The firs part of this article is a cross-post from Mark Baynes’s Love Wapping blog.
[For a bit of context, my opinion of Ohid Ahmed hardened in August 2008 at a big screen showing in Victoria Park of the Beijing Olympics closing ceremony. Only some 100 residents turned up and they all sat around on the grass mingling with each other. In the middle of all this, the council had erected a small marquee with a fenced off garden specially for ‘VIPs’. With free food and drink of course. In that marquee were three councillors, two of whom are now Lutfurites, Rofique Ahmed and Ohid Ahmed. Not once throughout the entire event did any of them set foot outside to talk to residents. For them, it was just about prestige and freebies. It was mentioned in a report for the East London Advertiser at the time.]
Here is Mark Baynes’s piece.
Deputy Mayor Cllr. Ohid Ahmed health scare update
I am sure that residents of Wapping take a great interest in the health and general wellbeing of our elected representatives.
So it is with great relief that I can report that Tower Hamlets Deputy Mayor Cllr Ohid Ahmed has got over his recent bout of flu.
“What flu?” I hear you asking.
The flu that prevented the Deputy Mayor from turning up to the St Katharine’s and Wapping Community Safety Walkabout on Friday 22 November at 4pm.
Cllr. Ohid Ahmed was on the list of attending officers but after a slight delay we were told that he had flu / was feeling unwell so the walk went ahead without him.
And very interesting it was too.
No need for concern
Since then the state of the Deputy Mayor’s health has been of some concern to us here at Love Wapping so it was great to discover via the wonders of Facebook that Cllr. Ohid Ahmed was looking fit and well only a few hours later that very same day!
A fit and well Cllr. Ohid Ahmed at a dinner on the evening of Friday 22 Nov 2013
In fact he had recovered from his flu so quickly that he was pictured enjoying dinner with friends at the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London. (For those of you not on Facebook we borrowed the pic, but we are sure no one will mind given the circumstances.)
Trees are good
Oddly enough this dinner was for Trees for Change, a campaign to plant 30,000 trees in Africa. Great idea.
Wapping Woods has quite a few trees too so let’s hope that next time there is a Community Safety Walkabout in Wapping the Deputy Mayor is fit enough to attend.
UPDATE:
I’ve now had a look at Ohid’s Facebook page and see that this meal at the Marriott in the West End was a “pre-GPU meal”.
The GPU is the Islamic Global Peace and Unity event that’s been taking place at the ExCeL centre this weekend. Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has condemned those, including Boris Johnson, who have sent messages of support for it because its list of speakers contains the names of seven “extremist clerics”.
By way of example he picks out one:
The Sheikh claims the toleration of homosexuality is a sign of social regression:
“For those who have been around for a little bit longer than those who are eighteen or nineteen, look at how this own society and culture has evolved in the way it looks at homosexuals. In our own time, I remember as a kid in the eighties, which gives you an idea how old I was, growing up in the eighties I grew up, OK? I remember how homosexuals were looked down upon and the names that were given to these people, and how disgusted the average masses were with that segment of society. Now look, now look at how we have regressed, not progressed.”
http://tifrib.com/yasir-qadhi/
He says Jews control Islamic studies and want to destroy Muslims:
“You go to America, you find that 95% of the Islamic Studies professors are Jews, you know that? 95% of Islamic Studies [sic] are Jews. And 0% of Judaic Studies [sic] are Muslims. I am not advising any Muslim to waste his time studying Judaism but I’m saying, why are Jews studying Islam? There is a reason, not that they want to help us, they want to destroy us […] they want to bring about doubts, look at the doubts that exist, look at the divisions, the discord, look at the disunity, look at all these ideologies that are being spread (4). Know that the Yahood [Jews] and the Kuffar [Infidels] like this type of thing.”
Also on the list of speakers (the first name on the list, in fact) is Lutfur Rahman (who is not an extremist cleric). Actually, Lutfur was given star billing at the end of the conference, speaking this evening just after a Saudi princess.
So you can understand just why it was so important for his deputy, Ohid Ahmed, to drag himself off his deathbed and head to the West End hotel (by cab, I wonder…)
Trial by Jeory 
As always, thanks for a good post Ted. Good, although it shows nothing new; Lutfurites are shown, once again, to see their position as local councillors as a big taxpayer-funded gravy train, requiring little effort on their behalf (meeting attendance stats anyone?) but with generous perks such as posh dinners and unending minicab expenses – the likes of which are completely out of reach of their electorate.
Piggies in the trough. So far in you can see little more than their tails. Disgusting behaviour but it’s been seen (and reported on your blog) numerous times before and doubtless will be again.
The rot cannot end too soon.
Tim.
I’m sure there must be a mistake because everyone knows LBTH’s wonderful and marvellous Deputy Mayor Cllr. Ohid Ahmed is committed to serving the public, or should that be consuming the public’s generous gifts of food and drink ?
Could Cllr Ahmed be secretly testing a new version of LemSip Instant Cure ? Where do I send my FOI request for details of Cllr Ahmed’s wonderful spontaneous cure ?
On the often sensitive and occasionally controversial subject of homosexuality, the fact that both male and female homosexuality is caused by a gene which is passed to the them from their mother, means we have to accept it. Like it or loath it or even be disinterested in it, its a fact of Human life.
Curious Cat
It absolutely amazes me that our government whitewashes the abuse that our Councillors shame us with constantly and by saying nothing the Labour Party opposition seem to be condoning it all.
Are there any fortune tellers on Ted’s blog? If so, could they tell us how LBTH will look like in ten years time? Now there’s a thought!!
There are a number of issues here the main one being that he lied to the people in Wapping who invited him to the event. This is a matter for the standards committee if it still exists. The other larger issue is that the John Biggs campaign is still non existent here in the Victoria Park end of the borough. Has anyone seen it anywhere else?
Come on Ted, there was free food and drink, give the guy a break. It’s not like he was gonna get yammy lamb chops on his walkabout. Anyone would jump off their death bed for that!
=> Imran,
Exactly what type of do you want to give LBTH’s wonderful and marvellous Deputy Mayor Cllr. Ohid Ahmed ?
Do you want to silence Ted’s criticism / observations ?
Curious Cat
Not silence Ted but add a little humour to the unfortunate situation we find ourselves in TH.
I do believe Mayor Rahman is a serious politician who actually does have some integrity. Unfortunately he is surrounded by clowns who are only there because no one else is available including the Mr Ohid Facebook Ahmed.
The reality is, had it not been for Gilligan Lutfur Rahman would have been a Labour Mayor with a strong Labour cabinet full of individuals on merit. Not a single one of these idiots would have got a sniff.
Unfortunately we are where we are and the monkeys are making a mockery of a good council and actually a good mayor.
Hi Ted
I see that a mountain is being made of a mole hill once again and one would think that there is nothing more important going in tower hamlets other than to see what the deputy mayor has been doing in his private time. Reading your blog and the comments made by a few readers I see the facts as:
He was allegedly booked to go accompany a walk about with the borough commander and local councillors in wapping early evening. He was also due to attend a pre GPU event dinner as a guest late evening.
The first event is a common event that the deputy mayor and borough commander have set up in numerous wards to give an opportunity for ward councillors of whichever party they belong to so that they can air views on crime to the local police force. It is not necessary for both the deputy mayor and borough commander to necessarily attend each and every walk about but they are invited to attend as a courtesy.
On last Fridays occasions the deputy mayor allegedly gave his apologies as he had been suffering from a cold and didn’t want to exasperate this by walking around in very cold weather. Due the days leading upto this he had been working at the council as usual.
Readers needs to make a distinction to realise that there is a massive gulf of difference in attending an indoor event such as the GPU event and walking around in cold conditions. The later would have caused any person to feel further unwell if they were already suffering from a cold.
We know the media likes to make stories out of trivia and a similar thing was reported about Ed Milliband last year see:
Sick’ Ed Milband Spotted At Hull FC Football Match
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/03/12/sick-ed-milband-spotted-hull-fc-football-match_n_1338829.html
At the end of the day I am sure that the deputy mayor made the right decision whilst carrying out his civic duties. One may wish to ask how many ward councillors from wapping actually turned up at the walk about last Friday where they as elected representatives would have had a golden opportunity to tackle the police about crime in wapping.
It is also very clear that the deputy mayor has attended many other walk abouts in East India & Lansbury, Bow, Mile End East and Bethnal Green South to name a few. Where were the local Councillors at these walk about its also important to note that the Leader of Labour group attended the walk about in his ward 2 hours after the walk about had finished. Apparently he too doesn’t like cold weather!
Have you got the answer to this Ted?
LOL! Imran is being sarcastic Curious Cat. I think you saw his Muslim name and made assumptions. Ted does great work. Regardless of whether I agree or disagree with his work, in my opinion all publicity of democracy is good publicity. In this case I think it’s good people know about the two faces of our politicians. After all they need to know which face to vote for in the ballot boxes.
It’s like thinking you really believe that Cllr Ahmed is “wonderful and marvellous”. Muslims do also have the ability to be sarcastic. Are you the Madmullah by any chance? he also believes Muslims can’t be sarcastic.
=> Imran
I describe the status quo as dire. failed to convey the daily dismal reality of many folks lives in the LBTH.
According to http://sps2ksrv.towerhamlets.gov.uk/meetyourcouncillor/
LBTH has Tory, Independent, Respect, Lib Dem, Respect councillors in addition to Labour. So why didn’t the Mayor try to do a deal (an essential aspect of all politics) with the non-Labour councillors or even Labour ones that might have joined him ?
What makes you believe LBTH is ? Serious question.
Curious Cat.
Hi Ted
I see that a mountain is being made of a mole hill once again and one would think that there is nothing more important going in tower hamlets other than to see what the deputy mayor has been doing in his private time. Reading your blog and the comments made by a few readers I see the facts as:
He was allegedly booked to go accompany a walk about with the borough commander and local councillors in wapping early evening. He was also due to attend a pre GPU event dinner as a guest late evening.
The first event is a common event that the deputy mayor and borough commander have set up in numerous wards to give an opportunity for ward councillors of whichever party they belong to so that they can air views on crime to the local police force. It is not necessary for both the deputy mayor and borough commander to necessarily attend each and every walk about but they are invited to attend as a courtesy.
On last Fridays occasions the deputy mayor allegedly gave his apologies as he had been suffering from a cold and didn’t want to exasperate this by walking around in very cold weather. Due the days leading upto this he had been working at the council as usual.
Readers needs to make a distinction to realise that there is a massive gulf of difference in attending an indoor event such as the GPU event and walking around in cold conditions. The later would have caused any person to feel further unwell if they were already suffering from a cold.
We know the media likes to make stories out of trivia and a similar thing was reported about Ed Milliband last year see:
Sick’ Ed Milband Spotted At Hull FC Football Match
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/03/12/sick-ed-milband-spotted-hull-fc-football-match_n_1338829.html
At the end of the day I am sure that the deputy mayor made the right decision whilst carrying out his civic duties. One may wish to ask how many ward councillors from wapping actually turned up at the walk about last Friday where they as elected representatives would have had a golden opportunity to tackle the police about crime in wapping.
It is also very clear that the deputy mayor has attended many other walk abouts in East India & Lansbury, Bow, Mile End East and Bethnal Green South to name a few. Where were the local Councillors at these walk about its also important to note that the Leader of Labour group attended the walk about in his ward 2 hours after the wall about had finished. Apparently he too doesn’t like cold weather!
Have you got the answer to this Ted?
=> Riaz
(1) Walking in the streets with a copper, who may not be very good because the managerial skills of a Super are not the tested criteria that got him the job. The police progression criteria is whether one’s face fits in with the clique as the last professional examination passed was the Inspectors.
(2) Surely sitting down in a large room for several hours with the phones and radios off, facing the Super and his team including inspectors is the better method of thrashing-out the lack of police coverage and inadequate action in the borough ? Such vigorous discussion can NEVER be properly done on street walkabouts.
(3) Local authority walkabouts merely expose to those whose eyes are usually closed, the disgusting state of the place. Its a post-failure admission, often done reluctantly. If the public servants were any good, there would never be a need for any street walkabout.
Curious Cat.
P.S. Coppers have more responsibilities than local authority staff but get paid a lot less.
John Wright. The Labour opposition and the Tories are doing what they can in what is essentially an electoral dictatorship. The real disgrace is the silence from Labour nationally. Unless they get their fingers out and start to campaign Lutfur will get in again.
=> The Mad Mullah of Brick Lane
So what’s new ……….
The national Labour Party\’s single most important interest is Parliamentary – not local government – political power. They are obsessed by power. Lots of other parties suffer the same desperate obsession for political power too.
That is why the badly needs an overdue clean-up. Serving the public should start being their first priority, not money, power, social status or aggrandisement.
Curious Cat.
Even sick people have to eat!
madmullah. I agree with you, my point was Lutfur’s group seem to be a band of untouchables. Labour are the majority in TH and don’t seem to be able to touch them and the coalition government don’t seem to be bothered. At tonight’s council meeting Labour put up a good fight but Luffur’s group just shrugged their shoulders, so what’s the answer?
We were treated to an explanation from the man himself at the Council meeting last night. He explained that he had a cold and it was better for him to attend an indoor event rather than the outdoor one because he doesn’t have a coat. Sadly, it just underlines his judgement, and that of his colleagues, just underlines his homophobic credentials.
A bit of googling doesn’t show how much Ahmed was paid for being a councillor last year but it was some way north of £10,000 and Tower Hamlets has one of the highest basic rates for a councillor in London.
His inability to organise himself enough to get down to Matalan/Primark/Asda and buy a coat before winter starts tells us all we need to know about his abilities as a councillor. I’m amazed he has the bare-faced cheek to use this as an excuse.
Thanks for pointing out the homophobic aspect Jay Kay – spot on.
Tim.
@curious cat
I though Lutfur tried his best to work with Labour and others to form the cabinet but they didn’t cooperate And the thougt Golds and Rahman in bed together……… we want corporation but not that much!
Regarding your point why I think the Council is good I’ve just got 3 words. Education, education, education. Oh yes, and Housing too. And Social Services. Oh, they just won an award for Parks as well……
=> Imran
Around the country (meaning England) Labour certainly does not believe in as espoused by Tony Blair. Education is a danger for Labour because educated people start thinking for themselves then gradually resist being spoon-feed untruths by vote-chasing Labour.
Housing How many dwellings has LBTH built in the last 10 years ? Is the total for the whole of that period hovering near zero ? Why does building no social homes make LBTH a local authority ? Dead easy to give public funds to de facto private companies (a.k.a. Registered Social Landlords) rather than roll-up the council’s sleeves and do the job itself.
Parks improvements funded by Lottery money, grants, donations or LBTH Council Taxes ?
What else can you tell me about good LBTH ?
Curious Cat.
As with Shumi, Imran. Can we have that in English? You may well have a point but what it is isn’t clear. I will try to deal with your points if you will make them in a way that people can understand.
Perhaps you need to do some English classes Mr Mullah? Their comments seem pretty clear to me.
He’s clearly taking lessons from the top!
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sick-ed-miliband-spotted-at-football-match-7562530.html