Cllr. Peter Barnett

The Barnett v. Dhedi fallout: things are getting nasty

September 15, 2015 Cllr. Chris Robbins, Cllr. Peter Barnett, Cllr. Shabana Dhedi/Qadir, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

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 inj... »

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Barnett v. Dhedi: the denouement UPDATED

August 11, 2015 Cllr. Peter Barnett, Cllr. Shabana Dhedi/Qadir, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest, Waltham Forest Labour Party

Regular readers of this blog will remember my earlier post describing a spat between Cllr. Peter Barnett and Cllr. Shabana Dhedi (sometimes Shabana Qadir), the essence of which apparently revolved around a late night Facebook exchange, the possible excuses that could be made for the Charlie Hebdo murderers, and some intemperate Anglo-Saxon. What was an obvious molehill soon became a mountain, with the on-cue involvement of sundry third parties, the parading of bruised feelings, and impassioned accusations of racism and ‘Islamophobia’. The upshot? Cllr. Barnett found himself suspended from the ... »

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Barnett v. Dhedi: councillors scrap

February 23, 2015 Cllr. Peter Barnett, Cllr. Shabana Dhedi/Qadir, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

Spats amongst councillors are often good value for money – a window into the Town Hall world of petty rivalries, vanities, jealousies, self-importance and general buffoonery, where molehills soon become mountains. Whether the latest altercation, between the deeply unimpressive Cllrs Peter Barnett and Shabana Dhedi, conforms to this mould remains to be seen. The Waltham Forest Guardian has covered the story in surprising depth, and attracted a fair bit of public interest. There is some suggestion of an organised campaign.  Regarless, the synthetic rage of the supposedly affronted adds an albeit... »

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