Prevent

LBWF Chief Executive Martin Esom responds to my questions re the Cllr. Ahsan Khan affair

May 12, 2016 Cllr. Ahsan Khan, Martin Esom, Prevent

I post Mr. Esom’s responses below. Much of what he writes is self-evidently vague, and seems to have been written with the explicit aim of avoiding giving anything away, hardly appropriate in the light of the seriousness of both the events in question and the wider situation that we find ourselves in. Regarding the ‘community award’, I understand that LBWF is claiming that every visitor to the Mayor’s parlour is given the same ‘memento’ or ‘keepsake’. I wonder how it is then that the Evening Standard came to use the phrase ‘community award’, particularly since the paper... »

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Extremism in Waltham Forest: a quick roundup of the recent lowpoints

April 29, 2016 Martin Esom, Prevent

It has been a busy few months on the extremism front in Waltham Forest, so here is a short roundup of the major stories that have been featured on this blog (links to the full versions are pasted beneath). The material of course largely speaks for itself. One point is important though. LBWF Chief Executive Martin Esom claims some expertise in counter-extremism work, and chairs the London Prevent Board. Perhaps he should spend more time looking at what is right under his nose. January 2015 Investigative reporter Andrew Gilligan recounts the following: ‘Last November, in Leyton, east London, the... »

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The Cllr. Ahsan Khan affair: new revelations UPDATED

April 19, 2016 Cllr. Ahsan Khan, Martin Esom, Prevent, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

Harry’s Place has further revelations about the Cllr. Khan affair: http://hurryupharry.org/2016/04/18/meet-the-friends-of-corbynista-vicar-steven-saxby/ It certainly does seem strange that a person who apparently feels the imagery pasted below is acceptable now finds himself honoured with a ‘community award’ by councillors, including Madam Mayor, on LBWF property. I’ve pointed LBWF Chief Executive Martin Esom to this specific detail, and again will post his reply. UPDATE I e-mailed Mr. Esom about this at 07.31 on 19th April. As of now – 08.06 on the 28th April ... »

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Cllr. Ahsan Khan steps down amid talk of inadmissible intolerance UPDATED

April 13, 2016 Cllr. Ahsan Khan, Martin Esom, Prevent, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

Word reaches me that earlier in the week Labour councillors were circulated with an e-mail which announced that Cllr. Ahsan Khan, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, had stepped down from the Cabinet, pending an independent investigation by the LBWF Monitoring Officer. What appears to have happened is that Cllr. Khan organised an event in the Town Hall, attended by the Mayor, which was then the subject of a video posted online, the latter put together by one Qari Mahmood and propagated by Khalid Iqbal Malik. It is this video that is the source of the problem, because it is said to display... »

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LWBF, Prevent, and the Lea Bridge Rd. Mosque

April 7, 2016 Martin Esom, Prevent

An interesting and very concerning report on the Lea Bridge Rd. Mosque has been published at the blog Harry’s Place: http://hurryupharry.org/2016/04/06/the-waltham-forest-islamic-association-conspiracy-theories-antisemitism-and-rejection-of-the-west/ I have written to Martin Esom, LBWF Chief Executive, as follows: ‘Dear Mr. Esom, You no doubt will have seen the recent report on the Lea Bridge Rd. Mosque published at the blog Harry’s Place… I understand that LBWF claims some sort of expertise in relation to the Prevent strategy; and also that a number of local councillors have... »

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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... »

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... »

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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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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