Guess the Pothole Road and See The Full Horror of the Scandalous £60 MILLION Balfour Beatty Highway Robbery!

 

Wheel rim smashing

Tyre wrecking, Daughter felling, Scooter damaging

ONE DUCK PER POTHOLE!

Ducks in the gutter
Photos: Southampton Independents (AP)

 

Get your ducks in a row!

A pothole horror show!

 

Scooter wrecking

Child injuring

 

Mother worrying

Wheel smashing 

 

Yet another 

Council no show!

 

Which dangerous road is this in Southampton?

 

Clue: It's another one in Millbrook Ward, like many of the others we have done with Guess the Pothole on reddit. See the r/Southampton Subreddit to play there.

 

Andrew Pope of the Independent Network says:

 

Andrew Pope Inventor of Guess the Pothole
in Rownhams Road, Redbridge Ward 
Photo: Southampton Independents (AP)

"I have written to the Council to demand that they CANCEL the Balfour Beatty roads contract! I've investigated Labour's highway robbery and reported it here on this website. 

If it wasn't for my investigation, which I told the Daily Echo about in mid-February and the Councillor for scrutiny, Lib Dem Richard Blackman, nobody would have known the £60 million figure apart from Council officers and the Labour councillors that approved it.

I am pleased that the Daily Echo has finally reported it, but not happy that they did not quote me or even ask me for a quote. They claim that they did their own investigation - a claim which I find hard to believe when I gave them the story six weeks ago. 

 

Southampton Labour's Highway Robbery

 

Instead of cancelling the highways contract, the Labour councillors actually extended it, with little fanfare and no publicity. And with very little democratic accountability, hiding it amongst lots of other documents and "delegated authority" to Council officers. 

Councillors should have spotted it - there are 51 of them! But they didn't. I did, and I'm not currently a councillor. I found them out through my hard work and investigative skills.

Labour have bunged Balfour Beatty another £60 MILLION, as exposed by my investigation over the past two months. I have the evidence of my investigation, in writing.

And how can they give Balfour Beatty any contract when they have admitted that they blacklisted? I have checked with Council officers. The anti-blacklisting procurement rules that I myself put in place, are still in place.

So not only should the contract be cancelled because it's a failure, it should be cancelled immediately because Balfour Beatty blacklisted. They shouldn't be rewarded for failure, and shouldn't be rewarded for blacklisting.

What does it say about the lack of local democracy that this can happen, despite residents knowing that the contract has been a failure for SIXTEEN YEARS!

If you need another example of Labour or Tory, same old story, here it is. It's a horror show and it's gory.

If I can do this without even being a councillor, imagine what I can find out if I am elected onto the Council again, with more powers to compel officers to answer. 

I have been campaigning on safety for Southampton people for years - road safety, tower block fire safety and Saints fan safety. I ask you to please, therefore to...

Vote Andrew Pope Independent Network on 7th May!"

 

  

EXCLUSIVE: We Reveal Details of the Balfour Beatty Highways Scandal - Labour-run Southampton Council's "Transparency" Report in Teeny Tiny Writing

 

Southampton Labour Took Criminal Money
Now The Highways Contract is a Scandal

As reported by us, in 2024 Southampton Labour and Portsmouth Labour took money from a convicted violent criminal, a total of £30,000. Central Labour HQ also took another £10,000 bung. All despite the criminal being an Eastleigh Labour councillor and then being expelled from Labour in 2022.

We have reported on the Electoral Commission's statement that political parties CAN accept criminal money.

And Southampton Labour, and Portsmouth Labour, did. Not a nice thing to have in common between the two cities.

 

Our Exclusive Investigations Done by Volunteers

1. We exclusively showed the Electoral Commission's data showing the acceptance by Satvir Kaur and Southampton Labour of £10k from a convicted criminal. No other local media did.

2. We exclusively revealed Satvir Kaur's, Southampton Test Labour MP and Junior Minister, Ministerial Register of Interests. No other local media did. At the time of writing, to our knowledge, no other national media did.

3. We exclusively revealed Kaur's connection with disgraced Labour Together MP Josh Simons, who paid private investigators to investigate journalists. He was her maternity cover and resigned. No other local media did. At the time of writing, to our knowledge, no other national media did.

4. We exclusively revealed Satvir Kaur's husband's job - Head of External Affairs for Persimmon Homes, and that she did not consistently report it when Southampton councillor. We reported this to the Head of Legal at the Council, who took no action. Kaur herself only put this on any Parliamentary register of interests when she became a Junior Minister (see above). We also found a photo of Kaur accepting a cheque from Persimmon Homes, outside the Arts Complex. No other local media did, and neither has any national media... yet.

 

Labour And Taxpayers Money 

So what are Labour like with handling YOUR money, your council tax money, your business rates and your national taxes redirected from Government?

Absolutely shocking, that is what residents say.

And Labour councillors do not want you to know. So they scheme to ensure that cover ups are preferred to investigations and transparency. Which brings us to number 5 on the list:

5. We have exclusively investigated and reported how Labour councillors are appointed by other Labour councillors to "scrutinise" those very same Labour councillors who sunk the finances of the Council - Satvir Kaur as Leader of the Council and Darren Paffey as Deputy, now both Labour MPs.

No other local media did. As Delia Smith once famously exclaimed: "Where are you?"

 

What is the State of Local Democracy in Southampton? 

You may ask why is it that the other local media are not investigating like we are.

You should ask them. We have it on good authority from a previous Local Democracy Reporter, that he was told "not to upset MPs".

Now, we reveal what "transparency" means to Southampton City Council.

 

The Scandal of the £60 MILLION Balfour Beatty Highways Contract 

A report hidden.

A report in teeny tiny writing that has to be zoomed into. 

 

Council "Transparency Report" In Actual Published Format
Image: Southampton Independents (AP)

 

Can you read it? Thought not! Why is it in such tiny writing? Ask the Labour-run Council!

If you zoom in a lot, to over 300%, you can see the following:

"SCC-SMS-0832
Southampton Highways Partnership (SHP)

The Southampton Highways Partnership (SHP) (utilising the SCAPE Civil Engineering Framework) commenced on 1st October 2025 for a 5-year contract term with no extension provisions.  The ìContractorî under the SHP is Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering (BBCE) acting as agent of Balfour Beatty Group Limited. The operational delivery of the contract continues to be undertaken by BBLP as a subcontractor to BBCE acting as agent of Balfour Beatty Group Limited.

Status  SuccessfulBidValue      EstimatedValue     StartDate    EndDate

Active     £60,000,000      £60,000,000     01/10/2025    30/09/2030"

 

The report shows the huge scandal of the £60 million offered to Balfour Beatty for the Highways Partnership.

A contract extension by Labour of a Tory contract that has failed our City for sixteen years.

A contract awarded with no press release by the Council - confirmed to us by a Council officer.

A contract that we had to find from third-hand reports by the trade, instead of fanfare by the Council.

A contract "scrutinised" (obviously not very well up to this point) in secret by party politician councillors, but mostly handled by officers under "delegated authority".

A contract without competitive tendering. 

A contract awarded by Southampton Labour councillors to Balfour Beatty, despite them being admitted blacklisters that used The Consulting Association blacklist. Balfour Beatty told Parliament that they had ceased using the blacklist.

And extended despite the Labour Council's own procurement rules preventing blacklisting. 

Those rules were amended to prevent blacklisting by our very own Councillor Andrew Pope, in 2014 - one year before he quit Labour in disgust because they were not meeting their promises to Southampton and his people in Redbridge.

This was a contract initially drawn up by Rob Harwood when he was a senior council officer in 2010 and 2017. One year later in 2018, he then became a Tory councillor. 

We asked him how he managed any perceived conflict of interest. He said our questions on this were "irrelevant" as did the Conservative Group Leader Councillor Peter Baillie. Baillie also praised the contract! Other Conservative councillors were copied into the questions. They said nothing.

 

Why Didn't the Local Media Report This? 

Did we offer this not-very-transparent "transparency" report to the Daily Echo and the Local Democracy Reporter Jason Lewis, funded by the BBC? Yes we did, as an exclusive. Nothing.

More on that another time.

Serious questions have to be asked about local democracy in Southampton - whether the local media is fit for purpose, and whether the political parties are any good or not. 

We know they're not. Not neither. It's all a bit too cosy and complacent. This is worrying for democracy in our City.

More on that too later.

 

Vote Andrew Pope Independent Network for Redbridge Ward 7th May 2026

   

Andrew Pope at Mansel Park and Millbrook Towers
Photo: Southampton Independents (CT)

Note: This article is also a page, as well as a post.

Former Redbridge Independent Councillor Andrew Pope has announced that he is standing in the 7th May 2026 local election.

Andrew says:

"It's so good to be back where I belong. I know the area very well and the people so well. And they know me. They are encouraging me to stand in Redbridge, because they've had enough of Labour and do not want Reform. So I'm doing this!

It was an absolute pleasure chatting with people and delivering my letters while I did my March the Month with Prostate Cancer UK in the area. I walked 341,000 steps, or 175 miles, over the month and have raised over £300 for the charity.

People say that they've had enough of Labour and the Tories. I coined the phrase Labour or Tory, same old story. Now people say it back to me on the doorstep and in the streets.

They supported us independents before in their hundreds - almost a thousand votes last time we stood, and as our team at the count knows, I did very well in Redbridge ward when I stood in the General Election and beat the other independent from Coxford.

This time we need to win and to get over the line. Together, we can do it!

With council tax being put up and up, residents do not feel that things have improved under Labour for the last 14 years and they definitely don't feel they get value for money from the Labour-run Council.

Constant bin chaos, dangerous roads and perilous pavements, financial mismanagement of public funds and three Labour MPs on the South Coast taking £30,000 from a convicted criminal, including Southampton's Satvir Kaur MP. The Labour Government has failed like the Tories before.

 

Labour have failed!
Image: Southampton Independents (AP)

 

And Labour has just sacked its own Redbridge councillor, Lee Whitbread, who was due to stand in May. I tried to warn Labour about him but they preferred to cover up than investigate him.

I am standing as the anti-corruption candidate and subscribe to the Martin Bell Principles from the Independent Network.

Enough is enough. Just one seat needs to change for a positive future.

The last time we stood, we nearly beat Labour and got more votes than all the other parties put together - Tories, UKIP, Lib Dems and Greens. 

I am the only candidate that can beat Labour. This time you can help me to get over the line and represent you again.

Please Vote Andrew Pope Independent Network on 7th May." 

  

Vote Andrew Pope Independent Network
Putting You First
Image: Southampton Independents (AP)

Andrew Pope Won His Safe Standing Campaign for St Marys Stadium -
A Campaign Launched at MP3 Centre, Millbrook
Photo: Southampton Independents (AP)

Andrew Pope Safe Standing Launch at MP3 Millbrook
Photo: Southampton Independents (DW)

Andrew Pope at the MP3 Centre, Millbrook
Photo: Southampton Independents (CT)

It's OFFICIAL! Regulator Electoral Commission Tells Us That Political Parties CAN ACCEPT MONEY FROM CRIMINALS!

 

The Labour Highwayman That Southampton Labour Hates
Image: Southampton Independents

... and the Electoral Commission has no way of telling whether the political party has paid it back!

Yes, it's enormous.

Yes, it's shocking.

Yes, it's scandalous.

The Electoral Commission regulates the funding of political parties. 

Today, the Commission has responded to Andrew Pope's complaint about three Southampton and Portsmouth MPs accepting a total of £30,000 from a convicted violent criminal, Shere Sattar. And the central Labour Party also accepting £10,000 from the same man. 

We checked the Electoral Commission's database and the register of interests of the MPs:

• Satvir Kaur, Labour MP for Southampton Test
• Stephen Morgan, Labour MP for Portsmouth South
• Amanda Martin, Labour MP for Portsmouth North

The total of £40,000 was originally reported by the Times and Independent national newspapers. And locally, the Daily Echo. Labour says it has paid it back. But where is the public evidence? 

 

Andrew Pope Reacts 

Co-founder of Southampton Independents and member of the Independent Network Andrew Pope says:

 

Andrew Pope in Millbrook, Southampton
Photo: Southampton Independents

  

"I cannot believe what I have just been told by the Electoral Commission today. Please see below for their response in full.

Not only can political parties accept donations from CRIMINALS, the Electoral Commission has no way of telling whether the political party has paid it back, even when the party claims that it has!

The Labour Party has made such claims - WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE? The evidence is there of the criminal's money going into their campaigns, but there is no public evidence that they have paid it back.

Are we just supposed to believe them, when they had already expelled him from the Labour Party two years before? 

I don't. Do you?"

 

Andrew Pope's Complaint to the Electoral Commission 

"Satvir Kaur has been shown by her Parliamentary register of interests to have accepted £10,000 from convicted violent criminal and Eastleigh Labour Councillor Shere Sattar. Sattar was convicted in 2022. He was expelled by the Labour Party. Yet in 2024, Kaur accepted the £10,000. It is in the Electoral Commission's database of funding. There is no evidence that she has paid the money back. There is also no evidence that the central Labour Party HQ has paid their money back. And there is also no evidence that Stephen Morgan MP nor Amanda Martin MP have paid their money back to Sattar either. Please advise whether there is any evidence of any of the £40,000 has been paid back to the criminal Sattar."

 

Electoral Commission Response 

"Dear Andrew,

 

Thank you for contacting the Electoral Commission. 

 

Regarding donations, there is no restriction on donors with criminal records donating to politicians. So long as the donor is permissible, parties, candidates and elected officials are allowed to accept donations from them.

 

In terms of whether we would know if any of this money had been returned, if someone returns a permissible donation then they don't have to report it to us, and as such we cannot confirm either way whether any of the money would have been returned. The law only requires permissible donations that have been accepted over the set threshold (£11,180 but in some cases £2,230), and all impermissible donations (over £500) to be reported."

Pope Launches Petition on How Southampton, the New Forest and South Hampshire Is Governed

Andrew Pope at Mansel Park, Southampton
Photo: Southampton Independents

Andrew Pope has launched a petition on how Southampton, the New Forest and South Hampshire is governed, amid forced reorganisations to councils and a forced Elected Mayor by Whitehall mandarins and the Labour Minister Steve Reed MP.

Both have been encouraged by successive Labour and Conservative governments to affect Hampshire, Somerset and other parts of England. Andrew says: 

"Join me to demand a referendum and encourage other residents to do the same to save themselves from democracy being watered down. 
The people, not political parties and not a bankrupt political system, should decide if we:
(a) want to change our councils and 
(b) if we want to have an Elected Mayor.

When I was in the Labour and Co-operative parties, I met Steve Reed MP before he was a Minister, and we spoke about whether he was on the light side or the dark side. I might be mentioning this to him."

The petition is on Change.org at the link here. 

Is our democracy safe from the political parties and Whitehall civil servants? 

No, so we have to stand up against it.

Please sign the petition. 

Democracy at risk, We need a democracy smoke detector
Photo: Southampton Independents

Labour-run Council Fails To Give Details of Councillors in Council Tax Arrears 10 Days Over 20 Day Legal Deadline

 

As we have reported, the Labour-run Southampton City Council failed to respond in time to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request over councillors in council tax arrears. It also failed to do so, given an extra week.

For transparency, we now publish the full request, and ask you to note that on Friday 3rd April 2026, it will be a full ten days after the 20 day legal deadline. 

Andrew Pope, who submitted the request, and has chased and only received apologies instead of the information, says:

 

Andrew Doing Safety Checks for Cyclists and Motorists in Redbridge
Photo: Andrew Pope

"What do you think about this?

Do you think that the Council might be trying to hide something?

Do you think they should be allowed to not respond?

Do you think that we should report them to the Information Commissioner's Office, who regulate FoIs?"

The full request reads:

"Please provide the following information.

1. All correspondence between officers, councillors and members of the public regarding any Southampton City councillors' non-payment of council tax and their inability to vote on council tax setting at the February 2025 Full Council that considered the Budget and associated matters.

   All correspondence should include all correspondence, meaning mobile phone calls, emails, letters, text messages and all social media including Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter.

2. The names of all councillors who did not pay council tax during the Municipal Year of 2024-25, the reasons they gave for non-payment, the amounts they were in arrears, how long they were in arrears, whether they paid up in full or partially, and whether they voted on the council tax setting and associated votes at the 2025 Budget Full Council that set council tax for 2025-26.

3. All actions the Council has taken against any councillor regarding non-payment of council tax, including but not limited to court action and the deduction of the council tax due from their councillor allowance.

4. The full details of councillors still in arrears from previous financial years, as in item 2 above."