Update: oh dear. If Doug Chaplin's review is anything to go by then it's probably a good thing I missed it. Perhaps it wasn't worth a look after all, my apologies.
Part 3 of 'The Bible, A History' airs on Sunday evening, with Ann Widdecombe looking at the origins and relevance of the 10 Commandments.
Foremost among the programmes is Ann Widdecombe's investigation into the story of the Ten Commandments. The film sees her investigate the origins and influence of the Commandments, before she confronts forceful opposition from atheists Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry, and meets a mother who helped her critically ill son to end his life. It is Widdecombe's second foray into this area for Channel 4, having presented a programme on the Reformation in the acclaimed series Christianity: A History in 2008.
The Channel 4 site has a good interview with Widdecombe, put together last year after she recorded the programme:
A lot of this programme is about how the Commandments have shaped British society and British law. How important have they been in doing that?
They've been massively important. If you think about it, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour, these things are very, very central to our law. But to our society as well. Thou shalt not commit adultery - adultery may not be a crime in the legal sense, but it's still regarded as undesirable and immoral. Thou shalt not covet is perhaps the first attempt to make us careful about what we think as well as what we do.
The Commandments were influential in early English law, weren't they?
Yes. Alfred the Great produced the first real codification of English law, and it was based very heavily on the Ten Commandments.
You look at whether the Commandments have a role to play in modern society. Presumably you would say yes?
Well, I think that if we all lived by the Ten Commandments, we'd be a much better, more considerate, more orderly society.
Do we not essentially live by them as it is?
Do we? What about 'Thou shalt not covet' and bankers' bonuses? What about 'Thou shalt not commit adultery' and the complete breakdown of marriage? 'Honour thy father and thy mother' and nowadays we stick granny in the nearest residential home.
Could it be argued that others of the commandments are a bit dated? In a secular society, the idea of keeping the Sabbath holy is no longer relevant.
I would've thought that keeping the Sabbath holy made a much better society, because it gives you a family day.
Should be worth a look.
Showing posts with label law. Show all posts
Showing posts with label law. Show all posts
Friday, February 05, 2010
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Society of St. Stephen the Great bankruptcy: case closed
Phil Groom has just posted a new document from the US courts about the St. Stephen the Great bankruptcy case.
Brewer, you may recall, tried to get the Society of St. Stephen the Great (new owners of SPCK bookshops) declared bankrupt in the USA. The court threw out the claim, partly because the paperwork was in a mess, and also because most of SSG's creditors were in the UK. The lawyer overseeing the bankruptcy, Randy Williams, then took Mark Brewer to court for bringing the system into disrepute, a charge which Brewer denied, and the result is this Motion to Compromise Controversy, signed on 29th October 2008 (don't you love these legal titles?).
What does it mean? As far as I can tell...
- a few small fines
- compulsory legal training for Mark Brewer in bankruptcy law (10 hours) and ethics (2 hours)
- case closed, and the more serious charges against Mr. Brewer not pursued.
One loose end tied up, plenty more to go.....!!!
by the way, still no reply from either the charity commissioners or Mr Brewer himself. I sit by the letterbox each day, waiting and hoping. Not really.
Brewer, you may recall, tried to get the Society of St. Stephen the Great (new owners of SPCK bookshops) declared bankrupt in the USA. The court threw out the claim, partly because the paperwork was in a mess, and also because most of SSG's creditors were in the UK. The lawyer overseeing the bankruptcy, Randy Williams, then took Mark Brewer to court for bringing the system into disrepute, a charge which Brewer denied, and the result is this Motion to Compromise Controversy, signed on 29th October 2008 (don't you love these legal titles?).
What does it mean? As far as I can tell...
- a few small fines
- compulsory legal training for Mark Brewer in bankruptcy law (10 hours) and ethics (2 hours)
- case closed, and the more serious charges against Mr. Brewer not pursued.
One loose end tied up, plenty more to go.....!!!
by the way, still no reply from either the charity commissioners or Mr Brewer himself. I sit by the letterbox each day, waiting and hoping. Not really.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Home Secretary Knows You're Reading This
Just imagine the government knew every website you'd visited, the addresses of every email you'd sent, who you'd rung, where, when and for how long. Actually, don't bother, because this isn't imagination, it's real.
the BBC reports today that Details of the times, dates, duration and locations of mobile phone calls, numbers called, website visited and addresses e-mailed which are currently held for 12 months, will be held for a minimum of 2 years under new laws, and potentially kept on a searchable database. That means they'll probably be left lying around on 2nd hand hard drives in trains as well.
It's a good time to bury bad news: scrapping SATS, abandoning 42 day detention, and now ratching up government snooping, all buried under a pile of used banknotes and stockbrokers empty packets of Valium.The governments own experts are opposed to this legislation, which isn't very encouraging.
Garbo comments, better than I could:
Sometimes enough really is enough. If we hadn’t reached the point already, then this morning’s “spit your cornflakes out moment” is the Communications Data Bill. Even the government’s terror watchdog thinks this is just too much. The Bill proposals include a giant database to store details of all phone calls, e-mails and internet use made by each and every one of us.
...the fact is I wouldn’t mind so much if I could trust the government not to misplace the data. Or, more to the point, not use such emotive rhetoric when in reality you can bet your bottom dollar the stated purpose of these initiatives and laws creep well beyond the remit of tackling terrorism. Because of this creep I am becoming more and more cynical due solely to the misuse of these so called terrorism powers.
We’ve had people walking on cycle paths arrested under terrorism laws, we’ve had Walter Wolfgang our very own 85 year terrorist (crime: he shouted nonsense to Jack Straw). There have been arrests of demonstrators at Heathrow airport – demonstrating against a third runway! Only last week Gordon Brown used terrorism laws to suspend Icelandic assets. In all there have been well over 1000 people arrested under terrorism laws – with only 40 convictions. Now I dare say many of these were correct and proper arrests… but only 4% actually proving to be associated with terrorist activity? Hmmm.
I am all for the government tightening up on a few civil liberties in the name of protecting us from terrorism. But they have a duty not to misuse these powers. Up to now they have misused these powers dreadfully. But Lord Carlile, the government-appointed reviewer of anti-terror legislation has said of the latest proposals “As a raw idea it is awful.” He also added “it should not be open season” on collecting data, under the mantle of fighting terrorism – implying that this Bill is open season.
This piece of legislations is unnecessary and it stinks. The government can already spy on suspected terrorists, why should the rest of be suspects too? Somehow and somewhere we need to find a balance between what laws are genuinely there to protect the public and what laws are being used outside this remit.... in short we need to ensure that terrorism laws are used for just that - fighting terrorism. Any policeman or government agency using these laws for any other purpose must be dealt with by the courts.
We all say and do things with friends that we might regret or that could be taken out of context if heard by the public or maybe even the government. And we all have private conversation with friends and loved ones that are, quite frankly, no one else’s business whatsoever. Who knows, taken out of context this blog post could be interpreted as a threat.
The bizarre thing is that if the government had micromanaged the financial markets with the same zeal they have for invading personal freedoms, we'd not have a credit crunch or a crisis in the banking sector. Did you get that Jacqui?
the BBC reports today that Details of the times, dates, duration and locations of mobile phone calls, numbers called, website visited and addresses e-mailed which are currently held for 12 months, will be held for a minimum of 2 years under new laws, and potentially kept on a searchable database. That means they'll probably be left lying around on 2nd hand hard drives in trains as well.
It's a good time to bury bad news: scrapping SATS, abandoning 42 day detention, and now ratching up government snooping, all buried under a pile of used banknotes and stockbrokers empty packets of Valium.The governments own experts are opposed to this legislation, which isn't very encouraging.
Garbo comments, better than I could:
Sometimes enough really is enough. If we hadn’t reached the point already, then this morning’s “spit your cornflakes out moment” is the Communications Data Bill. Even the government’s terror watchdog thinks this is just too much. The Bill proposals include a giant database to store details of all phone calls, e-mails and internet use made by each and every one of us.
...the fact is I wouldn’t mind so much if I could trust the government not to misplace the data. Or, more to the point, not use such emotive rhetoric when in reality you can bet your bottom dollar the stated purpose of these initiatives and laws creep well beyond the remit of tackling terrorism. Because of this creep I am becoming more and more cynical due solely to the misuse of these so called terrorism powers.
We’ve had people walking on cycle paths arrested under terrorism laws, we’ve had Walter Wolfgang our very own 85 year terrorist (crime: he shouted nonsense to Jack Straw). There have been arrests of demonstrators at Heathrow airport – demonstrating against a third runway! Only last week Gordon Brown used terrorism laws to suspend Icelandic assets. In all there have been well over 1000 people arrested under terrorism laws – with only 40 convictions. Now I dare say many of these were correct and proper arrests… but only 4% actually proving to be associated with terrorist activity? Hmmm.
I am all for the government tightening up on a few civil liberties in the name of protecting us from terrorism. But they have a duty not to misuse these powers. Up to now they have misused these powers dreadfully. But Lord Carlile, the government-appointed reviewer of anti-terror legislation has said of the latest proposals “As a raw idea it is awful.” He also added “it should not be open season” on collecting data, under the mantle of fighting terrorism – implying that this Bill is open season.
This piece of legislations is unnecessary and it stinks. The government can already spy on suspected terrorists, why should the rest of be suspects too? Somehow and somewhere we need to find a balance between what laws are genuinely there to protect the public and what laws are being used outside this remit.... in short we need to ensure that terrorism laws are used for just that - fighting terrorism. Any policeman or government agency using these laws for any other purpose must be dealt with by the courts.
We all say and do things with friends that we might regret or that could be taken out of context if heard by the public or maybe even the government. And we all have private conversation with friends and loved ones that are, quite frankly, no one else’s business whatsoever. Who knows, taken out of context this blog post could be interpreted as a threat.
The bizarre thing is that if the government had micromanaged the financial markets with the same zeal they have for invading personal freedoms, we'd not have a credit crunch or a crisis in the banking sector. Did you get that Jacqui?
Monday, October 13, 2008
A Letter to Mark Brewer
The following was sent this morning, on behalf of the We Support Dave Walker Facebook group.
Dear Mr. Brewer
We are writing on behalf of 498 supporters of cartoonist and blogger Dave Walker, a group which includes bishops, national journalists in the UK and US, lawyers, clergy, and concerned members of the public.
We would like to ask you please to contact Dave Walker and withdraw the demands made in the 'Cease and Desist' letter which you sent him in July. Your letter, as far as we know, instructed Dave to remove all his posts about the recent history of SPCK bookshops or face action for libel. With the pressures of the impending Lambeth conference, and a very short deadline given by yourself, Dave complied. He commented at the time: “I have therefore removed all of the SPCK/SSG posts on this blog, as, although I believe I have not done anything wrong I do not have the money to face a legal battle. The removal of these posts is in no way an admission of guilt.”
Many of us have read the posts concerned, and are surprised, to say the least, that they could be called libelous. Indeed, the first three posts make no mention at all of yourself, the Society of St. Stephen the Great, or anyone associated with you. The 4th post reports your takeover of the bookshops with the comment “this is splendid news.” Another post is a simple link to your SSG video on YouTube. Other items include verbatim reports of your own statements, and in the simple post on the death of Steve Jeynes, dozens of people used the comments to expressed their grief and condolences to Steve’s family.
Dave is a reasonable man, and if all critics were as fair as he is the world would be a better place. If you were able to reconsider, and point out specific statements and claims you were unhappy with, we are sure Dave would be happy to correct them where appropriate. This is the normal process of debate on the internet, and in real life, and follows the strong tradition of free speech for which our countries stand and are rightly proud.
So this is a polite request from all of us: please contact Dave Walker, advise him that your ‘cease and desist’ communication no longer stands, and let him report freely.
Yours sincerely
8 signatories representing the ‘We Support Dave Walker’ group.
If you're wondering what this is all about, see Matt Wardmans introduction, Phil Grooms introduction, and all the Dave Walker posts which were taken down are here at 'Cease and Desist', so you can review the evidence for yourself. For what's happened since Dave removed his posts, use the SPCK tag in the sidebar, or the SPCK/SSG blog.
Update: please take the '498' figure with a pinch of salt. The group is now up to 500 again. If you're not a member, please visit and join up.
Dear Mr. Brewer
We are writing on behalf of 498 supporters of cartoonist and blogger Dave Walker, a group which includes bishops, national journalists in the UK and US, lawyers, clergy, and concerned members of the public.
We would like to ask you please to contact Dave Walker and withdraw the demands made in the 'Cease and Desist' letter which you sent him in July. Your letter, as far as we know, instructed Dave to remove all his posts about the recent history of SPCK bookshops or face action for libel. With the pressures of the impending Lambeth conference, and a very short deadline given by yourself, Dave complied. He commented at the time: “I have therefore removed all of the SPCK/SSG posts on this blog, as, although I believe I have not done anything wrong I do not have the money to face a legal battle. The removal of these posts is in no way an admission of guilt.”
Many of us have read the posts concerned, and are surprised, to say the least, that they could be called libelous. Indeed, the first three posts make no mention at all of yourself, the Society of St. Stephen the Great, or anyone associated with you. The 4th post reports your takeover of the bookshops with the comment “this is splendid news.” Another post is a simple link to your SSG video on YouTube. Other items include verbatim reports of your own statements, and in the simple post on the death of Steve Jeynes, dozens of people used the comments to expressed their grief and condolences to Steve’s family.
Dave is a reasonable man, and if all critics were as fair as he is the world would be a better place. If you were able to reconsider, and point out specific statements and claims you were unhappy with, we are sure Dave would be happy to correct them where appropriate. This is the normal process of debate on the internet, and in real life, and follows the strong tradition of free speech for which our countries stand and are rightly proud.
So this is a polite request from all of us: please contact Dave Walker, advise him that your ‘cease and desist’ communication no longer stands, and let him report freely.
Yours sincerely
8 signatories representing the ‘We Support Dave Walker’ group.
If you're wondering what this is all about, see Matt Wardmans introduction, Phil Grooms introduction, and all the Dave Walker posts which were taken down are here at 'Cease and Desist', so you can review the evidence for yourself. For what's happened since Dave removed his posts, use the SPCK tag in the sidebar, or the SPCK/SSG blog.
Update: please take the '498' figure with a pinch of salt. The group is now up to 500 again. If you're not a member, please visit and join up.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Latest on SPCK/SSG
Though most of the action is going on at the spck/ssg blog, I know that some readers are keen to stay up to date with the latest goings on.
Most of the legal stuff looks like it will take months, but also going on:
- there's a round up of Orthodox views on whether the Society of St. Stephen the Great is truly advancing the ancient faith on this thread.
- Matt Wills has a picture of a poster at Salisbury bookshop, seeking volunteer staff. It has some interesting claims: "the U.K's most successful Church and Bookshop Charity. - Saint Stephen the great/SPCK bookshops", and Matt does some analysis, and Phil Groom does a bit more.
- Some interesting stuff at Solomon Hezekiah's blog, previously under the radar, posted a few weeks ago. Father Christian Troll has also had some correspondence from an anonymous source, at which he has taken umbrage of biblical proportions.
- Numbers: the petition to encourage Durham Cathedral to act on the SPCK bookshop they currently host has over 250 signatories, including local clergy and theological college tutors. And the 'We Support Dave Walker' Facebook group is nearly up to 500. Dave is still steering well clear of SPCK related issues, though if you search for 'spck' at The Cartoon Blog then there are still some traces of Dave's faithful and excellent work in keeping track of the whole SPCK saga. However, as none of these were covered in Mark Brewers 'cease and desist' letter to Dave, they can happily stay up there. You can join a Facebook group for the spck bookshops too.
Since the attempt to get SSG declared bankrupt in the US was thrown out, comments on these various threads seem to be getting a bit bolder/harsher depending on how you look at it. There is a lot of anger and distress, which is understandable, but I hope there can be some room left for repentance and change.
Update: along with the links above, blogs still posting regularly on this are asingleblog, and One blog One Lord. Matt Wardman may post an update once the conference season is over. You can stay up to date with who's posted what via Phil Grooms very handy News Index page.
Most of the legal stuff looks like it will take months, but also going on:
- there's a round up of Orthodox views on whether the Society of St. Stephen the Great is truly advancing the ancient faith on this thread.
- Matt Wills has a picture of a poster at Salisbury bookshop, seeking volunteer staff. It has some interesting claims: "the U.K's most successful Church and Bookshop Charity. - Saint Stephen the great/SPCK bookshops", and Matt does some analysis, and Phil Groom does a bit more.
- Some interesting stuff at Solomon Hezekiah's blog, previously under the radar, posted a few weeks ago. Father Christian Troll has also had some correspondence from an anonymous source, at which he has taken umbrage of biblical proportions.
- Numbers: the petition to encourage Durham Cathedral to act on the SPCK bookshop they currently host has over 250 signatories, including local clergy and theological college tutors. And the 'We Support Dave Walker' Facebook group is nearly up to 500. Dave is still steering well clear of SPCK related issues, though if you search for 'spck' at The Cartoon Blog then there are still some traces of Dave's faithful and excellent work in keeping track of the whole SPCK saga. However, as none of these were covered in Mark Brewers 'cease and desist' letter to Dave, they can happily stay up there. You can join a Facebook group for the spck bookshops too.
Since the attempt to get SSG declared bankrupt in the US was thrown out, comments on these various threads seem to be getting a bit bolder/harsher depending on how you look at it. There is a lot of anger and distress, which is understandable, but I hope there can be some room left for repentance and change.
Update: along with the links above, blogs still posting regularly on this are asingleblog, and One blog One Lord. Matt Wardman may post an update once the conference season is over. You can stay up to date with who's posted what via Phil Grooms very handy News Index page.
Monday, September 22, 2008
SPCK roundup
Still things happening on on the SPCK front, various things from the last few days, which might have got blogged here but for our clergy conference:
- the preliminary hearing of the employment tribunal for 30 former SPCK employees. The notes on the hearing are here. It seems to be the beginning of a long process. Matt Wills has some thoughts on this at his blog.
- Exeter 'SPCK' has closed down, I can't quite work out the full story on this, some of it is here, and asingleblog seems to know some of the background too. It all seems a bit of a mess, which is the story of many of the bookshops, very sadly. It's good to hear that the former manager of the Salisbury bookshop is to open up a new Christian bookshop in the town, Sarum books.
- nothing further from the US, though Father Christian Troll has, as usual, some helpful advice for all concerned. There are now so many blog posts on 'Houston Bankruptcy' that various automated sites are springing up with some links you might recognise.
things have quietened down on Facebook, though a few new members means the 'We Support Dave Walker' group has 486 members now. 14 more and we get free chocolate, or something. I even met one of the other group officers in the flesh at our clergy conference, didn't realise he was another Bath & Wells vicar. We do get about.....
The spckssg blog remains the place to go for all this, and it makes it a lot simpler for people searching for stories. Even though it feels safer to have several blogs going on this at once, Mark Brewer knows exactly what will happen if he has another go at shutting down Phil's blog. And don't forget this, which is still an offence and a grave injustice.
So, what are the ongoing issues:
- current SSG shops, like Durham, Chichester, and how they are being run. People are still signing the petition to encourage Durham Cathedral to step in at the Durham shop, and there is plenty going on behind the scenes there too.
- the employment tribunals - next stage of this is December/new year, it looks like this will take a while to sort out.
- what will happen over the court sanctions on Mark Brewer/Brewer&Pritchard in the US for - it is alleged - using the US bankruptcy courts system to evade their responsibilities in the UK.
- with 3 companies now running the UK shops in place of the Society of St. Stephen the Great (ENC, and separate companies for Chichester and Durham), there are some sharp questions being asked about stock transfers between the various shops, and what suppliers can do about this. There are hundreds of suppliers who are owed money by SSG and its surrogates, who must be less than impressed at what is going on.
- the fact that the 3 Cease and Desist letters against bloggers have not been withdrawn, with the result that Dave Walker is no longer posting about SPCK, despite having been the mainstay of news, comment and analysis of the bookshops in the last 2 years. Matt Wardman has more thoughts on what a 'cease and desist' letter really means, do read the comments there too.
- the preliminary hearing of the employment tribunal for 30 former SPCK employees. The notes on the hearing are here. It seems to be the beginning of a long process. Matt Wills has some thoughts on this at his blog.
- Exeter 'SPCK' has closed down, I can't quite work out the full story on this, some of it is here, and asingleblog seems to know some of the background too. It all seems a bit of a mess, which is the story of many of the bookshops, very sadly. It's good to hear that the former manager of the Salisbury bookshop is to open up a new Christian bookshop in the town, Sarum books.
- nothing further from the US, though Father Christian Troll has, as usual, some helpful advice for all concerned. There are now so many blog posts on 'Houston Bankruptcy' that various automated sites are springing up with some links you might recognise.
things have quietened down on Facebook, though a few new members means the 'We Support Dave Walker' group has 486 members now. 14 more and we get free chocolate, or something. I even met one of the other group officers in the flesh at our clergy conference, didn't realise he was another Bath & Wells vicar. We do get about.....
The spckssg blog remains the place to go for all this, and it makes it a lot simpler for people searching for stories. Even though it feels safer to have several blogs going on this at once, Mark Brewer knows exactly what will happen if he has another go at shutting down Phil's blog. And don't forget this, which is still an offence and a grave injustice.
So, what are the ongoing issues:
- current SSG shops, like Durham, Chichester, and how they are being run. People are still signing the petition to encourage Durham Cathedral to step in at the Durham shop, and there is plenty going on behind the scenes there too.
- the employment tribunals - next stage of this is December/new year, it looks like this will take a while to sort out.
- what will happen over the court sanctions on Mark Brewer/Brewer&Pritchard in the US for - it is alleged - using the US bankruptcy courts system to evade their responsibilities in the UK.
- with 3 companies now running the UK shops in place of the Society of St. Stephen the Great (ENC, and separate companies for Chichester and Durham), there are some sharp questions being asked about stock transfers between the various shops, and what suppliers can do about this. There are hundreds of suppliers who are owed money by SSG and its surrogates, who must be less than impressed at what is going on.
- the fact that the 3 Cease and Desist letters against bloggers have not been withdrawn, with the result that Dave Walker is no longer posting about SPCK, despite having been the mainstay of news, comment and analysis of the bookshops in the last 2 years. Matt Wardman has more thoughts on what a 'cease and desist' letter really means, do read the comments there too.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Brewer 'Ill Advised' but not much else
(sorry, more spck stuff. Noel Edmonds post tomorrow)
Following the legal moves against him, what has Mark Brewer actually admitted to? Todays SPCK/SSG headline says he 'pleads mainly guilty', but I'm not so sure.
That post on the spckssg blog has the full response made by Mark Brewer to the motion for sanctions issued against him just over a week ago. What does it actually say? I won't quote the full version here but you can find all the legal papers through this link. Lets have a look at how it lines up:
1. Admissions
- anything that's already on the record as fact - e.g. that the bankruptcy case was denied.
- that he was 'ill advised' to bring the bankruptcy proceedings, recognising the 'grave seriousness' of what he did.
- that his actions have cost the court money.
- that he/Brewer & Pritchard will pay 'an amount that is reasonable'
2. Nearly Admitted
- the original motion asked for retraining in legal ethics, with a certificate to prove it. Brewers response suggest an alternative - some training in bankruptcy law (bit late for that!) with an ethics credit. No mention of providing evidence to the court that he's done it. A sidestep.
3. No comment
Brewers response claims he has 'insufficient knowledge to admit or deny' a number of things. Maybe this is another way of saying 'no comment'. Those include:
- whether an LLC (in the US) is the same as a Limited company in the UK
- Whether the bookstores were the only asset of the SSG charity. I'm sure they acquired some churches as well. And he was the boss of SSG, so it's the kind of thing he ought to know.
- The contents of a post on the CartoonChurch blog. This is interesting: not so long ago Mr. Brewer was sufficiently sure of the contents to threaten Dave Walker with libel if he didn't take them down. Now he saying he has 'insufficient knowledge' of one of the posts he asked to be removed. Wonder how that would affect any libel action?
- A number of financial matters raised, including paying himself for legal services to his own company. Brewer's response is that he provided all the necessary information to the bankruptcy hearing
4. 'Denied': not point by point, but under the overall heading of 'Brewer denies the remaining paragraphs in the motion'. So that covers....
- Filing the bankruptcy to avoid paying up in the UK.
- Having 'no assets to reorganise' (not sure what the significance of that is)
- deliberately misleading the court
- committing a fraud on the court by failing to discluse the true name of the Debtor, and transferring business between companies all of which he owned.
- Conflicts of interest in representing SSG as a lawyer whilst at the same time being its chairman, and not revealing this.
- Not informing the court that SSG’s business had been transferred to ENC And in paras 9-12 he denies
- Violating his duty of candor to the Court (i.e. not telling the whole truth)
- Possibly violating Title 18 of the US Code (bankruptcy fraud)
- Filing the case to avoid claims made against himself, SSG and ENC in the UK
- Expressing displeasure with Randy Williams (the lawyer who got the bankruptcy case thrown out)
- Arguing to the UK employment tribunal that it’s proceedings were dependent on the outcome of the bankruptcy filing
- Violating Bankrupty Rule 9011
- (inferred) vexatious conduct
- committing a fraud on the court
- wrongful acts
- violating section 157 of Title 18. This is a fraudulent attempt to obtain bankruptcy, punishable by fine and 5 years in prison. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sec_18_00000157----000-.html
- Violating a duty of honesty and candor
- Bringing disrepute to the US Bankruptcy Courts as haven for those seeking to escape justice
- Attempting to escape justice in the UK
- Using the charitable status of SSG to prevent his actions being scrutinised
- Attempting to subvert the law to escape his responsibilities.
some of these overlap, or say the same thing in a different way. But it's safe to say that Brewer denies all of the most damaging allegations, and admits to only what is already a fact in the public domain, and to making a mistake in bringing the case in the first place.
Not being a lawyer, there is technical language here that someone else will have to explain. But this looks like a fairly straight bat to me. Now we'll see whether the original motion is followed through, or whether, like Brewers Cease and Desists, it's bark is worse than its bite.
Following the legal moves against him, what has Mark Brewer actually admitted to? Todays SPCK/SSG headline says he 'pleads mainly guilty', but I'm not so sure.
That post on the spckssg blog has the full response made by Mark Brewer to the motion for sanctions issued against him just over a week ago. What does it actually say? I won't quote the full version here but you can find all the legal papers through this link. Lets have a look at how it lines up:
1. Admissions
- anything that's already on the record as fact - e.g. that the bankruptcy case was denied.
- that he was 'ill advised' to bring the bankruptcy proceedings, recognising the 'grave seriousness' of what he did.
- that his actions have cost the court money.
- that he/Brewer & Pritchard will pay 'an amount that is reasonable'
2. Nearly Admitted
- the original motion asked for retraining in legal ethics, with a certificate to prove it. Brewers response suggest an alternative - some training in bankruptcy law (bit late for that!) with an ethics credit. No mention of providing evidence to the court that he's done it. A sidestep.
3. No comment
Brewers response claims he has 'insufficient knowledge to admit or deny' a number of things. Maybe this is another way of saying 'no comment'. Those include:
- whether an LLC (in the US) is the same as a Limited company in the UK
- Whether the bookstores were the only asset of the SSG charity. I'm sure they acquired some churches as well. And he was the boss of SSG, so it's the kind of thing he ought to know.
- The contents of a post on the CartoonChurch blog. This is interesting: not so long ago Mr. Brewer was sufficiently sure of the contents to threaten Dave Walker with libel if he didn't take them down. Now he saying he has 'insufficient knowledge' of one of the posts he asked to be removed. Wonder how that would affect any libel action?
- A number of financial matters raised, including paying himself for legal services to his own company. Brewer's response is that he provided all the necessary information to the bankruptcy hearing
4. 'Denied': not point by point, but under the overall heading of 'Brewer denies the remaining paragraphs in the motion'. So that covers....
- Filing the bankruptcy to avoid paying up in the UK.
- Having 'no assets to reorganise' (not sure what the significance of that is)
- deliberately misleading the court
- committing a fraud on the court by failing to discluse the true name of the Debtor, and transferring business between companies all of which he owned.
- Conflicts of interest in representing SSG as a lawyer whilst at the same time being its chairman, and not revealing this.
- Not informing the court that SSG’s business had been transferred to ENC And in paras 9-12 he denies
- Violating his duty of candor to the Court (i.e. not telling the whole truth)
- Possibly violating Title 18 of the US Code (bankruptcy fraud)
- Filing the case to avoid claims made against himself, SSG and ENC in the UK
- Expressing displeasure with Randy Williams (the lawyer who got the bankruptcy case thrown out)
- Arguing to the UK employment tribunal that it’s proceedings were dependent on the outcome of the bankruptcy filing
- Violating Bankrupty Rule 9011
- (inferred) vexatious conduct
- committing a fraud on the court
- wrongful acts
- violating section 157 of Title 18. This is a fraudulent attempt to obtain bankruptcy, punishable by fine and 5 years in prison. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sec_18_00000157----000-.html
- Violating a duty of honesty and candor
- Bringing disrepute to the US Bankruptcy Courts as haven for those seeking to escape justice
- Attempting to escape justice in the UK
- Using the charitable status of SSG to prevent his actions being scrutinised
- Attempting to subvert the law to escape his responsibilities.
some of these overlap, or say the same thing in a different way. But it's safe to say that Brewer denies all of the most damaging allegations, and admits to only what is already a fact in the public domain, and to making a mistake in bringing the case in the first place.
Not being a lawyer, there is technical language here that someone else will have to explain. But this looks like a fairly straight bat to me. Now we'll see whether the original motion is followed through, or whether, like Brewers Cease and Desists, it's bark is worse than its bite.
Anyone like to go on the radio?
I've been asked to blog this:
PLEASE BLOG
Radio 4 Sunday programme are hoping to do a follow up report on the SSG Bookshop issue including the outcome of the tribunal meetings and the issue of the court action against Mark Brewer. They need to be able to speak with the following people: 1) Someone who can speak on behalf of the ex SPCK Booksellers (I am willing to do this if people give me the information.) 2) A representative from the publishers 3) Someone who can speak on the wider Christian Bookselling issue.
If you would like to be considered for this please let me know at spckrefugee@operamail.com
Phelim McIntyre
...I'm assuming we're talking about Sunday 21st September for this.
Meanwhile the Church Times has run a substantial story on the bankruptcy and tribunals, and mentioned in print for the first time the threats against Dave Walker. It hasn't mentioned Phil Grooms blog, which is now the main source of ongoing news on this story following Dave's silencing, so if you'd like to write to the CT and mention http://spckssg.wordpress.com/ I'm sure their readers would appreciate it.
First of a 2-part roundup of news this week on the SPCK/SSG saga at Phil Grooms blog. Mark Brewer seems to have owned up to most of the charges in the 'motion for sanctions' which was laid against him in the US courts. He is 'sincerely remorseful'. Good. There are now some strange things going on ahead of the employment tribunal later this week. (Update: part 2 has just gone up, but there are now 4 parts in all! It has the full text of Mr Brewers response to the motion, haven't got round to working out exactly what he's admitting to and what he's denying. Maybe that's part 5.)
Fr. Christian Troll has risen from his sickbed to pass comment, though I'm not sure I understand what he's getting at. Maybe that's good! Matt Wills notes that there is now an evidence section on the spck/ssg blog - one difficulty in all this has been trawling posts, comments and goodness knows what else to find out the facts. Having them all together in one place is a good idea.
Can't keep up!
PLEASE BLOG
Radio 4 Sunday programme are hoping to do a follow up report on the SSG Bookshop issue including the outcome of the tribunal meetings and the issue of the court action against Mark Brewer. They need to be able to speak with the following people: 1) Someone who can speak on behalf of the ex SPCK Booksellers (I am willing to do this if people give me the information.) 2) A representative from the publishers 3) Someone who can speak on the wider Christian Bookselling issue.
If you would like to be considered for this please let me know at spckrefugee@operamail.com
Phelim McIntyre
...I'm assuming we're talking about Sunday 21st September for this.
Meanwhile the Church Times has run a substantial story on the bankruptcy and tribunals, and mentioned in print for the first time the threats against Dave Walker. It hasn't mentioned Phil Grooms blog, which is now the main source of ongoing news on this story following Dave's silencing, so if you'd like to write to the CT and mention http://spckssg.wordpress.com/ I'm sure their readers would appreciate it.
First of a 2-part roundup of news this week on the SPCK/SSG saga at Phil Grooms blog. Mark Brewer seems to have owned up to most of the charges in the 'motion for sanctions' which was laid against him in the US courts. He is 'sincerely remorseful'. Good. There are now some strange things going on ahead of the employment tribunal later this week. (Update: part 2 has just gone up, but there are now 4 parts in all! It has the full text of Mr Brewers response to the motion, haven't got round to working out exactly what he's admitting to and what he's denying. Maybe that's part 5.)
Fr. Christian Troll has risen from his sickbed to pass comment, though I'm not sure I understand what he's getting at. Maybe that's good! Matt Wills notes that there is now an evidence section on the spck/ssg blog - one difficulty in all this has been trawling posts, comments and goodness knows what else to find out the facts. Having them all together in one place is a good idea.
Can't keep up!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Court action against Mark Brewer - links
As you might expect, there have been various bloggers picking up on yesterdays news that a motion requesting sanctions has been issued against Mark Brewer and his law firm. The deadline for their reply is close of business today, 11th September. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Bloggers commenting and citing include
Thinking Anglicans
Squiggle Jones
asingleblog,
God, Christ questions and faith
oneblogonelord
Matt Wills
LankyAnglican new blog inspired by Tom Allens great example.
Richard Peat : "the motion provides a lot that can be used back in the UK, and does seem to represent another spectacular backfire on Brewer’s part. Rather than quietly winding up the charity, the US court is now looking to punish him and his firm for bringing the motion in the first place."
Blogspotting Anglican Episcopalian (why can't he use short words for his blog title?)
Matt Wardman has posted a revised version of his summary on the Wardman Wire, which is a good place to get the whole story.
We may see a Church Times article on this tomorrow, so I take back everything I said.
The strange thing is that I was wondering on Tuesday night whether to send a message to Mr. Brewer, on behalf of all 480 Facebook Dave Walker supporters, asking him to reconsider his legal correspondence with Dave. Maybe I'll leave it for a bit.
Bloggers commenting and citing include
Thinking Anglicans
Squiggle Jones
asingleblog,
God, Christ questions and faith
oneblogonelord
Matt Wills
LankyAnglican new blog inspired by Tom Allens great example.
Richard Peat : "the motion provides a lot that can be used back in the UK, and does seem to represent another spectacular backfire on Brewer’s part. Rather than quietly winding up the charity, the US court is now looking to punish him and his firm for bringing the motion in the first place."
Blogspotting Anglican Episcopalian (why can't he use short words for his blog title?)
Matt Wardman has posted a revised version of his summary on the Wardman Wire, which is a good place to get the whole story.
We may see a Church Times article on this tomorrow, so I take back everything I said.
The strange thing is that I was wondering on Tuesday night whether to send a message to Mr. Brewer, on behalf of all 480 Facebook Dave Walker supporters, asking him to reconsider his legal correspondence with Dave. Maybe I'll leave it for a bit.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE: Very Important new SPCK/SSG Development
Big developments in the SSG case today. Mark Brewer is now the subject of court proceedings for fraud, trying to evade his legal responsibilities, and bringing disrepute to the US court system
http://spckssg.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/motion-for-sanctions/ has the full text of the legal proceedings against Brewer and SSG
http://spckssg.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/the-significance-of-the-motion-for-sanctions-against-mark-brewer/ has Matt Wardmans excellent summary and commentary on this.
Incredible stuff. I'm in and out of meetings, otherwise I'd post more.
The legal motion concludes (emphasis mine):
14. At best, as this Court has already found, Mr. Brewer’s conduct was in bad faith. The Trustee submits as set forth herein that such bad faith also amounts to a fraud on the Court. At worst, his conduct violates § 157 of Title 18 and possibly other statutes. As an attorney and a law firm, Mr. Brewer and Brewer & Pritchard owe a duty of candor and honesty to this Court and to the bankruptcy process. The acts that are the subject of this motion violate that duty. In addition, the filing of this case in the United States where almost every creditor is located in the United Kingdom brings disrepute to the Bankruptcy Courts of the United States as they are being used as a haven for a party attempting to escape justice where it was formed and where it did business. Mr. Brewer seeks to use the designation of St. Stephen as a charity to somehow suggest that his conduct does not bear scrutiny. In fact, just the opposite should be true, any attempt by an alleged charity to escape or defer its obligations should be subject to the utmost in candor and disclosure so that no question of impropriety exists. Here, just the opposite is demonstrated by Mr. Brewer’s conduct, and he and his firm must bear responsibility for these actions and make amends to this Court, the Trustee and most significantly the bankruptcy process so that creditors, especially those in a situation like this who are looking at the system from outside U.S. borders, can see that parties who would attempt to subvert the law to escape their responsibilities will be punished.
15. Accordingly, the Trustee requests that the Court grant the Trustee’s motion, enter sanctions consistent with the foregoing and grant such other relief as is just.
Some of the sanctions include compensation (5 figure sums), and compulsory retraining in legal ethics. The piece de resistance is the inclusion of a post from Dave Walkers blog as part of the evidence in the case.
http://spckssg.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/motion-for-sanctions/ has the full text of the legal proceedings against Brewer and SSG
http://spckssg.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/the-significance-of-the-motion-for-sanctions-against-mark-brewer/ has Matt Wardmans excellent summary and commentary on this.
Incredible stuff. I'm in and out of meetings, otherwise I'd post more.
The legal motion concludes (emphasis mine):
14. At best, as this Court has already found, Mr. Brewer’s conduct was in bad faith. The Trustee submits as set forth herein that such bad faith also amounts to a fraud on the Court. At worst, his conduct violates § 157 of Title 18 and possibly other statutes. As an attorney and a law firm, Mr. Brewer and Brewer & Pritchard owe a duty of candor and honesty to this Court and to the bankruptcy process. The acts that are the subject of this motion violate that duty. In addition, the filing of this case in the United States where almost every creditor is located in the United Kingdom brings disrepute to the Bankruptcy Courts of the United States as they are being used as a haven for a party attempting to escape justice where it was formed and where it did business. Mr. Brewer seeks to use the designation of St. Stephen as a charity to somehow suggest that his conduct does not bear scrutiny. In fact, just the opposite should be true, any attempt by an alleged charity to escape or defer its obligations should be subject to the utmost in candor and disclosure so that no question of impropriety exists. Here, just the opposite is demonstrated by Mr. Brewer’s conduct, and he and his firm must bear responsibility for these actions and make amends to this Court, the Trustee and most significantly the bankruptcy process so that creditors, especially those in a situation like this who are looking at the system from outside U.S. borders, can see that parties who would attempt to subvert the law to escape their responsibilities will be punished.
15. Accordingly, the Trustee requests that the Court grant the Trustee’s motion, enter sanctions consistent with the foregoing and grant such other relief as is just.
Some of the sanctions include compensation (5 figure sums), and compulsory retraining in legal ethics. The piece de resistance is the inclusion of a post from Dave Walkers blog as part of the evidence in the case.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
More on the SSG 'bankruptcy'; Dave Walker/SPCK roundup
The Wardman Wire has a round up of this weeks main developments in the ongoing SPCK saga. Without repeating all of it, lets just remind ourselves that Dave Walker would be posting this....
...but because Dave has been sent a 'Cease and Desist' letter by Mark Brewer, threatening him with libel if he posts any more about the SPCK story, you're reading this on my blog, instead of his. As a legitimate news story, it should be getting reported on the Church Times blog as well, but since Dave authors this, we effectively have press censorship by the back door. Even though the bankruptcy application was thrown out earlier this week, and the date for preliminary hearings for the 30 former SPCK employees has also just been set (Sept 18th), there again doesn't seem to be any reporting in the Church Times this week. I'm disappointed.
Other developments at the Wardman Wire link, and on the SPCK/SSG blog, including:
- meeting in London on Sept 10th for those in the area with an interest, more details here.
- more digging around the apparent non-payment of pension contributions, which have gone out of people's wages, but not appeared anywhere else.
- Matt W is compiling a list of bloggers keeping an ongoing eye on the spck saga, if you're one of those, then let him know via this page.
You can also follow things via the 'We support Dave Walker' Facebook group, inching ever closer to 500 supporters, and the SPCK bookshops Facebook group.
The Bookseller reports on the application for Bankruptcy by SSG in the Southern Division of the Texas Court in Houston. They have been in contact with Randy Williams, the Trustee in Bankruptcy :
“The Chapter 7 bankruptcy filed by Christian bookseller St Stephen the Great was dismissed because the case was filed “in bad faith”, according to a court official.
Courtroom minutes show that the case was dismissed “with prejudice” during a hearing at Houston Bankruptcy Court last Thursday.The ruling has a number of restrictions on it, including a set period when Mark and Phil Brewer, who run the chain, cannot submit another bankruptcy filing in the US. Randy W Williams, trustee for the Chapter 7 case, told The Bookseller that “the motion to dismiss was granted with prejudice and the judge found that the filing of the case was in bad faith”.
“Bad faith means in this case that it was done for a wrong or improper purpose,” he said.
In June, Williams filed a motion to dismiss it, claiming “on its face, there is nothing to liquidate and nothing available to fund an investigation in the UK”.
The brothers told suppliers in June that SSG had filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. The court later converted this to Chapter 7, leaving the retailer in liquidation.Mark Brewer told The Bookseller last week that he did not have enough money to file for bankruptcy in the United Kingdom. He was unavailable for comment this week.”
...but because Dave has been sent a 'Cease and Desist' letter by Mark Brewer, threatening him with libel if he posts any more about the SPCK story, you're reading this on my blog, instead of his. As a legitimate news story, it should be getting reported on the Church Times blog as well, but since Dave authors this, we effectively have press censorship by the back door. Even though the bankruptcy application was thrown out earlier this week, and the date for preliminary hearings for the 30 former SPCK employees has also just been set (Sept 18th), there again doesn't seem to be any reporting in the Church Times this week. I'm disappointed.
Other developments at the Wardman Wire link, and on the SPCK/SSG blog, including:
- meeting in London on Sept 10th for those in the area with an interest, more details here.
- more digging around the apparent non-payment of pension contributions, which have gone out of people's wages, but not appeared anywhere else.
- Matt W is compiling a list of bloggers keeping an ongoing eye on the spck saga, if you're one of those, then let him know via this page.
You can also follow things via the 'We support Dave Walker' Facebook group, inching ever closer to 500 supporters, and the SPCK bookshops Facebook group.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Trademarking language, Ben Elton, and hurt feelings
Todays inbox had a round up of various legal cases involving Christians - we're so blessed to live in a country under the rule of law, even if sometimes the law is wrong. One of them caught my eye, involving the Voluntary Euthanasia Society and it's attempt to trademark the phrase 'dignity in dying'.....
Case Win - Victory in Important Trademark Case
In 2006 the Voluntary Euthanasia Society (VES) changed its name to Dignity in Dying. The group were seeking to monopolise the phrase to advance their ideology, particularly in the educational sphere. Many people felt that a monopoly of the words “dignity in dying” were misleading for an organisation which advocated euthanasia.In August 2007, the Christian Medical Fellowship, Alert and the United Kingdom’s Disabled People’s Council sought to stop the monopoly by challenging the phrase under the Trademarks Act 1998. We thank God that a victory has been achieved, because the VES withdrew its trademark applications for the words ‘dignity in dying’. This is a great step forward for pro-life groups, because it means that they are free to use the phrase ‘dignity in dying’ in a way that expresses the love and care people deserve at the end of life. The VES has kept its own stylised trademark - ‘dignity in dying - your life your choice’. VES had sought to set the tone of the debate surrounding end of life issues, but pro life groups have claimed back the language. We give thanks to God for this victory.
I'm reminded of Orwells argument in 1984 that control of language is the first step towards control of thought. When people try to trademark language that's used in ethical debate, I find that incredibly worrying. Just imagine if someone got the trademark on 'love'...
(In an unofficial way, there's plenty of that going on in the Anglican church at the moment, with everyone claiming that they are the 'real' Anglicans and the other lot are the separatists - whether it's the Americans who went their own way over sexuality, or the Africans who are going their own way over structures, or the rest of us who wish people would stop going on about sex and focus on something more important.)
Ben Eltons 1984 update 'Blind Faith', closes with Trafford (the Winston Smith of a post-flood, religion-dominated 22nd century) subverting the language used by the totalitarian state, using one of their own tag-lines as a secret code to identify dissidents. For Elton, freedom comes through reclaiming the ability to think, and the rebels are the 'humanists' who take Darwin as their core text. He's been reading Dawkins then. The novel (last months holiday reading) is typical overblown Elton stuff, taking various current social trends and projecting them to the extreme. It's not subtle, but still provides food for thought.
I was most struck by Elton's depiction of a society where emoting and 'sharing' has become the only mode of communication. To think, argue, reason etc. is alien; what counts is exposing yourself - emotionally, physically etc. We've already become a society which 'hears with our eyes and thinks with our feelings' (can't remember who said this), and Blind Faith, in its own way, is a warning of what could happen if this is all we do.
If language is so debased so that it's content is either purely emotional (Elton), or owned by some interest group or other (VES), then it becomes harder to think before someone comes in and accuses you of being intolerant, or sues you for violation of copyright. I wonder if some of the debates currently going on in the church would get a bit further if we had a moratorium on people declaring that they were 'hurt' or 'offended'. Sure, our feelings as just as much part of who we are as our minds, but we seem to use them more and more as a trump card.
Monday, September 01, 2008
'We Support Dave Walker' Facebook group - updated.
I've just revised the front page of the 'We Support Dave Walker' facebook group, which now reads:
On 22nd July cartoonist Dave Walker was issued with a 'cease and
desist' notice from SSG, giving him just a few hours to remove all posts
about SPCK/SSG from his Cartoon Church blog, or face libel action. Dave
complied with the request, but many bloggers are concerned that he has been
put under undue pressure.
2 other bloggers were issued with 'Cease and Desist' notices: one on the same day as Dave (Phil Grooms SSG/SPCK blog), another the day after for republishing some of Dave's posts (Sam Norton). Both have disputed the claims in the letters, and have not taken down any blog posts.
So far, the threatened response from SSG has not materialised. In the meantime, the attempt to censor blogging has resulted in even more scrutiny upon SSG, and those who run it.
This Facebook group will remain up until the Cease and Desist letter to Dave Walker has been retracted by Mark Brewer, and all the SPCK posts restored to his blog.
Daily updates and links posted at http://spckssg.wordpress.com/ and http://friendfeed.com/rooms/dave-walker-spck, and weekly roundups at Matt Wardman (http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/) , and David Keen (http://davidkeen.blogspot.com/) will continue.
For those interested in the wider issues around the former SPCK bookshops, the ongoing industrial action against the Society of St. Stephen the Great by former SPCK employees, work to salvage individual shops, non-payment of suppliers etc. please visit/join the SPCK Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6124687292 .
There will probably be some overlap between that group and this one for the time being.
Most recent news (Aug 29th) is that SSG's attempt to be declared bankrupt in the USA has been throw out 'with prejudice'. This is one of the episodes they didn't want Dave W and others blogging about - not surprising!!
For more details see http://spckssg.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/reflections-on-a-campaign-so-far-and-ssg-not-bankrupt/ and the links there.
I had hoped to have closed the group down by now, but I guess J Mark Brewer has been too busy with legal business in the US to send Dave a retraction letter. I'm slightly embarassed that the membership has overtaken Dave W's original 'group for those who mourn the tragic demise of SPCK bookshops'! I'm hoping that things like the Durham petition, ongoing industrial action etc. will be discussed at the SPCK group rather than the DW group, but it's quite hard to control 478 people!
Instead of my own reflections on where we've got to, read Matt Wardmans summary here, which pretty much says it all. Apart from the Cease and Desist letters themselves, online scrutiny of the management of SPCK is now much stronger than it was 7 weeks ago, with a whole host of people now interested (Matt Wills is the latest (now corrected from 'Mark Wills'!)). This is exactly the opposite of what the Cease and Desist letters were supposed to achieve. It has also created a stronger sense of support for those involved - Matt Wardman writes:
One title of the Holy Spirit is 'paraclete', which in my limited understanding means 'advocate' or 'one who stands alongside'. Without making divine claims for any of this, if we've been able to stand alongside those who are victims of injustice or bullying, then that's good.
On 22nd July cartoonist Dave Walker was issued with a 'cease and
desist' notice from SSG, giving him just a few hours to remove all posts
about SPCK/SSG from his Cartoon Church blog, or face libel action. Dave
complied with the request, but many bloggers are concerned that he has been
put under undue pressure.
2 other bloggers were issued with 'Cease and Desist' notices: one on the same day as Dave (Phil Grooms SSG/SPCK blog), another the day after for republishing some of Dave's posts (Sam Norton). Both have disputed the claims in the letters, and have not taken down any blog posts.
So far, the threatened response from SSG has not materialised. In the meantime, the attempt to censor blogging has resulted in even more scrutiny upon SSG, and those who run it.
This Facebook group will remain up until the Cease and Desist letter to Dave Walker has been retracted by Mark Brewer, and all the SPCK posts restored to his blog.
Daily updates and links posted at http://spckssg.wordpress.com/ and http://friendfeed.com/rooms/dave-walker-spck, and weekly roundups at Matt Wardman (http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/) , and David Keen (http://davidkeen.blogspot.com/) will continue.
For those interested in the wider issues around the former SPCK bookshops, the ongoing industrial action against the Society of St. Stephen the Great by former SPCK employees, work to salvage individual shops, non-payment of suppliers etc. please visit/join the SPCK Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6124687292 .
There will probably be some overlap between that group and this one for the time being.
Most recent news (Aug 29th) is that SSG's attempt to be declared bankrupt in the USA has been throw out 'with prejudice'. This is one of the episodes they didn't want Dave W and others blogging about - not surprising!!
For more details see http://spckssg.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/reflections-on-a-campaign-so-far-and-ssg-not-bankrupt/ and the links there.
I had hoped to have closed the group down by now, but I guess J Mark Brewer has been too busy with legal business in the US to send Dave a retraction letter. I'm slightly embarassed that the membership has overtaken Dave W's original 'group for those who mourn the tragic demise of SPCK bookshops'! I'm hoping that things like the Durham petition, ongoing industrial action etc. will be discussed at the SPCK group rather than the DW group, but it's quite hard to control 478 people!
Instead of my own reflections on where we've got to, read Matt Wardmans summary here, which pretty much says it all. Apart from the Cease and Desist letters themselves, online scrutiny of the management of SPCK is now much stronger than it was 7 weeks ago, with a whole host of people now interested (Matt Wills is the latest (now corrected from 'Mark Wills'!)). This is exactly the opposite of what the Cease and Desist letters were supposed to achieve. It has also created a stronger sense of support for those involved - Matt Wardman writes:
I would stress the positive balance this has provided to the
staff who have and are undergoing the tribulation caused by the brewers, I know
that many of them really have found this to be a positive boost to their morale
and also have found it to be a focus of strength that has even enabled some of
them to begin undertaking more positive and stronger action on their own behalf
some of which we might come to know about later.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Discussions in other places
Madpriest had a gentle dig at a former Somerset vicar who talked about powers of evil in Portishead in a parish magazine article, drawing heavily on Tolkien. Just to spoil people's fun, I posted a comment reminding folk that Jesus recognised powers of evil as well, and that's now turned into a whole new debate over at MP's place. Is evil a 'power', or are there just very nasty people?
Bishop Alan is blogging from the Willow Creek leadership conference - I'll be really interested to see if he does a 'compare and contrast' post with Lambeth - with pithy summaries of the various speakers. There are video-based versions of the conference in the UK in October: we took a small group last year and found it very helpful.
SPCK have issued a statement, which Phil Groom has posted in full. One of the many matters debated in the last few weeks was the role of SPCK in entrusting SSG with the retail arm of its business, which was losing money rapidly and was unsustainable as it stood. It's worth reading the entire statement, here's the last couple of paragraphs:
We have been greatly upset by what has happened. We have been actively trying to do something about it, and are engaged in legal activity on a number of fronts about which it is not currently possible to say much. This and working with other interested parties and individuals has taken up a great deal of Simon Kingston’s time over the last year and continues to do so.
The Trustee body continue to have the shops as an item at every meeting, and spend a deal of time discussing what is best to do. A great deal has gone on (and continues today) which is not public knowledge. It is simply not true that we have ignored the situation. And with legal issues outstanding, we simply cannot wade in with public pronouncements. Indeed, some public comments (including, frankly, one or two contributions to the various blogs) serve to make matters worse rather than better.
SPCK and its trustees are truly saddened by the situation. We made a decision in good faith, and it has not turned out well. We are really sorry at the turn of events. But breast-beating makes nothing better. We are doing what we can on a continuing basis, and this may take another year or more before it has run its course.
The next few weeks will see two of the former SPCK shops in formal re-launches under new ownership. Let us all hope that other sites also find happier times once more.
Simon Kingston, SPCK General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer The Rt Revd Michael Perham, Bishop of Gloucester, Chairman of the SPCK Governing Body 12 August 2008
Phil's blog is the place to discuss this, and judging by the penultimate paragraph, we are in for the long haul here. Please pray for Simon Kingston and everyone else involved in this, for a resolution that is good, fair, and ideally that doesn't require lawyers to sort out the fine print because people are able to deal constructively with one another.
Finally Matt Wardman has a few Olympics links - personally I'm just enjoying the sport, but it's useful to be reminded of what else is going on here. And Johann Hari reflects on the decision not to publish the novel 'The Jewel of Medina', about the child bride of Mohammed, and what it says about our ability to have critical dialogue about Islam. The book may, like the Da Vinci Code, be a pile of cobblers, but now it's been pulled, everyone will want to have a copy if it ever finally comes out. Sounds familiar.
Bishop Alan is blogging from the Willow Creek leadership conference - I'll be really interested to see if he does a 'compare and contrast' post with Lambeth - with pithy summaries of the various speakers. There are video-based versions of the conference in the UK in October: we took a small group last year and found it very helpful.
SPCK have issued a statement, which Phil Groom has posted in full. One of the many matters debated in the last few weeks was the role of SPCK in entrusting SSG with the retail arm of its business, which was losing money rapidly and was unsustainable as it stood. It's worth reading the entire statement, here's the last couple of paragraphs:
We have been greatly upset by what has happened. We have been actively trying to do something about it, and are engaged in legal activity on a number of fronts about which it is not currently possible to say much. This and working with other interested parties and individuals has taken up a great deal of Simon Kingston’s time over the last year and continues to do so.
The Trustee body continue to have the shops as an item at every meeting, and spend a deal of time discussing what is best to do. A great deal has gone on (and continues today) which is not public knowledge. It is simply not true that we have ignored the situation. And with legal issues outstanding, we simply cannot wade in with public pronouncements. Indeed, some public comments (including, frankly, one or two contributions to the various blogs) serve to make matters worse rather than better.
SPCK and its trustees are truly saddened by the situation. We made a decision in good faith, and it has not turned out well. We are really sorry at the turn of events. But breast-beating makes nothing better. We are doing what we can on a continuing basis, and this may take another year or more before it has run its course.
The next few weeks will see two of the former SPCK shops in formal re-launches under new ownership. Let us all hope that other sites also find happier times once more.
Simon Kingston, SPCK General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer The Rt Revd Michael Perham, Bishop of Gloucester, Chairman of the SPCK Governing Body 12 August 2008
Phil's blog is the place to discuss this, and judging by the penultimate paragraph, we are in for the long haul here. Please pray for Simon Kingston and everyone else involved in this, for a resolution that is good, fair, and ideally that doesn't require lawyers to sort out the fine print because people are able to deal constructively with one another.
Finally Matt Wardman has a few Olympics links - personally I'm just enjoying the sport, but it's useful to be reminded of what else is going on here. And Johann Hari reflects on the decision not to publish the novel 'The Jewel of Medina', about the child bride of Mohammed, and what it says about our ability to have critical dialogue about Islam. The book may, like the Da Vinci Code, be a pile of cobblers, but now it's been pulled, everyone will want to have a copy if it ever finally comes out. Sounds familiar.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
This Week is No Longer an SPCK/J Mark Brewer-free Zone
(if you're new to all this, Private Eye is a good place to start, then Matt Wardman)
I'm increasingly alarmed at what I read at spckwatch - posts today and yesterday indicate that, in the legal papers for their bankruptcy filings, SSG are claiming $6m from 3 individuals. Two are from SPCK (the publishing arm, not owned by SSG) - Simon Kingston the General Secretary, and Rev. Haley Dossor, who is Vice-Chair of the Governing Body. The third person is Rev. Joanne Grenfell, who works for Sheffield Diocese and is something to do with the Cathedral. They are claiming a further $500,000 from SPCK itself.
This quote from spckwatch gives you an indication of the way SSG, or ENC Management, or whatever they call themselves now, handles some of its finances:
According to the documents given to the courts in Houston Texas, SSG Ltd owes Brewer and Pritchard $56,694.98 and owes Orthodox Christian Mission Fund $494,097.55.
If we add the $75,000 retainer Mark Brewer has agreed to Mark Brewer, as trustee of SSG Ltd owes himself, or his own companies, $625,792.53.
Brewer & Pitchard has already been paid $111,092.36 while Orthodox Christian Mission Fund (Mark Brewer?) has been paid $75,338.07.
Orthodox Christian Mission Fund is by far the largest creditor in the bankruptcy proceedings, but what is it owed money for? Or is this just another in the spaghetti junction of Brewer-run companies designed to keep money a couple of yards out of arms reach of the people to whom it is legally owed? I just ask the question - that's how it looks from here, but I'm hoping it's not true.
Other developments: the bankrupcty hearing itself seems to have been delayed, Mark Brewer has offered to pay some money owing to a former SPCK employee after an appeal on the SPCK/SSG blog, which a) shows that he reads it and b) is very hopeful.
Meanwhile another SSG alias, '40 Holy Martyrs of Sebaste', turns out not just to be the trading name on an SSG website, but a Houston Orthodox church whose website bears several resemblances to that of the Orthodox church in Poole set up by SSG a couple of years ago (the congregation then decamped to another church after falling out with them). Whether they are aware that they're down as the registered online trading name of SSG is another matter, let alone the fact that the Brewer and Pritchard offices are given as their registered address. Must get pretty crowded in that office come Sunday worship.
Finally, the Facebook group is nearing 450, and there's an interesting discussion post just gone up on how the libel law does or doesn't apply to bulletin board posts on the internet. Don't get any ideas though...
I'm increasingly alarmed at what I read at spckwatch - posts today and yesterday indicate that, in the legal papers for their bankruptcy filings, SSG are claiming $6m from 3 individuals. Two are from SPCK (the publishing arm, not owned by SSG) - Simon Kingston the General Secretary, and Rev. Haley Dossor, who is Vice-Chair of the Governing Body. The third person is Rev. Joanne Grenfell, who works for Sheffield Diocese and is something to do with the Cathedral. They are claiming a further $500,000 from SPCK itself.
This quote from spckwatch gives you an indication of the way SSG, or ENC Management, or whatever they call themselves now, handles some of its finances:
According to the documents given to the courts in Houston Texas, SSG Ltd owes Brewer and Pritchard $56,694.98 and owes Orthodox Christian Mission Fund $494,097.55.
If we add the $75,000 retainer Mark Brewer has agreed to Mark Brewer, as trustee of SSG Ltd owes himself, or his own companies, $625,792.53.
Brewer & Pitchard has already been paid $111,092.36 while Orthodox Christian Mission Fund (Mark Brewer?) has been paid $75,338.07.
Orthodox Christian Mission Fund is by far the largest creditor in the bankruptcy proceedings, but what is it owed money for? Or is this just another in the spaghetti junction of Brewer-run companies designed to keep money a couple of yards out of arms reach of the people to whom it is legally owed? I just ask the question - that's how it looks from here, but I'm hoping it's not true.
Other developments: the bankrupcty hearing itself seems to have been delayed, Mark Brewer has offered to pay some money owing to a former SPCK employee after an appeal on the SPCK/SSG blog, which a) shows that he reads it and b) is very hopeful.
Meanwhile another SSG alias, '40 Holy Martyrs of Sebaste', turns out not just to be the trading name on an SSG website, but a Houston Orthodox church whose website bears several resemblances to that of the Orthodox church in Poole set up by SSG a couple of years ago (the congregation then decamped to another church after falling out with them). Whether they are aware that they're down as the registered online trading name of SSG is another matter, let alone the fact that the Brewer and Pritchard offices are given as their registered address. Must get pretty crowded in that office come Sunday worship.
Finally, the Facebook group is nearing 450, and there's an interesting discussion post just gone up on how the libel law does or doesn't apply to bulletin board posts on the internet. Don't get any ideas though...
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Spck, St. Stephen the Great, Dave Walker etc. Roundup
Matt Wardman has posted a good roundup today of where things are at, and added yet more bloggers and sites which are carrying the story. I'm thrilled to see that the Facebook group has cleared 400: it was 425 members when I looked just now.
Meanwhile Bishop Alan has emerged from Lambeth to blog on the Private Eye report, and Phil Brewer, one of the SSG management team, has been locked out of his own shop in Sheffield for not paying the rent. Wonder if anyone's told the landlord he's filing for bankruptcy?
No sooner do I try to quieten down on this than lots of new articles turn up. That last link is to quiet a heated debate on the role of the original SPCK trustees in all of this (also here). I must admit that I was quite surprised to discover on the Charity Commission website that the original Society of St. Stephen the Great had only turned over £28,728, with most of this being donations from J. Mark Brewer. That's less than half of our parish turnover, and I can't imagine us being asked to run a chain of national bookstores.
It's also being noted that search terms like Brewer and Pritchard, J. Mark Brewer, Society of St. Stephen the Great and the like on Google are increasingly turning up stories related to the silencing of the SPCK bloggers and the poor handling of the business and its staff. And I guess the longer this goes on, the more that will happen. It would be incredibly embarassing if the top Google search for 'bplaw' (the shorthand for Brewer & Pritchard Law) turned up here, or even worse here.
Meanwhile Bishop Alan has emerged from Lambeth to blog on the Private Eye report, and Phil Brewer, one of the SSG management team, has been locked out of his own shop in Sheffield for not paying the rent. Wonder if anyone's told the landlord he's filing for bankruptcy?
No sooner do I try to quieten down on this than lots of new articles turn up. That last link is to quiet a heated debate on the role of the original SPCK trustees in all of this (also here). I must admit that I was quite surprised to discover on the Charity Commission website that the original Society of St. Stephen the Great had only turned over £28,728, with most of this being donations from J. Mark Brewer. That's less than half of our parish turnover, and I can't imagine us being asked to run a chain of national bookstores.
It's also being noted that search terms like Brewer and Pritchard, J. Mark Brewer, Society of St. Stephen the Great and the like on Google are increasingly turning up stories related to the silencing of the SPCK bloggers and the poor handling of the business and its staff. And I guess the longer this goes on, the more that will happen. It would be incredibly embarassing if the top Google search for 'bplaw' (the shorthand for Brewer & Pritchard Law) turned up here, or even worse here.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
The Dave Walker Campaign: Where Next?
It seems a long time since July 22nd, the day Dave Walker took down the 75 SPCK posts from his blog under the threat of libel proceedings from Mark Brewer. And where have we got to?
- Over 75 bloggers covering the story, including several blogs set up purely to repost some of the Cartoon Church posts.
- The other 2 recipients of Cease and Desist letters, Phil Groom and Rev. Sam Norton, both refusing to be silenced, and publishing their correspondence.
- As well as being salvaged by various bloggers, the entire 75 Dave Walker posts have been republished by Matt Wardman, along with an introduction to the whole business, and a few other useful clippings - available as a free download here. From what I gather it's been downloaded well over 400 times. For a shorter introduction, Phil Grooms account of the last couple of weeks, and what went before, is well worth a read.
- Loads more attention on SPCK, the Society of St. Stephen the Great, and Mark Brewer in particular. The irony of someone threatening legal proceedings when they're facing an employment tribunal in one country, and a dispute over flawed bankruptcy proceedings in another is, well, probably lost on the man at the centre of all this.
- A mass of support for Dave Walker, Phil and Sam, which has possibly deterred SSG from issuing any more 'cease and desist' letters for fear that they'll be plastered all over the internet.
- The attempted silencing of bloggers starting to become a media story in itself.
Dave Walker has now gone on a well-earned break after cartooning at Lambeth, so now seems as good a time as any to take stock.
My original aim in all of this was to help create enough support for Dave Walker that the libel threat would be withdrawn, and he'd be able to restore all the SPCK posts. There's going to be nothing new on that front for a few weeks, but I'm sure the support has given Phil and Sam the encouragement to stand up to SSG's attempts to silence them.
What we've also done is create a network of bloggers, and a Facebook group of around 400, who are on the side of the bloggers in this. Even if things go quiet for a bit, there are a lot of folk who will find out - and find out very quickly - if anything else important happens. It's a group which includes libel lawyers, bishops, prominent bloggers, and journalists for the national UK media. There is also a lot more research now on the internet should any media outlet want to dig more into the SPCK/SSG story.
The main challenges from here on in:
- Mark Brewer retracting his C&D letters.
- Ongoing coverage of the SPCK story in the UK, and the bankruptcy proceedings in the USA.
- Keep nudging the mainstream media, and outlets like Christian Bookseller, so that they don't get spooked by legal bluster, but continue to do their job as journalists, which is to seek out and report the truth.
I've been posting pretty much daily on this since July 22nd, and I'm one of dozens of bloggers who, to be honest, hadn't followed the SPCK story very closely until Mark Brewer tried to censor it. During that time I've had probably over 1,000 visitors looking into the Dave Walker saga, and other blogs have had many more.
But now it's time to let the SPCK/SSG blog do the job it was created for, which is to carry on the coverage of this story, though I'll be posting on anything important as and when it crops up. There's also a SPCK Facebook group which is more focused on the events at the bookstores. And for a daily list of new links, Richard Peat's friendfeed page on Dave Walker is a great starting point.
So it will be back to blogging as usual from next week. Hopefully.
- Over 75 bloggers covering the story, including several blogs set up purely to repost some of the Cartoon Church posts.
- The other 2 recipients of Cease and Desist letters, Phil Groom and Rev. Sam Norton, both refusing to be silenced, and publishing their correspondence.
- As well as being salvaged by various bloggers, the entire 75 Dave Walker posts have been republished by Matt Wardman, along with an introduction to the whole business, and a few other useful clippings - available as a free download here. From what I gather it's been downloaded well over 400 times. For a shorter introduction, Phil Grooms account of the last couple of weeks, and what went before, is well worth a read.
- Loads more attention on SPCK, the Society of St. Stephen the Great, and Mark Brewer in particular. The irony of someone threatening legal proceedings when they're facing an employment tribunal in one country, and a dispute over flawed bankruptcy proceedings in another is, well, probably lost on the man at the centre of all this.
- A mass of support for Dave Walker, Phil and Sam, which has possibly deterred SSG from issuing any more 'cease and desist' letters for fear that they'll be plastered all over the internet.
- The attempted silencing of bloggers starting to become a media story in itself.
Dave Walker has now gone on a well-earned break after cartooning at Lambeth, so now seems as good a time as any to take stock.
My original aim in all of this was to help create enough support for Dave Walker that the libel threat would be withdrawn, and he'd be able to restore all the SPCK posts. There's going to be nothing new on that front for a few weeks, but I'm sure the support has given Phil and Sam the encouragement to stand up to SSG's attempts to silence them.
What we've also done is create a network of bloggers, and a Facebook group of around 400, who are on the side of the bloggers in this. Even if things go quiet for a bit, there are a lot of folk who will find out - and find out very quickly - if anything else important happens. It's a group which includes libel lawyers, bishops, prominent bloggers, and journalists for the national UK media. There is also a lot more research now on the internet should any media outlet want to dig more into the SPCK/SSG story.
The main challenges from here on in:
- Mark Brewer retracting his C&D letters.
- Ongoing coverage of the SPCK story in the UK, and the bankruptcy proceedings in the USA.
- Keep nudging the mainstream media, and outlets like Christian Bookseller, so that they don't get spooked by legal bluster, but continue to do their job as journalists, which is to seek out and report the truth.
I've been posting pretty much daily on this since July 22nd, and I'm one of dozens of bloggers who, to be honest, hadn't followed the SPCK story very closely until Mark Brewer tried to censor it. During that time I've had probably over 1,000 visitors looking into the Dave Walker saga, and other blogs have had many more.
But now it's time to let the SPCK/SSG blog do the job it was created for, which is to carry on the coverage of this story, though I'll be posting on anything important as and when it crops up. There's also a SPCK Facebook group which is more focused on the events at the bookstores. And for a daily list of new links, Richard Peat's friendfeed page on Dave Walker is a great starting point.
So it will be back to blogging as usual from next week. Hopefully.
Dave Walker Daily Update, Thursday August 7th: The Eyes Have It
Great to see that Private Eye have picked up on the attempt to silence the SPCK coverage:
see also Elizaphanian, SPCK/SSG blog, and well done Mark B who spotted this in the first place.
Meanwhile Ben Gallagher - newish to this saga but rapidly catching up - has done some digging behind the SSG website, and discovered some peculiar things.
Matt Wardman has updated the bloggers list, well over 70, with more to add.
Dave Walker himself has gone on holiday to recover from Lambeth.
I'll be posting later today (hopefully) about where we're going with all this, and what the medium to long term might look like.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Dave Walker Daily Update, Tuesday August 5th: The Blog that Got Away
Having not spotted this until today, it's probably not surprising that the Cartoon Church Backup Site has sneaked under the radar of pretty much everyone. It seems to have been set up by Dave Walker when the CartoonChurch blog was having difficulties, and duplicates a few of the posts which Dave was forced to take down 2 weeks ago.
Along with a few comments, it has some interesting stuff - e.g. the postponement of an industrial tribunal in Sheffield because SSG had gone into bankruptcy proceedings the week before, and a list of the directors of 'ENC Management Company', who have taken over the running of the SPCK shops from the Society of St. Stephen the Great. It's exactly the same people.
Here's an extract from the email sent by Mark Brewer explaining this:
SSG-LLC is not authorized to employ any person or incur any debt. With immediate effect, SSG-LLC payroll, redundancy and other such obligations will only be payable through the bankruptcy court. SSG-LLC employees of record as of 4 June 2008 will receive further notification directly from the bankruptcy court about how to submit a claim.
The bookshops will now be operated by ENC Management Company. Former employees of SSG-LLC are invited to apply for a position with ENC Management Company. If you wish to apply, please reply to this email so indicating.
So SSG goes into bankruptcy to get out of paying its creditors, or making up the missing PAYE that employees hadn't been paid, etc. etc., and sets up a new company overnight with the same people in charge to start with a clean sheet. Is this how they normally do business in the Land of the Free?
Meanwhile, the Chester Chronicle has an update on the USDAW action against SSG. Here's an extract from the report.
Usdaw spokesman Cherry Hamilton said: “We are currently finalising 11 remaining claims to submit. This will bring the number of claims up to 30.
“The President of the Employment Tribunals has ordered them all to be heard together in one tribunal in Bury St Edmunds, following a request from Usdaw. We await information on the date.”
Although the Brewer brothers have filed for bankruptcy in the US, Usdaw firmly believes these proceedings have no effect in the UK meaning the claims against the company can continue.
John Hannett, Usdaw general secretary, said: “It is clear that staff, many of whom have been long standing loyal workers, have been mistreated and many are understandably very upset and concerned.
“We are very concerned at a new company (ENC Management Company) being set up in these circumstances, while our members are losing their jobs.”
Too right. And if you're a former SPCK employee and USDAW member who might have been unfairly dismissed, here is the USDAW website. The number of claimants was 15 back in June, and seems to have doubled.
Worryingly, an article about the new 'ENC Management Company' in the magazine Christian Marketplace magazine has been pulled from their website. Phil Groom had an article about SPCK pulled from the latest issue at the last minute. Maybe some letters or emails to the magazine pointing out how concerned we are at the situation would help them to publish it in the next issue.
Finally, back to that backup site. Have I just landed Dave Walker in it? Or has the flow of Cease and Desist correspondence stopped? Did I say how many posts were on it? No? Count them up one day and it might be 75..........
Along with a few comments, it has some interesting stuff - e.g. the postponement of an industrial tribunal in Sheffield because SSG had gone into bankruptcy proceedings the week before, and a list of the directors of 'ENC Management Company', who have taken over the running of the SPCK shops from the Society of St. Stephen the Great. It's exactly the same people.
Here's an extract from the email sent by Mark Brewer explaining this:
SSG-LLC is not authorized to employ any person or incur any debt. With immediate effect, SSG-LLC payroll, redundancy and other such obligations will only be payable through the bankruptcy court. SSG-LLC employees of record as of 4 June 2008 will receive further notification directly from the bankruptcy court about how to submit a claim.
The bookshops will now be operated by ENC Management Company. Former employees of SSG-LLC are invited to apply for a position with ENC Management Company. If you wish to apply, please reply to this email so indicating.
So SSG goes into bankruptcy to get out of paying its creditors, or making up the missing PAYE that employees hadn't been paid, etc. etc., and sets up a new company overnight with the same people in charge to start with a clean sheet. Is this how they normally do business in the Land of the Free?
Meanwhile, the Chester Chronicle has an update on the USDAW action against SSG. Here's an extract from the report.
Usdaw spokesman Cherry Hamilton said: “We are currently finalising 11 remaining claims to submit. This will bring the number of claims up to 30.
“The President of the Employment Tribunals has ordered them all to be heard together in one tribunal in Bury St Edmunds, following a request from Usdaw. We await information on the date.”
Although the Brewer brothers have filed for bankruptcy in the US, Usdaw firmly believes these proceedings have no effect in the UK meaning the claims against the company can continue.
John Hannett, Usdaw general secretary, said: “It is clear that staff, many of whom have been long standing loyal workers, have been mistreated and many are understandably very upset and concerned.
“We are very concerned at a new company (ENC Management Company) being set up in these circumstances, while our members are losing their jobs.”
Too right. And if you're a former SPCK employee and USDAW member who might have been unfairly dismissed, here is the USDAW website. The number of claimants was 15 back in June, and seems to have doubled.
Worryingly, an article about the new 'ENC Management Company' in the magazine Christian Marketplace magazine has been pulled from their website. Phil Groom had an article about SPCK pulled from the latest issue at the last minute. Maybe some letters or emails to the magazine pointing out how concerned we are at the situation would help them to publish it in the next issue.
Finally, back to that backup site. Have I just landed Dave Walker in it? Or has the flow of Cease and Desist correspondence stopped? Did I say how many posts were on it? No? Count them up one day and it might be 75..........
Monday, August 04, 2008
Dave Walker, SSG, SPCK Update (part 2) Monday 4th August
Key posts and developments today on the attempted silencing of the SPCK blogs:
On the SPCK/SSG blog there are two: Mark Bennett has compiled a list of Mark Brewers public statements about SPCK (which I linked to earlier), and Phelim Macintyre has blogged about a planned meeting in September between former SPCK suppliers and staff. Yesterday Phil Groom posted an article he'd written for magazine Christian Marketplace, which was pulled from the magazine at the last minute. The editor of Christian Marketplace, Clem Jackson, was copied in on Phil Grooms 'Cease and Desist letter'. As SPCKwatch reports:
Today the new copy of Christian Marketplace arrived. All that is reported on the SSG saga is the funeral of Steve Jeynes. There is no mention of the bankruptcy case or 30 industrial tribunials that SSG are facing. As we now know from Phil's site Clem Jackson, editor of Christian Marketplace, recieved the same threat as Phil did. Hopefully this silence is only temporary on their part. But as soon as we know the outcome of the bankruptcy hearing be sure us Bloggers will report it.
It's not an easy position to be in, and I notice that despite journalists belonging to the Facebook group supporting Dave Walker, none of them have done a piece on the story yet. Some comments are starting to appear asking why the media haven't picked up on this yet. I guess a global gathering of bishops was probably occupying them.
Matt Wardman has posted on Cease and Desist letters, arguing that because Phil Grooms C&D was copied to a third party (Clem Jackson - see above), the allegations in it about Phil's site were effectively sent to a member of the British media, and thus might be considered libellous and defamatory in their own right. Ooops.
Sam Norton has posted an open letter to Mark Brewer from a former employee, citing a dreadful story about the treatment of a former SPCK employee.
Several other sites blogging today, but thought I'd try to organise (for my own sanity as much as anything) who's covering the Dave Walker/SPCK/SSG affair, and from what angle.
1. The Evidence:
3. Analysis and General Digging Around.
On the SPCK/SSG blog there are two: Mark Bennett has compiled a list of Mark Brewers public statements about SPCK (which I linked to earlier), and Phelim Macintyre has blogged about a planned meeting in September between former SPCK suppliers and staff. Yesterday Phil Groom posted an article he'd written for magazine Christian Marketplace, which was pulled from the magazine at the last minute. The editor of Christian Marketplace, Clem Jackson, was copied in on Phil Grooms 'Cease and Desist letter'. As SPCKwatch reports:
Today the new copy of Christian Marketplace arrived. All that is reported on the SSG saga is the funeral of Steve Jeynes. There is no mention of the bankruptcy case or 30 industrial tribunials that SSG are facing. As we now know from Phil's site Clem Jackson, editor of Christian Marketplace, recieved the same threat as Phil did. Hopefully this silence is only temporary on their part. But as soon as we know the outcome of the bankruptcy hearing be sure us Bloggers will report it.
It's not an easy position to be in, and I notice that despite journalists belonging to the Facebook group supporting Dave Walker, none of them have done a piece on the story yet. Some comments are starting to appear asking why the media haven't picked up on this yet. I guess a global gathering of bishops was probably occupying them.
Matt Wardman has posted on Cease and Desist letters, arguing that because Phil Grooms C&D was copied to a third party (Clem Jackson - see above), the allegations in it about Phil's site were effectively sent to a member of the British media, and thus might be considered libellous and defamatory in their own right. Ooops.
Sam Norton has posted an open letter to Mark Brewer from a former employee, citing a dreadful story about the treatment of a former SPCK employee.
Several other sites blogging today, but thought I'd try to organise (for my own sanity as much as anything) who's covering the Dave Walker/SPCK/SSG affair, and from what angle.
1. The Evidence:
- Dave Walker's empty 'Mark Brewer' post on the Cartoon Blog.
- Dave's 75 posts on SPCK, collated into a pdf by Matt Wardman, also available on a blog near you. Reviewed here.
- Phil Grooms 'Cease and Desist' letter from Mark Brewer, covering 5 blogs, 2 of which weren't even run by Phil. In 3 parts: here, here and here.
- Sam Nortons Cease and Desist letter, and other correspondence with Mark Brewer.
- Unicorn Tree Books: a website Phil Groom was asked to close down, even though he has nothing to do with it. By sheer coincidence (not), the site has done detailed reporting on the sacking of staff and other alleged mismanagement of the Lincoln SPCK shop.
- Matt Wardman - daily updates, analysis of law, civil liberties etc.
- SPCK/SSG - Phil Grooms site, dedicated to the ongoing SPCK story and support of former staff and suppliers.
- Dave Walker Friendfeed page: regularly updated links to stories around Dave Walker, SPCK, SSG etc. First port of call to see what's been newly blogged.
- We Support Dave Walker Facebook site. 376 members at last count. Some good links in the 'Wall Posts' there.
- and this one, mainly linking to other sites.
3. Analysis and General Digging Around.
- SPCKwatch: relatively new site, but some good stuff - recent analysis on whether the SPCK chain was 'thriving' as SSG claimed.
- Ministry of Truth: some great in depth analysis of the Mark Brewer letters, and the business dealings of SSG.
- Bizarrely Rev. Dr Christian Troll: and good for a chuckle too.
4. Regular Comment
- Elizaphanian (Sam Norton)
- Metacatholic (Doug Chaplin)
- Maggi Dawn
- Madpriest (once you've waded through all the bizarre pics of Rowan Williams)
- Exigency in Specie (Richard Peat)
- Asingleblog
- squiggle jones
- Ship of fools 'SPCK bookshops' discussion
5. Cartoons
- ASBO Jesus (nos 519-521, plus comments)
- Rosary Studio
- Lingamish (did some hippos for Matt W)
There are lots of other sites which have linked to this story - a full list is hosted by Matt Wardmans and it's up to 76 now, and if you spot other links, or blog on it yourself, please leave a comment there. Just spotted include Ben Gallagher (good post, nice cartoon) and Long Withdrawing Roar .
If I've missed anything off this list, please let me know. I look forward to the day when Dave's Cartoon Blog is back in section 2, where it belongs.
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