A bit of fun…I’ve just written this for the Express website. A cheery take on a very earnest proposal by Lutfurite councillors Rabina Khan and Rania Khan for a very worthy tribute to Nelson Mandela in Tower Hamlets.
LEFTIE council bosses in London want to build a Nelson Mandela House–not in the Only Fools and Horses area of Peckham but a few miles away in Tower Hamlets.
Ruling councillors at the controversial east London authority want to name a new building after the late South African president “to ensure his legacy will always be upheld” in the area.
Councillors Rabina Khan and Rania Khan, a former member of the Socialist Workers’ Party, have proposed a motion on the idea for debate at next week’s full town hall meeting.
It is not known whether they are fans of the famous BBC sitcom, but when asked last night where Del and Rodney Trotter used to live, Cllr Rania Khan said she had no idea it was in Nelson Mandela House.
The fictional council tower block in Peckham was named by show creator John Sullivan as a mocking take on the socialist inner-city councils of the Eighties when Mandela was still in a Robben Island jail.
The motion by the two Tower Hamlets councillors makes no reference to Only Fools and Horses and is entirely serious and worthy.
They say their borough, which is frequently dogged by accusations of racism between Bengalis and whites, should learn from Mr Mandela who died last month.
They are demanding their council colleagues “name a building on the Blackwall [housing] development after Mandela”.
They urge the council “to use every relevant occasion to remind the young of the borough of the importance of both fighting for their beliefs and reconciliation”.
But in their preamble to the motion, the two councillors also try score political points by referring to the politics of the Eighties.
They write: “Despite Margaret Thatcher describing Nelson Mandela as a ‘terrorist’, and the refusal of the Tory government at the time to unite with the rest of Europe in imposing sanctions on South Africa, Nelson Mandela died perceived universally as a courage and principled politician whose example in resisting oppression and inequality inspires all those struggling for racial equality and social justice.
“In a borough where so many different races live side by side, Mandela’s determination to create racial equality and unite the black and white people of South Africa holds a particular importance.”
The two ex-Labour councillors are independent members and allied to the council’s directly elected mayor, Lutfur Rahman.
The site for the new building would be on the Blackwall Reach development, which is currently under construction by the Blackwall Tunnel.
Councils are currently expecting a deluge of request for changes in street names and other monuments in honour of Mr Mandela, but Tower Hamlets is believed to be the first to want a building in his honour.
Cllr Peter Golds, who leads the Tory opposition on the council, said his colleagues’ move was foolhardy and “singularly inappropriate”.
“I thought we had progressed from the days of Only Fools and Horses,” he said. “A statue would be a much better idea.”
Two tower blocks were used to depict Nelson Mandela House in the sitcom.
The original was in South Acton, west London, while the later shows featured Whitemead House in Bristol.
Cast members of the show were in mourning today after the death of actor Roger Lloyd-Pack who played the often dopy character Trigger.
The motion is listed here on p107 of the agenda for Wednesday’s full council meeting:
12.11 Motion on Nelson Mandela
Proposer: Councillor Rabina Khan Seconder: Councillor Rania Khan
The Council notes:
• On the 5th December 2013, South African anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela passed away.
• Mandela served 27 years in prison after being convicted of attempting to overthrow the state while an international campaign lobbied for his release.
• After his release, Mandela joined negotiations with President FW de Klerk to abolish apartheid and establish multiracial elections, lead the ANC into victory where he became South Africa’s first black president and won the Nobel Prize for Peace.
The Council believes:
• Despite Margaret Thatcher describing Nelson Mandela as a ‘terrorist’, and the refusal of the Tory government at the time to unite with the rest of Europe in imposing sanctions on South Africa, Nelson Mandela died perceived universally as a courage and principled politician whose example in resisting oppression and inequality inspires all those struggling for racial equality and social justice.
• In a borough where so many different races live side by side, Mandela’s determination to create racial equality and unite the black and white people of South Africa holds a particular importance.
The Council resolves:
• To remember Nelson Mandela, in particular, to use every relevant occasion to remind the young of the borough of the importance of both fighting for their beliefs and reconciliation.
• To name a building on the Blackwall redevelopment after Mandela to ensure that his legacy will always be upheld and achievements be acknowledged in Tower Hamlets.
Trial by Jeory 
Those who remember the state of John Scurr House in the early 1980s would not want anyone’s name tarnished with the short-comings of municipal socialism. I know nothing of the Blackwell redevelopment, but if the proposal went ahead perhaps a sinking fund should be attached for future maintenance. One person’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter, but we now know that Thatcher was probably more instrumental than many others in securing Madiba’s release.
A very uninspired gesture, and they were warned about the Only Fools and Horses connection, but clearly decided not to listen. The fact the series is being revived this year only makes this announcement all the more crass.
Madiba deserves better than being associated with ‘Del Boys’, as do the inhabitants of the east end. And, sadly a tower block in Blackwall called Nelson Mandela House is never going to make the majority of people think of the first post-apartheid President of South Africa, but will conjure up images of loveable loser south london market traders. Who would honestly be able to keep a straight face when saying they live in Mandela House?!
This is tragically risible, and I hope common sense prevails and the Motion is withdrawn now that the proposer and seconder can see the British pop-culture connection, and how this idea will most definitely DETRACT from Nelson Mandela’s legacy and only make people think of Peckham in the TV series.
If this motion goes through, Tower Hamlets will be a laughing stock, and I bet Graça Machel won’t be rushing to unveil the plaque!
Excellent comment.
A more appropriate person to have a building named after him is Blair Peach who taught for the ten years he was in the UK at The Phoenix School on the Bow Road. Blair came from New Zealand in 1969 and until his death at the hands of the Metropolitan Police’s Special Patrol Group on the 20th of April 1979 at Southall in West London while protesting against the presence of the National Front in what was even then a borough with a large Asian presence
Blair taught disadvantaged children, one of the most difficult tasks a teacher can take on, and although a small plaque was erected to him on the school several years ago it is now obscured by the new extension.
I understand from the Friends of Blair Peach that emails to the Mayor of Tower Hamlets suggesting the plaque be moved to the new extension and for a school to be named in his memory have been ignored. Why am I not surprised?
Instead of indulging in buffoonery and making a laughing stock of themselves perhaps the councillors concerned could start to honour someone who actually lived and worked in their borough and gave his life for the principals the two councillors seem to be espousing. A school in Southall is named after him and there is no reason why the new Woolmore Primary in Poplar could not have the same thing done.
I appreciate the problem that councillors of the age of the two concerned have with local history and it is clear they are more concerned with grandstanding than actually learning the history of the area they claim to represent, but it is about time they emulated the Sikh population of West London and started to teach young people in their own borough and local heroes.
Glorifying terroists – check.
Ignorant of British culture – check.
Sounds like LBTH.
Tim
There already is one, it’s an old people’s home in Weavers ward.
What is in Weavers Ward?
A Nelson Mandela House. Possibly just a Mandela House, thinking about it, but I’d guess it’s Nelson rather than Winnie or some other non-famous Mandela it’s named after.