Where to start with updates on the events of last week?
Yesterday, Mayor Lutfur Rahman staged a mini-rally/call for canvassers outside Sir John Cass School in Stepney. I’d been helping out with some spring cleaning at St Dunstan’s Church across the road so I thought I’d pop by to see what was going on.
Here’s the male heavy crowd.
Thanks to Cllr Gulam Robbani‘s Facebook page we can see the moment I arrived.
This is a photo he took of me offering a handshake as he walked towards me.
He wasn’t interested in the handshake; he just continued walking towards me, pointing his camera in my face. It was weird.
So I took a couple of him instead.
But he just carried on snapping. I’m not sure what he thought he was doing (and if you look carefully in the background, you can see Lutfur looking a little concerned about his friend’s erratic behaviour as well) so I gave him the thumb’s up.
Someone suggested later I sign an autograph book for him.
Like little sheep following one of their more misguided leaders, a few more brave Lutfurites rushed forward to copy him. Cllr Alibor Choudhury also joined in and asked people to take pictures of us together.
Here are a couple more of my secret fan club.
Don’t you think they do look sheepish?
Standing in the background of the ‘thumbs up’ photo is Sebastian Payne, the online editor of the Spectator magazine. He thought it one of the strangest scenes he’d scene at a political rally. I mean, what kind of politician would try and intimidate a journalist? Bit sinister.
Seb, in a piece he wrote last night, also said there were a number of other more professional photographers taking photos with long lenses from the park across the way and from the end of the street.
Whether these photographers were paid by Lutfur I don’t know, but one or two were jumping to his orders.
For example, a couple of minutes after the Great Man himself arrived, one of his men (for they were pretty much all men), spotted a couple of white girls walking past. They pointed this out to Lutfur, so the mayor pounced. Smiling, he rushed over to them. They looked a bit bemused.
But he stood there chatting to them for a couple of minutes, just long enough for his cameraman to take enough shots to tick his “diversity” box.
And then he walked back to the embraces of his 75 or so committed fans.
For the next half hour I was there, he never once more ventured beyond that crowd.
While I was watching all this, I did have a pleasant chat with his main man, Cllr Alibor Choudhury. We discussed all manner of things and I repeated an offer for Lutfur to write for this blog. He thought it a lovely idea. He also repeated a statement put out on the council’s website disputing the calculations made by BBC Panorama about the awarding of grants.
The BBC said Lutfur had diverted more than £2million of grants towards Bangladeshi or Somali groups to shore up his vote.
In contrast, the council had stated:
In fact, in the latest grants round, £1.6million of a £9.7million programme was awarded to organisations with a Bengali or Somali chair, CEO or applicant – or 16.5 per cent to a community that makes up just under 36 per cent of the population.
I told Alibor surely the way to settle this is for the council to provide a breakdown of its figures by group. No problem, he said. So I said that’s odd because when I’d asked Takki Sulaiman, the council’s head of communications, for that spreadsheet on Thursday, he’d refused to send it. Takki said if I wanted that breakdown, I’d have to submit a FoI request. How transparent.
Alibor said Takki was “wrong”, that I should have been given it. So would Alibor send me it instead? Oh no, said the cabinet member for finance, we’ll have to let Eric Pickles’s inspectors now do their job.
He then asked me for my opinion on how last week’s events will affect the May election. I told him I didn’t really know. I said Labour seem buoyed by it and that many Bengalis had expressed deep embarrassment about the antics of Lutfur bhai and co.
Alibor said he was surprised at that and pointed to the favourable coverage the Mayor had received in the hard-hitting, ever-so-scrutinising Bengali media.
Here’s a selection of front pages from Thursday’s editions.
Some of the headlines read ‘Brave Lutfur’, ‘BBC apologises over Panorama’, etc etc. It’s a free press, I suppose, but they do let themselves and their readers down sometimes with their gullibility.
A number of the papers, including the once prestigious Surma, also ran headlines declaring that Jack Straw was now backing Lutfur. “Lutfur is rolling out the sort of progressive programme that I’m in favour of Labour councils initiating,” the former Foreign Secretary was quoted as saying.
Really?
In fact, these quotes were taken from a rather feeble April Fool gag on Michael Meacher’s blog, Left Futures, published here the morning after Panorama on April 1. There were so many clues this was fake, I won’t bother going into them, but the biggest one of all was the line inserted at the top of the article on Tuesday evening.
If I were Labour, I’d be getting Jack Straw to demand an apology and the right of reply in all those papers for the next edition. Labour needs to do better getting its message out to the media.
The Bengali community deserves better journalism than this.
But Lutfur, partly due to the council cash that’s been lobbed their way, has the Bengali press sewn up.
Late on Friday afternoon, his two council-paid media advisers, Numan Hussain and Mohammed Jubair (the £50k a year adviser who also works for Channel S) sent out invites for an “emergency press conference” in the town hall. These two, remember, have been behind allegations the BBC was racist.
I wasn’t invited, and nor was the East London Advertiser. I’m not aware of any other non-Bengali hacks who were asked to come. In fact, the ELA’s Adam Barnett received a tip-off from another source and made his way to Mulberry Place. Only after he was in the building did the Mayor’s Office ring him and ask if he’d like to come!
Here’s Lutfur’s photo of the meeting.
That’s Stuart Madewell to Lutfur’s left. Many of the others in camera shot are councillors or Tower Hamlets First activists. I’m told the “press conference” wasn’t the most biting of affairs, that it was more like a campaign strategy meeting.
I’m told the first question was something like: “We’ve heard there were SAS here and you’ve been arrested. Is this all propaganda?”
Who dares wins, eh.
There have been a couple of other developments, which I’ll report on later, but in the meantime, here are a couple more photos (courtesy of Labour’s @dave___smith):
Today’s edition of East End Life:
Can anyone spot what’s missing??
And a someone removing Lutfur’s name from Poplar Baths.
Not quite the Baghdad Saddam statue, but…
I wasn’t all that impressed by the Panorama programme – it seemed weak on facts and unfairly edited, but the two main points do need serious answers; why were officers’ recommendations overruled to such a large extent and why doesn’t Mayor Rahman answer questions at council meetings.
I also agree with Ted about the one of the repeated defenses. Without a breakdown of the grant recipients (orgainisations and beneficiaries), it’s hard to gauge how the awards were. To state that (“In fact, in the latest grants round, £1.6million of a £9.7million programme was awarded to organisations with a Bengali or Somali chair, CEO or applicant – or 16.5 per cent to a community that makes up just under 36 per cent of the population.”) seems to suggest that the beneficiaries of the other 83.5% of grants don’t include those targeted by the grants going to ”organisations with a Bengali or Somali chair, CEO or applicant”, which I doubt is the case.
Why is this answering questions stuff the unrelenting refrain?
Sure, if I were mayor that’d be my favourite part of the meeting – smacking down all the smug gits in the opposition from my position of control – but he’s hardly alone. He’s answered 31 questions in Full Council since he was elected in October 2010. I’m given to understand that that is a lot more than Robin Wales, the Newham mayor who Ted and others speak highly of – in the same period, he’s answered ZERO and Hackney’s Jules Pipe a meagre 2.
Why the double standards?
He should answer all questions put to him at full council. And saying he’s “not as bad as Robin Wales” is more damning with faint praise than a defence.
31 questions? Where. When?
The question was asked of Speaker Lesley Pavitt in the last meeting how many oral questions in council had Lutfur answered. Her reply was 27 members’ questions and 4 public questions.
In Hackney the questions are answered by the relevant cabinet member as they are here.
In Newham they don’t even bother having questions at all. There’s an item on the agenda but it’s always empty.
Why no outrage there, do you think, Ted?
When were those questions answered? You saying he answered them actually in person? With his own voice?
Yes. Why don’t you ask @E3Bloke on Twitter? Seem to recall his question about Gay Pride was one of the 31 answered by Lutfur. Why do you think there haven’t been similar outcries in Hackney and Newham?
Has he ever answered a question from an opposition Cllr? Re other councils, I don’t watch them closely so have no idea.
Although I live in TH (and I think this blog is TH-focused) you make a fair point. If all 3 east end directly elected mayors avoid democratic scrutiny, especially on questions of cronyism, it does call into question the main point of having DEMs, i.e. to improve accountability.
Yes. As I said, 27 members’ questions. Most of them from opposition councillors I think.
You seem very well informed – can you tell me how many O&S meetings Sir Robin and Jules attended? And how many civic buildings they flogged off to their mates at a fraction of their market value?
Oh, and have Sir Robin and Jules refused to answer questions because it would be ‘against their human rights’? No.
Well, Lutfur hasn’t actually, Graham – it was an official who made that foolish remark. I’ve no idea why Robin and Jules have refused to answer questions – you’ll have to ask them. Maybe that was their reason, maybe they had another reason.
The fact is, that in the same time period Lutfur’s answered 31, Jules 2 and Robin 0.
@ Graham
Here’s what is published on the respective council websites.
Mayoral Attendance of Overview and Scrutiny Committee
-Robin Wales (Newham) Attended 3: Jan 2011, Nov 2013 and Jan 2014,
-Steve Bullock (Lewisham) Attended 2: Feb 2012 and June 2013
-Lutfur Rahman (TH) Attended 4: Nov 2010, Feb 2011, May 2011 and May 2012
-Jules Pipe (Hackney) Attended 3: Feb 2012, Feb 2013 and July 2013.
Labour Mayor’s are not better than Lutufr. No accountability, no responsibility and always changing the goal posts when it suites them. Lutfur seems to have attended more O&N meetings than all the other Labour Mayors. Why is there no outcry over them?
Granted Labour plays dirty, but this is a new low, no?
@Laughing Out Last (ie Alibor or Axel or some other joker) You can’t justify Lutfur by reference to Wales. Wales whether he wants to or not presides over a 100% Labour council. The Labour council don’t ask him questions or call him into O&S, and he consequently doesn’t answer them and doesn’t go. Deplorable, but perhaps a natural result of a 100% one-party council. Wales cannot answer questions that aren’t asked!
Lutfur doesn’t preside over a one-party state. 70% of the councillors are not part of the racist Lutfur clique. Overview & Scrutiny functions and has opposition councillors on it. Tons of questions are laid down to Lutfur at council meetings but he elects to devolve them, because the corrupt Isabella Freeman decreed it was against his human rights to answer them himself.
A Mayor in a minority on the council has the duty to answer to the opposition that exists in Tower Hamlets and, sadly, doesn’t in Newham, without reference to Robin Wales as justification.
@ WHS Oh I guess the fact that the public sit in on O&S means nothing because Sir Wales runs an autocracy?
What a red-herring. What about the other two I mentioned? They don’t fit your convenient little straw man schema very well enough, so you will just act like they don’t exist?
Could that last one be to do with purdah period?
I recently submitted a complaint about his publicity on council property, some of which resembles an election address with wording such as “housing is my priority . . . ” alongside with his face. I am maintaining that the equivalent commercial value of all of that advertising should be declared in his expenses return after the election. The Electoral Commission are also aware of this.
You’re absolutely right, there are case law precedents on this. I don’t have my copy of Fowler’s Election Law to hand, but will try and look it up this week.
Local election expenses, don’t know about Mayoral campaigns, don’t start until the Notice of Election about 5 weeks before polling day.
@ Graham Taylor
Are you saying that Lutfur has done nothing right since he become Mayor? You claim he has flogged off civic buildings to his mates, Is it really that easy to just flog off council assets to anybody? You don’t think there is no robust process or checks & balances in place. Do you think Officers in LBTH have no professional integrity and somehow are involved in corruption, honestly you are deluded and mentally sick! How many assets do you think the Labour leadership has sold in the past? 100s, and how many have sold for market price? None! So stop playing dirty politics! There are many factors why assets are sold and they are not alway reflected by price, substantial LBTH assets in the past have been sold for as little as £1.
Honestly, It is because of individuals like you that have taken the local Labour Party to the gutters. And if you were genuinely concerned then why didn’t you raise the issue when the assets were advertised in the papers and the council websites in 2011? The local Labour group is in shambles and the dirty & negative politics and shameful smearing is the cause of it all.
You and Peter Golds are a menace to Tower Hamlets politics, you both have been instrumental in dividing our community with your lies and scaremongering. Start working on positive campaigning, not all the people of this borough are stupid!
Wiser and better if the Labour Party got rid of people like.
Get real ASH
Not in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, it does seem.
FACTS of Life:
1. Council staff care firstly about their job which is a source of valuable income to pay their bills including rent and food etc.
2. Council staff never ever resign because they do not like what is going on – they either stay and say nothing or they get another job.
3. Council staff never ever go public about their concerns, but a few do discreetly leak the juicy bits to outsiders they trust
4. Council staff, whether Labour supporters (the majority) or not, are also Human Beings and prone like everyone else to bullying by elected officials (councillors etc.) and by senior staff.
Unless there is a strong and genuinely independent external whistle-blowing service, much of the daily muck in local government will never reach the public.
Rhetorical waffle like your’s does not contribute to discovering the truth and merely attempts to cover-up what has been going on in the public’s name with the public’s money.
Lets have real, honest and genuine OPEN GOVERNMENT in Tower Hamlets, OK ?
Curious Cat
Good comment CC
I don’t think Panarama hasn’t done any favours for Labour with this.
Not what Labour feel, Dan: maybe they’re keeping you out of the loop.
that doesn’t surprise me. Labour is always inwards looking, taking and listening only to its own counsel rather than the public at large who have traditionally voted for them…I genuinely think that Labour will get a bloody nose this May
Dan, it’s ‘Panorama’ not ‘Panarama’
Are u in denial too, Dan?
LR: “It’s simply not true”
JW: “Not just you, but nobody from your administration was at the meeting”
LR: “That’s just your interpretation”
@ curious cat
We definitely need a good government in LBTH but it’s not coming from either Peter Gold’s Tory or Graham Taylor’s Labour. What choice are there? My personal view is Lutfur Rahman is a weak leader but is not corrupt. I believe the people that surround him such as his inexperienced advisors and the loony councillors that are glued to him have really misguided his judgement on many issues.
Some of the people Lutfur Rahman is regularly seen with are just comedy and make a mockery of his administration. He won’t get very far with them, that’s for sure.
Lutfur’s advisors Numan (inexperienced curly hair clueless head case) and Jubair (the £50k waste of public money channel S cum Mayor’s media man) have a major role in misguiding him. Jubair I am told was planted by Mahe Jalil (the fraudster) in to the mayor’s team for his own vested interest.
Here is a list of characters that LBTH politics needs to get rid of:
1. Jubair – slimy character and his position is a serious conflict of interest.
2. Cllr Aminur Khan – evil, malice and deceitful. Lutfur’s mate and a secret advisor.
3. Hira Islam – trouble maker, divisive and misuses Islam as his cover. Lutfur’s guru and advisor
4. Graham Taylor – disgruntle & divisive. Messed up the local Labour group with his negativity.
5. Cllr Peter Golds – evil, full of hate, negative, nasty piece of work, avoid at any costs. This chap has done nothing good for this borough except bring negative coverage and hate.
6. Cllr Abdul Ullah – sly, dishonest – you can’t trust this shady player, completely disloyal.
7. Chris Weaver – divisive and only there to advance his wife’s political career.
8. Cllr Motin uz zaman – sly and totally dishonest but a good actor like Lutfur.
9. Lutfur Rahman – divisive, completely fake, self centred and insincere. The man that worked with the Respect Party to topple his own party while he was a leader says a lot about him!
10. John Biggs – seem lost and out of place at times, 0% charm or charisma, poor judgement, has been out of local politics and can be sneaky.
To be honest, there are hardly any great options for the mayoralty and they are all bad as each other.
You can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep.
Perhaps Ted you should stand for Mayor. Could do worse. If Boris can you can.
Of all these muppets the worst one is the slimy slithering socially inept and bigoted Peter Golds. He has no conception of where he is, politically speaking. For the PG’s information, Tower Hamlets is – multi-cultural and multi-faith. His brand of right wing racist politics was kicked out with the likes of the National Front and BNP.
Intimidating journalists is par for the course.
A few things I would ask good journalists to investigate which will make Mr Mayor even more uncomfortable – maybe even his hired man pack also.
Firstly, up until recently all tower hamlets had a plethora of Bangladeshi Mother and toddler activities advertised for Bangladeshi- only. Blatant division, divisiveness and racist. If a ” whites only ” class was offered the media would trip over themselves to denounce it.. Suddenly they’ve been taken down but are still operating – check st George’s pool.
Secondly – and this one will run and run- allegedly Senrab FC was sent a little emissary who allegedly told Senrab ” from the mayor” if you vote for me we will match your funding ”
This is what Senrab has contributed to our integrated society
…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senrab_F.C.
Oddly enough no mention of 75 students in a one bed flat getting £££££££
Thirdly – was I alone in recognising lufturs private rent a mob include the same people from other photos – a digging into this would find them on the payroll ?
Fourth – massive fact – there is a block of new build flats which originally had a sign outside it for “Bangladeshi oap only” totally outrageous – and so tower hamlets took the sign down BUT if the journalists tried to find one none Bangladeshi occupant I’d be surprised …
There is talk of “ethnic cleansing” on the streets of tower hamlets with non Bangladeshis missing out on housing or, indeed , being evicted / moved out.
This needs to be investigated.
The mayor is clearly driving division through his bias – the data does not lie as does the disproportionate number of grants given to Somali and Bangladesh
If journalists want specifics – they would do well to talk to Nick McQueen UKIP mayor candidate. Not a day goes past when a citizen flags yet another injustice or horror story about what is REALLY happening in our divided borough.
It is telling that 40% of nick’s nomination signatures are from the Bangladesh community so I hear…
Integration not segregation is what UKIP is saying – given the contempt lufthar has for 67% of us I’m glad people are on to him
Finally – a little bit of irony x 2
Did you know as a foreigner to get citizenship in Bangladesh you have to speak competent Bengali ? Just a thought…
Secondly Saudis cannot get Bangladeshi citizenship cos they refuse to offer reciprocity – fair enough but check out which nation funds the east end mosque… Just saying….
I think it’s irresponsible for you as a Ukip candidate to talk about ethnic cleansing. If you’re going to use or cite that kind of language then you need to present hard facts not just hearsay or odd mysterious happenings.
Ted, he did not say “ethnic cleansing” so I think thats unfair. Andrew makes a good point which I believe is true (housing for Asian Elders only, remember?) and it’s associated with the racist bias in grant allocation. WhereI live the Housing Association only employ people who are “bilingual in English and Sylheti”. How many people not from Sylhet/Bengal do you know who can speak that language…well, that dead man Lutfa Begum remembers aside…
Alright. He did say ethnic cleansing. I missed that.
“Integration not segregation is what UKIP is saying – given the contempt lufthar has for 67% of us I’m glad people are on to him”
Like the Labour Party before him were any different. When I lived there, my local community centre was turned into a mosque, without any consultation with local residents. When I asked about why there’d been no consultation over the change of use, I was told by the Labour-run LBTH they didn’t have to consult anyone, because the Labour government had changed the law to enable this to happen without consultation.
Around that area of Tower Hamlets, every community centre has been taken over by Bengalis. There is nowhere for any group to have meetings. Meanwhile, I know of OAPs in Mile End/Bow who are occupying their community centre in a state of siege, because they believe if they allow the bengalis to get in, they will lose it and it will become another muslim-only venue.
How do you think Labour stayed in power for so long. It definitely wasn’t to do with delivery, as everything was heywire with them at the helm. They only kept power by doing exactly what you stated above, giving away assets to Bangla groups without any concern for the other communities. I am all for ‘one community’, but I don’t think it will be reciprocated to be honest.
James I see OAP’s inhabiting the IDEA store, also when Coop was Somerfield they had benches along one side of the wall, and a whole row of old folk would sit there for hours. It is shocking, they don’t have anywhere to go to.
I asked abut the new Spotlight building by Langdon Park DLR regarding facilities..its only for the youth…why can’t the elderly use it too. Why does this insidious loc gov have to constantly create silo groups, why can’t it create places where old and young get together from tie to time or a space where old and young if they so wish can use together and breakdown some of those barriers..those barriers are only there because nobody talks to each other. I would push this community to speak to each other more
“I see OAP’s inhabiting the IDEA store, also when Coop was Somerfield they had benches along one side of the wall, and a whole row of old folk would sit there for hours. It is shocking, they don’t have anywhere to go to.”
I’ve heard much worse than that. When I had cause to get involved with some LBTH-organised “community discussions”, I got to meet a lot of very nice OAPs. This was about 10 years ago, and I was quite naive and a starry-eyed believer in multiculturalism. These old dears told me that the Bengali-occupied building in which the meetings were being held “use to be our community centre”. In my naivety I asked what happened. “Gangs of muslim men used to come in and threaten us and spit at us, so we stopped coming; then it was taken over by them and put to their use only”. I was a Labour voter back then, and was appalled and shocked at what I heard. I filed it away as “shocking, and scarcely credible”. It was only a few years later when a Labour-supporting friend of mine told me of his experience in Mile End/Bow and the OAPs there living in a state of siege, that I decided the OAPs I’d spoken to had probably been telling the horrible truth.
That is shocking James. OAPs don’t lie, they have no reason to. And if what they said to you was then supported by a friend who works in the system…SHOCKING…And then Labour has the audacity to come round knocking on your door asking for your vote…..They are a bunch of useless incompetent sponging civil servants…who have allowed this vipers nest to take hold. If it wasn’t for Canary Wharf and all the money that that brings into LBTH money that each building brings in be it 106 funds, business rates, business revenue and people with money…this borough would be in a worse state than Brent..pathetic Troskyts Labour that’s what this borough Labour party is Troskyte silver spoon literati socialists
Neglect of Senior Citizens in our Borough is a disgrace. I have recent first hand experience in a number of Wards of woefully inadequate community support for small groups of elderly woman.
As James and AM have noted, the Idea Stores does offer a bright light in all the darkness by providing a range of focused facilities including free teas and biscuits weekly, but it breaks your heart to see the wider reality of so many small groups – mostly elderly women – with fewer and fewer community facilities available to them.
Whether its bingo and a milk stout, or afternoon tea over a book group, these and other community activities are small needs that a caring society and caring Council need to address in a more vigorous and purposeful way.
Councillors should be acutely aware of this situation – they’ve had 4 years to understand the demographics of their Wards. Their performance is reflected in the Grant funding spreadsheets now widely available. See how well your Councillor performed in supporting and protecting Senior Citizens across ALL ethnic groups.
Not sure the Mayor has got a handle on this campaigning malarkey. He never speaks when usually you can’t shut politicians up and his party take photos of journalists when usually it’s the other way round.
LOL.
Hello Ted! Keep up the good work. Very funny to see the great leaders name being removed from the hoardings! I commented somewhere on your blog when his name appeared overnight above the Mayor of Tower Hamlets Logo (I even took a picture to ensure I was not imagining the appearance of his name). I wonder who decided to stick his name on that Hoarding – and who decided it should be removed? Who paid? I still can’t look at the swimming pool on the Highway without giggling, remembering the great banners featuring the great leader – presented to his subjects here and from across the world! What a joke. Or is the joke on us?
I do not agree with all the views of of Andrew McNeilis, but he has pointed out the emergence of a Bangladeshi only mothers and toddlers club.
Below are reproduced some comments made on “Tower Hamlets votes” where Hannah Harniess points to cuts made in Early Years education funding.
This looks like an example of services offered on a secular basis being dismantled to be replaced by ethnically segregated provision:
“I’m not loving the onslaught to my inbox or phone from LBTH….Luftur’s media machine in full flow. He answered no questions last night. The issue is, we would like to see transparency in the main stream grant allocation, yet nobody seems to be finding this. A charity I am a trustee for, Tower Hamlets Opportunity Group was victim to his executive cutting of recommended grants. The group is the only one serving children of disability (under 5) in the borough and has national awards for its inclusion. It has been in existence for almost 30 years. We did appeal our rejected MSG, and managed to get some back but only around 60% or original application and much less than previous allocation. He said in the programme, ‘we want to fund as many organisations as possible’. This is crazy, money should be allocated where it will be best used, that does not happen by giving money to as many people as possible with no track record of providing services. Are LBTH allowed to keep sending us these texts etc?”
” was at a meeting yesterday with a trustee from Tower Hamlets Early Years network. She told me that about £800,000 was taken from their budget to fund unknown projects. I am intrigued to know how I could find the details for this. I am also trustee for Tower Hamlets Opportunity Group, which has existed in the LBTH for almost 30 years. It works with children under 5 who have disability and is amazing in the amount of support they give families. They work closely to support children in their transfer to primary schools and provide excellent early years education. It has received funding for many years from LBTH as it effectively provides a service they don’t. It has also received a national award for inclusion. Yet soon after the mayor was elected, our funding was cut by more than 60%, despite clear evidence of our efficiency and outcomes. There was a general resistance to any questions about why this had happened, who were the new groups being funded and what was the reasoning. We eventually were successful in our appeal (though still about 30% less than previous funding allocations), but it left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth after our dealings with the mayoral office. We were the children’s group which came off best following appeal, many other children’s projects were cut significantly (talk to the Early Years Network for more info). Mr Rahman’s statement ‘we want to fund as many groups as possible’ gave the impression to me of someone not allocating money wisely or with respect to group outcomes. I would not expect someone with responsibility for budget as huge as his to be so unwise in how he hands out money. He consistently refuses to answer questions about how and why he rejected so many funding bids and increased others, going against the advice he was given. This fact alone gives me no trust in him. I have many, many other reasons, and this is just one. His refusal to withdraw EEL, his propaganda in office is unjustifiable, and he is the only directly elected mayor to plaster his face across the borough. I will stop now as probably no one will want to read this far anyway!!”
“The thing is so many of us have tried to get explanations! It starts to feel depressing after a while. I will ask Tower Hamlets EYN what explanations they have received. What most people acknowledge ‘off the record’ is that funding allocations were biased and unfair, but because of fear for jobs and further funding cuts it is very hard getting people to say this publicly. The other thing that worried me a lot, in terms of Luftur’s integrity was his open use of Channel S, including promises of ‘big houses’ for everyone! I’d quite like a big house as we are growing out of ours, with three small children!! But I know that we can’t afford one, and so that’s life. Raising such unreasonable expectations in a targeted audience is very concerning. How did you and other supporters feel about that? I’m, sure there are some good things he has done, I am not an unreasonable person and like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but the things I have mentioned in particular mean I will never think LR is fit to run our council.”
My goodness Andrew…this is appalling..its not surprising people are so angry
It seems to have been a mass Camera Phone competition with Ted’s Apple Iphone 5S winning (pics taken at 14:12 and 14:13 Sat.)
If anyone suggests the mayor is immune to the significant explosions which hit LBTH this week, the mayor’s posture and actions suggests he already feels under considerable pressure. I expect he is having semi-sleepless nights.
One can expect his behaviour, and any ad hoc speeches he makes, to exhibit signs of stress the longer the uncertainty continues. Its not a nice experience and it will eventually cripple, but not totally disable, him in the election campaign.
Curious Cat.
Well done! First time an Express employee given better equipment than a councillor. Oh no, I’ve just revealed to Takki I’m using Express equipment for this blog. Expect my boss will receive another snitch letter in the morning.
Dear Apple 8mp phone user,
I’m just a humble 26mp with dual memory cards person, with a 16mp x35 optical zoom back-up. Some years ago my pics about an MP’s square house appeared in your daily edition.
Please invite me to the next Camera Snappers competition.. I can do really great close-ups of the mayor, now that he is missing from East End Life, in case people can’t remember what he looks like 🙂
Curious Cat
A hand-me-down iPhone from Terry Evans?
Gold star for paying attention
Bye everyone.
I’m off to queue outside the Express Newspapers offices for a free Apple Iphone 5S, just like Teds.
🙂
Maybe the trick to getting a comment from Lutfur is to buy a blond wig and polka dot trousers and then walk very slowly past his next demonstration?
Perish the thought that there could be a glut of blonds with polka dots at his next event…….
Go on Ted – swop the shades for hair extensions – you know you want to! 😉
P.S. Ted – did you spot the ready made article for you?
Contact all authorities with Mayors and ask them to answer specific questions about their directly elected Mayor discharges his responsibilities.
You should open up that copy of East End Life, Ted – page 3 is just more propaganda about how residents value East End Life and the council “welcomes the opportunity to prove everything is 100% legit”, or words to that effect. 90,000 rags going through 90,000 doors, six weeks before an election, effectively saying “Nothing to see here, it’s all just a mistake, Lutfur’s kosher”
I thought Pickles got the power from April 1 to ban Lutfur and Takki’s lying propaganda? And when does purdah kick in?
Don’t have a copy; have they reported the Panorama and inspection? What page and big piece?
What an optimist 🙂 🙂 🙂
Ted, my scanner’s not working; it would take you less time to nip down to Roman Road libr…. “Idea Store” than for me to do this for you. Page 3 of this week’s edition. It’s iniquitous and disgraceful.
Why does Lutfur seem to have a fatal attraction for has been far lefties? First Livingstone and now Stuart Madewell. I see that the Weavers Ward based Jon Lansman of Left Futures has decided, or been told by Michael Meacher, to stay silent on this one.
The white Swoppies got done over in 2006, when they were all (John Rees, Lindsey Gremlin et al) encouraged to stand for Respect, then got screwed over by their Bengali running mates who didn’t really care for international socialism, the brotherhood of man, the dialectic of the proletariat etc etc etc, but were very interested in SRAs and councillors allowances and dishing out the money to special interest groups – a modus vivendi Lutfur and his hired vicious thug in the finance portfolio have carried out for four years without any inerruption.
This is all fascinating. Worth pointing out that the ELA covers very little of it as well as EEL covering none. But, to me, the big thing is using reserves to fund revenue, something he has been able to do because there are no officers able or willing to stop him. He has done this at least twice and it is an abuse of his position. He is landing us all with potential municipal default. That’s what I think PWC will get him for.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/lbth_reserves_to_revenue
Please supply a copy of the advice and other related documents exchanged between the Section 151 Officer and his/her staff and the Mayor and his staff on the subject of the Mayor transferring money from the Reserves to the Revenue budget.
The transfers were recently featured on the BBC’s Panorama programme.
Curious Cat
MThe Section 151 Officer is the statutory person responsible for all the council’s money = chief finance officer.
There have been a lot of TV programs about world war 1 and 2 lately. After watching them I feel so angry that after all that tragedy we have ended up with a borough that Hitler would have been proud of. When does it end?
Er, John, it’s not quite that bad. Just because there’s been a BBC documentary and now a government investigation, let’s all try to retain a sense of perspective.
And yet Ted, John is quite right.
I can imagine it now: old Adolf watching “The World at War” and bawling in the bunker: “This is all rubbish! Quick, get Alibor and the press office tweeting ‘#OlivierLies’ as soon as possible! And tell every Gleichschaltung’d scouts group and bowls club to be out protesting about the vicious lies of the BBC as soon as possible! We’re going to have a rally on Nuremberg Parade Green on Sunday against wicked BBC Tuetonophobia. And, oi, Axel, tell Der Sturmer and the Voelkischer Beobachter that I’m just the victim of prejudice and that Carl Davis has already apologised for writing the score! Who cares if it’s true? Der Sturmer’ll run what I tell ’em too!”
Yeah, it’s hyperbole, and Godwin’s Law and everything, but it don’t half sum up the arrogant ball of pus who calls himself the Mayor of Tower Hamlets.
On and around the Glamis Estate there are A LOT of sheltered, disabled, and over 60’s residents. The majority of them come out to vote. The Glamis Hall has always been a polling station and easily accessible for these people, ominously for the upcoming elections it is not being used, instead residents will have to traipse to Bigland Street. Which I don’t think they will bother to go to. Who made this stupid and unfair decision? Or was it deliberately done to put certain voters off?
That’s interesting . What’s the reason they’ve given for change of venue?
http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/council_and_democracy/elections__voting/local_govt_boundary_review.aspx
Too many polling stations in Shadwell, cutting them back. Ask Louise Stamp, she makes the decisions (thankfully no longer with Isabella’s approval. And I understand now a proper officer like John Williams calls the shots, not a joker like Mieeikckck Big-In-Japan)
Would it be possible to arrange transport for the less mobile from Glamis Estate (and perhaps others in similar situations).
If the local Polling Station has been moved, there is a valid argument for the Council to bus sheltered, disabled,and senior citizens to the nearest Polling Station.
On the question of taking photographs of individuals in a public place when they have a reasonable expectation of privacy – by which I mean those having nothing whatsoever to do with the event reported above – I’m wondering whether Rahman and acolytes have examined the law on the use of such images for political purposes.
Or specifically whether they got a signed consent form from the individuals concerned.
In other words “public interest” covers
* all those who gathered intentionally in a public place for propaganda purposes – they effectively gave up that right when they made the decision to be openly associated with the event
* All journalists covering the event gave up that right
However “Public interest” emphatically does not cover people accosted in the street who have no idea what’s going on and who may or may not wish to be associated with the event in question.
Furthermore accosting two young girls in the street when there are absolutely no women at his campaign event is downright ‘loopy’. It’s the sort of behaviour normally associated with adult men whose motives are….. well let’s call it “questionable”. You simply can’t use people in this way.
Mayor Rahman needs to learn that “human rights” can be exercised the other way around. If I were in his shoes I’d be very careful whose photographs are included in his election material and any campaigning prior to that.
Last week “Tower Hamlets First” were distributing leaflets purporting that the new “free school meals for all” was the result of the work of these councillors and the mayor. They probably hope that most voters won’t realise that this was something brought in by the government.
Presumably election and campaigning material is also subject to the standards laid down by the Advertising Standards Authority http://www.asa.org.uk/. I seem to recall these as being along the lines of “legal, decent, honest and truthful”.
This is what they cover http://www.asa.org.uk/Consumers/What-we-cover.aspx
This is the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP Code) http://www.cap.org.uk/Advertising-Codes/Non-broadcast-HTML.aspx
This is how to complain http://www.asa.org.uk/Consumers/How-to-complain.aspx
Maybe a referral of some of the election material to them might help prompt some work on monitoring the material being circulated
http://www.asa.org.uk/Consumers/Monitoring-ads.aspx
I would not take kindly to be photographed by a group of muslims. The last time that happened to me it was when I was arguing with some of them about the right of Israel to exist, and they started to threaten to kill me. They were taking photos and filming me and saying “we will find out where you live”.
Islam is such a great contribution to our civilisation. Did people in London go round killing/threatening their political opponents back in the 1960s? Taking their photos and telling them they would hunt them down and kill them? When I called over some coppers and told them what was being said and done to me, they wouldn’t even search the followers of “the religion of peace” to see if they really were carrying hunting knives, as they claimed.
You mention the Bangladeshi newspapers. What is the consensus on the satellite channel ATN Bangla? We were asked to provide representatives for their talk show – they are covering the mayoral candidates.
Ask them whether all discussion will be in English or, alternatively, what provision is being made for instantaneous translation to enable full participation by all?
Here are the Advertising Standard Authority’s rules on the use of people in an advertisement
http://www.cap.org.uk/Advertising-Codes/Non-broadcast-HTML/Section-6-Privacy.aspx
If Stuart Madewell is the only “token white guy” Lutfur can find then things for for him are clearly more desperate than we had realised!
Hold on. Their campaign involves using the Evening Standard story that Livingstone is backing Rahman. They do realise that 20,000 more people voted for Biggs than voted for Livingstone at the last GLA/Mayoral election?
Talking of “tokens” does anyone know the identity of the useful idiot in the red tracksuit standing to the left of Lutfur in the main picture?
Ted, good to see that you took my recent advice and got hold of the Bengali newspapers. You make a valid point about their gullibility, but that does not matter at all. As a Daily Express man, you know very well that a good story sells papers. The ‘good story’ is that Lutfur was the victim of Panorama’s and TH Labour Party’s hate campaign. This is what people want to read. This is the mood in the Bengali community. Lutfur has done very well out of the Panorama programme. TH Labour Party has scored a spectacular own goal. As Jim Fitzpatrick put it, Panorama delivered no ‘clear blow’.
I was actually quite surprised to see how much positive stuff there was about Lutfur (i.e. installing bollards outside this guy’s mother’s house, renovating Poplar Baths, massive housing regeneration etc). Even the stuff that you guys (i.e. Gilligan, Ware et al) might consider to be negative is actually positive to a lot of people. By way of illustration:
1. More grants to community organisations = more votes from beneficiaries of those organisations
2. ‘No strings attached’ grants to faith buildings = more popularity amongst people of different faiths
3. Funds to Channel S = increased popularity amongst Channel S viewers (most popular Bengali channel)
The list goes on…..but you get the gist.
By trying to do him harm, TH Labour Party have done Lutfur massive favours instead. They have given him enormous publicity. Any publicity is good publicity.
Labour councillors are going round asking for votes for themselves. They don’t really have much faith in Biggs. Anecdotal accounts of this have been recorded on this blog. I have also heard as much from people on the ground.
People need to realise that the point of our journalism is not to depose Lutfur but to expose the failures of his governance, to place before voters the facts they’re not getting elsewhere. I don’t go out campaigning (although if any candidate wants me to accompany them on the doorstep, let me know!). As for Lab candidates being two faced, let’s name and shame them here with evidence, or email me names and I’ll check.
Ted, whatever point you may have about exposing Lutfur, believe me it is having the opposite effect. Does this not show your own journalistic failures? Go out and speak to ordinary people in TH and find out what they think of Lutfur following Panorama. You will need to do a sample of ten or more people to get a real picture emerging.
I want Lutfur to win so I will not reveal names of two faced Labour councillor candidates. I want them to carry on doing what they are doing. You are a journalist. Let us see if you have the means to expose them!
You are quite right, Pickled Inspector.
Lutfur does a great job for the Bengali community.
Grants to Bengali organisations, including TV stations and newspapers, subsidies to Mosques, housing geared to the needs of Bengalis, mother tongue teaching, employment for bilingual candidates only, assets sold off to Bengalis at knock down prices, “community centres” which are actually run as mosques. As you say, the list goes on.
As for the two thirds of Tower Hamlets voters who are not Bengali, we have the privilege of paying for it!
Andrew, you are a Tory activist and you come here asking people to vote Biggs as second choice. You should be ashamed of yourself. Your party is ashamed of you. You also admitted that the contest is Biggs v Lutfur. You are making no effort to even promote your own party’s candidate. You are a disgrace! End of.
Pickled inspector – I am not a Tory activist. I am not a member of any political party. Unlike you, I post under my real name. Why do you not do the same? Have you something to hide?
You are in denial mate.
My name is Ikhtiar Uddin Mohammed Bin Bokhtiar Khilji. Can you say it? I thought not. Stick to Pickled Inspector.
NO..he has NOT renovated Poplar Baths..he’s just stuck his oar in to get votes…HE HAS MOST certainly NOT renovated Poplar Baths. …I have been following the baths for many years now, well over a decade…I don’t appreciate you guys giving your heir Luftur the credit to something he has not done…but then that’s what you guys do…eg…Free lunch for schools…errrrhhhh that was a Gov initiative boyo, get your facts right.
If Livingstone is still openly supporting Labour like Marc Francis, aren’t they clearly in breach of Labour rules and liable for expulsion?
Have Labour got the guts to kick-out someone so famously Labour as Red Ken ? I doubt it.
Don’t forget Labour kept ignoring the Tower Hamlets mess for many years, now resulting in the latest Mayoral saga.
CC.
A number of local Labour activists already defected to the Mayor’s party.
Some of the Labour councillor candidates have no real backbone. They have no principle. They are in it for the 10 grand allowance. They don’t really care about Biggs. Look at Cllr Anwar Khan. As soon as he was deselected, he put the knife into Labour. Do you think the rest of them are any different?
CC. I think that if Milliband doesn’t do something about this mess he not only will lose the next election, that looks on the cards anyway, but also the leadership of the party. I still can’t understand why the Labour big guns are avoiding the issue and the borough.
With six weeks or so to go to the election there is time to swing things Labour’s way but the leadership have got to put some effort in. Livingstone isn’t the power he was, the London membership just wouldn’t turn out to canvass for him, he is largely absent from the websites and publications of the far left except the Morning Star and that doesn’t matter.
He should be confronted and told to support Biggs or he is out. There would be a few protests from people like Meacher and Abbott but they are very much fading stars in the party and there is a whole new generation of wannabe MPs coming up who are after their seats. All in all time to get rid of Ken and show some leadership.
Some of it is very cringe! The tokenism reminds me very much of the Tory/Lib/Lab Party Conference with the token ethnic minority person in the backdrop conveniently placed behind the shoulder of the party leader just where the cameras can pick them up.
Ted had a taste of what these thugs can do to intimidate others (camera on his face) imagine that in the mosques without yhe camera; hence moderate muslims are staying away from mosques more then ever
TH Labour Party do not have any respect for Biggs. When they removed Lutfur as Labour’s mayoral candidate in 2010, they did not select Biggs who came second in the selection process. They went for the hopeless Abbas, author of the ‘dodgy dossier’. People have not forgotten all of this. Therefore, it is no wonder that some TH Labour councillor candidates are not canvassing for Biggs, because their own party have no respect for the man.
By the way, where is Abbas now? He is finished as a politician. He is in the shadows. He might have to change his name again to re-enter the frame as a big hitter, because in TH, Abbas = dodgy.
What about Cllr Josh Peck who acted as Labour Group leader after Lutfur was elected Mayor? Peck is now reduced to making comments about “quid pro quo” on Panorama. I am glad he chose the words he did on Panorama, because a lot of people would not have understood his “quid pro quo” business. If anything, they probably thought he was saying something good about Lutfur. Anyway, Peck’s political career other than being a councillor in some ward is over. His biggest achievement = doubling Mayor Rahman’s team with members of the Labour group. Certain Labour councillors were so disillusioned by Peck’s toxic leadership, they jumped ship.
Can anyone name the current Labour group leader? Exactly. Nobody knows him.
In conclusion, if you want to ruin your political career in the Labour party, come and oppose Lutfur in TH.
Well Ikhtiar (or whatever you call yourself – I’m sure your friends and family shorten your name), most people don’t give a flying f*** about the “dodgy dossier”, and the events of 2010.
We just want a mayor who represents the whole population, not just the Bengalis.
I don’t mind whether anti-Lutfur voters give Biggs first or second preference, Votes for Wilford, McQueen and other no hope candidates without a 2nd pref. just split the anti-Lutfur vote.
I’m sorry you think I’m “deluded” about the fact that I’m not a Tory party activist. You seem to know more about me than I know about myself!
Andrew, do you remenber Mear One? He called you a moron. You were campaigning with a group of conservatives (reported in the Jewish Chronicle).
Anyway, I can’t blame you if you do not like the Tories anymore.
Please do not make generalised statements like the mayor only represents Bengalis. It makes you sound ignorant, which you are not. You are an intelligent man so please be true to yourself. The Panorama programme showed a bunch of white people lauding the mayor. Are you saying the programme was lying? He represents these people and he works hard for them. Please bring evidence to the table rather than generalised statements that even you do not believe in.
My dear Inspector; you intrigue me.
I don’t just mean your noble 12th century (i.e., Western calendar) name – historically prominent as it is – but rather your denial of any indiscretion committed by the current Administration.
You clearly recognise the importance of evidence. Whilst we await the possible disclosure of this, let’s take a purely hypothetical case. If a member of the Council’s Administration were found, through due diligence, to have committed any ‘indiscretion’ while holding public office, would you accept that evidence and if so how would react?
Pickles Inspector,
Less than 10 whiles in the UK’s second biggest local authority area is definitely not an earth-moving endorsement of the Mayor. Why do you mistakenly think it is ?
Curious Cat
CC TH is in fact the 2nd smallest local authority in the country.
=> Laughing
Second smallest for competence or geographic area or for decency ?
http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/idoc.ashx%3Fdocid%3Da2cee9aa-89ad-48d9-8cd2-00deef8128a4%26version%3D1
“The Tower Hamlets resident population at mid-2010 was 237,900 – this is the latest estimate from the Office for National Statistics.”
CC
@CC
Its geographically the second smallest, and in terms of population it has a smaller number than both Hackney (246,300), Haringey (258,900) and Newham (295,800).
So… your statement is BS on a number of levels.
Laughing Out Last
You wrote “TH is in fact the 2nd smallest local authority in the country.”
That is WRONG. There are other substantially smaller local authorities in England with much smaller populations and much smaller geographic areas.
Is it really that impossible for TH hangers-out to possess a modicum of general knowledge about their own country ?
CC
Since we are now in election mode, here is the council’s official response to the mysterious door-knockers, in case some of you missed it ….
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/lbth_men_visiting_residents
SFOI 9902 – men visiting residents
(5) What is the council’s policy on sending-out council staff to visit the homes of
local residents?
The Council does not have an overarching policy on staff visiting residents at their homes; practice will vary from service to service.
(6) Are those staff supposed to wear, or otherwise display, council identification
when knocking on residents doors and what form of identification?
All staff are issued with ID Cards.
(7) Are the staff instructed to give their names when asked by residents?
Staff are expected to identify themselves, usually by name, or for some services, by other means of identification (e.g. badge number).
(8) How do those staff gain access through the locked main access doors into
normally secure blocks of flats?
Staff would gain access through the appropriate method for the service being delivered.
(9) Since 1st December 2013, excluding visits specifically made for predetermined reasons unconnected with the Mayor, elections and the general state of the local area:-
(a) how many staff have been officially dispatched to knock on residents doors
when the residents did not have an outstanding matter with the council ?
None
(10) When did the Monitoring Officer last make the mayor, the mayor’s staff and the councillors, aware of the RPA 1983 s.111 ?
The Council’s Returning Officer, the Electoral Commission and the Policy have agreed a Local Elections Protocol for Tower Hamlets which has applied with effect from 24 January 2014 and is available on the Council’s website. A list of election offences is included as an appendix to the Protocol.
(11) Please provide details of all the feedback, comments, observations, criticisms and praise gained during the men’s visits to the homes of unsuspecting residents.
The Council has no knowledge of visits referred to.
(12) What advice can the council give to residents who wish to “opt-out” of the
men’s visits?”
The Council has no knowledge of visits referred to.
Curious Cat
Thank you for your reply Ikhtiar Uddin Mohammed Bin Bokhtiar Khiliji.
Yes I did oppose the mural, and Lutfur was right to get it removed. There may well have been Conservatives also campaigning, but I am not a Conservative.
Of course you can find a small number of white people who support the mayor, but not many. It looks like Panorama did a great deal to help Lutfur present his case as fairly as possible.
The evidence for Lutfur’s bias in favour of the Bengali community is well documented.
You have yourself mentioned the financial support for Channel S (do any non-Bengali channels receive such support?).
64% of the Faith Buildings fund has gone to Mosques – well out of line with Muslim numbers in the community.
Incidentally, insulting your opponents does not advance your arguments. Had Mear One not called me a moron, I might have dropped the campaign.
Andrew, you say that you are not a Conservative. My research suggests that you live with Cllr Peter Golds. You need to come out of the closet and admit that you are in fact a Tory. Peter will not too happy about your being in denial.
Would you like to withdraw the homophobic undertones of that comment, please?
Pickles,
Just how is one’s living arrangements related to the running of TH and the activities of the mayor ?
Are we now seeing the TRUE side of the mayor’s loyal supporters – if so, it looks very unappealing.
CC.
More homophobic drivel from the mayoral support. Why not add some anti semitic in there for good measure. Disgrace disgrace of public office. If he walked into an eastend pub he would get his head kicked in and he knows it. Eastenders are sitting watching thieving lying rotten shitebags. if luftur gets re elected I fear the streets will erupt. I think it would be better for everyone if they disqualify him and try to build some bridges between the communities. I can see this causing absolute carnage
Pickles Inspector is oldford1/Marc Francis.
Mad Mullah, you are Terry Fitzpatrick, a convicted criminal. You were found guilty of racially aggravated harrassment.
I am not oldford1 or Marc Francis. In my recent posts, I reported about Bengali newspapers and translated various front page headlines for Ted. Bengali is my mother tongue. As far as I am aware, Marc Francis does not speak Bengali. I do not know who oldford1 is.
Pickled,
Whether true or not, the man has done his punishment. Everyone makes mistakes, except of course His Worship according to you. The conviction is in the past, so let it go.
The man is knowledgeable about Labour politics and has a keen insight into London political matters. Since this blog is about the wonderful borough of Tower Hamlets and the actions of its incumbent mayor, why don’t we either sing the praises of your can-do-nothing-wrong buddy the mayor or slag him off for his questionable decisions ? That is much more fun.
Notice of Elections is on 14th – don’t forget
Curious Cat
I reckon Pickles is into SM..big time.
He comes onto this blog, spouting incorrect and prejudice tosh which he then (quite rightly) gets picked up on by people like you guys that know more than him, (he doesn’t like that) showing himself up to be the little manhood – challenged – head that he is…..and he obviously is devoid of much brain power…because he keeps coming back for more…!!!! go figure…
You are either mentally challenged or really into SM
So, we have Annamaria (UKIP) and Curious Cat both sticking up for the racist thug, that is Terry Fitzpatrick.
Let us put this into context. The Panorama programme made some allegations about Lutfur of giving some extra grants here and there, so you are all up in arms, disgusted and disgraced. But, you are more than happy to come on here and defend someone who has been convicted of aggravated racial harassment. It says a lot about what kind of a crowd you are!
PI, compare Terry’s record of fighting racism and racist thugs in this borough to Lutfur’s.
Who has literally stuck their neck on the line well away from the lines of police…and when there was violence to worry about not just loud mouth EDL wannabes.
I’ve no idea how old you are but Terry is something of a hero to Bengalis who were living with genuine fear of violence not too long ago.
Ask your dad about it.
=> Pickled Inspector
Yes. A good idea. You are simply a deluded, unreasonable and increasingly obnoxious person. You are also a coward who keeps his own name and home address secret from scrutiny but gleefully invades other people’s home privacy.
I am delighted I am not one of your friends or associates.
Curious Cat.
Curious Cat, you sound less intelligent than an actual cat with your comment about less than 10 white people appearing on Panorama to support Lutfur. But, I think you are smarter than your comment suggests.
Panorama lasted for 30 minutes. It would be ridiculous to get hundreds or thousands of white people who support Lutfur to go and endorse him on Panorama. You would need hours, maybe tens of hours to do that. The idea is as ridiculous as it sounds.
The white people on Panorama are representative of the residents who do support Lutfur and are grateful for his policies. They said that Lutfur was responsive, approachable and sincere.
Pickled Inspector,
I have the emotional bruises all over my body from daring to confront local government sleaze and corruption – it always seems to steam from Labour or from originally Labour people. Tower Hamlets has Son of Labour, for example.
Who said the mayor was “responsive” and who said the Mayor was “sincere” and who said the Mayor was “approachable” ? Remember I have the broadcast on my telly’s HDD (hard disk drive).
Like it or not there is prima facie evidence in the public domain that the Mayor did things that appear to be unlawful. Being “responsive” or “sincere” or “approachable” is unlikely to nullify the Mayor’s past actions.
We all have to obey the law even when its seems unfair, unjust or plainly wrong. That is what a District Judge said to the family I was trying to protect from eviction – the judge actually said in court the law was wrong but had to be obeyed. The Housing Act 1988 section 21.refers – Tory Law against tenants which Nu Labour and Crap Labour never bothered to scrap – ‘cos Labour does not care about the poor, the homeless, the weak, the frail and the needy. Not even your champion considered launching an appeal in the High Court about the unfair law – oh his Labour roots and ideology were showing !
What really matters in Tower Hamlets is having a council that loves the residents, wants to make them smile and to be proud and happy they live in the LBTH – none of the political parties understand that and neither does His Worship who seems to think the public means people from former East Pakistan
We all have only one life and councils should remember that and start loving and serving the public who pay their wages. That’s the basics of my local government philosophy.
Curious Cat.
Your comments are really quite incoherent. You jump all over the place. One minute you are talking about standing up to local govt sleaze, next minute you are before a District Judge and accuse Lutfur of not appealing to the High Court over some unfair law.
In what capacity were you before the District Judge?
I would recommend you watch the Panorama programme again since it is on your telly’s HDD. You will see where residents describe Lutfur as approachable, responsive and sincere.
The guy who had bollards installed outside his mother’s house by Lutfur described how he was just able to walk up to Lutfur in the street and talk to him. He said that Lutfur addressed his problem within a matter of a few days. This episode alone showed Lutfur as responsive and approachable. Then, another woman said that Lutfur would tell you straight if he could help you. This demonstrates what I said about how residents thought he was sincere.
Why don’t you watch it again and see it for yourself.
The first time I decided to come on here and comment was after watching Panorama hence the pseudonym I have adopted. I decided to become active because Panorama showed a mayor who was passionate and caring about the residents he is representing.
Oh give us a break; the bollard man wasn’t some random who Panorama stumbled on: he was passed the team’s way.
There are probably thousands like him whose requests for bollards and the like haven’t worked.
Sometimes the camera doesn’t lie and I think the picture of the supporters he called to arms on Saturday said it all about the strength of passionate feeling for him among our different communities.
Several interesting things. This morning on Radio 4 there was a repeat of a debate yesterday in the House of Commons on this very subject. Pickles, Hilary Benn, Jim Fitzpatrick and Roshanara Ali were all heard demanding a full inquiry.
Pickles said that he is being handed on a regular basis information about Tower Hamlets which justifies the inquiry and that he is passing it to his inspectors and the police.
A friend of mine recently did a survey of people on the Boundary Estate for a planning inquiry and found that while dozens of people were on the electoral register the flats were rented out. He said that there were at least fifty such cases.
The social media site Streetlife is also discussing this matter and someone posted that a friend of hers had received several postal votes at her address. There was then a post from a Chief Inspector Gary Anderson asking her for details.
I think that the authorities have woken up and this is going to be big.
Streetlife is a great resource – up to know at least its proving to be a valuable community information portal; no political bloggers, just community chat and information exchange. The local Met and the occasional Councillor already use it and that is good news. We’ve changed some of Tower Hamlets areas to reflect Wards which makes it more relevant, specifically as it has event calendars and basic polling facilities. Needs more work and greater community awareness of its existence.
not wishing to go off line on the topic herein….but the Boundary Estate is social housing ie not private housing, If I am right about this..which I think I am, this again demonstrates what I have said here before that at least 30% of socila housing is re-sublet at market rate….either the original tenants gets slapped a fine or the council and or HA, because this is abuse of housing stock that is very much needed by genuine families in need oh housing and are on waiting lists……apologies for going off piste here
Mad Mullah (i.e. criminal Terry Fitzpatrick), pigs were flying past my window when I read your melodramatic, deluded wishes of how “authorities have woken up and this is going to be big”.
Pickled,
Please stop being deliberate obnoxious. Your attack on the man is turning into, in my opinion, de facto bullying.
I’ll bet the Mayor’s clash with DCLG and the cops will be big – it will just take months but it will definitely result in a Crown Court appearance.
CC.
Who are those two Lutfur Cllrs who live outside the borough? I did know their names. One is actually registered at an address in Barking and Dagenham.
To be eligible for election to an English local council (excluding parishes) one must satisfy anyone of these 4 criteria:-
1. One lives in the local authority area
2. One is on the electoral register of that local authority
3. One’s principal place of work is within the local authority area
4. One owns property (buildings) within the local authority area
CC.
CC
Just to clarify:
re 4. ownership in itself is insufficient. The requirement states: ‘…….occupied as owner or tenant the following land or other premises in that area’
Thank you Grenville.
Much appreciated.
CC.
It is a mixture of both social and private. It was the first council estate in the country and there was an excellent Secret History of Our Streets programme about it. Most is now private and rented out but families, because of the need for ghost voters, who have moved to places like Ilford, Gants Hill and points east, remain on the electoral register. I am told that many will be struck off as there is now a correlation between the roll and other sources such as DHSS and the Inland Revenue.
They should be chucked-off when they don’t return the annual canvas form.
CC.
CURIOUS CAT
“Just how is one’s living arrangements related to the running of TH and the activities of the mayor ?”
Andrew Conway’s living arrangements are irrelevant. They, however become relevant in terms of proving that he is a Tory. He lives with the leader of the Tory group, campaigns with the Tories and yet he denies that he is a Tory and asks people to give Biggs second choice!!
Er, my mum and dad have different political views and they’ve lived together for 46 years. I think my wife and I differ on politics as well.
You must live in a stricter world.
Ok Ted, on the evidence of your mum and dad and you and your wife, I must be wrong about Andrew Conway then.
Are you going to apologise and withdraw the homophobic undertones of your ‘closet’ comment?
Hi Ikhtiar. Well researched. You must have access to the electoral register. I hope you are not using it for illegal purposes.
I joined the Labour party some years ago and was an activist in two different constituencies. I once stood as a candidate in an election. I am no longer a member or actively involved in any political party.
I am not aware of any requirement for members of a household to have the same political views. Bearing in mind the number of times some councillors have changed their political party, any such requirement would cause many family breakdowns in Tower Hamlets.
Absolute bollocks.
My Mum and Dad live together.
She is Tory. He is Labour. Sharing accommodation does not automatically make anyone a Tory.
With such faulty illogical thinking, its no wonder you are praising the Mayor.
Curious cat.
Curious Cat, it is called ‘tactics’ my friend. You present the prima facie evidence to an individual and you make your submissions. They’ll then tell you what you want to know.
Let me illustrate this point so you understand. I said to Andrew, you live with the leader of the Conservative Group and you campaigned with the Tories and yet you say you are not a Tory. Andrew then told me what I wanted to know, that is, in fact he was a Labour activist and is no longer affiliated to any political party.
This is the technique used in cross-examination. So, did you make note of how it works?
Again, will you withdraw the homophobic remarks and apologise?
Ted, you have to explain first of all what is homophobic in what I said. I am not suggesting that Andrew Conway is gay or that Peter Golds is gay. I was asking Andrew if he was a Tory. I used an idiom ‘coming out of the closet’. If you look up meanings of idioms online, it means making a public statement about something you are embarassed about. I thought Andrew was embarassed about being a Tory.
I am not even suggesting that Andrew is Peter Golds’ partner (I would not suggest that because I don’t know their sexual orientation). They could be living together as friends or just sharing a house. You know very well that I am new to your blog. I have not previously taken an active interest in TH politics. So, I don’t know what you mean about homophobia when I just asked a simple question and Andrew in fact answered my question without accusing me of homophobia. He obviously understood my question, because it was quite clear.
Ted, you are a journalist so I expect you will have a proper explanation if you are accusing me of something.
I have no idea whether you’re new to this blog or indeed who you are but if I were in your shoes I’d be apologising for any unfortunate turn of phrase.
You come across as disingenuous and slightly sneaky. If you believed Andrew to be a mere flat mate then how would that strengthen your argument he was a Tory.
No, for someone who thinks they’re a clever cross-examining barrister, you’re a tactical failure.
I’ll give you one last chance to withdraw or apologise otherwise you’re going to have create a new gmail address and fake name to comment here.
Ted, you have to apologise to me for accusing me of homophobia and then failing to explain yourself.
Now, you are saying “unfortunate turn of phrase”. That is of course very different from being homophobic.
If you accuse someone of some wrongdoing, you have to prove it from the facts. The facts are quite clear in this case. It was a question from me if Andrew was a Tory and he answered no. He said he used to be a Labour activist.
You are also accusing me of being disingenuous and sneaky. Again, you should explain why you think that. Ted, you should not just make statements about people if you do not have a valid reason.
Of course, if you choose to live with the leader of the Conservative Group, it is very different from having just another house mate. That is the angle I was coming from to procure an answer from Andrew.
You are more than welcome to remove me from your blog. It would not be a great loss to me. I only came here after watching the Panorama programme. But, people will see from posts and the exchanges I have had with you that you are threatening to remove me on very ‘shaky’ grounds without explaining yourself fully.
There are MPs from different parties who have shared houses.
You clearly don’t get it, so you’re banned for homophobic remarks.
Pickled Inspector does not seem to understand that invading people’s personal, home, privacy is wrong.
People have a Human Right to a PRIVATE & FAMILY life.
Trying to intimidate people is also wrong.
And, ‘cos I admit to being biased, supporting the Mayor as a saint is also wrong – but everyone is entitled to make mistakes 🙂
Curious Cat.
Can I also just add (as an actual lawyer who interviews people to find out facts for a living) that PI is rather less of a “clever cross-examining barrister” and more “someone who watched The Bill a few times.
I look forward to his return in another (equally ridiculous) guise.
Pickled Inspector:
You must have had access to the electoral register to find my address. I again remind you that it is illegal to use the register for any purpose other than legitimate canvassing.
You have focused on me instead of answering genuine concerns about Lutfur’s administration.
I am not embarrassed about either my sexuality or my political views.
I can’t be bothered to demand an apology – you condemn yourself with your own words.
I leave it to Ted to decide whether to accept further contributions from you.
Andrew it is much simpler than that. Anyone can find where one lives and who are his/her co-occupants through 192.com. All it takes is type the name down. And for a fee they also provide further information.
I have been puzzled for ages and wondered whether this is legal but it seem yes.
http://www.192.com/atoz/people/conway/andrew/e14/1090202686/
=> Kay,
That’s not entire true.
Everyone can opt-out of the general sale of electoral registers and become a category Z entry. Ask the council’s elections offices for a form and details.
Curious Cat.
P.I. – Sadly, the more you write the more desperate and deluded you sound.
I have found the article. What is interesting about the far left is how they hate what they see as New Labour more than anything else. Rahman has to be excused and campaigned for because he is simply anti Labour. Nothing else can explain Livingstone’s endorsement.
http://www.leftfutures.org/2012/04/the-politics-of-hate-in-tower-hamlets/. If that doesn’t work just google it, the article comes up. Interesting Lansman says this ” (it) appears highly defamatory and is certainly grossly misleading in some respects”.
Now bear in mind that Lansman was one of the authors of the 1983 Labour Party manifesto and so knows a bit about exaggeration and hyperbole, but even he doesn’t say the allegations in the leaflet are untrue because he knows they aren’t. This leaflet was put out two years ago and is remarkably prescient.
And before I go off for breakfast. Have a look at the voting figures in the article. It is clear that the Lib Dems, Greens and Tories let Robbani in. The time for vanity voting is over.
Absolutely agree. Vanity voting is a deliberate wasting of votes and inevitably lets in the wrong candidate.
CC.
Many people are confused thinking they’ve got two votes for councillor or just one for the mayor. The choice is clear vote for who you want to be mayor as
long as either your first or second choice is for Biggs. For councillor; wherever THF looks like they may keep or gain a councillor vote Labour. Wherever THF is not a threat vote against Labour
This old queen agrees totally with Ted. His blog is no place for homophobia, intended or not. Why on earth taint this blog with this rubbish? Most of us here have differing political opinions, it would be very boring if we didn’t. But to discuss who is sleeping with who is pathetic, and clutching at straws. Anyway how many of you have skeletons in your closets. Ooooops – I said closets!
Rummaging through other people’s metaphorical dustbins and the voters register is a pitifully poor and rather pathetic, if not also desperate, attempt to divert attention away from the Topic of the Month, his buddy and hero the Mayor.
Curious Cat
today’s press release
http://lutfurrahman.com/press-release-tower-hamlets-labour-party-exposed-council-grant-claims/
Quickly, please pass the sick bucket.
CC
Labour do have a case to answer here. They control the Audit Committee which signs off the Annual Accounts. If they had doubts with regards to the misappropriation of funds, why have they signed off accounts every year since the Mayor came into power, giving the Council a clean bill of health?
One can only come to the following conclusions that Labour are:
a) only electioneering, and do not believe there’s anything dodgy worthy of national coverage; or
b) complicit in the alleged dodgy dealings of the Mayor.
I suspect it’s the former and anyone who hasn’t got an axe to grind would see it that way.
Add to that there are a lot of commentators who had liked us, the average folk, to believe that the Mayor is some Islamic fundamentalist but that quite hasn’t come true so have been involved in a dirty campaign ever since to prove something else – anything – that would undermine the Mayor.
Most intelligent people who haven’t got an axe to grind or any prior agenda will see right through this game being played by both opposition parties and the local press led by your blog Mr. Jeory, cleverly guised as a campaign for better transparency and democracy.
What was the auditors’ level of materiality for the grants process during the audit?
I absolutely agree there’s been a fundamental failure to scrutinise in great detail the grant funding.
Labour didn’t make the Panorama programme – the BBC did. The BBC went through the payments in painstaking detail.
As for auditors signing off accounts that aren’t healthy, there’s a long history in this area. Do your research.
It really seems to me you and other Lutfurites are becoming a little desperate.
Whataboutery is always a symptom of that.
Welcome back Mr doshnomborrorsassa (a.k.a. Pickled),
Great to see a better articulation of your concerns.
Yes you have a point, and so do others but I suspect not Labourites, that Labour approved the now alleged dodgy accounts. These questions arises – and I’m not a lawyer although I will be pleading my various cases in higher courts later this year unless I can find a passionate and determined pro-bono barrister – is:
(A) What is the function of the Audit Committee ?
(B) Does the committee have any lawful power or ability to contest or object or disapprove of Mayor’s spending including the Mayor’s “no questions asked” policy ?
(C) If yes, was it reasonable for the committee not to draw attention to the Mayor’s actions ?
(D) Does the committee have any lawful power or ability to contest or object or disapprove of the Mayor moving money from the Reserves to the Revenue budget ?
(E) If yes, was it reasonable for the committee not to draw attention to the Mayor’s actions ?
(F) What advice and related comments did the chief finance officer (the so-called Section 151 Officer) make about (B) and (D) above ?
(G) Were the Mayor’s actions at (B) and (D) “proper”, reasonable, within his lawful powers and did they comply with the local authority’s statutory duties and its pronounced policies and objectives ?
Remember there is a lot of crap and corruption in English local government among staff and councillors but neither the police nor the central government are really interested. Often they have to be shoved into action.
Curious Cat.
Now, now Mr. Jeory I am not a Lutfurite. I just say it as I see it and I’m not clouded by my ever increasing desperation to out a Mayor who’s as bent or not as the average member of the political establishment, who only seek to serve themselves and their own interests. Unlike you Mr. Jeory and your commentators below the line, I don’t have a vision in my head of the day when Mayor Lutfor gets ousted so I can hi5 myself in the mirror, give myself a tap on the back and shrill “I told you so”.
Now to address your points…
If we’re talking thousands of pounds the materiality de minimis would be quite considerable and enough for them to capture any irregularities in grant payments. Either the Labour run Audit Committee didn’t have a foggiest what they were signing off; they believed what they signed off was a true and fair (that’s the audit term right?) reflection of the finances; or the auditors didn’t see or identify any wrong doing. I think it’s a combination of all three, which brings me back to my original point that that all two opposition groups as well as your good self and your hack friends in the press have been peddling myths, sometimes pandering to bigots, and concocting all manner of nonsense by exaggerating half truths, completely unrelated incidences and occurrences to get the Mayor out.
I bet you my bottom taka, the Labour Group provided information to the programme makers. Though I wouldn’t know any bookies who’d have put odds on the Tory Group led by Cllr. Golds not handing over any information. That’s an absolute no brainer. There is no doubt they are using it as a campaigning tool, which calls into question how impartial the investigation really is.
What are your thoughts on the findings of the investigation being reported beyond the election? It’s clear that Pickles has made his mind up based on his comments on Panorama, so don’t you think that’s prejudicial to the investigation? Doesn’t that put additional pressure on PwC to find things? Oh I forget that you probably don’t think care so much with visions of hi5s and whatnot.
If only conspiracies were so simple! Pickles and DCLG have had whistleblowers (note plural and quite possibly senior officers) from within the council for some considerable time and well before Panorama aired.
I’m afraid the mayor’s own preening behaviour has been noted from afar. And also by those you might think are close to him.
I doubt even Ohid would’ve hired a Merc for himself.
You see, these kinds of decisions set off the warning bells. And don’t forget that Eric knows a thing or two about problem and complex local authorities.
Behave yourself Mr. Cat. See that’s the problem with sitting on a computer screen all day and living a life as a blog commentator. You lose touch with reality and paranoia sets in. I am not who you think I am so let’s not even go down that road.
As to your points of an Audit Committee it’s core function within a PLC would be governance which would include tasking the internal audit function to test the effectiveness of internal systems and controls. I would assume the same is replicated in local government and other public bodies being that it is public money that it is used to fund the activities of these organisations.
Having briefly looked at some of the reports of the committee over the last year there doesn’t seem to be any cause for concern as the Annual Assurance Statement was signed and sealed by the Labour run Audit Committee and the Council’s External Auditor’s KPMG. If that’s the case why do we need an investigation? Using PwC another Big 4 accountancy firm who’ll be no doubt repeating exactly what KPMG have been doing or have tasked the Council’s Internal Audit Team to do, which by the looks of it is also another Big 4 firm, Deloitte. Ask yourself this: Are Deloitte and KPMG also in it with Lutfor? I very much doubt it…but being the paranoid lot you are here, you wouldn’t put it passed them right?
Oh for heaven’s sake, just look up BCCI, Maxwell, etc etc. Those audits missed the big problems, let alone the minutiae that’s much easier to manipulate.
I don’t think you have much idea about what goes into an audit.
And in any case, it’s likely the inspectors will look at the role of the audit committee when examining any failures.
And let’s also reflect that Lutfurite Cllr Shafiqul Haque did not attend a single audit committee meeting during his membership of that body in 2013/14.
Maybe he was just following the example of his leader.
=> Mr doshnomborrorsassa,
The realities of Local Government life are:-
(A) Financial controls and other matters will be prescribed in one of the many Local Government Acts.
(B) Big firms of accountants are always expensive, sometimes slap-dash in their work (with PLCs) and when handling Local Government work are always KIND to the local authority. I have never ever read any highly critical report about any English local authority since the days of Shirley Porter.
(C) Big firms are KIND because they want the repeat business. Diminishing the meaning of a few key words, not commenting on every tiny thing that is not correct and excessively praising moderate local authority accounting efforts are routine. Meaningless waffle is also a common occurrence – annoying to all attempting to investigate the accounts. If the static accountants were ultra reliable there would be no requirement for a second opinion.
(D) The second firm will definitely find things the first overlooked. After all, the second firm is effectively conducting a detailed forensic analysis (just like a second post mortem usually finds lots of things the police’s post mortem missed.)
“paranoid” we are not. Rational and realistic we definitely are.
Curious Cat.
Mr doshnomborrorsassa
I’ve never sat on a computer screen in my life.
My primarily activities are assisting people with local authority related problems, documenting and describing local authority failures, and other things which keep me in constant touch with real life – which is grim under both Tories and Labour, for example the Tory Housing Act 1988 section 21 which lets any landlord kick-out tenants at any time, after the initial 6 months rental – excluding council tenants.
Then there is the scandal of councils selling the personal details of voters to American controlled companies which means the data is immediately available to Uncle Sam.
Ditto personal medical records.
Add the Bedroom Tax.
Add the epidemic of road bumps damaging cars and giving ambulance patients a bumpy ride.
Add the cyclists being killed on London roads and elsewhere.
Add police and local government corruption. The latest allegation, today, was no investigation and prosecuting in exchange for ‘free’ prostitutes.
Add baby-snatching by councils and their attempts to smear mothers with biased, false and misleading evidence.
Add the down-and-outs sleeping in streets, under bridges and in deserted buildings (I used to help on a soup run), while government pours out countless glasses of expensive champagne.
Don’t forget the Food Banks.
I know reality but do you or are you trying to fool everyone who questions what has been going on with the public’s money in the LBTH ?
TH is a refreshing break from reality because no one in other EU countries would believe what has been happening.
Curious Cat.
Let us not forget that the Westminster gerrymandering case was pursued by District Audit – aided by the Audit Commission lawyers NOT the Big Firms.
In other words the organisation that Pickles has just consigned to the dustbin!
Observations about local government audit having become less than robust may well have some truth.
Let us also not forget that some very major failures in financial management and the execution of fiduciary duties were missed by some very big firms on the past – one of which (Arthur Andersen) had to declare bankruptcy as a result of the Enron case and completely disappeared from the world of the top firms.
So you see there is a comeback for the firms when they mess up.
One question that might reasonably be asked by PwC in their investigation is what is the level and quality of the experience of Councillors sitting on the Audit Committee. Coupled with a question relating to what provision the Mayor had made for the education and training of Councillors.
and finally….
whatever the failures of audit, the people who actually go to PRISON when there is evidence of wrong-doing and any breaking of the law or misuse of public monies are the POLITICIANS. That’s
* The people who claimed the expenditure was lawful when it wasn’t.
* The people who took the decision to spend the money in the first place.
Just ask all those MPs who found this fact out for themselves after their expenses were investigated
Now there’s an interesting topic……..politicians’ expenses! I wonder if PwC will have time for those as well…….
I still think Lutfur Rahman has a case to answer, but while on the subject of whataboutery and irony, the hypocrisy of Pickles and his colleagues is pretty impressive:
* Overruling recommendations to please your party supporters:
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2014-04-09a.12WS.1&s=speaker%3A10477#g12WS.2 “I have decided to extend the temporary change to the appeals recovery criteria, and continue to consider for recovery, appeals for renewable energy developments, for a further 12 months” [i.e. nimby tories don’t like wind farms so I’ll overrule their permisisons]
* And flogging public assets on the cheap to your mates and supporters?
* https://twitter.com/Unite4Len/status/289693902125031425
* http://politicalscrapbook.net/2014/04/osborne-best-mans-hedge-fund-made-36m-profit-on-royal-mail/
someone here wondered who was the man in red 😉
https://twitter.com/JoshiSidhu?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Flutfurrahman.com%2F&profile_id=229464502&tw_i=452452155518382081&tw_p=embeddedtimeline&tw_w=444228323497893888
Hi Kay I think you’ve identified the third man in that picture (some sort of deluded communist agent provocateur named Sidhu) but not the man in the red track suit….
Ted is censoring.
Er, no, removing potentially problematic posts. Need to back some comments up with evidence
Ted. As I understand you have already doorstepped one of the members from Ilford and are aware of what is going on I don’t see what the problem is. The gentleman concerned is on the electoral register at Barking Library.
Pickled Inspector/oldford1/Marc Francis and everyone else, go to http://www.swadhinata.org.uk and put Terry Fitzpatrick into search at the top right hand corner. Read and enjoy. This is real community organising without any grants, just the belief that it was the right ting to do. Have you every done anything like that Marc?
That’s not the allegation that I’m concerned about. And for the umpteenth time Marc Francis does not comment on this blog.
You are a liar and you know the posters mentioned are Marc Francis. It’s all right Ted, no one is coming around to anyone’s door. Just tell the truth.
Mr Mullah,
Please clam down.
How does anyone’s presence on this forum adversely affect your arguments and comments ? Let them have their say and you continuing having your say.
Curious Cat
Tim Rodgers, an ex FOI officer of Tower Hamlets is asking FOI question himself through a public site 😉
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/audio_recording_of_interview_bet
Decidedly impressive. The revolt seems to be growing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Probably worth noting that the request was made in isolation and not as part of a campaign (just in case the Complaints and Information Manager in the…ahem…Governance, Law and Probity department was considering Section 14 as an exemption)
Ohh Poor Lutfur – this meddling government and free press.. Went on his website (Towerhamlets.gov.uk) to pay him some money (don’t want the bailiffs a knocking) so he can spend it behind closed doors and on “communications” and the “mayors” EMA, Merc, faith building fund, community chest, community grants, east end life and the pot of gold at the end of the public funded rainbow etc, etc to see that he has all but been cleansed.. Imagine my confusion when I saw a new website.. His picture had gone from the top right and the direct link to his party political blog removed. To be presented with something that looks like a local government website… what a shock – too little too late Tower Hamlets?
No, no, no. You fool. You are looking at the WRONG website – you must have accidentally got a LOCAL GOVERNMENT web site by mistake
Curious Cat
🙂
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/lbth_removes_lutfur_rahman_mater
Tower Hamlets Borough Council,
1. On what date did LBTH commence removing material on the local authority’s public web site promoting the name, the image and the political party and/or associations and/or aspirations of Mr Lutfur Rahman ?
2. Why ?
3. At what cost ?
3. On what date did LBTH make a decision to remove, or significantly reduce, the quantity of material within its news magazine called East End Life relating to Mr Lutfur Rahman ?
4. Why ?
5. At what cost ?
6. On what date did LBTH begin removing the image and/or name and/or promotional material relating to Mr Lutfur Rahman from hoardings at building sites, from vehicles used to provide council services and elsewhere viewable by people in the streets ?
7. Why ?
8. At what cost ?
9. What plans has the LBTH to re-introduce material, including pictures and words, relating to Mr Lutfur Rahman on all the different things from which the same or similar material has recently been removed ?
10. If not, why not ?
Curious Cat
I hope heads will roll and not just Luftur and his crew…heads need to be seen to be rolled otherwise the public will just see this another PR spin for whomever….
The next move(?) his mega office will be turned into a new Nursery (2 form entry) to ease the shortage of places! Mr erm erm erm erm Wear – it was always my intention to hand over this grand office to the people … The guy cracks me up!
This is all too much at once… it is like the end bit in Lord of the Rings when “Sauron the Deceiver” finally shoves off
Ohhhh Ted, whatever has happened to the LR empire? The purge of communication/propaganda/advertising/self-promotion continues. I was shocked today to see that our great Leaders face, and “housing priority” election statement has been removed from the Blackwall Reach development hoardings. I ask, whatever am I paying my council Tax for? In a strange way I miss him keeping a watchful eye upon his “one Tower Hamlets”.
No noo nooo noo Mr Wear, all them posters erm erm erm have been taken down because we are entering the pre-election piranha period. I don’t care what your researchers tell you – that’s the truth.
The situation at LBTH looks to be worse than was first thought.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10763052/Councils-links-to-radical-Islamists-probed-by-No-10.html
I want to draw readers attention to the latest video by Pat Condell. Pat is a man who is almost single-handedly keeping the tradition of free speech alive in the UK. His recent video about the word “Islamophobia” it’s creation and misuse is relevant to recent events surrounding Panorama and may, indeed, be in response to it.
Article about TH website in East End Life today.
Has Pickles conferscated all LR’s cameramen? Not a picture in his weekly newspaper received today.
Jay Kay and others are right!
The situation in LBTH is far worse than anticipated. Ironically, Lutfur is coming on the top! Labour is going down the drain! The current Labour leadership lacks the political astute to use the working-class East Enders and the Bengalis like their predecessors. The Labour has now started a fire that is going to burn their own house. The big question: is the East End ready for ditching their ‘Labour’ MP next year?
(MP’s), and the answer is unequivocally, Yes.
so now that no criminal activity has been proven and the fact that LR popularity has been given a boost. … what now..? The Labour baffons have shot themselves in the foot
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-27050663
I distinctly remember one IC1 called John Yates telling MPs there was no real evidence of phone hacking in the Met’s vast collection of data.
Astonishing that several people were subsequently charged, and are currently on-trial together with details of their sexual activity (utterly unnecessary) when a top Met copper repeatedly assured MPs there was NO EVIDENCE
Funny, dodgy, coppers in the Met me thinks. I haven’t forgotten Stephen Lawrence or Hillsborough or the wrong convictions all over the country because of dodgy police evidence.
Curious Cat
http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/police_clarify_no_evidence_statement_investigating_grants_to_brady_youth_forum_1_3562886
Until now my understanding is as follows…..
a) Panorama gathered the information;
b) Such information was stolen and passed to Mayor;
c) Someone, whether Mayor himself or someone else who was aware of the content reported the matter to Tower Hamlets Police on 20/3;
d) Eric passed the Panorama files to Met on 4/4;
e) Met took 6 days to go through them and established that there was nothing new, that the matter is already being investigated by Tower Hamlets Police and as such no new investigation is to take place.
If my understanding is correct, then I assume that there was eagerness for the matter to be investigated by a particular (chosen?) police force.
Reason?
Well let us examine some of the available evidence.
(1) File of potentially incriminating matters gets passed to the primarily named person. This person
(a) accepts the file or
(b) rejects the file ?
(2) If the person accepts the file does the person
(a) ensure any or all potentially compromising material is discretely “improved” to reduce or even remove the person’s exposure to the potentially incriminating claims or
(b) take no action ?
(3) Does the person talk to any friends in “useful” jobs ?
(4) Does the person have enough power, ability, favours to influence any external examination of the material perhaps by giving the person’s own version of events before the material is examined ?
(5) Are external examiners competent in understanding the material ? Rather a lot are not. Some could not pass an A Level examination in any subject at the lowest possible grade.
(6) Are the external examiners biased in any way (compare the skin colour of those who initially investigated the Stephen Lawrence murder) [I have the same skin colour as them, so I’m not racist]
=======================
Perhaps the Economic Crime Unit’s best brains (the worse brains are not impressive) should have a gander and remove the stuff from the “untrained in this sort of stuff” CID ?
CID = assaults, rapes, murders, arson, shop-lifting are its daily diet; paperwork crimes are definitely not ‘cos they ain’t got a KLUE
If you want to wash a dirty shirt and a dirty pair of trousers do you:
(a) plonk them in the washing machine on a full programme or
(b) rinse them without adding any detergent ?
Its the same with the Fuzz. Get the BEST team to look at the material – not the worse.
Curious Cat
I think you are right Curious Cat and I find it all rather scary.
“Elsewhere in London 20 police officers, some armed, executed a dawn raid on the home of a minor council employee following an allegation of inappropriate use of office stationary. a spokesman said that although no evidence had been found the enquiries where on going and he was sure they could find something to fit him up with”
🙂
at least something is moving………….
Click to access Tower_Hamlets.pdf
Thanks Kay.
THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1986
NOTICE UNDER SECTION 4A(5)
The Secretary of State hereby gives the local authority known as Tower Hamlets Council notice of a direction that he proposes to give to the authority under section 4A of the 1986 Act.
Having regard to the information available to him about the local authority’s publicity, the Secretary of State proposes to direct Tower Hamlets Council to comply by no later than 1 May 2014 with all of the provisions of the Recommended Code of Practice on Local Authority Publicity issued under section 4 of the Local Government Act 1986 on 31 March 2011 having been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.
Tower Hamlets Council may make written representations to the Secretary of State about the proposed direction within the period of 14 days beginning with the day on which this notice is given to it.
Any representations should be sent to the Department for Communities and Local Government at ConductCode@communities.gsi.gov.uk
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