EXCLUSIVE: CRIMINAL MONEY - Local Labour MPs Provide No Evidence of Paying £30,000 Back to CONVICTED CRIMINAL When We Asked - Corruption Is Out of Hand

 

Our Labour Highwayman Graphic That Labour Hates

Southampton Labour

We reported that Southampton Test Labour MP Satvir Kaur accepted £10,000 from convicted criminal and expelled Eastleigh Labour Town Councillor Shere Sattar.

 

Satvir Kaur, Southampton Labour MP for Southampton Test
Photo: UK Parliament under CC Licence

Kaur was asked to provide evidence that the £10,000 had been paid back.

No response has been received. We know that our email was received.

No evidence of paying the money back has been provided, despite being given over a fortnight to respond.

Portsmouth Labour

Stephen Morgan, Labour MP for Portsmouth South was also contacted. No evidence has been received and no response has been received. We know the email was received.

Amanda Martin, Labour MP for Portsmouth North was also contacted. Again, no evidence and no response. We know the email was received.

 

Regulator of Party Funding Confirms Criminals Can Give Money 

A reminder that we asked the Electoral Commission some questions about criminal money. They regulate party funding, but can only do so according to what Parliament and MPs decide what powers to give them and what resources and money to give them.

The Commission confirmed that political parties can accept money from criminals.

 

Broken Political System and Labour Councillors Repeatedly Bringing the Council Into Disrepute

Anti-corruption candidate for Redbridge ward on Southampton City Council, Andrew Pope, says:

Andrew Pope, Co-Founder of Southampton Independents
Photo: Southampton Independents (DW)

"As a member of the Independent Network, I subscribe to the Martin Bell principles. I have met Martin Bell via the Independent Network.

Martin Bell stood for Parliament against Tory and Cabinet Member Neil Hamilton and his wife when Hamilton was accused and then found guilty of corruption and bribery from the disgraced Mohamed Al-Fayed, in the cash-for-questions scandal. Fayed is now being accused of more crimes, although he is now dead.

And Martin won the seat as an independent.

I am investigating and exposing wrongdoing, and have been for a long time, whether I was in the Labour Party or after I quit Labour in disgust in 2015 because of Labour's wrongdoing to the people of Redbridge that I care about. 

I asked for investigations into Labour councillors when I was in the Labour Group. I was the Deputy Whip, but the Chief Whip Labour Councillor Cathie McEwing did not investigate disgraced Leader of the Council Richard Williams and did not investigate sacked Redbridge Ward Councillor Lee Whitbread when I raised complaints when still a Labour Councillor.

Neither did Southampton Labour officials - I told them though! And look what happened to both Williams and Whitbread! I also complained about Labour Councillor and former Tory Mike Denness, and he has just stood down after much controversy. I raised these complaints when in Labour, and when an Independent. And ever since.

Southampton Labour councillors have repeatedly brought the Council and the role of Councillor into disrepute. That's why I quit Labour to become an Independent. Eleven years later, I am still an Independent. 

And now, having brought the Council to its knees as Cabinet Member and Leader, Satvir Kaur is bringing the role of MP into disrepute. Her. the Portsmouth MPs and Central Labour Party HQ took £40,000 in total from Sattar. So far, no evidence of paying it back. They've been asked.

I campaigned for Southampton City Council to do criminal records checks (DBS) for councillors. It beggars belief that they stopped doing them. But still, two-thirds won't have been checked. It's wrong. How do we know that councillors themselves do not have a criminal record, or have obtained one while serving as a councillor? We don't.

The two party political system is broken. How can it be that criminals can donate to political parties and that it is not mandatory by law for DBS checks? Labour and Tory MPs decided the law for this and fixed the political system to favour them, instead of the people of our City. Labour have allowed it, and allowed the corruption to thrive."

 

Yougov Survey - Public Confidence in Police At Record Lows But Local Tory Police Boss Thinks Otherwise

 

Standing Up for You

by Andrew D Pope, 20th March 2023

The majority of the public have no confidence or not very much confidence in the Police, new data from survey company Yougov has shown.

Yet the Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones thinks the opposite. Only last week, we exclusively revealed her answers to our questions about this very topic. She said:

Donna Jones Election Leaflet May 2021

"I have not seen a dip in trust & confidence of local officers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary"

Residents have since got in touch with us to disagree with Ms Jones. They thought that her claims were laughable. Ms Jones was elected almost two years ago as PCC for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, the area for which she was the Conservative Party candidate. 

Decrease in Confidence Proved By Yougov Surveys

We asked Ms Jones these questions due to concerns raised by lots of people in Southampton, over years, about their decreasing confidence in the Police and the increasing number of media stories about the misconduct of Police.

And it is not just in Southampton. Nationally, Yougov have shown a decrease in confidence.

Confidence in the Police has dropped by 10%

From the graph, you can see that confidence in the Police has dropped in less than two years.

The proportion of people who had a lot of or fair amount of confidence has dropped by 10%.

And in the opposite direction, 10% more people had not very much or no confidence.

The Detail of the Drop in Confidence in Police

Every month, Yougov surveys a representative sample of the country's population, approximately 1,700 adults. In the 6th March 2023 data, they found that:

• The majority of the public have either no confidence (17%) or not very much confidence in the Police (37%) - giving a total for the majority of 54% of people
  
• the lowest proportion of the people surveyed since July 2019 had a fair amount of confidence (34%) 
• the proportion of people with a lot of confidence in the Police was 4%
• 8% of people did not know when asked.
  

When Ms Jones was elected in May 2021, the respective figures were:

• 10% and 34% have no or not very confidence - giving a total of 44% then versus 54% now
  
• 43% had fair confidence - versus 34% now
  
• 5% had a lot of confidence - little change
  
• 10% of people did not know - little change
  

So during Ms Jones' reign over two years, confidence in the Police has decreased significantly.

So unless Ms Jones has evidence that the people of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight think differently to the rest of the country, her assertion is wrong. We have asked Ms Jones for evidence to support her claim.

EDIT: 21st March 2023 Updated with graph to make the changes clearer.

Holding Power To Account

EXCLUSIVE: Hampshire Police and Crime Boss Denies Public Loss of Trust in the Police - Do You Agree With Her?

 

Donna Jones Election Promises from May 2021

"I have not seen a dip in trust & confidence of local officers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary" says Donna Jones, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC)

"People sort things out for themselves around here."  said two police officers, outside a Southampton Police Station.

Elected to Represent The Public - But Has She?

Do you agree with Ms Jones? We would say that it is unlikely. 

The PCC is there to represent the public. Well, that's the theory anyway. 

But is Ms Jones representing you? Has she kept her promises from before she was elected as the Conservative Candidate?

Policing Before, During and After the Pandemic

What we have picked up from the public over many years of listening to them is that they feel let down by the Police. People feel that when they needed the Police, that they were not there. 

Many of the words that were used by the public in relation to the performance of the Police are not repeatable without asterisks. And trust us - we know, because we spent a lot of time listening to them. 

The most shocking thing we ever heard though was from a pair of Southampton Police Community Support Officers, literally outside a Police Station in Southampton. We told them what people thought of the Police from our doorstep conversations and from public meetings:

"People sort things out for themselves around here." the PCSOs said.

Yes, really. Are you surprised? Are you disappointed?

That was before the Pandemic. 

The negative perceptions of the Police got worse during and after the Pandemic. 

And since then, the public feel that they cannot even trust the Police. Worse than that, some people feel that the Police themselves are a danger to the public, with many high-profile examples - and not just in the Metropolitan Police as claimed by Ms Jones in her response, which you can see below. 

Would you agree with those other members of the public and their concerns over the Police?

Holding Elected Representatives To Account

So Southampton Independents stands up for residents and so we submitted questions to Ms Jones, having listened to the concerns of the public and following the recent revelations in Ms Jones' own report to the Police and Crime Panel. 

Not Just One Bad Apple...

It was revealed in Ms Jones' report to the Panel over the investigations into Police officers, based on the figures from Hampshire Constabulary:

"23 Police Officers were currently under investigation, facing allegations of sexual impropriety and/or domestic abuse were suspended on full pay from the Constabulary."

The Panel, which mainly consists of Westminster party-based councillors, is supposed to hold the PCC to account, outside of elections. Well, that's the theory. Have you even heard of the Police and Crime Panel? We doubt it.

Some people have tried to suggest that it is just "one bad apple". That is not the case, simply from the above but it is added to by the following concerning facts.

We already knew about the misconduct hearings published by Hampshire Constabulary on their website. Did you know about these? These are only the ones who have been caught. How many more are there? The suggestion by Ms Jones that it is just the Metropolitan Police is misinformation and misdirection.

And the lack of trust in the Police is even more concerning when Hampshire Local Democracy Reporter Natalie Ferero reported recently that:

"Nearly all formal allegations against Hampshire Constabulary officers resulted in no misconduct action last year. Of the 1,938 allegations made and considered formally, 1,867 (96 per cent) resulted in no action being required against the police officers involved."

So you can see that is not just "one bad apple". This is not to say that there are not good officers. There are. But trust is undermined when there are high numbers of high profile cases when trust was already low before the Pandemic. And the numbers are too high, surely?

PCC Does Not Answer Most of Our Questions

Ms Jones failed to answer most of our questions on behalf of the public, preferring to throw the questions over the fence to Hampshire Constabulary. The full questions and answers (and non-answers) written by former Southampton councillor and now NCTJ-trained journalist Andrew Pope, via Southampton Independents, are below.

Former Southampton Councillor Andrew Pope

 

Is Donna Jones Making Hampshire Safer?

Ms Jones was elected in May 2021 to the role of PCC. Her election promises (see image above taken from her own campaign website) were made under the headline "My Plan to make Hampshire & IOW Safer" and were:

1. 600 more police on the beat
2. An open and accountable force
3. Use new technology to combat rural crime
4. Community contact points throughout the county
5. Crack down on knife crime
6. Stop crime before it happens

Do you think that Ms Jones has kept her promises?

What do you think of the Police?

Do you think trust in the Police has gone down, up or stayed the same?

Get in touch to let us know your views - contact details are here.

 

Questions to Donna Jones from Southampton Independents

"1. How can the public trust Hampshire Police, and give consent to the Police, when so many Police themselves clearly cannot be trusted?

I believe police officers can & should be trusted and we have thousands of police officers & staff who uphold the highest of standards. Trust & confidence in the MET police has been damaged following recent high profile national cases concerning the conduct of police officers, however I have not seen a dip in trust & confidence of local officers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary.

 

2. What have you done to regain trust of the public in the Police and what evidence do you have that your measures have actually increased trust?

I haven’t seen a need to regain trust as there hasn’t been a decline in trust & confidence in the police force here in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

 

3. Why is the number of officers under investigation so high?

Please contact Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary for this information in relation to their staff.

 

4. How many officers have been formally disciplined since you became PCC? And why?

Please contact Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary for this information in relation to their staff.

 

5. How many officers have been dismissed since you became PCC? And why?

Please contact Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary for this information in relation to their staff.

 

6. Why and how is it that 96% of allegations resulted in no action, as reported by Ms Ferero?

Please contact Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary for this information in relation to their staff."

 

Updated: Stop the Violence!

Above is the letter on the recent violence towards buses and taxis in Redbridge. It was printed in the Daily Echo on 27th September 2016.

The original text is below for your convenience:

"I am disappointed to hear of mindless violence from a tiny minority towards buses, taxis and people in the Redbridge ward of Southampton that I am proud to represent and live in.
This has happened before and with the community's help, we have dealt with it before.
I met with the bus companies and Police on Friday. 
I told them that I won't stand for a tiny minority ruining life for the majority of residents in our wonderful area. I told them that I would wholeheartedly assist to stop the culprits.
You should notice an increased Police presence in the area, and on buses. It is extremely important that residents work together with me as their local councillor, the bus companies and the Police. 
If you have any information, please tell Redbridge Independents via our Hampshire Red blog (http://hampshirered.blogspot.com), tell the Police on 101, or contact Crimestoppers at https://crimestoppers-uk.org/ or on 0800 555 111.
Thanks,Councillor Andrew PopeMillbrook, Redbridge and Maybush Independents"

Hampshire Police have posted this on their website.