| Reasons for his admission to our Hall of Shame |
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| Our Consul has displayed a crass attitude, arrogance and rudeness to our ExPat community in general, our Members and those of the co-founders of this Association, David R Burrage and Peter Woodall. The formerr had quite properly sought help from him about a matter within his remit. The Consul, someone whose salary is paid for by British taxpayers, has failed to perform his duties in a manner which his position dictates. He has failed to advise ExPats as to their entitlements, for example, that of free health care in the Valencian Communidad, he has given erroneous and inappropriate advice to ExPats who sought his support, and in general totally failed the British ExPat community who reside within his geographical domain. A sad situation has now arisen whereby our Association is receiving requests for assistance, and or advice, rather than those individual(s) concerned contacting the Consulate. This Association cannot, and indeed will not tolerate such a flagrant disregard to the welfare of ExPat community from one, not only charged with, but paid to, look after the welfare and interests of British ExPats based within his area. We believe he has been unprofessional, to many unapproachable and is a total disaster as a Consul for Alicante. |
Evidence offered in support of his inclusion
The evidence to support our claims takes the form of an article written by Co-founder David Burrage in which he highlights his own, and other ExPats dealings with our Consul Mr Russell Thompson.
It is by necessity lengthy as it is necessary to cover exchanges of communication between himself and the Consul.
We believe some of the comments Mr Thomson has made fall well short of any reasonable expectation we should anticipate from a Consulate Official whose salary is paid by the very people he is supposed to serve.
To read this article in full please Click here
Conclusions and recommendations
We say that from the time Mr Russell Thomson took up Office, as the Consul at Alicante, he has proved himself to be rude, arrogant, uncaring and has demonstrably failed to perform his duties to the high standard that his office demands.
We realise that Mr Thomson will have his followers, but would ask them to reflect upon what we have tabulated. We have now arrived at the sad situation where expatriates are choosing to come to our Association for assistance, rather than go to our British Consul. You must ask yourselves, “Why is this?. Is this correct?” When we receive such enquiries we politely redirect them to our Consulate. Sadly many have their queries left unanswered or at best part answered - sometimes erroneously. We also remind Members, and readers, of this ‘inclusion’, that Peter Woodall and I fund ALL our assistance and this web site from our own pockets.
Should Mr.Thomson wish to respond we shall gladly publish his response on our web site. But we say, “Beware, as we will then publish any necessary documentation in rebuttal, so as to fully corroborate that which we have stated here.”
We say to Mr Russell Thompson - please do the honorable thing and resign. It is also high time for the F.C.O to fully understand the chaos and discord that Mr Russell has brought to his Office. It is now time to find a more friendly, co-operative, caring replacement for this Office of Consul. We trust that Jack Straw and the F.C.O will realise that this is partly why we pay our taxes to support such services. Our Association, and ExPats in general, demand a change. The level of competence shown by Russell Thomson, thoughout his tenure, has been well below any reasonable level we should expect from a Consul. He has failed his post with distinction. It really is time to go and not just from Alicante but from any Consular role - Russell Thomson displays all the characteristics one would strive to avoid when considering someone for an important role as that of a Consul is. He is nothing short of a disgrace and, in many ExPats eyes, takes his salary under false pretences.