Over the years, this blog has recorded the richly deserved political and professional downfall of ex-Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman. But it turns out we owe Mr. Rahman something of an apology, because compared to some he never quite scraped the bottom of the barrel. This week’s Private Eye (no. 1467, 6 April to 19 April 2018) explains all: »
For reasons best known to themselves, and against a mass of evidence, sections of the local Labour Party have continued to champion the disgraced ex-Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman. Now, however, their empathy looks even more absurd. For Mr. Rahman has been struck off by his own professional body, the Solicitors Disciplinary Committee (SDC), and ordered to pay £86,000 in costs. The key part of the SDC’s judgement is as withering as it is possible to get: If Labour Party people can’t get these kind of very clear-cut issues right, it is reasonable to wonder whether their judgem... »
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... »
On the subject of local government reform, it is notable that another of our neighbours, Tower Hamlets, also has begun examining the status quo, in this case through the medium of a Transparency Commission, described in an August press release as follows: ‘The council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee has launched an Overview and Scrutiny Transparency Commission (OSTC) to identify actions the council should take to improve transparency, openness and accountability. The Commission began its work at the July 27 Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) meeting. The OSC meetings in September, O... »
The judge’s verdict is here: http://trialbyjeory.com/2015/04/23/tower-hamlets-election-court-judge-richard-mawrey-qcs-full-ruling/ It’s long but worth reading, not just because of the comparisons that inevitably arise with Waltham Forest, but also because there are barbs in all directions, especially concerning the Labour Party’s modi operandi; the way that the ‘left’ has become addicted to the epithet ‘racist’, brandishing it at every opportunity; and the absurd logic deployed by council officers in some cases to illegitimately protect their employers... »
Another great story from Ted Jeory: http://trialbyjeory.com/2015/04/19/tower-hamlets-first-hitler-sympathiser-goes-on-dclg-funded-jolly-to-promote-integration-with-some-help-from-the-church/ »
Great story over at Love Wapping about Tower Hamlets Council and lunch clubs: http://lovewapping.org/2015/03/councillor-maium-miah-tower-hamlets-lunch-clubs/ »
Mark Baynes at Love Wapping has just posted a very interesting piece on a Tower Hamlets council audit report which ‘paints a grim picture of an almost total lack of control in relation to the awarding and monitoring of grants across the borough’. As he observes, the report, which covers the period September 2014 to November 2014, ‘describes a culture within Tower Hamlets council that seems to have little or no interest in accounting for public funds. Issues identified included not verifying that grant money was actually being spent for the purpose the grant had been awarded, ... »
I have posted the recent reports on Tower Hamlets and Rotherham in the documents box on the left. Each discuses a disturbing range of pathologies, and more of these than is comfortable have echoes in Waltham Forest. For example, two passages from the Rotherham report particularly resonate: ‘RMBC [Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council] has a culture of suppressing bad news and ignoring difficult issues. This culture is deep-rooted; RMBC goes to some length to cover up information and to silence whistle-blowers’ (p.11). and ‘Cover up in RMBC needs to be looked at within the cu... »