The full impact of Labour’s handling of the Lutfur Rahman saga is now beginning to show. Last May, they obliterated Respect in the council and parliamentary elections and now thanks to the shambolic way in which officials ran the selection process for mayor, they have, as one councillor said to me, created Respect Mark II.
This morning, I hear, seven Labour councillors have expelled themselves from the party by throwing their weight behind Lutfur.
I hear that they are Oli Rahman, Lutfa Begum and her daughter Rania Khan (all of whom defected from Respect a couple of years ago!), controversial Alibor Chodhary, and new councillors Aminur Khan and wife Rabina Khan, and Shelina Aktar.
Hardly heavyweights, but still significant. In addition, another Respect defector, Wais Islam, who lost standing for Labour in May, has also left the party by urging people to vote for Lutfur in a Benagli newspaper article yesterday.
There are now serious worries that Lutfur, with the help of those Abbas supporters who allocate their second preference vote to the only other Bangladeshi name on the slate, could creep in come October 21.
For many in Labour, that is the worst of all worlds: a independent mayor controlling the executive without any check from a constituted party.
I have a feeling that this borough will soon be the focus of some pretty interesting national attention.
UPDATE 2:
Cllr Rania Khan has just confirmed to me that she did attend a campaign meeting with Lutfur last night. She said: “As you know, I will fight against any injustice and I think there has been injustice to Lutfur.”
Trial by Jeory 
Ted,Cllr Ohid Ahmed was also at the meeting last night but his name is not on list.
[…] Rahman speaks out I have just spoken to Oliur Rahman, one NINE, not eight, councillors who attended a campaign meeting for Lutfur Rahman in Brick Lane last night (the other was Ohid […]
[…] I posted that Wais had effectively expelled himself from the Labour party after urging in an article for […]
What’s this got to do with Respect?
Wais Islam left Respect in May 2007 and has had nothing more to do with it, having been in the Labour Party for the last three years. Trying to insinuate Respect has something to do with his stupid comments and with anti-semitism in general is a bit like blaming the Labour Party for the rise of Hitler because Oswald Mosley of the British Union of Fascists was once a Labour cabinet minister.
Respect has always opposed anti-semitism and its leader Salma Yaqoob stepped out of line within the muslim community for opposing the boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day by the very establishment oriented Muslim Council of Britain.
Ted,
Can you not comment without bringing religion, race into discussion….
You are completely missing the point. So what if 9 labour cllrs defected… They are within their rights to do so, especially when you look at the manner the Labour party has conducted itself….
The people of TH voted on 4th Sept and chose Lutfur, who won with a majority. So please tell me how it is FAIR that he is ousted in the last minute because some people cant stand to see him potentially taking over the biggest job in TH…
Labour Cllrs left the party because they want to fight against injustice. We live in a so called democracy world whereby people place their votes and whoever wins should be congratulated, not destroy their character or reputation. The same democratic society which allows you to voice your points.
Just like the above poster said, what has any particular persons or Respect party got to do with this… Are you now saying ordinary members CAN NOT voice their opinion.
Many people may not agree with what you say or what you write but you are also entitled to your opinion whether it has any truth to it or not. So when the rest make their comments, give them that opportunity rather than slander their name without factual evidence. Thats all
Yesteday many people where shocked and surprised Ed came from nowhere and beat his brother, ok a lot of people didnt LIKE that but does that mean we should OUST Ed because we dont like the OUTCOME……Of course NOT…
So why should there be one rule for SOME and another rule for OTHERS…..
[…] commenter Prinkipo Exile made the point on this thread that: Respect has always opposed anti-semitism and its leader Salma Yaqoob stepped out of line […]
Ted you give me the impression that you are an Islamophobe. If a dog barks like a dog, it probably is.
Get on with scrutinising POLICIES. Its the policies that will affect me; I want to hear about how we will benefit from the Olympics and how are housing problems will be alleviated.
[…] He would not confirm names but they are thought to include the following councillors who I named in this post last week: Ohid Ahmed, Alibor Choudhury, Oliur Rahman, Rania Khan, Lutfa Begum, Rabina Khan, Aminur Khan and […]