Cripes! I see Bertie Biggles over on Thanet Strife has been forced to scotch a rumour that the next Mayor of Margate was involved in a contretemps at the opening night of the new Rokka bar in the town last December.Tory but ex-Labour councillor (where have I heard that before?) Ted Watt-Ruffell was rumoured to have been involved in an argument at the door on the night, and to have threatened to make life difficult for Rokka after he was refused entry. Rokka subsequently had their licence called in, and were forced to shut for two weeks while they re-applied.
That a man 'claiming to be a councillor' turned up 'drunk and disorderly' and 'extremely abusive' is not in doubt, as the redoubtable Bertie has published a letter from the owner of Rokka, Nick Panteli, to Cllr W-R confirming the fact. Nor is the fact that this mysterious 'councillor' departed 'muttering there would be repercussions'. However, Mr Panteli goes on to explain:
After looking at our CCTV there did appear to be some resemblance however I was still not convinced. Having never met you, I decided to discuss the issue with Sandy Ezekiel, he assured me you were not in the area at the time, do not drink and that you are a strict Methodist. Sandy is a family friend held in high regard and his comments were enough to convince us that maybe we were indeed pointing the finger at the wrong man.
However it does appear your name has been tarnished by association and for this I offer our wholehearted apologies. It was never our intention to bring this into the public domain in this manner.
I can categorically state that I am satisfied that Councillor Watt-Ruffell had nothing to do with the sequence of events that transpired following the opening weekend of Rokka Margate and that he was not the gentleman who was refused entry.
So that clears that up then, thanks to a quick chat with Our Glorious Council Leader, who has himself been up before the Standards wallahs twice for, er, less than moderate behaviour!
For some reason, Bertie has disallowed comments on his item. But that doesn't mean you can't comment here (as long as you keep it clean and legal). For example, can anyone confirm that Cllr W-R is a teetotaller and a strict Methodist? Were you at Rokka on the opening night, and if so, what did you see? And if the mystery 'councillor' wasn't W-R, then who was it?
If this chap's going to be Mayor of Margate, I think we should be told!
56 comments:
I don't know what all the fuss is about, I think Cllr WR has a perfect fit with the local Tory party image.
Why would anyone try to pass themselves off as a councillor just to get a free drink?
If it wasn't a councillor how come the person in question appeared able to get the Licensing bods involved?
So if it wasn't Lord Truffle, who was it?
It was obviously Colonel Mustard in the Lounge with the Spanner.
But what did the Town CCTV record ?
It is apparently good enough to identify a man sufficiently well to establish alibi to rule him out as a murder suspect.
One would think it must be good enough to identify those refused entry to a club and blathering on about being a councillor.
"Convince us maybe" .... classic
Since Sandy is minded to clear the air concerning Tory Cllrs.
Is there any history of a tory cllr and a tory Mayor having arrest records for paramilitary activity ?
And can I expect a phone call from Billy Hayton intimating that if I want a political future in Thanet I should not ask such questions ?
No trying to reverse the charges Billy you little rascal eh ?
Strange that a doorman who worked for the same security man as Ruffles got his identity wrong
Sounds like Sandy's ideal candidate.
"Having never met you, I decided to discuss the issue with Sandy Ezekiel, he assured me that you (T.W-R)were not in the area at the tim."
Great to have your Council Leader as a rent an alibi!
Sounds more like something from the Godfather, or the Sopranos!
If there is an errant councillor out there trying to blag entrance using their position, and then threatening reprisals ( licencing etc) then I hope that our Leader is doing his best to discover who this person is!
It can't be difficult, if the CCTV is so good as to not be Ted Watt-Ruffell, then they must have a suspect!
Is it not just a little strange that this gushing apology is dated the 17th April when the alleged incident happened in December?
It could not have been written with the Mayoral election taking place ten days later in mind; could it?
It certainly would stop anyone from raising awkward questions if an answer has already been constructed.
But surely not.
I must imagine that the Charter Trustees, and many function hosts are delighted with the choice of Mayor, if they are only going to have to give him, Cllr Watt-Ruffell, soft drinks; as, according to the Leader of the Council no less, Cllr Watt-Ruffell, 'Does not drink, and is a strict Methodist'.
With the occasional function in the presence of the assembled ranks of the press and members of the public, I'm sure that all eyes will be on the contents of the Mayoral glass!
Oh dear what a lot of sad people whose sole aim in life is to discredit honest people. Clle WR has been totally cleared by ROKKO owner who do all the cretins think they are,wanting to kick an innocent man,This is Labour spin at his worst and you need look no further than a certain lady Cllr in Margate wh seems obsessed with trying to condemn an innocent man
Ted is a clever politician
can we just gather up all these sad sack politicians and dump them on an island somewhere a long way from this one...they really are an absolute shower.
imbeciles from both"gangs"have done nothing but ruin this place for decades and now theyre using their power and influence(pppfffttt) trying to get into pubs for nowt!! swanning around like a bunch of Z list slebs..dont remember Mortlock and her cronies trying to bust their way into the ace of clubs back in the day..must be all that "cafe cullture" gone to their Eads
"your names not down yer not comin in"...
"..a teetotaller and strict Methodist.."
I suppose a gatecrasher with a religious turn of mind might have thought that he had found the Rokka Ages.
Thank you 8.00pm.
Let us not forget the business of some unpaid fines which led to Cllr Ruffell resigning from the Labour Party before his phoenix like re-invention as Watt-Ruffell, Tory champion!
9.04, for your information, Ted is a politician...!
Clever would not be his strongpoint. He would not have left such a trail of grief behind him if he was clever!
And it would appear, that there are people in Thanet who can remember things that happened before last week!
One has to wonder why the Tory Leader of the Council holds a Labour Turncoat in such esteem.
Normally, you hold a turncoat at arms length, wondering why they jumped ship from one party to another.
But as Cllr Watt-ruffell was Chief of Security looking after the Dreamland site, you suddenly wonder if our 'Beloved' Sandy's friends, Hilton, Godden and Thorley; were wanting things to be ' sorted' at the Dreamland site.
Over the years, many unfortunate incidents have happened on Ruffells watch.
That is only Royle and Probe Security. If you go back further, oh, a required to resign?
Good move Sandy, surround yourself with; what!
Something really stinks here; and I think it is the stench of deceit coming from the North Thanet Conservetives.
A Councillor is expelled and de-selected by Labour for dishonesty, and welcomed with open arms by the Tories?
How can a lifetime Socialist suddenly be Chair of the local Tory party within five years of his change of heart?
And Left Wing Chair of Planning suddenly leaves his lifelong party of conviction, to become a Tory Councillor, and Chair of Planning?
In the rest of the country you do get the occasional person who changes side; but nowhere are they then elevated to such prestigious positions of power.
Except in down in the dumps Thanet.
You could hope that someone with some integrity would appear to save us from this debacle. But it would appear that they are all totally in awe of their Council Leader; or are too spineless to do anything that might be called honourable!
Ah but you wait until the true cost of the last outing to the 'not the standards board' by our "Sandy" and the true costs to the tax payer. Just think how much the letters cost to be written for Deputy Rodg and Sandy cost by the outside legal team paid for by TDC at our expense.
By my reckoning our "Sandy" has been reported three time or more?
What not ruffled , what not ruffled oh no...what ruffle!!!
It wouldn't be so bad if they had a brain cell to share between them.
You could always lend them yours, 9:58, as you don't appear to be using it!
dear richard
clr ted watt-ruffell is a baptist and goes to margate baptist church
cecil sq margate
i have the stones readly to give to
give to anyone who would like to cast the 1st but only those without sin we can meet at 12 15 outside the church
not only has ted changed sides to the con he also changed his faith seven years ago please remember he has a wife and a 20mth old little boy both the above have nothing to do with teds public life
god bless you all
Hey, 11-32, thanks for the new ammo!
hey 12 16 eastcliffe richard ask for facts
you have the facts but you sad people still go on and on
to support his statement
god bless you 12.16
Dear anonymous,
I'll be outside Margate baptist church at 12:15 on Sunday and I'll bring my stones.
so he changed his faith to which seven years ago; baptist as stated by the anonymus 11-32, or methodist as described by the leader of the council?
there is a difference.
Lets check Mr Nicholsons private life???
I think the correct term should be 'he's changed his denomination' unless he's previously been of another, non-Christian faith.
I can't see the relevance of whether or not he's Baptist or Methodist except that both those denominations tend to be teetotal.
Sounds a bit like Jonathan Aitken, discovering Jesus when they have been caught out.
Anyway Ted, will the people at the off licence where you worked be get their getting their money back now you have found Jesus.
Strange that councillor Ted is being knocked for something he didn't do, and yet the labour councillors are ignoring the intimidation and bullying of the charter trustee secretary by councillor Clark. Which the other charter trustees had to apologise for, and for which none of them pitched up or have ever apologised for. Why doesn't someone get a copy of that letter, or the one telling Clark not to pitch up without notice, or the one telling Johnson to stop sending E-mails referring to the grievance to the secretary. Or is it because the secretary is Ezekiels wife and so doesn't matter.
Sounds like a bit of hypocracy going on here. But the low don't come much lower that Labour as the stuff going on at No.10 proves.
If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find him, maybe you can hire... The E-Team.
All your drunken moments will be made to disappear, together with the incriminating CCTV footage.
And do not worry, Iris will be made to disappear with a well timed letter!
So the word on the street is that there may be challange to the glorious Ezekiel this week!
But, turncoats are in the stirring ranks, with turncoat Gregory about to turn on his leader as long as he can be appointed deputy leader!
It must be accepted that being deputy leader is more of a money earner than being chair of planning!
Thanet is so grateful to have such a money grubbing bunch looking after their interests.
I am sure that turncoat Gregory told people that he would stand against Ezekiel as long as he was nominated deputy leader is only a blogging lie!
I'm sure that turncoat Gregory would not think of challanging his leader seeing as his leader has enough to put him ( Gregory) away for a very long time!
There is an open question at the end here for Ted
Anonymous 1.45 and 1.54. If you're going to reply to another blogger at least check your spelling.
Using 'challanging' twice indicates you are the same person.
I wasn't involved in no fracas outside no night-club and I'll fight anyone who dares to suggest I was.
you sad people stop setting this cllr up with comments like 9.42
You keep calling people sad, god-botherer, but don't sound paticularly happy yourself!
ECR this is really showing the roughest of the tories at their best, makes me scared to think how they ever got elected and certainly i hope makes sure they wont again surely?
Please let the chairman of the Conservative thanet north and south for councillor selection see some of this rubbish to make sure he chooses more of the likes of Jarvis, Moores etc and not Ruffell, Day etc i am ashamed to be a Conservative to read this drivel and threats!
It's such a pity that, as a 'man in the street', I have no power to get rid of this lot before 2011. I don't live in the Thanet Villages ward so can't register a protest by voting for an anti-Tory candidate.
Incidentally, does anyone know who the Tory is for that by-election? I understand Labour have picked a candidate but I know nothing of any others who have chucked their hats into the ring.
Oi, ECR are you letting our Sandy take on the mantle of "Sister Assumpta"
I wonder if TDC will admonish the sins of the pigs at the common trough or is that D hatari just crackling through the ether?
As a lifelong Conservative I feel that I do not have a candidate in my ward that I could place any trust in. There are some good people in the party but my ward is about as bad as it can get. I would love to be able to support the party that I feel akin to but at the next local elections I think I will be unable to place a cross in any box.
testing
That is a horrible picture; the way he has his arms makes it look like he is chained to something!
The cruellest part of your critique is it is all true.
Chained to his master no doubt!
He certainly owes his master a huge one for bailing him out of this mess.
And I am sure that the Godfather will make his requirements known, when it is time for T W-R to make good on his dept!
I would have left this on BB's TS blog but as comments are disabled...
This story is a great example of you bloggers getting all wound up and printing a load of half-truths and bullsh*t.
If you were a paper you'd get sued.
If you people are going to blog, then do it responsibly.
AT NATIONAL LEVEL:-
We Have a UK Parliament;
we have a Scottish Parliament;
we have a Welsh Assembly;
we have a N.Irish Assembly.
BUT NO PARLIAMENT FOR ENGLAND!
AT THANET LEVEL:-
We've a Thanet District Council;
we've a Broadstairs Town Council;
we've a Ramsgate Town Council;
we've a Birchington Parish Council
BUT NO TOWN COUNCIL FOR MARGATE!
I feel that it is rather unfair that the people of ENGLAND and MARGATE seem to be treated as second class citizens, we deserve the same representation as someone living in Wales or Ramsgate!
As a resident of the Town, I would not vote for a town council, after seeing the cost of Ramsgate, keep my rates down, if you want a town council ...move!!
As a resident of the England, I would not vote for the same rights as the Scot's etc, after seeing the cost of their democracy, keep my tax down, if you want fair treatment ...move to Scotland!!
Why not save even more money and forget democracy altogether ...move to China!!
Thank you the TDC employees for changing the topic and having a go at bloggers.
As with all these things, the truth will come out eventually, and then the bloggers can have the last laugh.
If your looking for half truths 12.04, I suggest you carefully read the letter printed on Thanetstrife.
Those who actually know some of the people concerned will know exactly which are the truths, and which are the damage limiting lies.
Thanet Councillors have created a Thanet in which Ramsgate and Broadstairs each have their own Town Councils.
Why refuse to give any such recognition to Margate?
It is a great injustice to the people of Margate.
Margate can have its own Council. All you have to do is to organise a referendum. Presumably there is someone in Margate who is capable of doing this? If not, I would suggest you aren't really ready to form your own Council.
The good thing about Margate having a Council would be that we could then disband the useless TDC. Each town could be run by its own Council.
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