Author: Nick Tiratsoo

John Cryer’s moonlight flit – the speculation continues

March 11, 2016 John Cryer MP

A corespondent with his finger on the pulse of Labour politics revisits the Cryer flit: ‘Back in July 2015, we reported that one of our local Labour MPs, John Cryer, had moved to Lewisham two months after retaining his seat in the General Election, prompting various wags to call for the house he had sold to be awarded a blue plaque in honour of his relatively brief residency [see ‘John Cryer MP Once Lived Here’ – linked below]. News of Mr. Cryer’s move slipped out rather haphazardly, though it must have been planned for some time, and this provoked a degree of comment. Sundry residents f... »

John Cryer and the EU: always read the small print

March 2, 2016 John Cryer MP

A correspondent writes as follows: ‘No doubt so as to further underline his left-wing credentials, John Cryer has always presented himself as anti-EU, and a good example of this occurs in the latest of his (very infrequent) parliamentary reports: “Report from John Cryer Dear Member, The big news has been David Cameron’s much-vaunted renegotiation of the treaties of the EU. In fact, he secured very little and I suspect that fact will become increasingly clear in the coming months. He started out by claiming that his plan was for a profound and fundamental renegotiation, returning po... »

Delta Club: a very Waltham Forest story, up like a rocket, down like a stick

February 22, 2016 Cllr. Afzal Akram, North London Ltd.

In the mid- to late 2000s, Delta Club (hereafter DC) was one of the most high profile organisations in Waltham Forest. Incorporated as a private company in 2003, with sometime Labour Cabinet portfolio holder Cllr. Afzal Akram on its board, DC seemed to have established itself as the ‘go to’ authority on, and provider of, training, especially where ethnic minorities were concerned. A self-penned profile of 2009 read as follows: ‘Delta club [sic] Group is a BAME led and Customer First and Matrix accredited organisation that since its inception has either directly delivered or delivered through a... »

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LBWF’s policy on Prevent reaps what it sows…

February 3, 2016 ISIS, Prevent

In a recent post, I warned that LBWF’s Prevent strategy, and the secrecy that surrounds it, invite trouble. As if on cue, up pops the stage army of the Left, guided by the ubiquitous ‘red vicar’, Canon Stephen Saxby, with a meeting tonight aimed squarely at denunciation: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/waltham-forest-against-prevent-tickets-20742107201 The blog Harry’s Place does a public service by revealing the true identities of some of those involved: http://hurryupharry.org/2016/01/31/steven-saxby-corbynista-vicar-for-extremism/ Meanwhile, a report by Andrew Gilligan in the Sunday Te... »

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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