WILLY’S LANDLORD: “I’D RATHER GO TO PRISON THAN PAY THE BID.”

This is the third occasion on which 80-year-old Jimmy McGrath, landlord of the King William IV has been dragged to Highbury Magistrates’ court and it won’t be the last.
   He refuses to pay Hampstead Village BID Ltd's 'levy' on principle and is being seen by many businesses as a local hero - a martyr to the cause. He's certainly taking one for the team.
   But the reason he might well win this case isn’t because the BID extorts money from the 70% of Hampstead businesses, schools and charities who didn’t vote for it; nor that Camden Council acts as debt enforcer for the private limited company – nor even that several businesses have complained of being repeatedly coerced and harassed by the BID’s unapologetic management.
    These certainly are just some of the reasons he and an increasing number of 'hereditaments' – as the BID likes to call them – do not wish to pay it, and why on Monday the 17th of March 2019, he told the court: “I’d rather go to jail than pay the BID”.
   District Judge Julia Newton couldn’t quite believe her ears: ‘I’m sorry Mr. McGrath, I couldn’t quite hear what you said. Could you please repeat it?’ Mr. McGrath did so unashamedly. “I’d rather go to jail than pay the BID.” It was quite a moment.
   More eyebrows were raised too when, after nearly an hour of cross-examination, and already having read various documents, Camden’s tax officer, Charles Quick, admitted he couldn’t read the date on a document in front of him because he’d forgotten to bring his glasses. 
   But Mr. Griffiths was more interested in Camden's three-man legal team forgetting to bring along a crucial piece of evidence than their spectacles. The document in question? A legally binding information ‘insert’ sent out with all 241 BID invoices.
   Before long the QC was to reveal, what might well be, the killer blow for Hampstead Village BID Ltd...

If you’d like to read the rest of the report and help support the Hampstead Village Voice, please feel free to join www.patreon.com/hampstead from only £2 a month.

Sorry darlings, no more Mr. Nice Guy. Writers have bills too!

Emmanuel 'Mustafa' Goldstein
Editor in public gallery.

VOICE LOSES STRIPES OVER ZEBRA?

Well, we can't always get it right.
   
Both the printed front page and cover story became something of an 'historical document' before they even reached the shops – and this only a day after I proudly told Robert Elms on BBC London Radio: "we have an advantage over the Ham & High and Camden New Journal because we're quarterly so can take our time over getting story's right..." Well that backfired a bit, didn't it. D'uH!

   What you see above is up-dated online version of the Springo edition's front cover - below the updated cover story. This unavoidable mishap all happened due to Camden and TfL changing their minds on the zebra's fate after we'd gone to press. And, despite repeated requests the previous week, they neglected to tell us about it. 

   In any case, the zebra is saved and the printed version has become a 'must have historical document' before it even hits the shelves. Nonetheless, the whole point being to save the zebra and, having campaigned so hard to do so, the Hampstead Village Voice is more than happy to take this one for the team!

Long live the zebra! Down with the Toucan! Pelican? Traffic lights? Whateva!

Emmanuel 'Mustafa' Goldstein.
Editor in Abbey Road.

Below: the updated on line story. For the 'must have historical document' go to your local newsagent on the 28th of February 2019.

Editor Gets Scrunched by BID Chairman.

The Autumn Edition 2018

Albeit the autumn issue focusses mainly on rubbish of the Veolese variety, there are also two exceptionally feisty reports on the Hampstead Village BID Ltd which, were you to ask local businesses what they thought of it, they'd almost certainly answer 'Rubbish!' 

   Well, at least 70% would. We know this because a) despite grandiose claims from Camden Cllr. Richard Olszewski in the Ham&Eggs that "a majority of businesses" voted for the thing, in reality only 30% of the eligible 243 businesses actually did and b) we conducted a poll of 100 businesses which resulted in over 75% being vehemently against the thing. And when I say vehemently, I mean as in Gauls versus Romans. So we can't wait for the next ballot now everyone knows what it does... or rather doesn't do.

   You see, the main story in the current edition is about how a) the BID's chairman violently scrunched this magazine's editor's hand and phone in Back Lane last June and b) the whole BID thing is an utterly pointless exercise. Unless of course you're the BID's CEO who receives a stipend of up to £40k a year. What the chairman gets out of it other than getting to physically abuse local rag editors or going down in everyone's estimation is anyone's guess. Read on...

   

Toodle Pip! 

Emmanuel 'Mustafa' Goldstein.

Editor (bruised).

The follow up story, which is almost certainly twice as good, is in the Hampstead Village Voice, at newsagents and splendid bookshops now for £2.

Awfully Sorry. Forgot All About This Blog.

The Summer Edition is still in the shops...

Howdy Hampsters,

Sorry! I actually forgot all about this blog thing and so neglected to report on arguably our best ever edition of the Hampstead Village Voice, still in newsagents now. 

   What with my band Ridiculous playing its debut gig at the Dublin Castle in June, the completion of my book The Joy of Addiction in July and all the legwork that accompanies said projects – not to mention getting the summer edition out – the blog has slipped down the old priority list somewhat.

   And there was that Giles Coren purple patch in which your man got Rupert Murdoch to pay for our dinners at Café Hampstead and we both gleefully reviewed the restaurant. Giles in the The Times and moi in the Hampstead Village Voice. Happily, I also coaxed the Coren into writing the Forward to my book. Now all I need is a literary agent and a publisher. S'ppose I'll have to make some sort of effort to go and get one.

  Equally happily, Mr. Coren sang the praises of your favourite local satirical rag in his piece so, seeing as it's raining, I'll stick a scanned version up here for the weekend in case you missed it. 

   He called my piece a "jolly read" and as usual his is too.

Viva Hampstonia and toodle Pip!

Emmanuel 'Mustafa' Goldstein.

Ed/singer/author/tea person.

Gilesy baby does a little Hampy Voice service and writes a jolly piece.
Zoom in to read...

Note to Rupert Murdoch: to sue for copyright infringement, please send a postcard to: 

Emmanuel 'Mustafa' Goldstein, 

1 London Bridge Place London SE1 9GF. 

The Spring Edition Takes No Prisoners

The spring edition has a real humdinger of a cover story that exposes the Hampstead Village BID Ltd for forcing a much loved, state-funded institution into paying its gratuitous levy. Worse still, the BID forces the council to force this state funded institution into paying it. The Spy calls for an end to this nonsense and a change to the legislation that allows it.
   Yet more of a coup, we welcome broadcaster, former MP and top writer Martin Bell as a regular columnist and he'll be sharing with us his most original View From The Burb. 
   And there's a rather special interview with song writing legend Ken Howard who penned songs for Elvis, wrote a BBC play about John Lennon and, rather handilly, lives downstairs from Hampstead Village Voice editor Emmanuel 'Mustafa' Goldstein. 
   We've top stories from renowned writers Red Szell and Charles Harris and there's the latest goss on Ye Old White Bear, Burgh House, The Ladies' Pond and Hampstead's splendid new jazz venue, Hampstead Lounge & Jazz Club.
   Mr. Goldstein indulges in a new column called Corporate Watchdog in which he exposes the deserving household names of corporate Britain with an iron fist: AA Home Insurance? You're Better Off With The Burglars pretty much does what it says on the packet.
   With Klaus von Kunst rounding up the Arts scene, Carla Le Pond Antoinette deciphering transgender politik and the Ministry of Silly Names on page something or other... it's the issue that will have you wrapped in an enigma in a riddle in a mystery.

Viva Hampstonia and Toodle pip!

Emmanuel 'Mustafa' Goldstein.
Ed.

A Ghastly Hampstead Cosa Nostra?

Click on the story below and zoom in to read it.

I don't usually publish articles in the current edition of the Hampstead Village Voice online. After all, our struggling local newsagents need to make enough dosh to meet their bills. What they don't need is a sordid little mafia bullying them, breathing down their necks and forcing them to pay up wads of money when they don't want to. This is exactly what a company called Hampstead Village BID Ltd is doing. Worse still, this private limited company has somehow managed to use Camden's electoral system to win a rather dubious ballot, then recruit Scamden Council to act as its summons-wielding debt collector. It's all quite unspeakable. 

   There's also another story about all this in the FINANCIAL CRIMES section of the Autumn edition, but you'll have to go to a newsagent and spend a whole £2.50 to read it. Yet, unlike the BID Ltd, we are not forcing you to part with your money against your will. Read on and share so that businesses and general public alike might be made aware of this thoroughly despicable practice.

Toodle Pip and do we not like bullies!

Emmanuel 'Mustafa' Goldstein.
Editor in hot pants.
PS. If you own a Hampstead business, have fallen victim to this reprehensible little mafia and want to be rid of it, you can email: goodbyebid@outlook.com where a band of like-minded businesses are getting together to fight it off.

TAKE A DEEP BREATH... OR DON'T

By Emmanuel 'Mustafa' Goldstein.

Pollution is the issue of the day, so pages 1 and 7 address it. I've actually taken to escaping London at every opportunity because coughing my lungs out is not what I signed up to when I was accidentally born in Islington then moved to Well Walk, aged one. Having been demoted to Arkwright Rd, the epicentre of that ridiculous school-run, well, it's positively Chokestead around here.

   

Ah, the Joy of Gridlock! Even the Heath seems to be overrun with parky-tractor-traffic these days. And if we can't even go on the Heath without a diesel exhaust in our faces then, yes, society has completely lost the plot. 

   

It's one reason I'm encouraging people to vote for Tulip Siddiq (Lab) in this last-minute General Election: her opponent, Claire-Louise Leyland (Con) foolishly voted in favour of the Heath Dams and, in-so-doing, has placed herself firmly in that room, for which there is no key - because surely all true Heath loving Hampsteadites will have chucked it into the Ladies' Pond.

Talking of the Ladies Pond, one of its regulars Karla Le Pond Antoinette will be joining me on this blog from this day forth. Indeed, all being well, she'll probably completely colonise it. We need doers in this movement (Brian) and let's be honest, I've been neglecting my blogging duties of late. You may know Madame Antoinette from our Pond Life page and it cannot be a bad thing to have a little more feminine energy flowing through the Hampstead Village Voice's veins. 

The new edition is in the shops and, befitting it's 10 year anniversary status, it's bigger and better than ever. But oh no! It now costs £2.50... then again, surely we're allowed to put the price up every ten years.

Viva Hampstonia and Toodle Pip!

Emmanuel 'Mustafa' Goldstein,

Editor voting for Tulip Siddiq.