# 'Vandals target councillor's house'



## Sunspots (May 2, 2006)

Just seen this BBC story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/4962936.stm



> Liberal Democrat councillor Ann Cooper woke on Monday morning to find her home in Filwood had been daubed with red paint and offensive slogans.



Anybody know any background to this story?  Has she been in the local paper upsetting somebody recently?  

Strangely, the story doesn't mention that her husband is also a local councillor.  (Then again, it does mention offensive graffiti, so maybe the details of whatever was written indicates that it was specifically aimed at her?)   

(The only thing I remember Ann Cooper for was that George Micklewright [-the then Labour leader of Bristol City Council] rather spectacularly lost his seat to her a few years ago.)


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## djbombscare (May 2, 2006)

I've been in Devon ALL weekend . . .Honest !!


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## Sunspots (May 2, 2006)

djbombscare said:
			
		

> I've been in Devon ALL weekend . . .Honest !!



Tell it to the judge!!!  

_(-I'm not actually sure where Filwood is, tbh.  North/South/East/West?   )_


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## djbombscare (May 2, 2006)

Sunspots said:
			
		

> Tell it to the judge!!!
> 
> _(-I'm not actually sure where Filwood is, tbh.  North/South/East/West?   )_



Fooked if I know.

Is it like Filton but with more trees hence wood rather than ton ?


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## Iam (May 2, 2006)

Sunspots said:
			
		

> _(-I'm not actually sure where Filwood is, tbh.  North/South/East/West?   )_



Knowle way, no?


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## djbombscare (May 2, 2006)

well the offices are in Knowle West SOOOO its probably near there

http://www.bristol-city.gov.uk/ccm/...uncillor-finder.en?CouncillorId=-2&XSL=detail


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## Sunspots (May 2, 2006)

djbombscare said:
			
		

> Fooked if I know.
> 
> Is it like Filton but with more trees hence wood rather than ton ?



 

I got it confuzzled with Filton too, so I thought it was up north (North Bristol, that is).


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## Iam (May 2, 2006)

Sunspots said:
			
		

> I got it confuzzled with Filton too, so I thought it was up north (North Bristol, that is).



_A Filton-based worker writes..._

Oi! We don't want your sort round here! Clear orrffft!


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## Sunspots (May 2, 2006)

Iam said:
			
		

> Knowle way, no?






			
				djbombscare said:
			
		

> well the offices are in Knowle West SOOOO its probably near there



I've looked it up on a map now, and yeah, it's Knowle.  Maybe Filwood's what posh people call Knowle or something...  

(Blimey: a right bunch of super-sleuths, aren't we?   )


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## Sunspots (May 2, 2006)

*"-Get orrrrff moi land!!!"*




			
				Iam said:
			
		

> _A Filton-based worker writes..._
> 
> Oi! We don't want your sort round here! Clear orrffft!



_My sort?_  

Listen here you: I'm neither North nor South.  I'm strictly East side, innit.


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## bristol_citizen (May 2, 2006)

Filwood Ward is indeed Knowle West. Apparently people unknown - although the Lib Dems are subtley pointing the finger rather ludicrously at the Labour party and even more extraordinarily at the local regeneration quango the Knowle West Development Trust - have sprayed 'paedophile' across the front of their home. This is possibly a reference to the John Astley affair where Lib Dem councillors, to this day, have refused to deny they knew about Mr Astley's pecadilloes but kept schtum for party political advantage.
There are also allegations swirling around Mr Cooper of sexual harrassment.
You may gather that it's quite a hard fought election campaign up there.


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## Sunspots (May 2, 2006)

Cheers for the info bristol citizen.  

Despite the much-expected voter apathy on polling day, it does indeed sound like campaign tactics are getting pretty dirty in the run up. 

Still seems odd to me though that the BBC story completely omits to mention that _Mr_ Cooper is also a councillor.


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## Iam (May 2, 2006)

Sunspots said:
			
		

> _My sort?_



Nice folk. This is _Filton_, you know...


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## Sunspots (May 2, 2006)

Iam said:
			
		

> This is _Filton_, you know...



Yeah, and it's all yours!   

_(*Alright, so you only work there; but all the same...  )_


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## fizzerbird (May 2, 2006)

Us lot in south Bristol call it 'Filwood Broadway' part of knowle west estate.

What allegations surrounding Mr. Cooper about sexual harrassement?


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## Sunspots (May 2, 2006)

fizzerbird said:
			
		

> What allegations surrounding Mr. Cooper about sexual harrassement?



Whatever they are, I imagine it's probably best to keep any allegations off this thread, no?   



_NB: I am not a lawyer.   _


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## fizzerbird (May 2, 2006)

Yeah, you are probably right...I've not heard of any though...but I wont go into why I personally find that odd...not on here anyhooo.


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## bristol_citizen (May 2, 2006)

fizzerbird said:
			
		

> Us lot in south Bristol call it 'Filwood Broadway' part of knowle west estate.
> 
> What allegations surrounding Mr. Cooper about sexual harrassement?


Evening Post article: here


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## fizzerbird (May 2, 2006)

Ah, cheers.


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## JTG (May 2, 2006)

Sunspots said:
			
		

> I've looked it up on a map now, and yeah, it's Knowle.  Maybe Filwood's what posh people call Knowle or something...
> 
> (Blimey: a right bunch of super-sleuths, aren't we?   )



Careful, Knowle residents won't thank you for confusing them with Knowle West!

Why they choose these names for wards I don't know. Kingsweston ward basically mainly consists of Lawrence Weston but it gets named after the posh bit by Blaise


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## gloryhornetgirl (May 2, 2006)

There are some very weird people around there.

And it was the worst misspelling of paedophile that I've ever seen!  

Shouldn't be too hard to track down the culprit.


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## Sunspots (May 2, 2006)

gloryhornetgirl said:
			
		

> Last edited by gloryhornetgirl : 02-05-2006 at 06:14 PM.



Did you edit that for spelling?...


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## gloryhornetgirl (May 2, 2006)

I started to confuse myself!


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## Sunspots (May 2, 2006)

JTG said:
			
		

> Careful, Knowle residents won't thank you for confusing them with Knowle West!



You're right, my mistake.  

Apologies to any readers from Knowle or Knowle West.


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## Sunspots (May 2, 2006)

gloryhornetgirl said:
			
		

> And it was the worst misspelling of paedophile that I've ever seen!



Have you seen the offending graffiti then?

(-On telly, I presume?)


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## gloryhornetgirl (May 2, 2006)

Yes, on last night's news. I can't remember the exact spelling, but there was more than one letter missing, and several in the wrong order, if I recall correctly...


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## bristol_citizen (May 2, 2006)

gloryhornetgirl said:
			
		

> Yes, on last night's news. I can't remember the exact spelling, but there was more than one letter missing, and several in the wrong order, if I recall correctly...


Spelling that bad? Can only be a Lib Dem inside job then!!!!


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## Gerry1time (May 3, 2006)

It's stretching the bounds of credibility beyond belief to suggest the lib dems would do this themselves for publicity, consistently, over many years, councillors nearly burning down their own house and putting out letters against themselves. Not least because the lib dem campaign guidebook seems to go as follows

1. deliver leaflets
2. knock on doors
3. repeat 1

and i've met lib dem councillors who have denied that they knew anything about john astley's child porn, pretty sure they've done it publically too, can't see why they wouldn't. 

It is interesting why filwood is being so violently fought against the lib dems, what are people so scared of if they hold the seat?


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## Isambard (May 3, 2006)

Gerry1time said:
			
		

> Not least because the lib dem campaign guidebook seems to go as follows
> 
> 1. deliver leaflets
> 2. knock on doors
> 3. repeat 1




Nah mate, don't know anything about what's happening in Bristol but when they want to, or think they have to, LibDems fight dirty!


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## JTG (May 3, 2006)

Gerry1time said:
			
		

> It is interesting why filwood is being so violently fought against the lib dems, what are people so scared of if they hold the seat?



Because Labour deeply resent the Lib Dems taking seats away from them on 'their' patch (ie south Bristol).

Labour used their solid base in south Bristol as the rock on which they built their twenty year dominance of the Council House whilst simultaneously doing jack shit for the area. Now the people of Knowle, Filwood, Windmill Hill and elsewhere are rejecting them and they don't like it.

The rebellion will spread to Whitchurch Park (almost taken by the Lib Dems last time) and Southville (could be taken by the Greens) this time around and still Labour won't understand why people hate them so much.


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## djbombscare (May 3, 2006)

Labour should have kept a few of there promises if they wanted to stay in.

They fucked up. . they're crap and luckilly enough its looks likely that the Liberals will get in rather than any local BNP rep.


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## bristol_citizen (May 3, 2006)

Gerry1time said:
			
		

> and i've met lib dem councillors who have denied that they knew anything about john astley's child porn, pretty sure they've done it publically too, can't see why they wouldn't.


Not true, Barbara Janke was invited on numerous occasions in the Council House (and on the record) to deny that either herself or any of her party were ever informed about Astley's activities. She has declined to ever answer the question.
You cannot rewrite history on this one.


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## JTG (May 3, 2006)

djbombscare said:
			
		

> Labour should have kept a few of there promises if they wanted to stay in.
> 
> They fucked up. . they're crap and luckilly enough its looks likely that the Liberals will get in rather than any local BNP rep.



I think the anti-Labour tide is going to keep coming in for a while yet - there's still a few wards where they have one councillor having lost the other to the Lib Dems and I reckon they'll lose again.

Not that the Lib Dems are any fucking use whatsoever, the council's as crap and in hock to business rather than people as it always has been.

Afaik the fash aren't trying again in Bristol after their mini push in 2003. One BNP candidate in the whole west of England thank fuck.


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## Gerry1time (May 3, 2006)

bristol_citizen said:
			
		

> Not true, Barbara Janke was invited on numerous occasions in the Council House (and on the record) to deny that either herself or any of her party were ever informed about Astley's activities. She has declined to ever answer the question.
> You cannot rewrite history on this one.



not trying to rewrite anything mate, just know what i was told when i asked when i worked there (in the council house, with councillors) and had the feeling that they had said it publically. Do remember that astley affair council meeting at the time, seemed like a lot of labour politiking that the lib dems were refusing to rise to, but dunno. Either way, i'm not in this for points scoring, so whatever really.


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## bristol_citizen (May 4, 2006)

Gerry1time said:
			
		

> Do remember that astley affair council meeting at the time, seemed like a lot of labour politiking that the lib dems were refusing to rise to


I'm no fan of the Labour Party but they called that one absolutely correctly. They were raising a fundamental issue of governance: should party political allegiance come before the protection of the people you govern? In this particular instance can we expect that allegiance to come above the protection of our children and young people?
Ironically when Janke was asked by the Labour leader, Peter Hammond: "Were any concerns raised with you or your party whips, either formally or informally, with regard to Astley and child protection issues?"
Janke's reply was that Hammond was "engaging in party politics."
Hardly a resounding denial is it? 
Oh, and this isn't what people in the Council House told me. I was at all the relevant meetings and have copious notes.


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## bristol_citizen (May 5, 2006)

The Filwood result in last night's election:
Christopher David Jackson 	The Labour Party Candidate 	  	1255 	52.34
Ann Marjorie Cooper 	Liberal Democrat 	  	776 	32.36
Jonathan Robert Hucker 	The Conservative Party Candidate 	  	223 	9.30
Xavier Panades I Blas 	The Green Party 	  	144 	6.01

Makes claims of desperate Labour tactics look a bit thin.


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## gloryhornetgirl (May 5, 2006)

bristol_citizen said:
			
		

> Xavier Panades I Blas


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## fat hamster (May 5, 2006)

gloryhornetgirl said:
			
		

>


Do you know Xavier Panades I Blas, glorygirl?


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## Sunspots (May 5, 2006)

fat hamster said:
			
		

> Do you know Xavier Panades I Blas, glorygirl?



Google loves a name like that.  

_Assuming he's the only Xavier Panades I Blas who lives in Bedminster_ (), he's... a palaeontology graduate, he's into fossil eggshells, and his masters thesis is about 'determining the taxonomical utility of megaloolithid oospecies'.


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## fat hamster (May 5, 2006)

Might be the same guy...he's also on Bristol Freecycle.


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## Iam (May 5, 2006)

Wasn't he the...

Oh, nevermind.

I'm thinking of Xavier Panades *J* Blas.

Silly me.


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## Sunspots (May 5, 2006)

Iam said:
			
		

> I'm thinking of Xavier Panades *J* Blas.
> 
> Silly me.



Don't worry about it fella, a lot of people get the two of 'em confuzzled.   

Xavier sounds like he's a very Green bloke.   

I'm imagining he might be a sort of cross between Indiana Jones and Professor Denzil Dexter (from The Fast Show)!  

If I'd have had a vote yesterday, I'd have voted for him.


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## JTG (May 6, 2006)

the Evening Pest today had a story about how the cops caught some young scrotes handing out leaflets on Filwood Broadway on election day containing all sorts of allegations and libels against Mrs Cooper. Didn't say what these allegations were natch.

They have no idea where the leaflets originated from though. The Lib Dems are making noises about demanding a re-run of the election.


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