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Introduction

A note for readers…

This is a personal blog, which aims to scrutinise the powers that be in Waltham Forest, from the Council (hereafter London Borough of Waltham Forest or LBWF), both elected members and staff; to our MP... »

Posts

The Labour Party in Waltham Forest and the financing of local elections: a scandal in the making? (1)

Over the years, a number of correspondents have approached this blog to express anxieties about how the local Labour Party (LP) is being run and financed. Some of their claims are plausible, others le... »

Silver Birch Academy Trust: Lost in the Forest?

As this blog has periodically observed, to mere mortals the world of primary and secondary school academies, and in particular their governance, is sometimes rather puzzling. Last Sunday, the Observer... »

LBWF councillors and their register of interests forms: an update and reflection UPDATED

Previous posts have looked at the problems that some councillors are having over accurately filling in their register of interests forms (see links below). What follows summarises the current state of... »

Steven Saxby, the ‘red vicar’ of Walthamstow, and Mr. Mahmood ul Hassan Raja, the ex-imam who praised an Islamist killer, but joined the Labour Party because ‘Mr. Corbyn will fix knife crime’.

A good barometer of Labour’s ongoing moral collapse is the ever-expanding list of questionable characters who are currently being welcomed into its ranks, even (as Guido Fawkes regularly demonstrates)... »

Waltham Forest Matters: 100,000 views up

In the past few weeks, Waltham Forest Matters has sailed through the ‘100,000 views’ mark. As is obvious, ‘view’ does not mean ‘read’, and ‘read’ does n... »

Redevelopment in Waltham Forest: the shocking fate of Section 106 ‘planning gain’ UPDATED

In recent years, there has been growing unease in Waltham Forest about the character of redevelopment, particularly in terms of the balance between public and private good. While LBWF in theory is cha... »

The mysterious case of the disappearing LBWF councillor…

Yesterday, various readers contacted this blog about a little local mystery. The story is as follows. A couple of days ago, our old friend, LBWF Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes, circulated a... »

Lutfur Rahman: an apology (of sorts)

Over the years, this blog has recorded the richly deserved political and professional downfall of ex-Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman. But it turns out we owe Mr. Rahman something of an apology, beca... »

Cllr. Limbajee, Cllr. Mbachu, their register of interests forms, and LBWF’s Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes: the controversy continues

The controversy over the register of interests forms posted by Cllrs. Khevyn Limbajee and Anna Mbachu, covered by this blog recently, is mushrooming, with even the officer in charge of enforcing the r... »

Islamist extremism in Waltham Forest: a disturbing new episode

In the past week or so, much of the press has covered the trial and conviction of Forest Gate Isis supporter Umar Ahmed Haque on a number of serious terrorist offences. During Mr. Haque’s trial, the c... »

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