling off the City the working class here actually built.
The following article features sections of Henshaws speech, which is almost
bizarre in parts. Kirkby gets not one mention, Henshaw avoids mentioning all those,
er, deals, such as Sonae, Liverpool Academy, sales of land, property and private
little political cliques controlling the rest of the compliant new labour councillors.
Henshaw never really had much opposition in Kirkby, and by some strange coincidence,
the ones who did oppose him seemed to be elbowed to one side. Or kicked if need be.
Knowsley Council deliberately fills the council seats with people who think
'principles'
are some sort of shares they can cash in when the price is right. After the quotes by Henshaw
is comment on the actual content and an attempt to make sense of what the real agenda is. In
the speech we'll see Henshaw comment on why he thinks people who don't like are just like
racists or homophobes. We'll also read about big underpants, dancing, shadows and
'feedback
sessions'. This is bizarre stuff. What's even more Bizarre is that every
quote from Henshaw is 100% accurate and not taken out of context.
'All power corrupts'
"You know that phrase of Lord Acton's 'All power corrupts, and absolute power
corrupts absolutely?' Powerlessness, too, corrupts absolutely." David Henshaw, Communities
in Control Conference Melbourne, 7th June 2004.
Power certainly corrupts, but Henshaws trying to twist that around by putting
the boot into those with no power! How corrupt is someone with no power whatsoever going
to actually be? If people are powerless, are they corrupt for not assuming power? In
Liverpool, the old aged pensioners kicked out of care homes are powerless, are they
then corrupted? Henshaws trying to deflect the accusations - corruption in Liverpool
and Knowsley has seen millions of pounds of public money vanish and no-one in power
asks questions anymore. It is the people with power who are charged with the safekeeping
and supervision of massive amounts of regeneration grants etc. David Henshaw is trying
to deflect the corruption of those with power and instead blame the powerless. It's
almost a call for Scousers to become involved and vote out the corrupt. Any Liverpool
Council with a majority pro working class make up of councillors with common sense,
would soon tell Henshaw his wage will be cut to the same as the local street cleaners.
Henshaws Underpants
"I was the new Chief Executive. I'd been in there for about a week, I'd been a
Chief Executive somewhere else, so I had my underpants on outside my trousers, with a
big S for Superman." David Henshaw, Communities in Control Conference Melbourne,
7th June 2004.
The thought of Henshaw walking around Council offices and workplaces
with
'underpants' over the outside of his trousers, with a
'big S' for superman
is a pretty unpleasant thought. Superman never had a
'big S' on the front of his underpants
did he? To be honest, I was more interested in Wonder Womans neat silver shorts.
Either way Kirkby Times suggests that if any employees of Liverpool City Council
are accosted by a man wearing underpants with a
'big S' on them, make a citizens arrest.
Shadows
"When we lead, we cast huge shadows." David Henshaw, Communities in Control Conference
Melbourne, 7th June 2004.
When Henshaw was up here in Kirkby, he was a bit of a
'Rasputin' figure, his
dark scheming and shadowy subterfuge and plotting led to Kirkby seeing a political
dictatorship run rampant selling off every asset we had here. The darkness was
literally swirling around Henshaw as Kirkby saw asset after asset sold for a song.
He sold the heart of the Community. Henshaws legacy can be seen by the Sonae factory,
by the Liverpool Academy built on public land and sold for a song and by the many
many plots of green land now concreted over. Henshaw and his kind certainly do cast
there shadows over working class communities. The only answer is to topple him;
this is possible if honest working class people actually run our own councils.
Once toppled, the shadows of these leaders will no longer be cast over us.
A Henshaw 'Moment'
"Janet, my co-worker, and I had one of these feedback sessions, and there
was my moment. I was going to get this out, give her what for. I said,
'You could be more effective if you stopped repeating yourself.' It just
came out. She sat there calmly, because we'd been trained, and said,
'Thank you for that feedback and coaching'" David Henshaw, Communities in Control
Conference Melbourne, 7th June 2004.
The co -worker who got told by Henshaw to stop repeating herself may well have
drawn Henshaws attention to the fact that he has likely repeated the sentence
'Capital of Culture 2008' on more than a few thousand occasions.
They've even changed the logo now, this is typical of the white middle class
'new men', who seem to be a bit like some women as far as the
'change the décor' schemes go. Most men would leave the wall
paper up for 10 years if it looked ok, maybe longer. A
'new man' won't. A married
man has no choice! The new capital of culture logo looks like some drunken
teenager has spray-painted something on a wall. It's sad really to see grown
people act like this. Sadder still to see the taxpayers landed with the bills.
Henshaw dancing with the community.
"Now the other element in this is about how you work in local organisations and
change the way you deal with things. One of the things is how you work with others.
Now, I'm not going to order you do this, because health and safety rules prevent it,
but I'd like a volunteer. Let's dance. When we dance, I'm leading. And that's how
local government has seen its role for a very long time. Think of me as local government.
Think of my partner as the community. Now, community, lead me. Ooops. Did you spot anything
there?" David Henshaw, Communities in Control Conference Melbourne,
7th June 2004.
Henshaws little quaint English middle class
'new man' dinner party giggle
with the audience, quoted word for word and not taken out of context. We bet
a few Aussie blokes in the audience were likely thinking less than politically
incorrect thoughts about his antics.
"What the hells the Pom saying", may have
been the reaction of the audience. The
'new man' phenomenon may not impress the average
Aussie bloke, but no doubt the Aussie middle class is every bit as daft as ours here
in the UK. Henshaws little mention of dancing with the community is interesting, he
led us for a merry dance in Kirkby and is doing so with the working class people of
Liverpool. Many in Kirkby have tangoed with Henshaw, doubtless you can imagine he may
well be a mover in the middle class art form of dance; a tangoe, a waltz, some toe
tapping Fred Asteir like move. Anyone daft enough to take up his offer of a dance
is going to get there toes trod upon one day. You're dancing with the devil.
Taking people out of the system
"I've taken 4,500 people out of the system. All took voluntary severance or early retirement,
but it had to happen, because we were massively over-peopled for our business. Since
then services have improved" David Henshaw, Communities in Control Conference
Melbourne, 7th June 2004.
Hold on, Henshaws made people
lose jobs - he's not
'taken them out of the system'.
Interesting that he perhaps sees workers as just being in
'the system' and that
'taking them out the system' is some sort of favour. Almost as if he is
freeing the council workers from the Matrix or the bonds of slavery or something!
Sounds great, till the bills come in. As for housing repairs and other services
being more efficient in Liverpool, that's' not quite true, in fact, it's pretty much
completely untrue. There are local people living in B and B's because of
housing shortages, even Knowsley is building up for a crisis in decent
affordable rented property as we've privatised ALL the former Council Housing and
sold much of it on the cheap. Liverpools housing situation is becoming a
nightmare for young people who are faced with a decreasing amount of
council or social housing in decent areas. Our old folks homes are sold
as they lie in some care home. The homes have to be sold to pay for the
care of our old folks. Liverpool City Council has created rent backlogs
of months and many landlords will not even take people onboard who are
on social security or welfare benefit, due to massive waiting times
for rents to be paid. The council housing department is not
'over-peopled' - it
is slashed to the bone. Ask the workers, ask the tenants.
There version of events, as ever, differ to the official
spin doctored version as put forward by Henshaw and other middle class heroes.
Hating Bureaucrats is like hating blacks or gays!
"When I was introduced I looked at you in the audience and I could see that
some of you thought 'Nice suit, big bureaucrat, the enemy is in our midst.' If
I'd come in looking somewhat different, would you have looked at me differently?
Because what happens is that we all have prejudices. We often talk about prejudice
in terms of racism and homophobia. But when you talk about me and my lot, the
bureaucrats, you also talk in a prejudicial way." David Henshaw, Communities in
Control Conference Melbourne, 7th June 2004.
Aaah, poor Bureaucrats , it must be difficult getting paid £130K a year then
'me and my lot' getting called greedy for earning all that money
whilst shedding less sweat than a part time security guard in an ice rink.
Henshaw is trying to elicit sympathy for people like himself,
'him and his lot' as he
whinges. He is almost trying to make out that calling a bureaucrat names (such
as fat cat or greedy bast**d) is just the same as racism or homophobia. It's political
correctness being used to protect the very people messing up England. Almost a form of
legislation for 'new man'. He is, we are led to believe, being picked on for wearing a
dodgy designer suit and a flamboyant tie whilst carrying a £3000 laptop, paid for by
the taxpayer and earning 130K for talking the sort of nonsense we are quoting from his
own mouth. This claim that its as bad as 'racism or homophobia' is pathetic, and
if Henshaw thinks his plight can be likened to that of a black man being called a
ni**er, or a gay called a fagg**, he is away with the woods.
Everyone in the know seems to dislike bureaucrats, maybe because we sense
they are devious bunch of money grabbing do nothings who have great talents at
cutting services whilst accumulating fat wage rises and knighthoods off the discredited
Royal freeloader Scroungers Supreme. Henshaw is almost trying to look to a future Liverpool
were class prejudice against the rich freeloaders is looked upon like racism. He wants the
working class to stop hating the rich and the annoying posh types. The English, especially
Scousers, will always have a healthy dislike of pen pushers and bureaucrats and the super
rich. Do Black people in Toxteth now sense that there history, there social and current
predicament is the same as White Middle Class Bureaucrats and there struggle on FAT
WAGES and the prejudice they endure? Be real. White and Black working class people
in Liverpool, and the sensible middle classes, as well as Gays, will all unite in
prayer if the prayer is one asking God to deliver us from the dubious leadership
of Henshaw and his ilk.
Whoever writes Henshaws speeches, if he has help in his oratory endeavours,
is, as we might say here in Liverpool -
'on one'. What is worrying is that this
speech has actually been prepared before-hand, Henshaw could not blame it on the old Amber
Nectar. Henshaw also had a slide show to perk up his address. How modern.
Kirkby Times extends our sympathy to those workers who may have had to endure
the Henshaw speech and slide show. Our hearts are with you. The unspeakable horror
which you have endured will, in time, be merely a bad memory. Due to the fact that
normal ordinary people may be distressed if they were to view the full content of
this speech, we have declined to reproduce more than a few sections.
Acknowledgement for the Henshaw quotes to the
'2004 Communities in Control
conference' convened by Our Community and Catholic Social Services. Melbourne Australia.
