For I don’t don’t know how long, the police have been educating people how best to use the 999 emergency number. Often their time is wasted attending needless incidents that divert attention from genuine emergencies. Politicians, who are the guardians of how public money is spent, have been at the forefront of this education campaign.
So….take an incident which happened outside Stepney Green Tube station this morning. Labour council leader and Tower Hamlets mayoral hopeful Helal Abbas and a few of his supporters met there for a morning of canvassing. And so too did a few of Lutfur Rahman’s team, including Cllrs Alibor Choudhury and Oli Rahman.
There was an exchange of pleasantries, then harsh words and then some “aggression”. And then a 999 call. And then police arrived.
Here’s Oli Rahman’s account:
Abbas came and shook my hand and also Alibor’s. There was a third person in our group [Oli names him, but for legal reasons, I’ll refer to him as X] who also wanted to shake his hand. Abbas didn’t want to and said in Bengali, ‘This is your father’s land you are telling me to go away from.’ In Bengali, this is extremely insulting.
There was a big Bengali guy with Abbas and he started shouting at X. The big Bengali guy then came towards X as if to hit him. He was aggressive. Abbas and another person there [Oli also names him, but for legal reasons I won’t] came towards us. They had aggressive facial expressions and body language. The big Bengali guy touched and pushed X. He didn’t fall over. Alibor had to go and restrain him by standing in the middle.
I called the police because I felt intimidated and that if Alibor hadn’t been there, there would’ve been physical violence.
I then asked Oli if he called 999 and he said ‘yes’. I then asked why – given it was broad daylight, it was outside a busy Tube station and in an area covered by CCTV cameras – he just didn’t walk away, as community safety experts advise. He said: “I was genuinely concerned for my safety. Yes, I could have gone to a police station to report it later, but at the time and under the circumstances, I was afraid we were going to get beaten up. I genuinely thought my safety was threatened.”
The Met Police have confirmed the call took place and I am waiting to hear whether there is an ongoing investigation.
Trial by Jeory 
I was the first of our group as I was leading with the paperwork. Oli and Alibor with some other guy were also meeting in the same place. I get on OK with Oli, so I went and said hello. Oli was OK with me, but I just got a mouthful of abuse off Alibor, so I walked away and kept my distance.
When Abbas arrived, he also went over to say hello, as you’d expect. Voices became heated and Abbas was trying to walk away. The main hothead was the guy with them having a go at Abbas, but then the guy with us didn’t help by rising to it. I don’t know either of these people and I don’t speak the language, so I can only tell you what I saw.
Abbas kept trying to walk away and Alibor was trying to stand between people to calm things.
Oli wasn’t frightened or intimidated as he says. I’d say he was a part of it. He was still shouting at Abbas when the situation had ended and we were stood well apart from each other. Alibor was having to calm him down as well.
It wasn’t a nice incident; it was aggressive and came close to blows. But it was the more junior people who were the problem.
I think in future it might be better if both parties meet their supporters at less obvious places than a tube station, to avoid bumping into each other.
Labour thugs!
We will find out who is lying once the Police see the CCTV footage. I think Dan is clearly lying, espcially when he is not able to understand Bangla.
Tony R,
You comment makes no sense; “especially when he is not able to understand Bangla”. Why does that makes me a liar?
I think you’re a liar for giving an English name.
If you think that I am a lair for using an English name, then why don’t you meet me, you’ll find out who is the liar.
You really make pathetic comments, how could you tell if someone is using an English name by just reading their comments. Only Tower Hamlets Labour party would allow fools like you to represent them.
What racist drivel from Dan McCurry – you think only “English” people can have the name Tony? What’s your definition of English? WASPs only?
Oh, btw, my name isn’t anon1. I’m not claiming it is either.
Dan, please don’t play innocent, I have been following your comments on FB and on various other blogs and you are a real nasty piece of work. I would have voted for Abbas but after getting to read about characters like you, Shahed Ali and Azmal Hussain behind him, God help this borough. WE NEED CHANGE!
None of the current candidates offer change luv!?!
Well Lena, it’s a shame that a potential Abbas voter isn’t voting for Abbas. By the way, why do Respect people always make refernces to God like you just did?
Dan, Are you saying that only people who believe in God can be Respect members? You’ve just undermined a lot of faith voters with your ridiculous views. If I was an Abbas supporter I would reprimand this nutter and tell him to keep his big gob shut in the public domain during this election, otherwise it will seriously cost Abbas votes.
In the last three weeks, it appears that Dan McCurry is really trying his level best to prove how useful(less) he is to Helal Abbas, and to showcase his loyalty he has been constantly writing nasty propaganda about his former party member, Lutfur Rahman. But only four weeks ago he was all over Luthfur, there are photos of him with his arm around Lutfhur plastered all over Facebook. Sadly, this is the ugly side of Tower Hamlets Labour politics, because Lutfhur stood up against injustice, this is how they treat their former colleague, especially when he has been a life long Labour man. They are now even branding him as a Respect candidate in disguise that is very desperate.
The people of Tower Hamlets will not forget the injustice and scare mongering tactics deployed by Labour during this election; lying about your fellow Labour man, ousting him out of the party, creating dodgy dossiers against him, ganging up on a man who simply wanted to stand for the people of this borough is this what Labour is about?. Nobody is perfect, the man has his faults but to start a witch-hunt against him and make personal attacks on his credential is very degrading.
Ted, account you have given is not right. Dan as you did understand bengali therefore you did not understand what Abbas said. you are to say I am part of it. If I Abbas was coming then I would not go. credit to you not getting involved.
sorry missed few letters, *If I knew Abbas was coming I would not come. You are wrong to say I am part of it.
You were screaming at him after he had walked away and Alibor was pushing and pulling you away.
Classic Respect/SWP tactics from Oli, make a problem into a drama in an attempt to get sympathy and damage someone’s reputation. Proper student politics tactics.
What a load of crap from Cllr. Oliur. He has always been a mouthy little smurf who is patronising and aggressive in tone, rather than in body. Reading this post, I can just picture the facial gestures he would be making to describe moments such as ‘Come On, Yeah Yeah, who do you think you are’?
Oliur’s Bengali interpretation of Abbas saying ‘This is your father’s land you are telling me to go away from.’ clearly is a statement that would derive from someone, in this case, X, most probably telling Abbas to go elsewhere and campaign in the first instance which woudl have warranted such a response.
Oli’s claim that he felt intimidated and genuinely concerned for his safety when he was with Alibor and X, as you state in broad daylight outside a busy tube station, one that also happens to be in his ward literally, is complete rubbish. He has posted likewise on facebook, and I really do hope people do read about this episodebecause it is as pathetic as Cllr. Oliur Rahman has always been.
Sharif Shumon you clearly have a personal issue with Oli. You are making it out that this incident did not happen, what if it was the other way round, Ted would have attacked Oli and Alibor without even thinking twice. You guys are pathetic even when Lutfur’s team members are attacked, you are still blaming Lutfur.
and this is even more interesting on twitter – Has Labours Tower Hamlets Mayoral Candidate Helal Uddin Abbas broken electoral law? http://bit.ly/9C6zSh
Quite simply, no he hasn’t.
This is a communication from the Returning Officer, and as such is only required to have his imprint “printed and promoted by” (which it does, ofn the back page)
Actually it doesn’t – It says it is published by the returning officer. The RO could not promote any communication on behalf of any party.
Section 110 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 stated that a person must not
(a) print or publish, or cause to be printed or published, any bill, placard or
poster having reference to an election or any printed document distributed for
the purpose of promoting or procuring the election of a candidate, or
(b) post or cause to be posted any bill, placard or poster as mentioned above,
or
(c) distribute or cause to be distributed any printed document for that purpose,
unless the bill, placard, poster or document bears upon its face the name and
address of the printer and publisher.
For the purposes of this section, any process for multiplying copies of a
document, other than by copying it by hand, is deemed to be printing and the
expression “printer” is construed accordingly.
A candidate or election agent contravening this provision is guilty of an illegal
practice.
4.33 The intention of imprint requirements is to enable anyone to trace the
person responsible for the material, for example in case of any complaint or
query about its content. There is no requirement for an imprint address to be a
home address, as long as it is somewhere the person can be contacted. It
could, for example, be an office address.
Errm, yes darren you twat. Exactly. It was printed and published by the returning officer, not by any of the candidates. The other candidates have mistakenly included the P&P of their agent (though this is not an offence).
Do you really think the Returning Officer would allow the council to be responsible for distributing an illegal document to every household in the boro’?
It relates to the CANDITATES not returning officers who are not responsible for what it says on such flyers.
(c) distribute or cause to be distributed any printed document for that purpose,
unless the bill, placard, poster or document bears upon its face the name and
address of the printer and publisher.
[…] by the thought of Helal Abbas (a man who doesn’t really do passion very well) displaying “aggressive facial expressions” during this morning’s encounter with Lutfur Rahman’s supporters that he has suggested a […]
The more I think about this…we know that Lutfur’s team have a copy of the Abbas campaign timetable because Ohid is quoted elsewhere attacking Labour for not having Bengali names running campaign sessions. It seems clear that Oli, Alibor plus whoever turned up to the prearranged Labour campaign meeting point just to make trouble. How many people call Ted Jeory immediately if they are genuinely shaken up following an incident?
Tower Hamlets deserves a lot, lot better. JohnG4Mayor
Wow. Candidate for mayor says he would be best candidate for mayor. Everybody gasps.
Would you vote to increase tuition fees John?
he he he
The alleged comment made by Abbas “This is your father’s land you are telling me to go away from” is obviously a response to something that must have been said to Abbas, anyone who knows bengali will know that comment doesn’t make sense on it’s own unless its used as a retaliation. I find Cllr Oli to be a bit of a drama queen to call the police over a situation so petty and trivial. Could it be that they knew this was a good way to damage labour’s reputation, cos not soon after this incident i had already received fwd txts about how they were attacked. Cllr Oli you really expect to garner respect by such means. This is Tower Hamlets, small disputed and verbal confrontation takes places in the streets everyday, nothing to call the police about, what were they going to do to you, beat you up? Oh please these are well known people, they wouldn’t have done anything to you. Where would they have run to if they did, Cllr Oli please let the police do thier work and not come to your petty little fights especially when you have big and strong alibor to defend you.
To be fair, Cllr Oli Rahman has every right to expect to be beaten up.
Have you dimwits forgotten he was beaten up for political reasons by Respect activists only a couple of years ago? Extremely seriously. Think carefully before you throw around such remarks.
Yes these were by thugs looking or trouble not mayoral candidates and their friends who would easily get caught and destroy their reputation and election campaign in the process. So I suggest it is you who should be careful about remarks and use a bit of common sense
The point I was making it that it was not disproportionate for him to call the police, I think we can at least agree on that.
Relavent point Alastair, Oli might have overreacted, but its an understandable over-reaction.
I didn’t see it that way at all, an understanble reaction, that is.
I work as a legal defence adviser, so I go to the police station when people are arrested and advise them on whether to answer police questions in interview. Every day I have clients who call the police out of fear that the other side will call the police first. It’ a really stupid thing to do because inevitably the other side hasn’t made the call, and they are likely to get arrested themselves by bringing the police into it.
That’s how I saw it, their call. They got in a panic because I was watching. They know I know the law. They worried that they were in trouble, so they made the 999 call thinking it puts them in a good light to report and make an allegation.
But the point is that these people are elected councillors, not benefit recipients with a drug/alcohol problem. What we’re seeing from them is their character, and the question we find ourselves asking is whether these “characters” are suitable for public office?
Tweedledum and Tweedledee agreed to have a battle;
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee had spoiled his nice new rattle.
Just then flew down a monstrous crow, As black as a tar-barrel;
Which frightened both the heroes so, They quite forgot their quarrel.
Thank goodness there are other candidates in the Mayoral fight besides Lutfur Abbas and Hejllal Rahman.
Hellal Rahman*
Carol, stop attacking Oli! Don’t you have anything better to be getting on with in Palestine or Syria? We all know who ”concerned is” Get a life you pathetic woman! Oli, is not YOU ARE and so is RESPECT!!!!!! Get a full time job will ya.
Oli was attacked by your LOT, he has every right to feel intimdated and he was shaken up by the incident!
YOU, ABUL HUSSAIN, ABJOL MIAH AND THE REST OF YOUR CLAN ARE PATHETIC!!!
CAROL SWORDS AKA CONCERNED, OR CONCERNED RESIDENT!
Who exactly is this X? Not rogue restaurant bulldog millionaire Shiraj Haque? Or is it someone else within the Council?
Happy Belated birthday Cllr Rahman!
Alaistar,
The Respect activists you refer to have beaten up Oli two years ago, are the same Respect activists supporting Lutfur Rahman. Incase you forgot, they dont even have a candidte themselves although they triggered the referendum. However, I guess the only truth in your argument could be the fact that Oli got bullied into joining Lutfur’s camp by the same lot?
Just to put this one to bed – the reason Respect aren’t standing a candidate is because they were wiped out in Tower Hamlets in May. It would be stupid of them to put up a candidate and come trailing in at 4th or 5th place, especially against a candidate as strong as Lutfur.
For some people, the fact that Respect aren’t standing a candidate will be evidence of Lutfur getting into bed with Respect and nothing else. They can’t and won’t be convinced otherwise.
For those who go on about the referendum, Respect weren’t the only people who were supportive of a Mayoral system – securing the referendum is easy. One example if Ken Livingstone’s visit to Tower Hamlets to support it which would have got others on board. In addition, the referendum questions (which was prescribed in legislation, Labour legislation) was extremely biased in favour of securing a yes vote.
The interesting question is why certain parts of the Labour Party – so keen on having elected Mayors everywhere else – was so insistent on not having an elected Mayor here? Do they not trust their members, in this case Abbas, to successfully and fairly represent all sections of the community?
Guardian – Dave Hill interview with Lutfur Rahman
Tower Hamlets: interview with independent mayoral candidate Lutfur Rahman
During the short walk from his campaign office in Greatorex Street to its junction with Whitechapel Road, five people stopped to shake his hand. Some of them shook mine too, despite their having no I idea who I am. Turning the corner we bumped into a man I recognised as Shiraj Haque, owner of the Clifton Restaurant and sometimes known, among other things, as one the of Brick Lane “curry kings”.
Haque shook candidate Rahman’s hand. He shook mine. The pair conversed in what I’m assuming was the Syleti variation on Bengli, if that definition serves. They smiled and joked. Rahman spotted a man who works for the Bangla TV station Channel S, and I shook his hand too. His wife smiled.
Then Haque insisted we retrace a few steps to a newly-opened sweets shop. Rahman consented, with apologies to me, and Haque ushered us through the door to greetings from the young men serving behind the display cases followed by yet more handshakes, this time with a group of older men (one of them very old indeed) gathered round a table at the back of the shop.
Most stood to greet Rahman, and there was further banter and more smiling. I made out the word “Guardian” once or twice. I had that feeling of having wandered accidentally on to a film set. Later, on the bus home, I amused myself by mentally scripting what might have happened next. Perhaps some newshound could have burst from a cupboard and photographed me in this company, thereby condemning me forever as being “linked” to someone who is alleged to have been “brainwashed” by Islamic fundamentalists?
That, of course, is one of the allegations made by Rahman’s rival, the Labour mayoral candidate Helal Abbas, who is his fellow Councillor for Spitalfields and Banglatown, his successor as Council leader and his former friend. The allegation is but one of many presented by Abbas in a statement to Labour’s National Executive committee following Rahman’s selection as mayoral candidate by Tower Hamlets party members. It contributed to Rahman’s removal and replacement by Abbas. Rahman’s decision to run as an independent has resulted in his expulsion from Labour.
In the sweets shop the excitement intensified. Rahman was asked to be a party to the opening ceremony. He agreed and suddenly he was standing prominently in a crowd outside the door. Someone unrolled a reel of green ribbon and a large video camera appeared. The crowd, exclusively male, craned and beamed. Then it dispersed as rapidly as it had formed.
“How about Starbucks?” said Rahman, setting off with me again. But before we reached that destination, which was just along the road, there was another impromptu meet and greet. Behold, Ajmal Masroor, imam, TV presenter, occasional Guardian contributor and a Liberal Democrat politician. He was runner up to Labour’s Rushanari Ali in the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency in May and to John Griffiths in the contest to become Lib Dem candidate for Tower Hamlets mayor. “I conceded gracefully,” he said, then told me he’d written a book about relationships. “I’m a qualified Relate counsellor. The book will be published in a couple of weeks.”
Maroor expressed disapproval of Labour’s NEC choosing Abbas as Rahman’s replacement instead of the area’s London Assembly representative John Biggs, who’d finished second in the members’ ballot. Abbas was third. “Why did they do that?” asked Masroor. “I suppose because they think a white candidate cannot win here,” I replied. Masroor said I should ask Rahman about how he’ll bring the whole Tower Hamlets community together. The pair exchanged looks and smiles whose meanings I was unsure of. That film set feeling returned.
And then we were in Starbucks, amid a clamour of conversation and clanking crockery. I first asked Rahman about the cameo of local celebrity in which he had just starred. A member of the Labour campaign team had told me that the Bangla vote, so crucial in politics here, tends to arrive a consensus and make its electoral choice accordingly. If what I had just seen was any indication, then that consensus could be gathering in Rahman’s favour. What did he think it all meant?
“Dave, I’ve been in this borough since a young age,” he replied. “This borough’s very important to me. I want to make it a better place. For two years I was its leader [from 2008-2010]. For nine years I’ve been a Councillor. For me it’s been about delivering for the people of Tower Hamlets, whoever you are, to each and every member of our community, whether you are white or black.”
A significant opening comment, given Labour’s headline “unity” pitch. What you saw today is a reflection of that – of what I and my team did whilst I was leader and while I’ve been a Councillor. And I’m grateful to them for giving me such a reception. A lot of them, I don’t even know who they are. But I’m grateful that they’ve recognised my face and feel that I am accessible and approachable.”
We moved on to core policy areas. Labour boroughs have joined Conservative ones in making a virtue of freezing the Council Tax, including Tower Hamlets. What would Rahman do about it if elected Mayor? “There needs to be balance, in difficult times,” he replied. “We need to deliver high class, top services. At the same time we have to be careful. It cannot be at the expense of hard-working people in Tower Hamlets. We need to keep Council Tax as low as possible.” Was that a “yes” to freezing it or not quite? “At this stage it’s difficult to say. But if I do get elected, I will explore all options – with the community.”
On housing, he cites the Robin Hood Gardens and Ocean Estates as examples of his success in advancing regeneration schemes when Council leader. Both remain works in progress – see here and here – though his campaign leaflet carries an endorsement from the Ocean’s residents procurement group saying he sorted out the “disarray” in the Council’s plans.
But with little hope of government funding, how would he meet the needs of the families on the Council’s waiting lists, many of them in overcrowded conditions? Rahman expressed optimism about the loan-raising powers of housing associations and the potential of 106 agreements. He rejected Conservative candidate Neil King’s belief that in the present climate the borough should abandon targets for affordable homes in favour of building as many homes of whatever kind as possible. “As a politician, it is my duty, my responsibility, to look out for each and every member of my community. I say rubbish to what the Tory has said.” He continued: “We do need one and two bedroom homes. We have a lot of single people in the borough, we have to try to accommodate them and keep them in the borough if we can. At the same time we do need larger-sized family homes.” He pledged to explore all options.
What about schools? “I’m a beneficiary of the state comprehensive education system. My kids go to state schools. I do not want to see academies in the borough. We don’t have any now and I will resist any move by this government to have that kind of a system.”
What would be his attitude to more faith schools in the borough, within the state sector? Tower Hamlets already has quite a number, notably Catholic ones “As long as schools are signing up to the [national] curriculum I will not oppose them,” he replied. Including Islamic schools? “As long as we know they are signed up to its proper child protection policies and the broad curriculum I would not object.”
I then asked Rahman to imagine I am a Tower Hamlets voter trying to choose between him and Abbas. I might have seen a Channel 4 Dispatches programme earlier this year that strove – rather sweatily, I thought – to convince us that Labour Party and the borough was being infiltrated by secretive Muslim extremists in the form of the Islamic Forum of Europe, the group that Abbas said in his statement that he believed had “brainwashed” Rahman. Were I that undecided voter, I would want to hear from Rahman what his relationship, if any, with the IFE is. “I am not a member and I have never been a member of the Islamic Forum of Europe or of any Islamic organisation,” Rahman replied. “My whole upbringing has been based on social democracy, and if I was a member of any organisation I would declare it as a Councillor.”
But, I pressed, people aren’t saying you are a member of the IFE but that you are in league with them and that they support you in secretive ways. I suggested there are two ways of looking at the the IFE issue. One is that the organisation makes no secret of being involved in political activity and has got some peoples’ backs up because it’s done so very effectively. The other is to characterise its members, as local MP Jim Fitzpatrick has done, as infiltrators or entryists trying to subvert Labour Party, and this fellow Lutfur Rahman as the IFE’s little soldier on the inside.
Rahman laughed. “I find that ridiculous! Can I say this to you? I am not in league with anyone. I am in league with the people of Tower Hamlets. I’m not an entryist, no-one pulls my strings. I listen to my constituents, I listen to my Councillors. I find ridiculous and ludicrous any suggestion that I’m in league with some organisation to deliver their agenda.”
Says he would work with all religious groups as mayor, mentioning his expression of concern for the Gurdwara Sikh Sangat temple in Bow when it was burned down last March. Developing his argument that he’s worked with and for “the whole community” he cites his part in saving of the local Bancroft Library and the re-opening of Poplar Baths. He’s recently being accused of actually wanting the library to be closed, yet the Save Bancroft Library website thanks him for his “October 2008 decision to ‘retain Bancroft for the Local History Library and Archives’.”
But what about Tory group leader Peter Golds’s request that the police investigate him for alleged undeclared donations? Some people seem to take it as read that he’s being bankrolled by a certain local businessman. Rahman dismissed Golds’s complaint as “rubbish.” He said: “Don’t forget, I’m a businessman myself. I’m a solicitor. I earn my own living through my sweat and blood. I pay my expenses. I pay my bills. No one else pays my bills. That’s never been the case. What you saw today was a local business being opened, a sweets shop. I didn’t even know about it, that they wanted me to go and open it. It was impromptu. I’m not beholden to any businessmen. I’ve had no approaches from anyone. I’ve declared what I need to declare. I have no secrets in my life. No, I pay my own expenses, thank you.”
I asked for some specifics. He’d fought the Labour Party through the courts in order to be included in the ballot to select the mayoral candidate. Who had paid his fees? “I paid my own expenses,” he replied. “I paid all my legal fees.”
What about the campaign launch event he held after winning that ballot, which was held at the smart Troxy venue? “The campaign launch? I paid for the expenses,” he replied.
What about his campaign literature? “My leaflets were produced with my own money,” he said.
He then went on to the statement given by Helal Abbas to Labour’s NEC. “If Councillor Abbas had any concerns, why did he not put them before the election?” he asked. “They never gave me a chance to respond to those allegations.” I wondered why he thought the NEC and many in local Labour circles seemed to eager to remove him? He put this down to “some bad apples. They want to get rid of me and they won.” He insisted: “I am the members’s choice. And the Labour Party, with the greatest of respect, is split down the middle about it. Labour values of fairness and justice have always been in my heart, and I’m very sad the way they have treated me.”
I asked him if he’d ever paid the membership fees of other people to become sham or “pocket” party members, who had no interest in the party and simply supported him when required? “No charges have been brought against me,” he said.
OK, but had he ever done it?
“No. For the record, I have never done it. I have never paid anyone’s fee. I have encouraged people to support the Labour Party, because that’s the party that I believe in and have been a member for for such a long time and served it loyally. I said to the party, bring the evidence against me.”
I put to Rahman a complaint that some women had felt uncomfortable during his stewardship of the Council. There are stories of women being excluded from decision-making processes and feeling informally policed by his lieutentants, both in terms of their activities and their appearance. Such a culture would not be consistent with Labour Party values, I suggested.
“What I say to you is this,” Rahman replied. “I grew up in this country. My upbringing has been quite libertarian. My family is quite left wing. I have liberal values instilled in me: values of fairness, values of equality, values of respect. I have never – never – either marginalised or dismissed any member of the Labour Group. I have never marginalised or dismissed or disrespected my female colleagues. I refute it unequivocally.” He added that no complaints were made at the time.
Does he consider himself to the left or the right of Helal Abbas?
“Left.”
He went on to recall with pride that under him Tower Hamlets introduced the London Living Wage for all its employees. With the IFE stories in mind, I asked how he would define the proper relationship between mainstream democratic politics and faith groups? “I believe in social democracy, and that’s the basis on which my whole life has been lived,” he said.
Does he see himself as a secular politician who accommodates and works with faith groups or a faith-driven politician? “It saddens me that some people paint me with that brush,” he said in response to the latter definition. Later, he said, “I’m a proud Muslim, I make no secret of that.” Is he a liberal Muslim or a conservative one? “I don’t know what the difference is. But I don’t want to impose my religion on anyone else. For me it’s a private matter, I try to pray whenever I can, but it’s a private thing between me and my God. And that’s it.”
With time running short. I asked about the speech he made at the end of June’s march through Tower Hamlets against the English Defence League. He was immediately preceded by George Galloway of the Respect Party. Galloway praised Rahman as the right sort of man to become mayor. Respect is now backing Rahman’s independent campaign. This might bother that notional undecided Tower Hamlets voter. What should he or she make of the two standing together in Altab Ali Park that day?
“I have never sat down or even had a cup of coffee with George Galloway,” Rahman said. “I’d only seen him once or twice before, passing by him on the street. I’m sure he’s a good man. I’ve nothing against him personally. But he belongs to one party, I belong[ed] to another one.” Had he expected to be standing next to him? “No, no, no! It was a complete surprise to me. I didn’t expect him to say what he said, I didn’t expect to stand next to him. I wasn’t embarrassed by that, though.”
The Labour campaign takes a different view. They claim that Rahman is effectively Respect’s candidate in disguise. I hope to be interviewing the Labour candidate about that and many other matters soon
Lena?
The comment (copied below) is under Ted’s ‘Housekeeping Rules’ but perhaps also should be under Ted’s ‘999 calls, handbags, dawn and politics’ post:
Dear Ted, at the risk of your house broom sweeping this under the carpet, could you also report further on the Stepney Green tube incident? Will charges be brought? If so, against whom? There was a potential Tower Hamlets Mayor involved in the incident, Helal Abbas, besides Dan McCurry – a prolific user of your blog now that he cannot campaign for Abbas via Twitter or Facebook. Dan McCurry is also currently using your blog to make allegations about the “characters” of the councillors involved in the incident, which you have decided to leave on your blog. If this incident does result in a legal case, then all testimony of the participants, including that on [and cleansed] from your blog, could form part of the case? I don’t think we should look to Mr McCurry for legal advice on this one, although he tells us he is qualified.
[…] of the East End. Laughably, it describes Cllr Oli Rahman as being “traumatised” by a handbags-at-dawn incident at Stepney Green Tube station on Monday. Even Oli will laugh at that: yes, he was so traumatised that he called me saying, […]