It’s being said the biggest problem John Biggs is going to have in beating Lutfur Rahman this May is his skin colour. Race and accusations of racism haunt Tower Hamlets politics like nowhere else.
The allegation is chucked around like confetti by politicians who really should be guarding and upholding the meaning of the word for those who are truly victims of it.
Very often those who feel so wronged are also sadly blind to the teeny-weeny possibility it’s they who might just possibly be the racist.
But are all parties institutionally racist to some degree? That’s possible as well.
Take the case of Bow West councillor Anwar Khan. I wrote about him here last month when he was finally dropped as Labour candidate for the May election. I’d previously written that would have been a shame because as a successful professional in the City, he was a role model for young Bengalis.
At that time, I wasn’t aware he was in dispute with the council he represents over a parking issue. The allegation is that Anwar abused a parking attendant, but Anwar says it was he who was abused. There’s an ongoing investigation.
Separately, there was another parking matter in which Anwar had been raising a number of member’s enquiries to argue a case for a constituent. Cllr Carlo Gibbs, Labour’s chief whip, made reference to that to the party’s selection panel, but apparently got his facts wrong. That said, there does seem to have been some concern in Labour circle about Anwar’s temper.
I’ve also been told that Anwar was involved in some smear campaign against John Biggs last year led by a former enemy of the Labour mayoral candidate. Anwar denies that as well.
When the deselection decision came through last month, Anwar said he would maintain a dignified and noble silence. He told me he’d maintain the moral high ground and wait to fight another day. He scoffed at the suggestion he might stand as a Lutfurite or help in the mayor’s campaign. He said he would make a more detailed statement in the New Year and when I asked him about the parking issue, he said he was unable to comment.
That conversation took place on December 11.
Yesterday, he sent me a press release that he’d sent out on December 18 in which he re-iterated comments he’d made that day at a press conference he’d called in Spitalfields. He forgot to invite me.
What he did say is detailed painstakingly here. This is a straight copy and paste from his press release and it’s worth reading all of it.
Labour Councillor Anwar Khan, representing Bow West in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, confirmed at a press conference in his home ward of Spitalfields that he will not be standing in the 2014 Local Government Elections.
Councillor Anwar Khan challenged John Biggs AM, City and East to provide valid reasons for his deselection and felt that the bullying that he has been subjected to has been an injustice to the community that he has served for the last four years.
Councillor Anwar Khan raised serious questions about the integrity of the selection process. Councillor Anwar Khan attached an email that went to the Labour Party selection committee from the current serving Chief Whip, Councillor Carlo Gibbs representing the St. Peters ward.
In that email, Councillor Anwar Khan confirmed that there were false accusations and lies that influenced the decision of the committee.
Councillor Anwar Khan said “there has been a false allegation made about a parking ticket incident, which is not true. I have not received a parking ticket for about 4 years”.
He continued, “Looks like John Biggs and the Labour superiors haven’t learnt from the dodgy dossiers in 2010. We have yet another set of lies and another dodgy dossier. This certainly is a déjà vu moment, one dodgy dossier is bad enough, but two goes to show the heart of Labour politics needs be more transparent and removed of the nastiness”.
Councillor Anwar Khan said “ if that wasn’t enough, Carlo Gibbs, Johns Biggs Chief Whip, hit the nail in the head with an email suggesting that he has the power to “stitch me up” if he wanted to. The exact quote from Carlo Gibbs is “if I wanted (or still did want) to stitch you up, I could easily have given them some of the emails”.
I am disgusted and horrified that John Biggs and Carlo did not allow the course of the selection process to work and this email just proves, the selection process overseen by John Biggs wasn’t whiter than white”.
Councillor Anwar Khan also questioned, it seems odd, that John decided to deselect genuine hard working Labour Councillors in favour of defected Respect activists. He said “Hard working sitting Labour councillors and activists are ditched in favour of Respect members, this doesn’t make sense”.
See attached email evidence from Carlo Gibbs – “stitch up email” and the “dodgy email” about the parking ticket.
Councillor Khan stated that on one hand, Johns Biggs AM (also proxy Leader of Labour Group) talks about, making politics in Tower Hamlets healthier and cleaner, such as the motion agreed in council on the allegations against the Mayor on paid canvassers in the last council meeting.
Councillor Anwar Khan said “it strikes me that John Biggs is accusing others of nasty politics, when he needs to get his house in order first”. The lies and false information from the Chief Whip shows that this isn’t the case and this is certainly not healthy for the good people of Tower Hamlets.
Councillor Anwar Khan said, “what was stopping John from asking me, whether I received a parking ticket or not and why did he feel the need to use Carlo to do the dirty work and write these false emails”.
Councillor Khan also confirmed that he was given an additional interview, which was one more than everyone else, which is unfair to all those who only got one.
He said, “it looks like they have been after me and simply fishing for a reason, in the additional interview, a regional officer, who was supposed to be an observer led the questioning, I think that was quite unfair, and I am concerned that he may have been subject to information that was provided by third parties, he even said that he was only an observer and won’t do any questioning”.
He went on to say “it is also surprising that others were only interviewed once, then why was I interviewed twice.”
Anwar Khan continued “in the Whips report that was prepared by Carlo Gibbs, once again there was reference to a “disciplinary matter”, that disciplinary matter, was actually me trying to do my job as a councillor to help a resident get a parking permit. If Carlo just asked me, why I have been challenging officers, I would have given him an explanation, that it was an ongoing issue for about 4 years where the resident has been misled about his car parking permit, I have tried to help the resident and the council have been unreasonable, as the resident was lied to that his new house offered a street permit, when in actual fact it was a car free zone.
Why and how that becomes a disciplinary matter is quite beyond belief, I was just doing my job to serve my constituents, what I was elected to disciplinary matter. And how can this be a disciplinary matter, they didn’t give me a chance to explain that.
All very botched up and this isn’t the reason I came into politics, I came into politics to represent people and that’s exactly what I did. I am a community councillor, not a town hall technocrat or bureaucrat”.
Councillor Anwar Khan, said, “there have been no reasons provided to me with regards to the reasons for my deselection. I have worked hard for the people of Bow, and I am confident there is not a single complaint against me from the community. I have one of the highest member’s enquiry rates”.
Member’s enquiries are a key measure of how effectively councillors are representing their constituents. He said, that the community should decide on which Councillors are hard working and which Councillors aren’t, they should review the members enquiry numbers for themselves.
Councillor Anwar Khan said “as his Shadow Cabinet Lead for Employment, I led the policy forum on economic growth and employment in Tower Hamlets.,
John talks about helping young graduates into jobs in the City and Canary Wharf, I am a local graduate working in the City and have helped many people into jobs in Canary Wharf, then why has John deselected me, it seems to me, that as soon as they fear that someone from the Bengali community is outspoken, and can challenge John’s politics, they easiest thing to do is to remove them. Why remove someone who has achieved something that you want other young people to achieve.
– ENDS –
Notes:
1. Councillor Anwar Khan was elected in 2010 in the ward of Bow West, winning a conservative seat from Anwara Ali, a local GP.
2. Councillor Anwar Khan has lived in Tower Hamlets all his life, went to Osmani Primary School, Swanlea School. He studied in Newham Sixth Form and later achieved his undergraduate degree in Cass Business School, and has a Masters in Global Politics.
3. Councillor Anwar khan, lives in Spitalfields with his family
4. Councillor Anwar Khan works in the financial services industry in the City of London
5. Councillor Anwar Khan also served in Shadow Cabinet in all years, including holding the role of Shadow Cabinet Member for Resources and is currently the Shadow Cabinet Member for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Employment.
6. Councillor Anwar Khan was the Chief Whip for the first 3 years. During his term he also served as the Chairman of the Pensions Committee.
7. Councillor Anwar Khan has been one of the longest serving Chief Whips in the Labour Group.
A lot to take in I agree and such injustices, but I was grabbed by this line in particular:
as soon as they fear that someone from the Bengali community is outspoken, and can challenge John’s politics, they easiest thing to do is to remove them
I asked him if he genuinely believed what amounted to an allegation of racism and he said he stood by his words. He said John wanted a group he could control, people who went ‘yes sir, no sir, three bags full, sir’. He said John had reacted badly when he, Anwar, challenged John’s choice for a health scrutiny role. John would dump anyone who stood up to him, he added.
And then came the poisoned arrow.
He asked how many of the current crop of Labour Bengali councillors are unemployed or “have ever had a proper job”. He said John was encouraging young people to go to university and look for a job, yet he was picking candidates who were the very opposite of that while deselecting him and Mizan Chaudhury, a professional civil servant.
So I asked a friend of his who he had in mind. Well, said this friend, look at the following:
Cllr Abdul Mukith Chunu – unemployed, serves as board member for Spitalfields housing association
Cllr Rajib Ahmed – mini cab driver
Cllr Abdal Ullah – unemployed/ BBPower100 consultant/ President of Stepney FC/showboating councillor who does community radio
Cllr Motin Uz Zaman – long term unemployed
Cllr Helal Abbas – Charity Outreach worker
Cllr Siraj Islam – works part time for two days a week at East London Business Alliance
Cllr Khales Uddin Ahmed – owns a restaurant in Bexley Heath
Cllr Helal Uddin – director at Bromley by Bow centre
Sanu Miah – St Peter’s candidate – long term unemployed and unsuccessful businessman
Faruk Ahmed – Whitechapel candidate – Works for Sonali Otith football club
Cllr Shiria Khatun – community worker
I suggested that many of these jobs, eg Rajib working as a minicab driver, meant they were more likely to be in touch with constituents than full time City professionals like Anwar. But the friend said “at least he lives in Tower Hamlets”.
There’s a few more things I could write from my discussions but I think this is enough for now!
Trial by Jeory 
“”I suggested that many of these jobs, eg Rajib working as a minicab driver, meant they were more likely to be in touch with constituents than full time City professionals like Anwar.””
Sorry, Ted, but that’s fatuous. Take someone like Shiria Khatun – “community worker” – no doubt ‘community worker’ keeps her more ‘in touch’; than being, say, a full-time accountant like Anwar. But “community worker” in Tower Hamlets means a lazy layabout, sucking off the council taxpayer’s teat, in a hooky “community organisation” given a “mainstream grant” – ie paid thousands of pounds to pay attention to members of the Bengali community and the Bengali community alone.
I would rather have the accountant who spends their days in a real job, even if it doesn’t involve hourly contact with Tower Hamlets residents. There’s less corruption in it anyhow.
Frankly Ted, I and many others expect better of you than signing up to Lutfur’s idea that councillors are at their best if they’re like Maium Miah (Millwall) – a director of loads of hooky organisations creaming cash out of the council, not having to do a day’s real work, swanning round in a Merc and a flash new suit paid for from a salary from a ‘community organisation’, and able to spend their days on casework and so pretending they’re best to stand up for ‘the community’. It’s corruption pure and simple.
Can someone explain the bit about Ted “signing up to Lutfur’s idea that councillors are at their best if they are like Maium Miah”? I don’t know if anyone else understands it but I don’t.
I can see a lot of raised thumbs on this post, is Axel Landin or his brother still active?
Clearly Maium’s defection from your party is still painfully felt!
I think you’re getting your knickers in a twist. I suggested that to him as an alternative view as part of a debate. I don’t think there’s any prescription for a good councillor other than they work hard for their constituents. Marc Francis is one of those, as are many others.
I’m sure Maium Miah is the most selfless of the lot.
First Anwara Ali, and now Anwar Khan. Having your own voice in Bow West is not condusive to reselection. The new one had better be a good Bangladeshi and do what she’s told. Then again, history couldn’t repeat itself a third time. It would start to look like Josh just wants a Bangladeshi for the sake of the electorate.
In dismal places like Tower Hamlets, the second most densely populated local authority area in the country with 13,304 residents per km2 (source: Halifax survey at http://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/media/pdfs/halifax/2013/2112_Places_to_live.pdf) , Labour is always the nasty villain.
Labour educated and nurtured the incumbent mayor. Where did the mayor learn all his ‘tricks’ from? If wasn’t at the mosque or from the Tories, Lib Dems, Respect or Independents councillors in London – it was from Labour Party people.
Labour always have a nasty streak. They also keep voluminous files on their own member dissenters and on non-members who regularly criticise and ridicule them.
Anyone with a grievance against Labour should demand to see Labour’s secret files on them. Who is going to tell Anwar Khan to do a Data Protection Act ‘subject access request’ to the Labour Party ? I wouldn’t be surprised if Labour destroy some files and withhold others – after all it is Labour.
If LBTH is ever going to improve it needs a local, community and residents based political party whose only interest is cleaning-up the local crap, improving the council’s variable performance and making the borough a much better and nicer placer to live. You will never achieve those objectives with Labour or with the Mayor’s Bangladeshi-focused ‘party’.
Curious Cat
Any proof whatsoever about the content of your third and fourth paragraphs? I think you might need some if you’re going to suggest the Tower Hamlets Labour Party are in fact the Stasi.
=> Saint 1976
Its Labour up and down the entire country. As Grave Maurice wrote, either in this topic or another, Labour are Control and domination freaks.
I don’t know if TH Labour ever visited the DDR for training with the Stasi. Labour people seemed to go all around the world having meetings with many the rest of the world thought were dodgy.
I reiterate my friendly advice . . . . .
Labour are not, and never have been, the ‘nice party’. In the 1950’s the Labour Trade Union NUR discriminated against and victimised their own members who were demobbed allied soldiers that served under the British Army but were unable or unwilling to return to their Communist controlled home countries on the European mainland.
Labour unions wrecked this country’s economy year after year. Give a fair deal to the workers but don’t reward bad performance with extra pay and bonuses – like what is still happening in TH’s local government. Roll-over Labour we need a United People’s Party to be fair to all – not just the politicians who have never ever had a real job in their lives
Too many back-stabbing control freaks in the Labour sphere – perhaps they did attend Stasi courses 🙂 The DDR was easy to get to from one of the 3 motorway connections from BRD to Berlin. Just drive off the motorway and meet the Stasi waiting at the end of the ramp.
Curious Cat
Anwar Khan still has provided any explanations, only denials.
1. That’s not a Press Release – it’s a long-winded whining rant. It’s not a good way to persuade anybody that you are a serious politician.
2. What does Cllr. Anwar Khan actually do “in the city”? It sounds good but what does it actually mean? Does anybody know?
3. In my view, overall that really isn’t an impressive list of occupations. Working for community groups and serving on Boards is a very worthy thing to do. However it’s what a lot of candidates for Councillors used to do in their spare time – after they get home from work – irrespective of their political persuasion. Being community oriented is admirable but it shouldn’t prevent you from also doing a ‘proper full time job’ in the real world. Apart from anything else it’s more likely to equip you with the well-rounded experience and skills needed by people who have a desire to represent the electorate and run a Council.
4. Managers and political leaders have a habit of taking a keen interest in those who are outspoken. This happens the world over – it’s got absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with racism and has everything to do with command and control regimes which are prevalent across the world – including “in the city”. For example, the Leaders of Tower Hamlets Council and Mayor have an unenviable record in removing Chief Executives from their post when they have disagreed with the Leader/Mayor. So what’s new?
I’d like to know when the politicians of Tower Hamlets are going to stop embarrassing local residents with their activities and antics and squabbling? It’s more playground politics than real politics!
I’d like to see much more emphasis on setting the standards high and getting the very best people to be Councillors. The culture and colour of skin is completely irrelevant since every Councillor must abide by the rules and be absolutely impartial and represent every member of the electorate. What is really important is that they bring to the role the competence and skills to be an efficient and effective Councillor doing the best possible job for their constituents.
How about a few more features on Councillors who are a good role model and do a good job? Let’s see the effective Councillors get a higher profile.
=> You couldn’t make it up!
Its not April Fool’s Day. Councillors don’t run the council. The unelected and unaccountable to the public staff do.
The Local Government Act 2000 (?) introduced the Tony Blair (currently said to be worth £70 million – see Ted’s daily edition) reforms and the Cabinet style of government. That means most councillors are impotent, dead wood, inactive in actually managing or running their council.
Cabinets, and Mayor-style arrangements too, run the show. The majority of elected councillors hang around idly unable to change anything important to the local public because they are now powerless thanks to the Tony Blair . A great Labour Party achievement for the destruction of local democracy. Strange how the Tories like it too.
You can’t kick-out a local authority chief executive except for misconduct and incompetence but before you achieve that you have to suspend the person for, I think, a maximum of 3 weeks pending an independent enquiry into the complaint by an outside person approved by the chief executive. That is the law, I verily believe.
The normal method, especially in Labour local authorities to is provide glowing references and a very generous bonus usually of £400k upwards – all done in secret in a Part 2 meeting with the press and public excluded.
Be honest, which councillors are genuinely and genuinely ?
Think you’re wrong about because its every resident and every other entity (business, organisation, school, hospital, charity etc.) within the territorial boundary of the local authority.
Councillors are not elected to represent people in a ward or the electorate. They are elected to serve everyone but usually don’t.
Getting the best people to be councillors is difficult especially in places like LBTH where adult literacy and numeracy are factual handicaps.
The best will be working, probably not dashing out the office door at 17:00 on the dot, have a wife and children to look after, must do jobs around the house and in the garden, find time to get some physical exercise …. then its difficult finding the time and energy to be an outstanding hard-working busy councillor. What the public usually get is political stooges also known as ‘yes’ men and women. A stooge can be polite, friendly but because they are a stooge they are generally ineffective because they depend on their political bosses to tell them what to do, what to say and how to vote.
Sorry that is the hash reality. Idealism is good for dreams but useless in places like LBTH.
Yes I agree its important but in places like LBTH it is almost impossible.
There ought to be formal training, available to all, explaining the workings of local government, perhaps even extending into a university degree course. 99% or more of local authority councillors don’t know much about the nature, structure and organisation of councils. Although the staff organise so-called training sessions, the really important bits are never covered. The councillors lack of knowledge prevents them really getting properly involved in the running and management of their local council.
Curious Cat.
Every Councillor who has aspirations to running the Council has to start somewhere. Mayors and Cabinets don’t arrive from nowhere. That’s why the calibre of people recruited to be candidates for Councillor is very important.
We all know that Tower Hamlets Council never ever uses the responsible and appropriate mechanism to remove a Chief Executive. Instead they waste our money paying them off with a gag clause in place to ensure they’re never able to say what they were concerned about in the first place.
I think if Ted cared to check the statistics he’ll find that Tower Hamlets has worked its way through more Chief Executives in the last 30 years than any other Council in the UK. (Start with Jack Wolkind the first Chief Executive of LBTH from 1968 to 1985 and then look at what has happened to every CEO after that!)
It’s got to be a matter of public interest how much public money has been spent getting rid of the top Council Officer who is formally responsible for both public accountability and fiduciary regularity.
Agreed I should have said population when I said electorate.
You may have noticed that business and other organisations have no vote! I don’t believe there any actual responsibility to any other organisation in the borough as an entity – only to represent the views of the population (electorate) to those other organisations – hence why there are so many Council nominees on those organisations.
The responsibility the Council has is to promote the economic well being of the borough – it shouldn’t ever be partial in representing one sector or one business over any another without exceptionally good reasons.
I don’t know why it’s assumed that the population of Tower Hamlets is functionally illiterate. Or why it should be assumed that other Councils with Councillors who have full-time jobs should also struggle to function – because they don’t. Far from it – on both counts!
The fact of the matter is there are lots of well-educated people living in Tower Hamlets who have achieved success in their careers and wish to give back to the community
The really BIG problem is that most would run a mile from the politics as practised in this borough.
It does make me wonder whether there’s scope to start an apolitical Tower Hamlets equivalent of what used to be known as “the Ratepayers Association” i.e. people who on the whole are interested less in politics, cultural or demographic groups, personal agendas and their own self-advancement and more in whether their money is being spent to good effect and services are effective and efficient – for the benefit of ALL the people of the borough.
I suspect it might get rather a lot of votes should one emerge……….
You couldn’t make it up! wrote
Its easy to do and can be very effective. All you need is energetic volunteers and a vision that thing can and should be better. You also need money for well written leaflets (which in TH means probably in Arabic and in Urdu in addition to English). Also needed is a political party name for the ballot forms.
Perhaps one theme can be the ‘Labour and the Lutfur Rahman’ love affair is not working. Their ‘serve the people’ promises have changed into ‘serve themselves’ and the public is paying all the bills while things steadily get worse in TH. The public demand something a lot better !
Curious Cat.
What exactly is the issue here? He has been deselected in favour of whom and why? What is this parking ticket issue? That’s not sufficient reason to deselect someone so there must be more to this.
How long was he a councillor, what was his majority, what was his attendance record/ these are the real issues? It may well be that he was a poor councillor and has been deselected for that reason alone but at the moment it seems like a bit of smoke filled rooms a la the old style Labour Party of the Murphia and the Kosher Nostra of forty years ago.
“You couldn’t make it up” posted an excellent comment. But how do we judge a councillor? Good as our local councillor or good within the council? For example Rabina Khan. She is often highly criticised, yet she is without doubt the hardest working councillor the Shadwell Ward have ever had, her surgeries are packed and she somehow finds time to help as many people as possible, especially the elderly and frail.
I will not join ANY political party that holds private meetings during selection time – private meetings mean something or someone is being stitched up.
The TH Labour Party should have asked if he is a current good councillor and continue to be so, or is there someone better to replace him? Personally? For some perverse reason he has probably been stitched up. Now isn’t that good for democracy and representation!
Looks as if Tower Hamlets is morphing into Newham.
I’m not sure that working in the financial services sector in the City of London is something anyone seeking political office would want to brag about! What exactly is his job? He could be in the post room for all this tells us.
This really is one of the worst written press releases I’ve ever read ‘Who? Why? What? Where? When? How? What exactly is the story here? Did any other media outlets run this, Ted?
Every set of elections brings a selection process and there are always those that lose out. As flawed as it may be in Tower Hamlets Labour Party – I’d love to know how the Lutfhfurites did theirs.
It’s tough being sacked from your job, and I’ve never known anyone who doesn’t feel aggrieved about it. I feel very sorry for Anwar and Mizan, both of whom have been good and supportive friends to me in the past.
The proper jobs issue is interesting, but one you could level at most council chambers up and down the land. And, in LBTH, it’s hardly exclusive to the Labour benches. It’s healthy that we have a diverse mix of professionals and community activists that represents our community (which does have very high unemployment levels amongst people from a Bangladeshi background).
Anwar’s second interview, as I understand, was offered to any sitting councillor that had been deselected.
I also understand that sitting councillors were judged on agreed performance measures as councillors and party campaigners – so the things that really counted were how much casework you did, how many surgeries you held and how many doors you knocked? Perhaps Ted would like to publish that information rather than these lurid accusations.
By the way, I’ve been in meetings with John and councillors (of all backgrounds) on a number of times – and the atmosphere is collaborative rather than dictatorial.
If I remember rightly, he does not work in a post room – but as an accountant for the global outsourcing firm Accenture.
But surely you’d know that, Graham, if he used to be a good friend of yours?
Not really the point I was making dear.
Hey! you forgot Cllr Mukit has an MBE! Also Cllr Khatun was an Adviser the the former Mayor Ken Livingstone! Seriously these are significant achievements which people need to be periodically reminded of….othewise people forget. They must never forget. never, ever!
You think he’s hot stuff because he works in the city? He didn’t get either of his jobs based on his own merit. He got both of them through Rushanara Ali who runs a graduate scheme called UpRising. He was basically asked to leave Accenture.
Uprising on his linked in profile
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/anwar-khan/43/68/aaa
He was on their website here you can still see his name :
http://www.uprising.org.uk/group/users/anwar-khan
Anwar
Why do you always have to run your mouth ? Why couldn’t you just listen to
Jim Fitzpatrick when he asked you to keep your nose clean and wait for a by-election? You’ve really ****** yourself this time, you really have. A waste and a shame.
Labour/Socialism has always been about CONTROL. So, “speaking out” or even “thinking out” is not the done thing. What you’re meant to do is ask the local party boss “what do I think about this?” And they will tell you what to think. The list of Labour council candidates includes eminent individuals who pride themselves in their near absence of independent thought. Danny Hassell for example, is an incredibly weak candidate who until recently used to make himself useful by regularly writing sycophantic letters to the ELA in the style of Joe Public saying how wonderful his local councillor was. Accordingly, he has been rewarded with a seat to contest.
I don’t think this is about Anwar “speaking out” though. It’s probably more about his notorious habit of becoming aggressive at meetings with his hectoring and pugnacious speeches reminiscent of Maoist Red Guards at a 1950s political reeducation camp…. I don’t think he has many friends in the party because of it. So he’s been shat on from a great height but then, why not?
Young Labour are all about as bad as each other. Vote Tory where you can defeat Labour and only vote Labour where Lutfur might defeat them.
The situation is becoming clearer and I don’t even live in Tower Hamlets so correct me someone if I am wrong.
It seems that Anwar was a difficult person to get on with and this became more pronounced when he was Chief Whip. He was rude and aggressive in his dealings with people which gradually got on more and more people’s nerves and ended in his deselection.
I can’t see how the race thing is an issue here as I understand his sister in law has been selected for his seat and his brother for a seat in Spitalfields. This could all be untrue of course but I think we should be told.
[…] to my post here about Anwar Khan’s criticism of his fellow Labour colleagues, I’m told he’s now […]
Some Councillors/aspiring musicians/mini-cab drivers want fame and fortune, others want just want to make a difference.