Mayor Lutfur’s office is complaining about Channel 4’s Dispatches again (for the full statement, see the update below). He thinks they haven’t told the full story of his daily use of a chauffeured Mercedes to ferry him from home to mosque, from home to work, from work to home and from function to function.
Too right. He should attach a webcam so we can take a peek at any time.
So the council, never one to shy away from bullying the media, is now threatening legal action.
The quotes from the mayor’s office in the East London Advertiser are hilarious. They seem particularly vexed that people are criticising the Dear Leader for allowing the car to hang around while he has lunch.
Bizarrely, they seem to have tried to justify this on cost grounds. They say it’s cheaper (in terms of petrol costs) for the chauffeur to “circle” around the borough than pay for parking.
That’s really odd: that chauffeured Mercedes has a special “all zones” parking permit that allows the driver to park anywhere in the borough – except in bus lanes and other banned places. More disingenuous spin. he must think voters are thick.
And note, no mention to the ELA of the environmental costs.
Here’s their piece:
Legal action is being threatened by Tower Hamlets council over Channel 4 secretly filming Mayor Lutfur Rahman being driven around Whitechapel in London’s East End in his chauffer-driven Mercedes that’s paid for by taxpayers.
The Mayor’s Office disputes points made in Monday’s Dispatches documentary on how public money is being spent by local authorities up and down the country.
A film-crew followed the mayor’s £35,000-a-year rented limo driving him from his house to the East London Mosque in Whitechapel, then to a restaurant along the Whitechapel Road where the car appears to be double parked in a bus lane while the mayor goes inside.
The sequence brought anger from Tower Hamlets Tory Opposition leader Peter Golds, who said: “What was damming was parking in a bus lane and on yellow lines.
“If the political leader of a local authority which has responsibility for parking enforcement can ignore the rules, then I suspect there will be some interesting appeals against Tower Hamlets parking tickets.”
The Mayor’s office later said the programme made a number of claims about use of the car which it “strongly disputed” with Channel 4.
It said in a response to the limo double-parked in a bus lane: “Lutfur taken to Zaza’s Grill was a working lunch with local residents and organisations.
“Double parks in a bus lane—clearly this is not ideal. There is no evidence that this constituted an offence under the Highways Act.”
The Mayor’s Office later pointed out to Channel 4 senior executives the Ofcom broadcasting watchdog’s code that any claims made should also carry a response.
“We made it clear to Channel 4 that a failure to carry these corrections would result in legal action,” said a statement.
The Office listed 12 points made in the documentary—half of them about the chauffeur waiting or driving round while the mayor goes inside a building, responding that the driver is on the council staff and doesn’t cost taxpayers extra.
It added: “We also believe the petrol for the time spent ‘circling’ is less than parking charges for the equivalent time.
“The Mayor also attended the funeral of the mother of a councillor colleague.”
The programme, in fact, does carry response from the council to points it makes.
UPDATE
This is the inept statement put out by Lutfur’s office:
The programme makers, Juniper Productions, made a number of claims in connection with the Mayor and the use of the council’s hired chauffeur driven car which we strongly disputed with Channel 4.
As a result, and having drawn the attention of the channel’s senior executives to the relevant section of the OFCOM code, each of the claims broadcast also carried the council’s response. We made it clear to Channel 4 that a failure to carry these corrections would result in legal action.
I am attaching below, a list of the Dispatches claims and the council’s responses.
Response to specific Dispatches accusations:
1. £71 for a taxi fare of 400m
In response to a Freedom of Information request that revealed exorbitantly high taxi costs, the Mayor ordered a review of travel arrangements. It is our opinion that the taxi company may be overcharging passengers.
2. Driver waits outside Lutfur’s house for 30 minutes (12:55pm)
The driver has been a salaried member of staff for many years, serving under several successive administrations. The 30 minutes waiting time will not have resulted in any extra cost to the taxpayer.
3. Drives to the Mosque for Friday prayers
The Mosque is a key community hub. The Mayor regularly goes to Friday prayers after which he is accessible to residents, meets with local residents and discusses their concerns.
We have examples of casework raised by the Mayor following this visit.
4. Circles for 1:30 hours
The driver has been a salaried member of staff for many years, serving under several successive administrations. The 1:30 hours’ driving time will not have resulted in any extra cost to the taxpayer.
We also believe that the cost of petrol for the time spent “circling” is less than parking charges for the equivalent time.
5. Takes Lutfur to Zaza’s grill
This was a working lunch with local residents and organisations.
6. Double parks in a bus lane
Clearly this is not ideal; however our understanding is that the car was only in the bus lane for a matter of minutes. There is no evidence that this constituted an offence under the Highways Act.
7. Waits for 1:35 hours
The 1:35 hours’ driving time will not have resulted in any extra cost to the taxpayer.
8. Waits outside house for 20 minutes
The driver has been a salaried member of staff for many years, serving under several successive administrations. The 1:30 hours’ driving time did not result in any extra cost to the taxpayer.
9. Drives Lutfur to the East London Mosque (0.2 miles)
The Mosque is a key community hub. The Mosque is a key community hub. The Mayor regularly goes to Friday prayers after which he is accessible to residents, meets local residents and discusses their concerns.
We have examples of casework raised by the Mayor following this visit.
10. Waits outside Mosque for 2 hours and six minutes before leaving (no mention of whether Lutfur goes with)
The driver has been a salaried member of staff for many years, serving under several successive administrations. 2 hours’ driving time will not have resulted in any extra cost to the taxpayer. The Mayor also attended the funeral of the mother of a councillor colleague.
11. Saturday, driver “delivered” 2 bundles dry cleaning
The Mayor’s wife transferred the dry cleaning from her own car to the Mayor’s car the previous night. The driver merely gave the Mayor this dry cleaning.
12. Waits for 28 minutes before taking Lutfur to Battle of Atlantic Memorial
The driver arrived early, taking the Mayor to Trinity Square Gardens, a significant distance from his home.
Kind regards,
Kamal Hussain
Executive Mayors Office (sic)
I’d take it more seriously if he knew how to use an apostrophe.
And have just noticed the little gem in point 12 – that Old Montague Street to Trinity Square Gardens is a “significant distance”. Really? It’s 0.9miles; that’s less than 20 minutes by foot, or 12 minutes by foot and public transport.
Significant, yes: but not in the way Lutfur means.
Trial by Jeory 
Good. Nice to know that the programme and the comments made about it have hit their mark.
The Despicable Rahman may think that voters are stupid but that’s slightly irrelevant; he was voted into power by stolen votes and non-existent voters. The opinions of those non-people are utterly immaterial. On the back of that, he can (and does) do as he likes as the only people he is answerable to are imaginary ones.
The sooner the REAL people get him out of office the better. That day can’t come a moment too soon.
Tim.
Reblogged this on Sundial Centre Shipton Street and commented:
This article lists the Tower Hamlets Council’s attempted answers to Channel 4’s Dispatches programme this week.
All this adverse publicity and, presumably, Isabella Freeman’s leading of legal challenges to protect the Mayor’s reputation clearly indicates the Mayor is disproportionally using tax payer funded council resources which should be ideally and more appropriately be used for genuine public benefit.
Mr Mayor is unaffordable. How much longer will this circus continue ? What is next ?
P.S. If the Mayor had a moped he would not need a full-time council employee to drive his moped. Thus saving tax payers’ money.
Good point; a moped would be much cheaper to hire, much cheaper on petrol, much cheaper on parking and wouldn’t need a driver. (Why can’t The Despicable Rahman drive himself, come to mention it?)
A moped would also allow him to travel more quickly in traffic, thus saving more of his time. That is time which is so precious he can’t walk anywhere, having to be taken by private transport even from his house to his mosque to promote social cohestion (arf! arf!) All in all, it’s a good idea Cat. Well done.
Ted, any information on the way the different party’s campaigns are shaping up for the mayoral election?
Tim.
How about a comparison of the GLA funded travel expense claims and travel costs paid relating to “Biker Boris” and those associated with “Rip Off Rahman”?
If we’re talking about prestige, standing and pressure of work as a rationale for the use of a car for work, then I think Mayor of London outranks the Mayor of Tower Hamlets any day of the week.
Boris doesn’t seem to have any problem getting from home to work on his bike – unlike Rahman who should be declaring his taxable benefit in this respect to HM Revenue & Customs.
It would be interesting to know how many of Boris’s official journeys are also done by bike and the extent to which he claims taxis as opposed to travelling by public transport.
This isn’t of course a party political issue – I believe all the major political parties in London have long boasted a number of cycling politicians and councillors.
The campaign for recognition of the bicycle as a very sustainable and cost efficient and effective form of transport in London was won some time ago. We’ve even got blue cycle lanes in Tower Hamlets now. Pity they’re not used by the Mayor!
Incidentally – can you find out how many of Rahman’s Cabinet use bicycles for official business?