The blog has been busy at the forefront of breaking news this week, leading on two front-page issues: Huhne and super-injunctions. On Monday we were the first to exclusively reveal where Vicky Pryce was on that fateful night in March 2003, pipping Michael Crick to be first to pixel. On Tuesday our poll of over 4,549 readers revealed that 96% thought Chris Huhne was lying.

Wednesday morning economic data released showed the unemployment rate falling, we suggested Ed Balls go back to the drawing board. PMQs was rowdy, Aidan Burley MP asked the PM to back Guido’s campaign against “Union Pilgrims”, the taxpayer-funded union organisers paid to agitate full-time instead of doing their frontline public sector jobs. Thursday marked Day 11 of the Huhne speeding story, the point where Alastair Campbell says the game is up.

Thursday we outed the doctor who has appeared in political adverts for Miliband, Brown, Sadiq Khan and Tony Blair. Friday was super-injunction day again, we named the billionaire who has muzzled Britain’s press and laughed at Ryan Giggs for being the fall guy for Schillings, the lawyers who more than any other firm have brought the law into disrepute. For good measure we revealed that the Shadow Chancellor’s political adviser had failed to declare his financial interests in breach of parliament’s rules.

Regarding full-time union officials, or Pilgrims as they have come to be known, Guido wrote last week:

“There are 2,493 Pilgrims across the public sector, union officials, paid not to provide the service they represent, but instead do political activities that should be funded by the unions. Without having to pay their staff, the unions can spend the money raised through their subs on other things, like keeping the Labour Party solvent.”

Well there was certainly one happy reader. This is what Aidan Burley had to ask at PMQs:

Mr Aidan Burley (Cannock Chase) (Con): There are currently 2,500 trade union representatives across the public sector paid not to provide the service that they represent but to carry out campaigning activities that should be funded by the unions—and because the unions do not pay their salaries, they can spend their subs on other things, such as subsidising that lot over there. Does the Prime Minister not think it time that that was reformed?

The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend raises an important point. [Hon. Members: “No he doesn’t!”] It is interesting that whenever someone raises a point about union funding they get shouted down by the Labour party, because Labour Members do not want any examination of what trade unions do, or how much money they give to the Labour party. [Interruption.] I think that they protest a little too much

This week, Guido will be exposing another Pilgrim, this time a teacher. In the meantime Guido strongly encourages Aidan and his collegues to sign EDM1799 demanding an end to this obscene loophole.

Video via Dom Robinson

Guido has spent the week “Huhnting”. Last Sunday’s papers revealed that the wily Secretary of State for Energy, Chris Huhne, had forced “someone close to him” to accept penalty points to avoid losing his driving licence. A criminal offence and a resigning issue. After much tracking down of former staffers, Guido clicked. What if it was Vicky, his estranged wife, who coughed the arrangement, that took the bullet? While she isn’t necessarily going to incriminate herself this Sunday, it will be interesting to see how far she is willing to twist the knife into her soon-to-be ex-husband’s career. The crosshairs even came out.

Super Injunctions have also been the order of the week and Guido certainly gave Adam Boulton a fright on Sky News on Monday, when he gave some very simple media advice to the rich and the famous, it was such good advice that it was repeated last night on Have I Got News for You.

Meanwhile, Neo-Guido, also known as the site’s News Editor, fresh from sparring with Polly Toynbee on Newsnight on Tuesday, stuck it to David Laws and his spinners on the BBC News Channel on Thursday night, highlighting the £99,000 “gift” that was the real reason for the harsh punishment the LibDem golden child.

Regular readers will remember the fun that Guido had with Nurse Pilgrim, the Unison rep posing as a nurse to smear Lansley, who was making money on the side with her sly consultancy firm and lives in a hippy commune. Yeah, that one.

Well to cut a long story short, Jane Pilgrim’s poison has come to the attention of Parliament, and an EDM has been tabled to fight against the thousands of union officials, just like Jane Pilgrim, depriving the public sector of a front line salary:

Trades Union Officials Funded from the Public Purse. EDM 1799

That this house notes the existence of full time Trades Union officials whose salaries are paid by the taxpayer; further notes that these have been nicknamed “Pilgrims” by the media as a reference to Jane Pilgrim from UNISON who attacked the government whilst claiming to be a nurse, it was subsequently shown that she didn’t practise but instead claimed an NHS salary to work for the union; believes that this practise is deplorable; further believes that we do not know how many Pilgrims there are in Britain but each one deprives the taxpayer of valuable frontline services; resolves to continue to work towards a ban on Trades Union Pilgrims.

Guido knows there are MPs reading this, and he might put you on the nice, rather than the naughty list if you sign it.

Tory MP Alok Sharma has been digging into the union officials that are paid full time by the state. Basically local government versions of Nurse Pilgrim, whom Guido exposed last week.

Sharma asked the number of council-paid employees working full-time on trade union business, as well as the aggregate bill and the estimated cost of any other resources used by these officials

319 of 429 councils responded to the FOI request. 132 had a paid full-time union official in at least one of the last 3 years, whilst 187 did not. As yesterday, 110 councils had not responded including the  slashing Labour controlled Manchester City Council.

The total salary bill over the last three years for full-time union reps was £35 million. This does not include the cost of employing someone else to do the job vacated by the union reps. The unions should be paying for these staffers, not the taxpayer.

Meanwhile our favourite Nurse Pilgrim is causing trouble again. Outraged that the hospital she works at won’t be shutting down for the Royal Wedding she is organisng an official complaint

From: Jane Pilgrim [mailto:Jane.Pilgrim@███████.nhs.uk]
Sent: 26 April 2011 16:48
To: ████████████████
Subject: RE: royal wedding
Sensitivity: Confidential

Dear All,

It seems that the Trust are putting up stiff resistance to our various letters,

It does now seem that a collective grievance would be appropriate. UNISON has agreed to this..

Please let me know if you wish to be part of a collective grievance by 11th May,

Many Thanks

Jane Pilgrim ( Staff Side Secretary)

Guido wouldn’t have had this “peace and love” hippy squatter down as an arch-monarchist. Especially as she has now joined the Green Party who are abolitionist. Heaven forbid she might actually have to do a days work though. How exactly is Jane expecting lives to be saved if everyone at the hospital gets the day off?

Following exposés by both Guido and the Mail on Sunday into the activities of Jane Pilgrim, pressure is now mounting to make the practise of employing trades union officials full time on the taxpayer illegal. David Morris MP just raised this at today’s Health Questions:

“There have been press reports recently that money earmarked for frontline NHS services is being used by hospitals to pay salaries to Trade Union officials. Does my Rt Hon friend (Andrew Lansley) believe it is acceptable to spend taxpayers’ money on union hatchet people and will he order an urgent investigation.”

The reply came with the usual expectations of “behaving responsibly”. But Pilgrim’s activities did not go unnoticed in parliament and in councils around the country. Plates could well start to move on this issue soon…

Last week Guido revealed how Unison rep and former nurse Jane Pilgrim was depriving the public of a nurse in a frontline role at St. George’s Hospital in Tooting. Yesterday the Mail on Sunday exposed how she is also depriving families in need of  housing through the commune of which she is the head.  The Crescent Road Community consist of three dilapidated houses in Kingston upon Thames, where thirty “peace and love” activists live. They have ignored attempts to have them evicted and and are living there illegally.

Nurse Pilgrim is now subject to a double investigation at St Georges, including one into why she was using the image of one of the hospital’s directors to promote her private consultancy without his knowledge or permission. Guido hears that she is in rather a lot of trouble…

The TaxPayers’ Alliance have found 2,493 Pilgrims across the public sector, union officials, paid not to provide the service they represent, but instead do political activities that should be funded by the unions. Without having to pay their staff, the unions can spend the money raised through their subs on other things, like keeping the Labour Party solvent. They’re costing us millions and, as last week’s investigation showed, they’re completely unaccountable. Do you know a Nurse Pilgrim in your hospital or school? Tell Guido…

Last week saw 77,034 absolute unique visitors make 219,392 visits to view 351,392 pages.

Guido has been doing some digging this week into a Unison representative at St George’s Hospital Tooting. Jane Pilgrim is paid a front line nurse’s salary not to nurse. Instead she is a full-time Unison union bod. Earlier in the week she was slating Lansley in the Evening Standard for coming to the hospital before the election and lying to them about cuts. It turns out “nurse” Pilgrim boycotted the meeting in 2009 for political reasons and made up the quote. 

Guido dug further and it turns out Nurse Pilgrim has been running a sly consultancy firm on the side, and an investigation was launched at the hospital. Look out for more on this “nurse” over the weekend. 

However there is a wider issue at stake. There are thousands of these reps across the country being paid not to teach or save lives, but instead to work for their union. It’s a huge loophole that sees £67 million of taxpayer spending not going to frontline workers, but to the unions, who in turn channel millions of pounds back into the Labour Party. There’s a Nurse Pilgrim in every hospital… 

The top stories last week in order of popularity were:

• Caught Red Hand Ed
• Unison’s Taxpayer-Funded Lansley Smearer
• Boris Ally Sir Simon Milton Dies
• Truth About Fishy Cameron Snap
• Yvette Glams Up
• Unison “Nurse” is Privately Pocket Lining Too
• RCN Raps Lansley’s Knuckles by 98%

You’re either in front of Guido, or you are behind…

The St George’s Hospital Trust was quick to distance themselves from Jane Pilgrim when Guido spoke to them a moment ago. And it’s not hard to see why, take what one St George’s employee said this morning:

“It’s a disgrace that somebody who is in full time ‘employment’ with the NHS, is trying to open up a nice little side line that is probably a conflict of interest. I object as a taxpayer to her actions. She is not competent enough to run a piss up in a brewery let alone run a business and this is from personal experience. She must be stopped otherwise she will make St George’s Hospital a laughing stock in the NHS. Does David Astley CEO know about her activities?”

Despite paying her salary, they stress that she acts on behalf of Unison and not them. This didn’t stop her dressing up with a stethoscope for pictures and being happily described as a “nurse” by The Standard though. Guido has put the following questions to their communications team:

• Given St Georges Trust are the ones that pay Ms. Pilgrim were you aware of her outside consultancy?
• Do you see any possible conflict of interest with her outside consultancy and her job at the hospital?
• Were St George’s Trust aware that Director of Transformation Alan Thorne was featured on the consultancy website?
• Does he have any financial interest in the consultancy?

Guido is patiently waiting on a reply…

Unison have been deeply unhelpful, despite the damage their taxpayer-funded representative is causing them. This is the closest we have got to a comment from them:

Jane Pilgrim works on project to improve efficiency and productivity & patient care on wards. She is not a member of the Labour Party—
Mary Maguire (@MaryxMaguire) April 14, 2011

Then why lie about being a nurse? Is that the same efficiency drive that saw “staff safaris” to Wagamamas and John Lewis? It seems Mary Maguire, Unison’s head of press, should go back to Jane Pilgrim and ask her why she is active in the Kingston and Surbiton CLP. Last October she was writing about how important it was for Labour to win the next election. Typical holding response though, that does little to address the accusations of dishonesty.

UPDATE: St George’s Tooting are investigating Unison “nurse” Jane Pilgrim. No comment until tomorrow though it seems.

Remember our good friend Nurse Pilgrim? She’s the taxpayer-funded, full time Unison union-worker who made up details of a meeting with Lansley that she didn’t attend. Well it appears that whilst we pay for her to work for a trade union she’s lining her pockets in the private sector. Not content with depriving St George’s Tooting of a frontline active nurse, Jane Pilgrim has her own private consultancy firm “Pilgrim Way“:

“Pilgrimway” beleave [sic.] that Staff engagement and happiness produce productive and successful companies and services. Our consultant “Jane Pilgrim” is an award winner in partnership working and has been able to lead successful staff engagement projects, in the NHS to improve customer care ,work relationships and create great places to work.

We are able to offer packages designed for your needs:-
Consultation
Team Building
Customer Service Training
Staff Engagement workshops”

Guido’s first thought was “do St George’s know about this?”. Well he hopes this is news to them, but has a feeling they tacitly endorse it. Especially given Alan Thorne, the hospital’s absurdly titled and salaried “Director of Transformation” (paid around £95 – £100,0000 last year) is featured in a photograph on the site:

Thorne and Pilgrim work closely together at St Georges. Do they have a private professional relationship too? Given she’s a burden on the taxpayer full-time, one fellow Unison figure pondered to Guido how this outside consultancy is possibly compatible with her day job? Sadly Nurse Pilgrim is still not talking to Guido. Time to go above her head…