Local Government Ombudsman Watcher: Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year

The LGO

You may look to us for justice
because of trials you face
but often we don't have the power
we need to solve your case

And then our independence
may be compromised you see
- remember we have staff who are
ex council employees

So even if we take your case
you need to realise
we don't believe that council staff
are capable of lies

And even if your grievance
is proved in every way,
you ought to know we can't enforce
whatever we might say

So if you see the years roll by
at least you're not alone,
some have fought a decade
to prove what they had known

So when you choose the LGO
to fight the case for you
just be ready for the heartache
that we will put you through

(Copyright 2007 Anna Clyne)

Quotes

Real journalism consists of what someone doesn't want published, all the rest is public relations. [George Orwell]

"The statistics on complaints are that the Local Government Ombudsmen only report 1 out of every 100 cases as maladministration. Identify 99 other complainants, if they have already been stuffed by the Local Government Ombudsmen, then it's you, you are the lucky one." [Based on a quote by Rita Brown]

"None are so hopelessly enslaved, as investigators who falsely believe they are doing a good job. The truth has been kept from them by the Ombudsmen who rule them. They feed them on falsehoods till wrong looks like right in their eyes." [Based on a quote by Johann von Goethe]

If, like Local Government Ombudsmen, you remain impartial in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are impartial, the mouse will not appreciate your impartiality. [Based on a quote by Desmond Tutu]

"Let no one be discouraged by the belief that there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills -- against misery and ignorance, injustice and violence... Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation....It is from the numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man (or a woman) stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he (or she) sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." [Robert Kennedy]

"Laws can embody standards; governments can enforce laws--but the final task is not a task for government. It is a task for each and every one of us. Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted--when we tolerate what we know to be wrong--when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy, or too frightened--when we fail to speak up and speak out--we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice." [Robert Kennedy]

"Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity." [Lord Acton]

"Justice delayed is justice denied." [William Ewart Gladstone]

"Now more than ever before citizens are responsible for the character of the Ombudsman. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities in Ombudsmen."[Based on an original quote by James Garfield 1877]

"In the spider-web of facts, many a truth is strangled by the Ombudsman." [Based on a quote by Paul Eldridge]

"Facts are ventriloquist's dummies. Sitting on a wise man's knee they may be made to utter words of wisdom; on the Ombudsman's knee, they say nothing, or talk nonsense." [Based on a quote by Aldous Huxley]

Local Government Ombudsman Watcher

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Monday, December 19, 2011

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year

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