The leafy streets of Fulham and Hammersmith enjoy a rather comfortable secret: a ring of draconian fines that keep the riff-raff — and their cars — firmly out. The coffers of H&F swell nicely, thank you very much, while unwitting out-of-borough drivers receive an expensive education in postcode politics.

But here’s the delicious irony. Residents of Kensington and Chelsea are being stung by those very same fines for daring to drive in Fulham, while simultaneously enduring a free-for-all of speeding metal thundering through the elegant backstreets around Harrods. The noise. The pollution. The danger. The sheer, grinding indignity of it.

Borough Residents Only

Enter Josh Rendall, newly installed as the man responsible for transport strategy. Josh, here’s your moment. The residents around Harrods didn’t move to one of the most expensive postcodes in the world to be used as a rat run.

The business case, should you need one, is embarrassingly simple. If punishing outsiders is good enough for H&F, it is good enough for K&C. And at a time when cries of financial hardship echo mournfully down the corridors of Hornton Street, the thought of speed cameras and penalty notices generating a handsome revenue stream from every lead-footed interloper should have Josh practically salivating.

What are you waiting for, Josh? The cars aren’t stopping. The fines won’t collect themselves.

Across the Borough, from Left to Right, the Dame has been besieged with one question:

Why drive away outstanding talent?

Cllr Sof McVeigh took on one of the hardest jobs in local government leadership — thankless, relentless, and permanently under fire. Yet even many of the Conservatives’ fiercest critics would concede one thing: Sof cared deeply about doing the job well.

As councillor for Brompton and Hans Town, she built a reputation for tireless commitment. Residents knew that if there was a problem to solve, Sof would already be halfway to fixing it. She embodied the old maxim: if you want something done, ask a busy person.

The Dame has never hidden her low opinion of Cllr Campbell. In her view, the decision to sack Sof McVeigh only reinforces the obvious conclusion: Campbell should have gone, and McVeigh should have been made leader.

The Dame’s ear remains firmly to the ground — and the mood across the Borough is unmistakable. There is anger, bewilderment, and no small amount of contempt at the treatment of Cllr Sof McVeigh.

When capable people are discarded while mediocrity survives, voters notice. And they rarely forgive it.

The man in the middle of these two is a human rights lawyer. He managed to persuade the jury that human rights were involved when his two thuggish clients attacked police officers. The really distressing part is that the young police officer was left traumatised, bloody and bleeding with a broken nose.

This sends out a clear message to the lawless element of the public: the police are fair game if you feel like attacking them.

In the US, these two would have been shot dead…… Poor England!

The Police Federation needs to fund the officer’s civil action for assault and battery.

The Council spends a small fortune on consultations. The resident below echoes the commonly held view that the results are ignored.

As the invisible Cllr Mary Weale(of the huge allowance) is said to say, “we hear, but we don’t listen.

Residents are getting fed up with bike hire companies abusing public space for huge private profit.

Here is an example of the council asking for opinions and then ignoring the results. Why bother?

“I am getting a bit fed-up with the residents’ car hating council, taking our local residents’ parking space away, recently for “tree pits” and now they want more for “e-scooter and e-bike” parking, when the effect of the bays created so far has been for their operators to dump yet more of these nuisances in the Borough, where they continue to be left blocking pavements, with no effective action taken.

My RA has responded to previous such “consultations” and our views are simply ignored. 

Perhaps the Dame might like to express her disapproval of those responsible in the hope of embarassing them into being slightly more considerate of residents’ views.

Off on another hike to where I was able to park my car.”

The Dame knows this wonderful oasis of peaceful greenery. Many of her friends use it. It is an asset under threat from a hotel encroaching on the space. Even if you don’t use the garden, it is important to support the fightback. Please click here

https://stopthegardengrab.org/

The Times found Polanski, now the Green Party leader, had described himself as a “spokesperson” for the British Red Cross on his personal website in 2020. He did so again on two crowdfunding pages in 2022, when he was raising £400 to support his campaign for Green Party deputy leader. The British Red Cross told The Times that Polanski “has not been a spokesperson” and said it had raised the matter with his team.

Polanski set himself up as leader of integrity with no clay feet. He lies as well as the next politician, as the Times found out. Not the first time, Zack has been caught lying.

We can never forget his sordid and unscrupulous claim to be able to enhance breast size by hypnosis. He really is a mountebank and a piece of work.

The Dame had a ‘orrid nightmare. She woke to remember what it was…it was this bunch of Green Party losers running local councils.

Cllr Jedut has replied here to those of you posting adverse comments about here.

She is not happy…..will she now join the Lib Dems?

Ex-Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (looking exhausted) with young Aberdeen clubbers….

Back in the day, our lordly friend dreamed up the Renters (Reform) Bill — his big idea to kill off Section 21. It never got off the ground under the Tories, but Labour gleefully picked it up.

May 1st. Section 21 is dead. And the result? Exactly what anyone with half a brain predicted — thousands of spooked landlords serving Section 21 notices ahead of the deadline, a mass exodus from the market, tightening supply and rents going through the roof.

The cruel irony? Good tenants paying the price for bad ones and good landlords paying the price for bad ones.

Nervous landlords — many of them decent, small operators already hammered by the economics of providing housing — are heading for the exit. One told the Dame bluntly: “I won’t rent to students anymore. The Act lets them just bugger off on two months’ notice.”

And here’s the delicious twist. Gove’s old parliamentary chum James Cleverley has become a high-profile casualty of his friend’s brainwave. Cleverley has been served a Section 21 by his own Braintree constituency landlord — who he describes as excellent, but simply terrified of what comes next.

Gove’s Glum ex Chum

Inept drafting. Catastrophic unintended consequences. Baby meet bathwater.

We all despise rogue landlords. They prey on the vulnerable and should be driven out. But why punish the good ones and leave decent tenants homeless in the process and others unable to afford rents?

You have to feel sorry for Joe. His other job is babysitting the buffoon David Lammy.

In an attempt to raise us all from pre-election torpor Joe, without much enthusiasm, tried to persuade us of the effectiveness of the Labour Group on RBK&C.

Don’t waste your time, Joe. The Labour Group used to have talented people. Now, led by the member for Somalia, Cllr Ali, it has become a laughing stock.

Joe says the following…

The Labour candidates have been clear they would improve value for money, while also retaining twice-weekly bin collection and borough-wide parking permits.

the idea of this bunch of no-hopers knowing about value for money is risible.

FRANKLY AWFUL, FRANCO

Most CEO’s of good companies will generally reply to complaints.

Not, Franco: he ignores them!

This Reform’s candidate for Queen’s Gate Ward. Her name is Kezia Noble. She is one of the world’s leading experts on dating. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xry-f-JSPrU.

She is hoping to unseat Sam Mackover, the sitting Conservative councillor. Now, Sam would admit himself that in the looks department, he is no match for Miss Noble. But, are looks really what we want when it comes to running a complex council? The Dame thinks the answer is self-evident.

Mackover is possibly one of the best councillors the Borough has. For Reform to put up Miss Noble is an absolute slap in the face to taxpayers.

The Dame was brought up with Victorian values (she even covers the legs of her Queen Anne furniture to avoid being shocked).

Imagine her horror when she researched Miss Noble’s very saucy background….she advises ‘only fans’ of a certain type of special entertainment to google Miss Noble

Notting Hill Genesis is a mess and this above is its CEO, messy looking Patrick Franco, Franco’s previous job was at Foxtons, the estate agent-an estate agency which attracted much controversy

Chaos seems to reign at NHG. Interventions by regulators and floods of complaints from angry tenants and owners. It is time the government stepped in.

Here is just a brief synopsis of that chaos

Notting Hill Genesis (NHG), a major London housing association, has faced significant controversy regarding, severe, chronic repair delays, widespread errors in service charges (including charging tenants for non-existent services), and, as detailed in the Social Housing Action Campaign report, a failing grade from the Regulator of Social Housing regarding tenant safety and service quality. 

Key controversies and issues surrounding Notting Hill Genesis include:

• Service Charge Failures: Residents reported significant errors in service charge notices, including instances where residents were charged for services not provided, such as a lift in a building that only had stairs. NHG apologized for “incorrectly apportioned” costs after residents faced potential, unjustified, thousands-of-pounds increases.
• Housing Ombudsman Findings: The Housing Ombudsman has documented cases of maladministration, including serious failures to handle complaints, address damp/mould, and manage repairs after sewage floods.
• Poor Conditions and Management: Tenants have raised concerns over long-term disrepair, such as mold and pest infestations, alongside accusations of implementing “poor doors” to separate tenants.
• Failed Regulatory Rating: The Regulator of Social Housing downgraded NHG to a ‘G3’ grade, indicating a failure to meet governance requirements and a need for major improvements in risk management.
• Misleading Advertising: The Advertising Standards Authority previously ruled against NHG for overstating the benefits of their shared ownership schemes.

The Dame needs to be very clear….she is not a Lib Demmer….she finds Sir Ed very irritating.

Wade…The Sublime

However, if Cllr Linda Wade replaced Ed she would have to do some serious re-thinking. The Dame has just written about the lazy leader of the Labour Party, Cllr Ali…a self-promoting buffoon and the object of borough-wide ridicule.

Ali…The Ridiculous

On the other hand, we have Linda Wade. If Labour councillors want a lesson in powerfully serving residents’ interests, they could ask Linda to run a workshop. Given the abysmal quality of Lab cllrs probably a waste of energy.

The Dame had a very positive experience with Linda over a running sore of an issue related to the thoroughly useless and disrepaired Notting Hill Genesis. NHG is led by ex-Foxtons estate agent, Patrick Franco(Dame, was that not the agency with a lot of controversy surrounding it?)

Linda was a force of nature-to be fair to Hamish Adourian, he also put his back into it.

Earl’s Court residents are fortunate to have Linda Wade…God help them if one of Ali’s crew were representing residents.

Well done, Linda. Keep up the selfless hard work.

Cllr Ali is a real mystery. In between boasting about his fund raising for Grenfell(as if he alone was the driver!) he seems to spend a lot of his time in the wilder parts of Somalia: an area you would not want your gap year daughter sending postcards from.

Here he is acknowledging the rapturous applause of thousands of Kensington voters!(what a clown!) The Dame was appalled to see that his self-promotion to residents included a puff about his sauce

If Ali is the best the Labour Party can come up with, it deserves to be smashed. Ali is notably stupid and inarticulate.

An insider at ADVANCE UK confides to the Dame that the leadership is in a state of fury over Cllr Eva Jedut’s imaginative assertion that the party has selected her. The source states that ADVANCE UK’s selection process is scrupulous—which rather leaves Ms Jedut’s claim floating somewhere between administrative error and creative writing exercise. Jedut is the subject of this report by the Council.

https://rbkc.moderngov.co.uk/committees/documents/s11827/9%20i%20doc%2010%20Complaint%202%20Cllr%20Jedut%20FINAL%20Investigation%20Report%20as%20at%20301023_Redacted%20211123.pdf

This is, after all, a councillor whose recent political journey has taken her from Labour Party to the Workers Party of Britain, a route not so much a straight line as a scenic detour through ideological lay-bys. One might admire the versatility, if not the navigational clarity. One has to question the local Labour Party’s sanity in ever selecting Jedut! ADVANCE UK points out that George Galloway, leader of the Workers Party of Britain has close and supportive connections with Russia and Iran

ADVANCE UK, for its part, has never encountered Cllr Jedut, selected her, or indeed done anything that might encourage such an impression. A senior source, reaching for the diplomatic register and finding it temporarily unavailable, noted that if she genuinely believes her views align with theirs, then questions may arise—not so much about party membership as about her broader suitability to represent the residents of Kensington & Chelsea.

The matter, we are told, may be referred to the Council’s Monitoring Officer, ensuring that what began as a curious claim may yet enjoy the full procedural treatment. In local government, after all, nothing says closure quite like a formally logged concern and a carefully worded letter confirming that everyone is taking it extremely seriously indeed.

Mothin Ali, Polanski’s deputy ranting about gays, Jews and drugs. His diary is pretty full. Tonight he is off to a rally to commemorate his spiritual leader, Khamenei.

Let us look at the works of his hero below. Normally, hanging is fast: the brutal regime insists of hoisting victims so they die slowly, in agony.

Gays and drug addicts were strangled to death on the orders of the deputy leader of the Green Party’s unlamented spiritual leader, Khomeini…“by your heroes you will be judged”

Images of just some of the thousands murdered by Khamenei’s thugs…mainly students.

There were movingly peaceful scenes in Hyde Park as Iranians celebrated the demise of a man responsible for the torture and murder of tens of thousands of Iranians over the years. Interesting that some were displaying the Star of David…must be infiltrating agents of the Mossad!

It really is a mad, mad world…

In Gorton and Denton, Muslim community leaders threw their weight behind the Green Party — apparently deciding that ideological indigestion is a small price to pay for electoral strategy. Principles? Park them at the door. The party has long flirted with drug policy liberalisation that would make even hardened libertarians blink.

Polanski’s defence — that the “war on drugs is lost” — is less a rallying cry than a shrug. It’s the political equivalent of “well, we tried.” Meanwhile, Islam is unambiguous on intoxicants and hardly renowned for its theological flexibility on sexuality. Cognitive dissonance, meet campaign leaflet.

Then there’s Cllr Mona Adam in Kensington and Chelsea — educated in Saudi Arabia, a state not exactly famous for its relaxed approach to narcotics or alcohol. As for homosexuality….being thrown off roof tops or strangulation by hanging deals with that. In Islamic states enforcement is less “harm reduction” and more “swift reduction.” One can only marvel at the intellectual gymnastics required to square that background with the Greens’ breezy, anything-goes urban liberalism.

If the Greens ever do become “Islamified,” their younger, rainbow-flag-waving libertines may discover that revolutionary alliances have expiry dates. Political coalitions are funny things: everyone smiles for the photo, and no one mentions the contradictions — until they matter.

So yes, Cllr Adam, do enlighten us: how does one reconcile uncompromising religious orthodoxy with a party whose social philosophy is essentially “live and let live — and legalise it”? The electorate would be fascinated to hear the footnotes.

Can anyone remind the Dame why Cllr Mona Adam deserted the Labour ranks and fled into the arms of the very strange Mr Polanski.

Adam was educated and indoctrinated in Saudi Arabia: a country which hates gay people like Polanski, Christians and all non-Muslims. It also routinely chops off heads for all sorts of ‘diverse reasons’. Anyone trying to replace the theocratic ‘king’ also will face the chop in ‘Chop Square’. Adam is a weird choice for the purportedly libertarian Greens.

A reader, Old Grump, has helped out the Old Dame

There are really only three possible answers to that question Dame;

1) She is as mad as he and his party are
2) Labour were going to de-select her, or already have done
3) Labour are not anti semitic enough for her

Old Grump left out a key qualification. Adam claims to have studied sociology at the King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. It must have been there that she picked up some of her ‘enlightened views!’ Readers would be interested in the elements of the sociology course. The uni is a centre of a particular brand of Islam, which is ultra-intolerant. She says, “Am director of Shaman PR. I was educated in Saudi Arabia where I studied sociology at King Saudi University.”

Biker Boy, Patrick Franco, Foxton’s estate agent turned housing association CE!

Leaseholders and tenants of Notting Hill Genesis are wearying of the constant staff turnover. On a weekly basis staff come and go….it’s like an estate agency but then as the CE ran an estate agency no great surprise

The Dame hears of Chinese Whispers from Imperial College. Question…why are mainland Chinese students barred from the Dept of Aeronautics?

Is this anything to do with spying? Yes, is the answer. It seems that universities, especially high-level research ones, are being targeted by the students whose activities are not confined to study….

A very good — and very wealthy — American friend of the Dame had a serious fall the other day while visiting our fine city. She was full of praise for the Emergency Department at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital: wonderful staff, prompt scans, and excellent treatment.

In the US — or privately here — she said the bill would easily have run to a couple of thousand pounds. When she asked how much she owed, the answer was simple: “Nothing.”

Meanwhile, Chelsea & Westminster is reportedly owed over a million pounds from other overseas scammers. The usual trick is, “oh, I left my cards at the hotel”.

Our hospital staff work long, exhausting hours. Just imagine how much better their pay and conditions might be if NHS managers actually stopped overseas visitors helping themselves to free care. Replicate this throughout the UK and do the sums…tens of millions are lost.