When Bureaucrats Became Dictators: Oldham Under Kipling

There's a bloodless coup happening in Oldham right now. No tanks in the streets. No riot police. No vigilante street patrols led by Arooj Shah's childhood friend. Instead, democracy is being strangled by paperwork and procedure from the new multi million pound council offices. Acting Chief Executive Shelly Kipling and her team of unelected officials aren't storming the council chamber – they're simply declaring its decisions "unlawful."

A clear democratic vote isn't being overturned by force. It is being erased by bureaucratic decree. While we obsess over threats to democracy from extremists and external forces, the real danger wears a lanyard and sends emails. And here's the terrifying part: if Kipling and her kind succeed in Oldham, your council could be next.

Here's what most people don't realise about local democracy: it can die quietly, through procedure rather than proclamation. What's unfolding in Oldham isn't just a local spat – it's a masterclass in how to dismantle democratic institutions while maintaining the illusion of process.