VFM from No2VAG

Eh?  That's Value for Money from the No to Veolia Action Group.  Rob Langlands explains in the Islington Tribune:

AFTER more than a three-year procurement process to contract out the management of waste from north London, the North London Waste Authority chief Councillor Clyde Loakes dramatically U-turned last week.

When I analysed the sparse information made public by the secretive NLWA over a year ago, I was astonished to discover that costs for north Londoners, including people in Islington, would almost triple under his leadership to more than £4billion.

I made my findings public in the Tribune, along with the potential for at least £1billion savings.
In his response, the NLWA chief derisively claimed I didn’t know what I was talking about.

Last year, I and No2VAG informed Islington Council and all the other boroughs of the reckless plan to waste such a colossal sum of money in these times of immense financial pressure.

Belatedly and after spending at least a further £5million of public money on “expert” investigation, Cllr Loakes now admits the NLWA could save £900m by simply cancelling his grandiose plan.

Yet the top people in the NLWA continue with their £100k-plus salaries in spite of overseeing the throwing away of more than £10m on highly-paid expert consultants.

Meanwhile, Cllr Loakes is re-elected as NLWA chair to preside over this mess. While he has introduced
fines for spitting in public, he is now virtually spitting in the face of the many north London residents who were convinced of the lunacy of his grandiose rubbish plan.

The fantastic result of these £1billion savings gives me great satisfaction, though initially my main reason for examining this waste plan was the No2VAG campaign against Veolia’s bid for the £4.7billion contracts, which shows that fighting for justice for Palestinians can benefit Islington.

ROB LANGLANDS
Secretary, No2Veolia Action Group

So boycotting Israel's collaborators can make political, moral and financial sense.  Good news!

NO 2 Veolia torpedoed bid

Ok, same news, different paper.  The local press coverage of the campaign against zionism's preferred supplier, Veolia, has been, from my point of view anyway, as unexpected as Veolia's sudden withdrawal from the contract contest.  This time it's the Camden New Journal on the case:

ONE of the biggest-ever contracts in local authority history has been thrown into further chaos after one of only two bidders pulled out at the last minute.

North London Waste Authority (NLWA) – run by seven London boroughs, including Camden – is on the verge of handing out a £4.7bn contract to collect, recycle and burn waste from the boroughs for the next 25 to 35 years.

But after more than a year of negotiations whittled down the firms able to handle such a contract to just two, one has now quit the race at the last minute.

International waste firm Veolia is not giving a reason for its decision. But campaigners believe it is due to the negative publicity that has been gathering pace over its work for Israel on illegally occupied Palestinian land.

The United Nations and charity War on Want both wrote to the councillors – two from each borough – who run the NLWA, urging them not to choose Veolia.

Camden representatives on the NLWA are councillors Phil Jones and Theo Blackwell.

There has also been a vociferous campaign by a group called No To Veolia.

Campaigner Yael Kahn said: “It is absolutely down to the campaign. Without it Veolia would have already pocketed the contract.”

The contract, which will cost Camden taxpayers £600m, has been mired in controversy because all the deliberations are held in secret, even though a vast amount of taxpayers’ cash – enough to buy four nuclear submarines – is at stake

Of course this isn't simply about media coverage. Israel will be watching this case nervously as companies will have to consider all of the implications of being associated with the occupation or even with Israel itself.