A year of my life I will never get back 

So what do Runcorn, Stourport, Mill Hill and Highgate, Muswell Hill and Islington have in common ? Well from July 1st they will no longer have a Rotary Club . These Clubs along with others have voted to close . Rotary, as fewer and fewer readers will know, is an organisation founded in the USA in 1905 by a group of Chicago businessmen lead by a man named Paul Harris to do good basically. "service above self" is the motto and Rotary spread quickly around the world with the first Club outside America opening in London in 1911 closely followed by the Rotary Club of Dublin.

The First Rotary Clubs first project was to install a public toilet in Chicago so that shoppers stayed longer.

Rotary has however become a victim of its own sucesss . In countries where Rotary has celebrated it Centenary USA, Canada , Australia and most of Western Europe it is terminal decline , and by terminal I mean terminal . At the Annual Meeting of Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland a few weeks ago, held  on line (as the Annual Meeting in person along with the Annual Conference has been permanently cancelled) , Nikki Scott ( more of her later) the Rotary Director for Great Britain and Ireland (not the President that position has also been permanently deleted ) admitted that two thirds (yes 66 per cent ) of Rotary membership of 34,000 were over the age of 75.

There is just no coming back from this position .

So why is Rotary in such a terminal decline?

There are endless reasons . Society has changed . Britain High Streets have changed . There are few privately owned shops run by their owners . Ken Livingstone tells the story of when he used to buy newts as a child from the local pet shop which was owned by a Rotarian. Long gone are the local bank managers and indeed most  High Street banks are closing . The internet and organisations like linkedin have taken over business networking indeed many Chamber of Commerces have closed . No working man or woman can spare two hours for lunch . Indeed as District Governor it is my role to visit all the Clubs in the District and I visited Edmonton Club who were complaining about lack of new members but point blank refuse to move from lunchtime or to have hybrid meetings accessed by the Internet and have no social media presence . Message to Edmonton Rotarians which of course meets nowhere near Edmonton just close down now and spare the club the long lingering but inevitable death.

As Clubs have closed in London we now have 55 twenty years ago we had had over 100 , the calibre of Rotarians has declined . Gone are the days when prominent business men or peers of the realm took office in Rotary . London is reduced to a former Chairman of the London Assembly (ie me ) as District Governor but my replacement is a woman who left her Club and moved to another after they declined to nominate her as District Governor on the grounds she was completely useless and had no social skills . The District Governor Elect for 2023/24 in London has been investigated by Rotary after having been accused of fraud by his own Club President ! Apparently the same man is openly angling for an OBE by asking Rotarians to nominate him .

The major issue however is National Leadership . Rotary has made a huge mistake in abolishing the Annual Presidency in the UK and replacing it with a two year " Directorship " . The first Director was a woman called Nikki Scott who appeared to me to have no experience of Rotary in the UK (she was a District Governor in the USA ) and who admitted to me that her husband had left her because she spent too much time on Rotary !

Rumour is that having spent two years saying how wonderful United Kingdom Rotary is she has at last recognised that Rotary is in serious trouble hence her admission that two thirds of Rotarians are over 75, She has been an all round disaster for UK Rotary and has presided over a further decline in the number of clubs . The paid uo UK membership of Rotary is 34,000 far less than even the Conservative Party and dramatically less then the National Trust or the Women's Institute . It is far more than Inner Wheel an organisation founded for the wives of Rotarians that refuses to admit men and is down to about 100 members in London. How on earth Rotary still associates with such an organisation in these days of equality I completely fail to understand and I politely declined invitations from Inner Wheel during my year of office.

As District Governor I tried and the whole failed to reform Rotary in London . Every District is supposed to have a District Conference and I held a reasonably succeesful one day Conference in London which had the most ethnically diverse audience ever seen at a Rotary Meeting in the United Kingdom . What does my successor do decides to hold a three day Conference in the home of the living dead (Eastbourne) complete with a Golf Day and a black tie dinner like something out of the 1950s .Well good luck with that ! Do you not realise there are many Rotarians in London with child care issues (40 per cent of London Rotarians are women ) and that the nation is going through a cost of living crisis which even affects Rotarians and £50 for a Conference in London is affordable but £350 plus for three days in Eastbourne may not be, 

Rotary worldwide is in trouble as this years Rotary Convention in Australia proved . I was involved in bidding to hold this particular Convention in London and we did so on the basis of 35,000 worldwide attendees .We lost the bid(thank goodness) as in this post Covid world only 14,000 Rotarians turned up. Bizarrely as Rotary is promoting the green agenda there was no way you could attend Convention on line . Whilst on this subject how on earth does Rotary justfy flying 500 District Governor to Orlando in Florida at massive expense to train them (or teach their Grandmothers to suck eggs as one fellow District Governor put it to me ) ? During Covid it was all done successfully on line . Never mind how Rotary justifys  spending over two million dollars on flying 500 Past District Governors again to Florida for something called "Council of Legislation " the ultimate talking shop ........

Anyway the good news is having now completed my year of Office I have been banned from holding any further National or International Office following a complaint of "harassment" by a Rotarain with a a history of mental health issues because I was supposedly made a rude remark to him after a speech I was booked (3 months before) to deliver was cancelled at 24 hours notice without a word of apology.  Too right I was sharp with him : I have never been treated so unprofessionally in my 20 years in Politics . A panel to which I was not allowed to give evidence or cross examine the supposed "witnesses" apparently convicted me ! It make the Parliamentary Standards Committee appear open minded 

Frankly that is the best news I could have had . I have never sort Rotary office and having had a dreadful year of Rotary Politics; one Club being chased by the Lottery Commission for misuse of funds ; another Club being investigated by Rotary for holding an Annual Meeting without telling the Club President ; another Club where none of its members live in the UK never mind London ; another Club that had disappeared into thin air with not even the Club President a paid up Rotarian .......I could go on. You can perhaps see why I will not miss holding Rotary office  .

For those if you with long memories you may remember that most UK towns had an "Round Table" of young men who organised charitable and community activities , that national organisation is long gone and despite Rotary's very credible activities across the UK and despite the millions held in the Bank by the Rotary Foundation (who on earth understands the finances of the Rotary Foundation? )  there is just little hope for Rotary . 

I shall continue working in my Rotary Club to do Community service and good works at home and abroad but even if the entire Board of Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland (who are they Ed?) got on their knees I would never hold office in Rotary again ,

Here we go again

So this Tuesday night I got on the 125 bus, I have sold my car and made my way to Hendon Town Hall as is my want to the Annual Meeting (NOT the Annual General Meeting as the Council Press Office called it ) of Barnet Council .I think this may be my thirtieth Annual Meeting of the Council having been every year since 1993 except of course the year Brian Salinger was elected Mayor . The Town Hall was looking tired especially as the spring bedding has died and the Summer bedding has not been planted yet which was something I used to insist on .

One of the bright young Conservative Councillors came up to me and asked if I was going to write a blog this year which I was not planning to do but as they say by popular demand here we go .

The retiring Mayor Councillor Alison Moore has actually been a very good Mayor outside the Chamber . Inside the Chamber whilst chairing meetings she has been a bit too partisan according to one or two Conservative Councillors. She has of course led the Borough over the Platinum Jubilee, the death of the Queen and the Coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla as well as doing the endless round of visits that all Mayors do and all this she has done with due dignity, grace and in a friendly and approachable manner . I will personally always be grateful to her for sparing the time to attend my late Mother's funeral last June . 

Alison has been ably supported by former Councillor Helen Gordon as her Mayoress . Helen had a "reputation" twenty five years ago as a fierce, determined and a firebrand and was universally disliked by the then Conservative Group, and a significant number of Council Officers and rumour had it by a number of her own side but twenty years off the Council has mellowed her and she has behaved as a complete softee as Mayoress and frankly I have been impressed !

In my role on the Executive Committee of the London Mayors Association I see all the 32 Borough Mayors in action at London wide events including the Annual LMA Dinner , the Civic Service in Westminster Abbey and the Mayors walk from Whittington's cat statue to Mansion House . Alison has behaved impeccably and not tried to turn  any occasion into a "selfie" opportunity ( yes Mayor of Lambeth I am thinking of you ) . I am delighted to say that Alison Moore thought it was totally inappropriate when some Mayors thought they should petition the King and ask for an invitation to the Coronation ! 

The London Mayors Association is by the way a non Party Political members organisation for men and women who have been Mayor of a London Borough which organises social events and has increasingly become the guardian of the Civic Mayoralty which is under attack in many of our Boroughs . In fact next Saturday the LMA will undertake its annual "Mayors Training Day " for all the new Mayors (yes Mayors get trained these days !) and in my address I have had to add a section about Mayors taking selfies and that it is not appropriate for the Mayor to ask the King for a kiss during a Royal visit . 

Anyway back to Tuesday night . The big news was the Councillors robes had been cleaned and repaired and the majority of Conservative Councillors looked very smart . I was particularly taken by Councillor Shuey Gordon who told me he was wearing the robe worn by his late Father Councillor Brian Gordon . I am sure the much missed Brian would have been very pleased . Looking tanned and fit was Councillor David Longstaff who had recently returned from the West Indies where he had married his partner of twenty nine years and his Mayoress Gillian who was seated on the back row of the Chamber with a selection of other former Mayors and Mayoresses . Although quite why former Mayor Reuben Thompstone though it necessary to force his nine year old son to sit through the ceremony was beyond me . 

I was seated for a change in the body of the Chamber between the redoubtable Past Mayor Agnes Slocombe and and the senior Past Mayoress on parade (1993/94) Mrs Shelia Lyon now approaching 89. I suspect Shelia and I were the only people in the Chamber who had any clear memories of Mrs Mary Goodman a Past Mayoress who the Mayor announced had died and for whom Councillor Richard Cornelius got up and paid tribute . Nobody realised that the story Richard told about Mary was a mangled version of a Coleman anecdote about another long forgotton Mayoress.....................

Councillor Kath McGuirk disgracefully overlooked for appointment to the Cabinet in her eyes anyway , paid tribute to former East Finchley Labour Councillor and indeed Labour Leader John Davies who retired from Barnet before some members of the new Cabinet were born . Kath reminded us that he fought Mrs Thatcher in the General Election of 1987 and how furious Mrs T was that the declaration was not till half past three in the morning . I was told when she heard David Dimbleby on the BBC saying "Mrs Thatcher is on her way back to Downing Street " she yelled at the TV in the Mayor's Parlour " No I am not I am still stuck here at the Town Hall ! " Barnet counts were ever thus ..............

The new Mayor, Councillor Nagus Narenthira was duly elected and installed and, except that she appears to be a enthusiastic paid up member of the Andrew Dismore appreciation society I suspect she will be fine .

The Leader of the Council (yes still) Councillor Barry Rawlings announced his Cabinet who all seem to have bizarre and meaningless job titles along the lines  of Cabinet Member for Apple Pie and Motherhood. As Councillor Longstaff pointed out the words "Children" , "Education" and "Safeguarding" appear in nobody's job title .  The new Labour Members have merrily voted for the Cabinet system like Turkeys voting for Christmas and have consigned themselves to 3 years of powerlessness on the back benches . Do not say you were not warned ......

Barry's speech on the achievements of the last year was mercifully short (rather like the list of achievements ) and appeared to consist of setting up a Citizens Assembly on climate change and er that is it . Quite what happened to the promised Autumn rebate on Council Tax promised in his speech last year nobody asked but we all know the Officers persuaded him to quietly drop it . 

Well done to Councillor Tony Vourou on being appointed Deputy Mayor . Tony is a fixture on the Barnet Political scene with friends across the Political Parties and rather proves that persistence pays off. Mystery surrounds the Deputy Lieutenant who made a song and a dance of leaving the Chamber early but still managed to be at the buffet afterwards apparently he does not like the Party Politics which creeps into the latter stages of the meeting . I suspect Her Majesty the Queen hated various bits of successive Queens speeches at the opening of Parliament but that is the job . 

Anyway the meeting lasted an hour and twenty minutes and then we all adjourned for the buffet where a good time was had by all and the real business of the evening was done . 

 There was a long list five or six of Labour apologies and one Conservative which if you cannot be bothered to attend the Annual Meeting is a sure sign you are pissed off and that old war horse John Marshall told me he was not attending the Annual Meeting as he hated them when he served on the Council and was blowed if he was attending now he did not  have to (an attitude adopted by a few ex Mayors ) . So as I boarded my 125 bus I thought do I miss it ? You decide reader !