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LBWF Chief Executive Martin Esom’s evidence at the Town Hall asbestos trial: the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

The following speaks for itself. 18 September 2015 Dear Mr. Esom, We write to you about the letter dated 30 January 2014 that you submitted to the HSE and the courts prior to LBWF’s recent prosecution over Town Hall asbestos contamination. We remind you that this letter was produced in lieu of an interview under PACE; and that you explicitly recognised it might ‘be used in the event of any enforcement proceedings’. We further remind you that in the letter, you underline that you are intent upon ‘frankly’ dealing with the issues at hand. All this being the case, we are very surprised at some of the points that you make, and three are especially troubling. 1. The availability of the 2002 Town ... »

The Barnett v. Dhedi fallout: things are getting nasty

If a recent exchange of correspondence is anything to go by, the Barnett-Dhedi affair (covered in two previous posts) has turned decidedly nasty. Writing on behalf of the Waltham Forest Council of Mosques to Cllr. Robbins, Media Officer Irfan Akhta’s stance is predictably shrill. Cllr. Barnett’s infelicitous language is ‘Islamaphobic’ and ‘grossly offensive’. Religious viewpoints  must be ‘respected’ and ‘understood’. The fact that an internal Labour Party investigation found Cllr. Barnett had no case to answer only adds insult to injury. ‘The community’ was owed an explanation. The investigation should have been ‘... »

Cllr. Liaquat Ali and the Queen: so near, yet so far

Mention of Clli. Liaquat Ali as always brings a weighty postbag, with those who have met the great man eager to share their memories. So by way of a thank you, I reprint some photos of when our local benefactor to the otherwise homeless met the Queen. It’s a slightly odd sequence, because the warm handshake that seems about to happen in fact never does. I’ve always wondered why. But no doubt our monarch had her reasons…. »

Cllr. Liaquat Ali hits the Andy Burnham campaign trail

Good to see Cllr. Liaquat Ali out supporting Andy Burnham on his recent visit to Waltham Forest (see http://kashmirlinklondon.co.uk/?p=6862) I hear from well placed sources that should our Andy win the Labour leadership, he will make Cllr. Ali one of his key advisers on solving London’s housing problems. PS Of course every picture tells a story, and here it is interesting to see the aged Leader of LBWF, Cllr. Chris Robbins, relegated to the back row, right – he certainly does not appear to have appreciated the joke. PPS There is surely, too, an unintended irony re Cllr. Liaquat Ali in the wording of the right-hand poster. »

Cllr. Liaquat Ali in Private Eye, again

Great to see Cllr. Liaquat Ali make Private Eye again (see below, from No.1399, 21 August to 3 September 2015). Who will ever forget the outpouring of rejoicing when he received his MBE, for which see the comments box here: http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/9429878.WALTHAM_FOREST__Councillor_made_MBE/ »

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