To All MAG Members Almost three years ago in April 2011 I attended the MAG AGC in Beverley, East Yorkshire. I heard financial projections that MAG was struggling financially (true) and I heard Paddy Tyson tell the Conference that his Get a Grip campaign would bring in sponsorship money of £24,000 (false). MAG at the time had five full time staff and one part-timer. Whatever they may wish to pretend, two of the full timers – Nich and Paddy – were not focused on Riders’ Rights work of any description. They were focused on a nasty war of words with Trevor Baird and Elaine Hardy. They were focused on undermining Neil Stevenson our Stands manager. They were focused similarly on undermining our President Ian Mutch. They were focused on running their magazine business for which no proper formal approval had ever been given and planning the launch of their touring business for which no approval of any kind was ever even sought. Shortly after that their focused broadened to the task of keeping me off the Board by devious means. In time the same focus was applied to Pete Walker. In the time since Nich and Paddy departed a host of matters have come to light, none of which do either of them any credit. In terms of simple administration it came to light that MAG was losing revenue because insurance marketing allowance payments were being sent to MAG’s old address. Tyson it transpired was advising others on setting up a rival to MAG, the so-called ‘British Motorcyclists’ Association’. Untrue, vicious and vile rumours were being propagated about long-standing MAG volunteers. An additional staff member had been secretly employed at MAG’s expense and his employment had been deliberately concealed from MAG’s National Committee and its Board, no doubt because he was also employed on their Shuvvy Press Ltd business, an obvious conflict of interests. The database project was still incomplete after three years. In between April 2011 and their departure in 2013 successive Directors found themselves systematically controlled and misled by those whose wages they were paying. Some threw their hands in, unable to tolerate any more mistreatment. All that has now changed. We have a staff of whom we are proud and of whom every MAG Member can and should be proud. MAG now has the best lobbying team and the best administration team it has ever had. It is a smaller staff, three full time and one part time, but it is immensely more effective. Why? Because the team members are totally committed to MAG and to working with the Board and NC members, not against them. We work in partnership and they take direction from us, they do not try to control us. In short it is a normal constructive employer-employee relationship. All this has come at a cost and I am well aware that many people hate me. That causes me no loss of sleep. However the way in which that hate is expressed is not good for MAG or MAG’s staff. Last week a very few people tied up my time by sticking knives in my back and the last two days have been pretty much the same. I can’t stop them doing this of course, but I can stop them wasting my time. From now on those who wish to libel me may do so in the knowledge that I shall not trouble to respond. Aquila non capit muscas, as the Romans would say. However, for MAG’s sake and for the sake of our staff, they could perhaps contain their venom and organise themselves to come to Blackpool, where they may stick as many knives in me as they wish, on the Ides of April.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 19:33:48 +0000
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