Summer Edition Takes Out BID

Dearest Hampster,

The new front cover of the magazine is such a closely guarded secret that we won't be publishing it online until publication day. So here's the contents page of the summer edition which will feature a jaw-dropper of a story on the incredible extortion racket that is the Hampstead Village Business Improvement District Ltd.
I've no problem calling it an extortion racket, because that's exactly what it is. And any lawyer who wants to make a case out of that had better look the up word extortion in a dictionary before sending any nasty letters.
Legal or not, we always new the BID was dodgy, and now we've seen it's income and expenditure for 2018/19 and its projected books for 2019/20 we can report exactly how dodgy. And the answer is very dodgy indeed. 

The new Hampstead Village Voice will be out on the 1st of June 2019 and it pulls no punches.

Emmanuel 'Mustafa' Goldstein,
Editor in law suit (with dictionary).

WILLY TO REOPEN

by Emmanuel ‘Mustafa’ Goldstein 

On the 14th of March, just three days before the recent Camden/BID v James McGrath court hearing, Camden Council closed down Mr. McGrath’s pub, the King William IV, after a surprise health inspection. The council’s reason? Alleged Mice.
   Locals have confirmed that they've never once seen a mouse there and we concur.
   The timing of the closure – just two weeks after a story broke in the Hampstead Village Voice revealing the council offered the pub a £5k rates credit – £2k of which was to be ‘offset’ against a BID bill in order to vacate the court hearing was, to say the least, curious.
    It was to be a big weekend for the pub. The Six Nations, Cheltenham and, crucially for an 80-year-old Irish landlord, St. Patrick’s Day, all fell immediately after the Council’s enforced closure.
   Is it beyond the realm of possibility someone with a vested interest - pardon the pun - might have ratted to the council about these alleged mice?
   In any case, the pub has been thoroughly sanitised and reopens on Friday 22/03/19 after an enforced 8 day closure. And the Hampstead Village Voice says: Jimmy’s a local hero for fighting off these BID sheisters and standing up to the council.

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

CAMDEN COUNCIL | BID v KING WILLIAM TIMELINE

11/10/18: Camden | BID v King William Highbury Magistrates, first hearing: adjourned.   

17/11/18: Camden | BID v King William Highbury Magistrates, second hearing: adjourned.

05/02/19: Camden writes to King William IV offering pay pub £5k ‘rates credit’ and offset £2k to pay the BID and vacate court hearing.

06/02/19: King William IV’s counsel writes to Camden declining its generous offer.

01/03/19: Hampstead Village Voice breaks story on Camden’s attempt to pay rates credit and vacate court hearing.

14/03/19: Camden inspectors close the King William IV due to alleged ‘mouse infestation’.

17/03/19: Camden Council | BID v King William IV court hearing takes place. Adjourned.

21/03/19: King William IV reopens after an enforced 8 day closure.

29/04/19: New date for court hearing. 10am. Highbury Magistrates’ Court.

   

Emmanuel ‘Mustafa’ Goldstein

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.