Question Time (QT)
Councillors instructed ChatGPT to ask Family Friendly questions.
Sounds Familiar?
Q2 Jane Keane1 asked about CCTV. Barry Mugglestone said it defeated crime.
Q3 Darren Wise asked about parking tickets. Barry said they were wonderful.
Q5 Judith Holt asked about parking fees in Hornchurch. Barry is working hard to please everyone.
Q6 Trevor McKeever asked about speeding. Barry said enforcement is for the police.
Q7 Martin Goode asked about potholes. They are being repaired quickly and effectively Barry said, without a blush.
Q8 Judith Holt asked about Visitor Parking Permits. Barry said the system worked beautifully.
Q10 Christine Vickery asked about Gallows Corner. Barry said he’d do whatever she wanted but she might regret what she wished for.
Q14 Viddy Persaud asked about traffic monitoring. Barry said she could have whatever she wanted. But she’d forgotten what she’d asked for.
Q15 Nisha Patel asked about parking enforcement. Barry worried about elderly people putting a ‘O’ in the machine instead of a Zero. But cheerfully said he couldn’t do anything about it.
Barry sat down for the 20th time looking tired and happy.
Killer Questions
A killer question is one where every answer is wrong. These are perfect for pre-election QTs because answers can be publicised.
Q1 Dilip Patel asked about asylum seeker accommodation. This is a toxic question. Natasha Summers said she’d rejected the government’s request for accommodation. Dilip looked disappointed.
Q4 Keith Prince asked about unauthorised gypsy/traveller sites. Ray Morgon said officers were like bloodhounds seeking them out and were closing them with alacrity. Keith mocked this. He quoted the Daily Mail as evidence that Havering is overwhelmed with unauthorised sites. Ray said he didn’t read the Daily Mail.
Q11 Keith Darvill asked about housing allocations. Natasha Summers said they were on track. Keith said two years delay was unacceptable. Natasha said it was a software problem, and everyone was convinced.
Q13 David Taylor asked about temporary housing on the Waterloo Estate. Graham Williamson waffled. And that’s a multi-million pound scandal buried. A housing estate has been demolished and replaced by 18 temporary homes for the foreseeable future. Foreseeable means years, by the way.
Conclusion
The administration is lucky no-one knows how to use a killer question.
Note
1 (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Council, 21/01/2026 19:30 QT times relate to this webcast
Politics in Havering 