I’ll write more about last night’s full Tower Hamlets Council meeting when I have more time, but the tensest exchanges came during a debate about the infamous character reference Mayor Lutfur Rahman gave to a crown court judge on behalf of minicab molester Zamal Uddin.
You’ll remember that after I reported on the reference here, Lutfur wrote to me to give his explanation here.
After last night’s council meeting, the East London Advertiser’s Mike Brooke, who is a former BBC journalist, asked the Mayor about the issue.
Mike reports here:
Mayor Rahman later told the Advertiser: “This man’s family tricked me. They wanted a character reference but didn’t say it was for a court case.I knew nothing about any criminal case—they switched the reference and used it in a court case.”
Yet, as Mike points out (although in the old school tradition of not crediting those considered journalistic rivals, he declines to mention the name of this “blogsite”), Lutfur told me in his letter last month:
Based on the information provided by the family I was told that the named person was in court due to a revocation of his driving licence as he was not currently insured. They made the case to me that this was an oversight and that a reference would help him to convince the judge that he be allowed to retain his licence as it was a one off mistake.
Trial by Jeory 
SOMEONE has a BIG problem
I’m sure Murziline can help out – she’s brilliant. Have you met her Ted? If not, why bring her into this?
Additionally, why arouse all this mystery. I thought you had an FOI on the correspondence relating to this man. It’ll come out as such one way or another…
Can’t quite understand what #2 is on about. Surely the whole thrust of this and other blogs about the Lutfur admin is that it is linked to some extremely dubious characters and practices.
First of all there was the Channel 4 programme about Lutfur’s links to and funding of extremist Islamic groups something that he has never been able to challenge.
Then there was the whole campaign which became a farce with is he in the Labour Party or has he been expelled?
The NEC finally expelled him over faked party memberships and he ran as far as I can tell a secretly financed campaign which slandered his opponent as a wife beater and being anti Islamic.
His main financial backer is now under investigation by the customs for alleged offences involving duty on wine, he has tied himself in knots and may be lying over the reference for the mini cab molester and one of his main supporters has been arrested and charged with benefit fraud.
The appointment of Ms Parchment is dubious to say the least as she has no contacts whatsoever with the borough as far as I can tell and enjoyed a well paid career under Ken Livingstone until his demise.
Livingstone, who is now well and truly an albatross around the London Party’s neck, supported Lutfur against the official party candidate and should have been expelled from the party.
It s clear that Lutfur is operating like a south Asian politician who hands out jobs and favours to friends and those who can help him politically. He wants to do a Livingstone and be readmitted to the party but this is increasingly unlikely as scandal after scandal unfolds.
What he has done is to split the local party on ethnic lines. With the possible exception of Marc Francis all of the white councillors are opposed to him. He managed several defections with the promise of well paid jobs and appointed his cronies.
I don’t think that you will find any of this in the council freesheet but fortunately we have an independent press locally and nationally who are hold him and people like him to account. It would be good however if you could clarify your position.
Rahman appears to have employed three former Livingstone cronies and given them a suite of offices – no doubt to do great things for Mayor Rahman, not to organise Livingstone’s East London campaing, no, definitiely not.
Mr O’Driscoll, was it something I said?
Whitevanmanlondon (against Labour) – Come on JP & PG joint task force against Lutfur? You guys won’t be able stop Mayor and his team to bring best people on the board. He needs those people whose policy meet with his. The right wing new Labour in Tower Hamlets unnecessarily stopped Labour Councillors to be his advisor or coming to his cabinet, why there should be different rules in Tower Hamlets than Newham, Lewisham or Hackney? Is it because Lutfur is Muslim or Asian? Marc is a reasonable guy that is why he doesn’t support any injustice? Why you are bringing white, ethnic issues here? Is it not chauvinism? Did you take notice of plausible leader of the group David Edgar praised the Mayor in last full council meeting? There are other good non Bengali centres left councillors like Carlo Gibbs, Amy Whitlock and Lesley are quite close to administration as they are keen on policies which will help residents rather than just talking on personal vendetta.
Don’t bring Bangladeshi politics here? Bangladesh politics is much better than nasty right wing Tower Hamlets politics? Even in Bangladesh history no democratically selected candidates were deselected, if an imposed candidate (who lost in race) they normally resign even in Bangladesh, here much worse than Bangladesh?? After loosing election Bangladeshi politicians normally congratulate the winning candidates, did this happen here, no rather councillors were told not to co-operate the elected mayor.
Lutfur is the elected mayor and got grassroots support whether it is White working class, Bengali, East European or Somali, stop writing nonsense? More you write against him more popular he will be.
Lutfur’s supporters have given up!
Looks like he’s been proved to have lied!
How can BOTH the things he’s said be true?
They can’t!
Ash, There used to be a tradition in Bangladesh of killing the presidents to get rid of them. Fortunately that seems to have stopped.
I see that you haven’t dealt with a single one of the issues that I and others have raised. I assume that this is because you know that the accusations against Lutfur Rahman are almost certainly true and that he now has little or no chance of being readmitted to the Labour fold.
Livingstone’s almost certain defeat in the Mayoral elections next year will leave him totally isolated within London and Livingstone’s support of him seriously undermined that gentleman’s already well eroded base of support within the London and national parties.
Lutfur’s electoral support was almost entirely Muslim with a smattering of the extreme left from around the failed Respect project. Interestingly I see that there is talk of Respect fielding a candidate for the London Mayoral elections next year. This could damage Livingstone badly if it happens as he has always been the choice of the extreme left.
Having said that I had a look at some figures for the last elections in the City an East London constituency and the Left List which was a split from Respect took 1,185 votes in first preference so there is an ultra left vote which if taken by Respect could seriously undermine whatever chances Livingstone has.
Still Ash, how about dealing with the reality and I’m not anti Labour.