Author: Nick Tiratsoo

Lutfur Rahman: yet another low UPDATED

January 31, 2016 Lutfur Rahman, Tower Hamlets

Mark Baynes at Love Wapping has a powerful story on the latest development in the Lutfur Rahman affair, which begins as follows: ‘Lutfur Rahman, ex-Mayor of Tower Hamlets, has been damned once again by the law of the land. A strongly worded press statement released today by Richard Slade & Company, solicitor for the electoral petitioners, details why the latest court judgement against Rahman has found him to be “a mortgage fraudster and tax evader” and Mrs. Rahman (aka Mrs Ayesha Farid) has been called an “unreliable witness who adjusts her evidence under pressure.”’ For the re... »

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Tackling worklessness: Newham v. LBWF

January 20, 2016 National Construction College Cathall Rd., Worknet

I was interested to read a story last week in the Guardian which suggested that Newham’s growing affluence was partly the result of its council’s ‘reimagined jobs scheme’, Workplace (‘What’s behind the huge fall in deprivation in east London? And no, it’s not gentrification’, 14 January 2016). In past years, apparently, Newham council simply ‘advised residents on their CVs, pointed them to job postings, and sent them on their way’, a system that resulted in a mere 2 per cent then finding work. Now, because more than a dozen Workplace managers are embedded with major local employers, they are b... »

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Private Eye’s 2015 Rotten Borough’s Awards: LBWF triumphs again

January 13, 2016 ISIS, Prevent, Private Eye, Town Hall asbestos

Private Eye‘s annual Rotten Borough Awards are always a highpoint for local council watchers, and this year LBWF triumphs again, with no less than two citations, which read as follows: ‘COMBATING EXTREMISM: Until an undercover Channel 4 reporter discovered the truth, for two years Labour Waltham Forest council hired out a room for “ladies tea afternoons” to a group of burqa-clad women…who turned out to be an Isis supporters’ group’; and ‘WORKPLACE SAFETY: The London borough of Waltham Forest was fined £66,000 with £16,000 costs for failing to pro... »

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LBWF’s Preventing Extremism Strategic Summary for 2015-16

January 13, 2016 Prevent

Despite LBWF insisting that its Prevent programme should in general remain secret, it has recently divulged to me a nine-page ‘Preventing Extremism Strategic Summary’ for 2015-16, and this makes for interesting (if, as will be seen, ultimately dispiriting) reading. The document begins with some scattered remarks about the challenge to be faced. The current evidence, it states, ‘indicates that the most significant threat relates to Islamist extremism which looks to further the Al-Qaida…narrative’. However, it also warns that ‘The profile of radicalized individuals in Britain that go on to commi... »

Cllr. Johar Khan makes Private Eye

December 18, 2015 Cllr. Johar Khan, E11 BID Co., the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

From Private Eye, no. 1408, 19 December 2015 – 7 January 2016:     »

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LBWF in Private Eye again, this time over ISIS and Prevent

December 11, 2015 ISIS, LBWF, Prevent, Private Eye

From Private Eye, no.1407, 11-18 December 2015:   »

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The National College for Leadership and Teaching report on Waltham Forest head Ludiya Besisira: a tale of dishonesty and almost total regulatory failure UPDATED

December 7, 2015 Cllr. Chris Robbins, EduAction, LBWF, Ludiya Besisira

‘I would like to take this opportunity to thank the headteacher, Ludiya Besisira and her staff for all their hard work in improving the school and attaining an excellent Ofsted report’ (Cllr. Chris Robbins, portfolio holder, to LBWF Cabinet, October 2008) In October 2015, the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) published its adjudication on allegations made against Ms. Ludiya Besisira, headteacher at Mission Grove Primary School in Walthamstow from 2001 to 2010 (NCTL, Ludiya Besisira: Professional conduct panel outcome (October 2015)). It does not make pleasant read... »

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Cllr. Johar Khan ‘suspended pending the result of an investigation’

December 2, 2015 Cllr. Johar Khan, E11 BID Co., the Labour Party in Waltham Forest, Waltham Forest Labour Party

I have written before about Cllr. Johar Khan, noting in particular his puzzling relationship with the by now notorious E11 BID Co.. This afternoon, the Waltham Forest Guardian reports ‘A Labour Party spokesman’ as saying: ‘“We can confirm Cllr Khan has been suspended pending the result of an investigation.”’ Coincidentally, in the last few days, I have received an anonymous letter about Cllr. Khan, which also alleges that the local Labour Party is involved in a cover up. I am aware that Cllr. Khan has some political enemies, for instance those who have not forgiven him ... »

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LBWF and the fight against ISIS

November 27, 2015 ISIS, LBWF, Prevent

As a previous post has indicated, there are serious questions to be asked about Waltham Forest’s attempts to confront local Islamist extremists. The record over the past decade has been at best mixed, and includes some embarrassing failures. The fact that LBWF will not discuss its current Prevent programme in any detail only adds to the sense that someone, somewhere is afraid of further revelations. LBWF Chief Executive Martin Esom may think of himself as an expert in this area, and chair the London Prevent Board, but whether the local authority as a whole is fulfilling its responsibilities re... »

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North London Ltd. and a shortfall of £101,822

November 24, 2015 North London Ltd., Waltham Forest Business Board

Some significant new evidence has just emerged about North London Ltd. (NLL). In general terms, NLL continues to intrigue. For here is a private company that was paid hundreds of thousand of pounds by public authorities (including LBWF, some directly, and some routed through the Waltham Forest Business Board’s Waltham Forest Business CIC); handed its directors generous remuneration and other benefits (a whacking £314,897 in the three year period 2004-07 alone); but left an unexpectedly faint footprint in terms of recorded outputs and accomplishments. Indeed, up to now, in truth, it has b... »

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