Max / Website (25.4.08 14:34) Padmore twice in a week! Excellent. You just made me think that he should have his own radio chat-show really.

Lone Ranger (25.4.08 15:05) I saw the spreadsheet regarding councillors questions and wondered if it was an attempt to curtail democracy or to demonstrate the unquestionable loyalty of the largest group of councillors to their leader. Ignoring the chair there are 26 opposition councillors who each asked 1 question per monthly session compared to the 26 loyalists who asked a question once every 6 months.

Sue Luxton / Website (25.4.08 16:24) Does Stephen stand up to make his speeches at planning meetings as well then?! He could really do with a pulpit of course. Out of interest, does it bother you whether a cllr makes a speech at full council sitting down or standing up? Personally, I feel more comfortable sitting down, where I don't have to worry so much about shaking, dropping notes etc and I can concentrate on the content of what I am saying. I've also noticed that those who speak sitting down tend to be more succinct, which is generally a good thing

Andrew Brown / Website (26.4.08 14:19) Stephen is a force of nature. I think it took him 7 years to learn my name, and even then it was always touch and go whether he'd get it right. Nevertheless, I was always pleased to hear him speak, because he usually has an interesting point of view and of course he's fearless.

Andrew Milton (26.4.08 15:51) Sue To be honest, it's not so much whether people stand or sit to make speeches, and Stephen Padmore seems to fill a room whether sitting or standing. I was thinking of the constant barracking I got from one particular councillor while I was trying to ask supplementaries questions. Lone Ranger There was a definite attempt to intimidate opposition councillors into not asking questions by scaring us with the cost. But I'm not sure that representative democracy can ever claim to be cheaper than monarchy, whether that is hereditary or elected. In the long run, however, it makes better decisions. Discuss.

Andrew Milton (26.4.08 15:55) "supplementaries questions"? Oops! Adjective ending agrees with noun. Looks like I spent too many years doing Latin at school. Romanes Eunt Domus!

Lone Ranger (27.4.08 21:44) Is Cllr Padmore the one who at a council meeting described the residents of Telegraph Hill as socialists rampaging through the streets threatening people with their Guardian newspapers? As each council question is said to cost the same it does look the price has been plucked out of the air. How inefficent is the council that it costs £167 to be given the answer 'yes' when asking if Lewisham Clocktower can be illuminated or to be told the date Hither Green CPZ was due to begin.

Andrew Milton (28.4.08 02:26) I'm tempted to answer simply, at a cost of approx 6p, 'Yes' and 'Very'. For an extra 44p, I would add that having some experience of answering Parliamentary Questions in the course of my day job as a Faceless Bureaucrat, that if you take into account the ritual passing of the buck trying to find an official prepared to lead on answering the question, the panicked search for the relevant file, and senior officlals' time in re-drafting for correct political nuance and occasional statistical accuracy, £167 seems remarkably cheap.

Andrew Milton (28.4.08 02:40) And in relation to the allegations made against Cllr Padmore concerning statements about the use of copies of the Guardian for improper purposes, I refer the Anonymous Gentleman to the previous somewhat meteorological answer of former Cllr Andrew Brown. At an estimated cost of about 50 quid.

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