Posts

Explainer: the current Waltham Forest Town Hall asbestos scandal in ten bite-sized chunks

April 14, 2023 Town Hall asbestos

1. In 2022, I discovered that a specialist firm, commissioned on behalf of LBWF, had surveyed the Town Hall two years previously, and found that asbestos was present throughout but especially in the basement, with some of this asbestos defined as ‘high risk’, for example in the form of dust. 2. I further discovered that contractors had worked in the basement on three separate occasions between 2015 and 2021; and that LBWF could not produce all the associated paperwork as demanded by the key piece of legislation, the Asbestos Regulations 2012. 3. Accordingly, on 1 September 2022, I requested that LBWF monitoring officer Mark Hynes consider my evidence, and on 27 October 2022, he told me that ... »

Leyton and Wanstead MP John Cryer calls out Labour anti-semitism again…but for his far-left party colleagues he is a liar and a Tory

March 24, 2023 anti-semitism, John Cryer MP, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

More fun and games in the local Labour Party, so often the home of the gutter. A couple of weeks ago, John Cryer, M.P. for Leyton and Wanstead and Chair of the Parliamentary Party, took to Twitter and made these forthright statements: And the response from his party colleagues? These Tweets are typical of the general tenor: It is often said nowadays that Sir Keir Starmer KBC KC has cleared out the ragbag of Jew obsessives, identarians of various hues, and gaggle of entryists from the Stalinist and Trotskyite fringe who flooded into the Labour ranks on the coattails of Mr. Corbyn. It seems not. »

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The Town Hall asbestos investigation led by LBWF Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes now has been running for 100 working days, yet not delivered a single finding. What gives?

March 22, 2023 Town Hall asbestos

Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes’ investigation into my apprehension that, from 2015 to 2021, LBWF may not have managed the large amounts of asbestos that riddled the Town Hall in line with the demands of the relevant health and safety legislation, has now run for exactly 100 working days, yet so far failed to deliver a single finding. Mr. Hynes last comment on the subject was an e-mail of 30 January 2023 which reads: ‘Although I was hoping to have concluded my review into the concerns you raised about asbestos management compliance, the matter is still ongoing. I hope to have concluded matters in the near future and will write to you again at that time’. This lack of progress ... »

Walthamstow resident and community activist Charlie Edwards dismantles LBWF’s claim that it ‘consulted’ before installing 500 new bike hangers

March 17, 2023 LBWF spin, Mini Holland

In the past, this blog has been somewhat sceptical about LBWF’s Mini-Holland and associated ‘active travel’ interventions, primarily because when the bombast was stripped away, careful investigation often showed that the underpinning evidence was surprisingly weak, as case studies of, first, a consultation about bike hangers in South Leytonstone, and, second, the King’s College Environmental Research Group analysis of local air quality vividly illustrated (see links, below). Regrettably, a more recent development suggests that this unhealthy approach to due process, perhaps also the truth, remains alive and kicking. In early December 2022, LBWF issued a press release which announced: ‘People... »

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LBWF councillors: what do they do, and is it value for money? An update.

March 7, 2023 LBWF, Local government reform

In essence, the relationship between residents and councillors is an informal contract. Residents agree to pay councillors from the public purse For their part, councillors, amongst other things, attend (and in some cases chair) council meetings; read and digest the associated minutes and papers; promote the interests of those who live in their wards, or at least make sure they are not left behind; and help any residents in need of assistance. A post published in February 2020 looked at how this arrangement was going, and the following is an update. To start with, what do councillors receive in terms of remuneration? Remuneration All councillors receive a basic allowance, and on top of that ... »

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