Barnet council leader Richard Cornelius has kicked up a fuss about the way he was portrayed in the documentary A Tale of Two Barnets.

The film features people affected by service cuts and increased charges in the borough. Cornelius agreed to be interviewed for it.

I’ve seen the film and think Cornelius would be better off shutting up and moving on. The film is certainly problematic for the council, in the sense that it features interviews with people whose lives have been made extremely difficult by council cuts and charges, but so what. That’s Cornelius’ problem. If he wants to be leader of a council which cuts services to vulnerable people, introduces parking charges that are killing trade and local businesses and pursues badly-thought-out outsourcing projects against advice – well, he needs to step up to the plate and take responsibility for the fact that people don’t like what his administration is doing. Anyone trying to justify the destruction of public services on Barnet’s scale is bound to look ridiculous.

Anyway – here’s a press release written by the film’s director and producer in response to some of Cornelius’ complaints. There’s a list of upcoming screenings at the end of it:

Following comments made to the Barnet Press Newspaper concerning A Tale of Two Barnets, film Director Charles Honderick and Producer Roger Tichborne issued the following statement.

“We are disappointed to see that Councillor Richard Cornelius has implied that there was a breach of trust involved in the way the film portrayed him. As per the agreement to appear, the filmmakers provided a list of questions prior to the film. During the interviews, Charles Honderick stopped the camera several times to clarify matters, which were not covered. As with all other interviews, the director condensed an 8 minute interview into approx 1 minute.

This is a perfectly normal part of filmmaking. The Council leader and the chief executive were offered the opportunity to see the film prior to the release, which would have allowed for concerns to be aired in private. This offer was not taken up. The interviews were conducted in the presence of a Barnet Council press officer. The film makers also offered the Council the opportunity to have the entire footage to use as they see fit. Again this offer was not taken up.

The filmmakers wish to thank the Leader of the Council and the CEO Nick Walkley for their participation. To ensure that there can be no further suggestions from the Council about the interviews, we have uploaded the full interviews with the Leader of the Council Richard Cornelius and the CEO Nick Walkley onto the film website. We urge everyone who is interested to watch these interviews and then form their own opinions. The URL for this is

http://ataleoftwobarnets.yolasite.com/gallery-and-trailers.php

We sincerely hope that this is the end of the matter.”

Further screenings have been arranged, with more to follow (please check website) –

Tuesday 27th March – 7-9 pm,

St. John’s Church, Somerset / Mowbray Roads,
New Barnet,
EN5 1R

Wednesday 28th March 1-2 PM
New Barnet Community Centre,
48/50 Victoria road,
New Barnet, EN4 9PF

Wednesday 28 March – 7 pm
Greek Cypriot Community Centre
2 Britannia Road,
North Finchley,
London,
N12 9RU ‎

Tuesday 3rd April – 7:30 pm
Larches House,
1 Rectory Lane,
Edgware,
Middlesex,
HA8 7LF

Wednesday 18th April from 7pm
The Wilson Room
The House of Commons
London,
SW1A 2TT

Weds 4th April, 7pm
Cafe Buzz,
High Road,
North Finchley,

Sat 28th April 7pm
The Church of the Sacred Heart and Mary Immaculate,
Mill Hill Broadway
London
NW7