27 thoughts on “The battle for Anston & Woodsetts – Jo Burton not litter picking for votes”

  2. Could I draw your attention to the picture where “Cllr Jo Burton is litter picking in North Anston.
    This is the real story.
    The local Labour Party Members Cllrs Judy Dalton and Jo Burton organised a litter pick in North Anston. They said it was a “Community Litter Pick” and said all were welcome. Being an Independent, Community minded Parish Councillor, I decided to go along and do my bit.
    On arrival, it was quite clear that it was a Labour Party Publicity Stunt, for Cllr Jo Burton`s up coming Election. All the local Labour Party were there, Cllrs Burton, Dalton, Beck, O Brien and others. There were also one or two “genuine” People.
    Within minutes, Two “pre ordered” Photographers arrived on scene,( no doubt ordered by Cllr Judy Dalton,) One from the Worksop Guardian and the other from the Advertiser. Picture taken, off they went.
    All those present then began to pick litter. After about an hour, everyone returned to the “Little Meister” Pub car Park, and “dumped” the full black bags of rubbish by the entrance. People then left to go home.
    Roll forward a few days, the group pictures pop up in the Advertiser.
    Roll forward another week or so, the above picture of Jo Burton appears in the Advertiser. She had clearly sneaked back and posed for the picture when everyone had gone home. HOW LOW CAN YOU GO. The picture, probably taken by Judy Dalton, was clearly intended as part of Cllr Jo Burtons Election Campaign. I think they deliberately waited a week hoping the Advertiser would not catch on it was part of the same day. It worked they were duped.
    What is highly insulting, is that she is stood in front of the rubbish bags, collected by myself and others, and was claiming to have done it herself. She is in effect sticking up two fingers of those who genuinely went to litter pick for their Community.
    BUT IT GETS BETTER.
    Note the Jacket she is wearing. The jacket belongs to STREETPRIDE. and the picking sticks were also from them. She could only have got this equipment from either the Area Assembly, or from Streetpride themselves. Did she state that the litterpick was a Labour run/organised Labour Party Election Stunt, I think not. They have also duped Streetpride into giving them the Equipment, NOT for a Community litter pick, but for a Labour Party Election campaign.
    Under the RMBC Code of Conduct, No 6, para b item ii. Under Resources of the Council. It States, You must not “ensure that such resources are not used improperly for Political purposes (including party political purposes)”
    BANG TO RIGHTS I THINK.
    She sneaks away for a photo op
    She rides on the back of others
    Dupes the Advertiser
    Dupes Streetpride
    and then to top it all, breaches the RMBC Code of Conduct.
    A picture tells a thousand words.
    HOW LOW CAN YOU GO

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  3. Five observations: (1) Great to represent women but they are only half the electorate and to say they have suffered disproportionately from cuts is a spurious distinction. It is the poor who have suffered of both genders, methinks. This smacks of niche hobby-horsing to me rather than truly representing a ward (2) “Keen to start a campaign against litter and dog pooh” – isn’t this an admission of inaction? (3) Come off it Jo – organising coffee with Sir Kev is not at all impressive as he should be readily available to talk to anyone via his surgeries anyway. Will Sir Kev be so amenable when the new UKIP councillor tries to organise the same? Has Independent councillor, Clive Jepson, also tried to do so and been stonewalled, I wonder? (4) As for “representing” US…well, when I get that new job at the pharmaceutical company or change my views on Cabinet Minister’s robbing us tax-payers blind by fiddling their expenses – then I may FEEL represented at Westminster. Or maybe he represents U.S. ? (5) I am probably getting cynical in my dotage (I have done PR ish stuff before) but when I see the phrase “…and many others” I find it usually comes where a full stop should be. ie: the examples in the list = the whole list – there are no more. Are there truly more? Please come and tell us on this blog if you want my vote to go to Labour. Currently it is going to Dave Smith, Independent in Dinnington. I don’t believe Labour are a team to trust or are they “on our side in tough times”. Were they on the side of all the sexually exploited girls in Rotherham, for example? Were they on the side of Rotherham hospital? Were (are) they on Rotherham’s side, period, in these tough times? The parliamentary Labour Party is advised by Price Waterhouse Coopers (I rest my case), includes many MPs yet to be prosecuted for stealing taxpayers money through expense fiddling and features a front bench made up mainly of multi millionaires. They wouldn’t know “tough times” if they bit them on the backside!

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  5. Did anyone notice that Jo Burtons election leaflets were delivered together with a “Bengal Takeaway” price list and “Your Mag” monthly magazine? I wonder how much the 2 Asian men were paid to deliver them? As far as I’m aware, this is not legal if they have been paid.

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    • They definately came through the door with Yourmag. One wonders who was delivering them and how much they were paid to deliver to every house in Anston and Woodsetts?You have to declare exactly how much it cost for the delivery of the A3 flyers, it has to be the true market rate even if for free.

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      • Rik. If this is the case. Jo Burton has broken the rules, because both me and my dad who lives a mile away received her election leaflet with yourmag. How do I contact SYP Gary Blinkhorn. Could she be disqualified for this? Cheers Tim

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    • Rothpol. According to Gary there is no issue with the Yourmag delivering Jo’s elections leaflets. The only issue is that she doesn’t spend more than £1100 doing it, which was my understanding as well, because I had all the nomination signatures etc and had read through the election rules. If the A3 leaflets she had delivered and the delivery costs are less than £1100 she has broken no rules. Cheers Tim

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  6. Society is about fairness for all and not positive discrimination to certain groups. if people want equal rights, then start screaming to be treated more fairly than others, they aren’t really equal. Jo Burton offers me and Anston absolutely nothing. Jo needs to start looking for another job.

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  7. How dare Jo Burton stand there grinning like a Cheshire cat in front of bags of litter she did not collect. I was there collecting as was Cllr Stuart Thornton- So just where was Jo Burton because I did not see her collecting rubbish. It seems she managed to appear when the camera came out!
    Rubbish – is what Jo Burton is peddling.
    I was there -a 72 yr old pensioner

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  8. Anonymous- Jo Burton was asked a number of times at Anston Parish Council Meetings about the child grooming scandal. She was vice chair of the committee responsible for the safety of these vulnerable children – Oh! and guess what – she didn’t know anything at all about it.
    DON’T LET ANSTON GO FOR A BURTON Folks

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  9. Since my previous post I have had another look at these Election Leaflets. I think I have spotted something that is Illegal. On both her leaflets Cllr Burton has supplied a contact e-mail address. That email address is a “Rotherham.Gov.uk”. I was under the impression that so many weeks before an election, rules come into force about using “Council” resources. The e-mail address is the intellectual property of RMBC, so she cannot be using this for Election purposes.
    I pondered further, and it occurred to me that all RMBC Cllrs are given I Pads/Laptops (at our expense) to use for Council Business ( not Parish Business, I would imagine) These laptops are the property of RMBC, and if used for Party Political purposes by a Cllr who is up for Election then that would also be against the Law.
    Am I right ????

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    • Are you seriously suggesting that during Purdah councillors can’t use their email addresses? Cllr Burton isn’t using her email address for election purposes; it is her contact address as a councillor and she is entitled to publish it.
      Under the members’ Code of Conduct members must ensure that the Council’s resources are not used improperly for political purposes (including party political purposes). Such use would be acceptable if it could reasonably be regarded as likely to facilitate, or be conducive to,the discharge of the functions of the
      authority or of the office to which the member has been elected or appointed.

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  10. while we’re about it why did jo burton tell the public at apc meeting she did not agree with closing sure start centres then bobby of to rmbc budget meeting and stick her hand up and vote to close the sure start centres hoping nobody would notice were you jo unfortunately a few anti labour bods saw you best put a bag over your head next time

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  11. Dear Robin Symonds
    Yes, I am seriously suggesting that her use of RMBC e-mail address could be an offence under Electoral Law . There are strict rules on what candidates can and cannot do in the run up to an election. If anyone contacts her as a direct result of her Election leaflet that would constitute an offence. Using it for day to day Council business is different from using it for political/Election purposes. The same would go for the Laptops/I pads. Its not her property and if she is conducting Election business using the RMBC equipment, then that is another offence.
    She already has a track record of abusing RMBC equipment for her election campaign, see my post of the equipment used for her “community litter pick”. She had already declared as a candidate prior to asking for the equipment.
    In my opinion she may have committed an offence under the Electoral Law and broken the RMBC Code of Conduct (twice)
    You say “isn’t using it for Election purposes” Then why has she posted it on TWO separate election leaflets ??.
    I am happy for anyone to confirm what I am saying is correct.

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    • You are wrong. Please see my post above, particularly this bit….Such use would be acceptable if it could reasonably be regarded as likely to facilitate, or be conducive to,the discharge of the functions of the authority or of the office to which the member has been elected or appointed.
      A community litter pick would come under the ambit of ‘the discharge of the functions of the authority or of the office to which the member has been elected or appointed.’ You would be hard-pressed to prove it iwas no more than an election stunt (particularly in the light of the cuts within Streetpride as a result of central government funding cuts).
      You really ought to stop barking up the wrong trees and getting giddy about some spurious breach of electoral rules. It’s pathetic!

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  12. Robin, I think it is you who is wrong. As I understand it, Burton was put up for re-election BEFORE she carried out these electioneering stunts and was therefore NOT doing them in the “discharge of the functions of the authority or of the office to which the member has been elected or appointed” She was neither elected nor appointed at this point, she was up for re-election! She cannot therefore use council owned equipment to promote her election and has therefore broken the law. Simples.

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      • Robin, glad for your views and those of others on this apparently arcane point. Am looking into this and it is not anything like as straightforward as you make out.
        More soonest.

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  13. At last years Parish annual Parish meeting, Jo Burton tried to steer the meeting in the way of Rotherham Labour, she wasn’t on the electoral register for Anston at the time and should have kept her mouth shut and have been a neutral observer.

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  14. Dear Robin Symonds,
    ” Barking up the wrong tree”, “getting giddy about some spurious Electoral rules” and “its pathetic”. I assure you I do not bark up wrong trees, I do not get giddy, and I don’t like to be addressed as Pathetic. We can all start petty name calling, and being a Union Rep, you would probably lose. It is expected of you to stick up for the Labour Party, after all your Union funds them.
    The rules were not put in place by me, they are there for a reason. You have just done what every other Labour supporter does on this site (well almost every other one). you jumped on a issue that may show your Labour friends are at fault. Without thinking that someone else may be right, you did not look through the red mist and do your homework.
    Do you really think I make posts without doing my research first.

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    • To be honest I’m not particularly bothered whether an individual has broken the rules. There are processes in place to deal with such transgressions. I find it pathetic that people on here are so anti-Labour that they clutch at straws to try to find a breach of rules. Rothpol was guilty of that and caused one contributor to waste police time by ringing up about the “offence” of using paid delivery services, which of course isn’t an offence. I doubt the UKIP leaflet that fell through my letter box was delivered by the Royal Mail for free!

      I have no issue with anyone criticising Labour…I’ve done my fair share of that but I do find it pathetic to jump on every little thing, especially when that leads to a waste of police time!

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      • Robin. I went dancing to the city hall at the same time as the EDL rally at the Cenotaph. I have been to football matches with 70K in attendance and never seen so many police, due to the counter demonstration by the UAF, the reason for the police attendance which cost £ half a million. Get things into perspective. Cheers Tim

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      • Can I confirm that ALL the UKIP leaflets were delivered by myself and willing volunteers, who have given their time – Free of Charge, it is best not to comment on things you know nothing about.

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