I asked Nick McQueen, the new Ukip candidate for Tower Hamlets mayor to write a short piece to introduce himself and to outline some of his views and how he would improve the borough. I also asked him for his views on the important second preference vote that Labour’s John Biggs is probably relying on.
Below is Nick’s piece and below that, I’m copying the short manifesto Ukip has drawn up for Tower Hamlets.
The three things that stand out for me in terms of headline grabbers are the decriminalisation of heroin in Tower Hamlets (to get rid of the dealers, but which could also have the effect of attracting every junkie in London to the borough); new “Moses” clubs in every school to help children of different faiths mix more; and the abolition of the council funded “mother tongue” classes for Bengali families (something I and many others including David Goodhart have called for).
I think this should prompt a good discussion….Here’s Nick’s piece:
Why I am Standing
I am an East Ender born and bred. My life experiences set me apart from the political class. They are trained to argue for policies that they do not believe in but in the East End we call that lying. Instead I will be honest, transparent and accountable.
Children in the borough are suffering. Some of them are being fed soup at the end of the month.
Others are being segregated due to the current mayor’s policies, and the funding for their clubs has been taken away. There is overcrowding in the borough – I grew up in the East End but I have never known it this bad. I want to fight for the multi-cultural, multi-religious society of London’s East End.
The East End is not a colour, we all become as one. A community is assessed NOT on how well the rich live, but on how well we look after the less fortunate.
My Views of the Current Mayor Lutfur Rahman
Mr Rahman uses policies of segregation rather than integration – for example his “mother tongue” lessons. The mayor of Newham (Sir Robin Wales) has recently accused him of bringing a form of apartheid to Tower Hamlets. He rarely speaks in the council meetings. He does not have the interests of the whole community at heart. Have you ever seen him at Canary Wharf standing up for the City, one of our country’s most important industries and a major source of the tax revenue that funds our public services?
Would I like Rahman out at Any Cost?
Yes of course I want him out. But the answer is not to elect a different socialist administration under Labour. Their candidate John Biggs will keep his role on the London Assembly – we don’t need a part-time mayor. He ran the council for a number of years and the Labour Party created Rahman. Would you give a lighter back to a previous arsonist?
The Tory candidate (Chris Wilford) has been parachuted in. He has no real background in the East End and is currently talking about potholes. We need something very different for Tower Hamlets – UKIP can be that difference.
How Can UKIP Make the Borough Better?
We will breathe new life into the borough with our policies. UKIP does not have a whip in local government, which gives our councillors freedom to fight for the specific things that matter to their electors.
We are very different to the other parties. See my views on the decriminalisation of drugs to solve the heroin problem in the borough. I will use council resources to generate more money.
See my vision for an East End Wonderland every year in Victoria Park.
I will introduce free breakfast clubs for primary school kids and after-school “Moses” clubs to bring together children from all backgrounds (Moses is a prophet to the Jews, Christians and Muslims).
I want grammar schools for the academically-gifted children and trade schools for those of a practical disposition so that they can learn the real skills they need to earn good money in the trades.
I will support small businesses in the borough by easing the bureaucracy and making the council more responsive. I have been in business for most of my life so I know what it is like. And I will always stand up for Canary Wharf and oppose EU interference. The City gave me my start in life – I started a business providing the plants for their offices.
I will support genuine civic groups as long as they are for the whole community, to promote integration rather than separation.
The conduct of the council meetings is a disgrace. UKIP will restore order and dignity to the proceedings.
I will bring in forensic accountants to go over the books and look for asset stripping and misappropriation, and I will prosecute those responsible. Those accountants will also find me millions of pounds of savings and I will be ruthless in cutting out waste.
I will support the arts in the borough and will find a permanent site for Old Flo.
Do I Have Bengali Support and Candidates?
I know a lot of Bangladeshis – some of them are my next-door neighbours. They have promised me their vote because like the rest of the community they are fed up with the current system. Why should they be any different? Their kids are also being targeted by the heroin pushers. So yes, I have Bengali support. But no, we do not yet have any Bengali candidates. If anyone from that community is interested in standing for UKIP please contact me.
We only formed the UKIP branch in December, so we are starting from behind. We do not have the local structure and activist base that the other parties have. We have set ourselves the goal of finding twenty candidates – one for each ward – so that everyone in Tower Hamlets who wants to vote for UKIP can do so. That would be a massive achievement.
Second Preference Votes
We are in this to win. I want people’s first preference votes only. If you want UKIP and the change that we will bring then you should vote only for me and my councillor candidates. If you absolutely must vote for your old party – Tory or Labour – then please lend me your second preference votes (and please give our councillors one of your votes on that ballot). We are not instructing our supporters to give their second preference votes to anyone.
I am getting the support of working class people, Conservatives, Labour, and also from people who have never voted before. Our challenge is to get enough of the people who have given up on politics to register to vote. Our first flyer simply has UKIP on it and the contact details for the voter registration department at the council.
The following is from the Tower Hamlets Ukip website:
My Plan
- Zero tolerance on heroin to protect our youth.
- Free breakfast clubs and school dinners for primary school children.
- East End Wonderland at Victoria park to raise funds for open spaces.
- “Moses clubs” in all schools to bring the different races and religions together, with special activity programmes during the holidays.
- Quickly create new primary schools by using existing college buildings.
- Grammar schools for the academically gifted and trade and technical schools for those of a more practical disposition.
- I want community integration rather than segregation.
- My office will be fully transparent and accountable.
- I will bring in forensic accountants to look for asset stripping and misappropriated funds, and I will prosecute those responsible.
- I will promote culture and art in the borough and find a permanent site for Old Flo.
- I will support businesses, for example with a late license for Brick Lane.
- I will always stand up for Canary Wharf and oppose EU interference in our vital financial services industry.
- I will replace the mayoral dictatorship with a fully democratic system.
- I will cut open the belly of this beast for everyone to look inside.
Budget savings to implement my plans
My accountants will find millions of pounds in savings by cutting unnecessary spending. But the following “quick wins” can be implemented straight away.
- Abolish unnecessary expenditure on faith buildings.
- Abolish “mother tongue” lessons.
- Abolish the mayoral car and highly-paid advisors.
- Stop the translation of information into foreign languages, removing the need for council-funded translators.
- Scrap the East End Life propaganda newspaper.
Personal message from Nicholas
Dear Voter,
I’m aware of the ups and downs of life and how difficult it is to cope with the austerity measures that we are all experiencing, be it on an individual basis or from a family or business perspective. Let me explain to you my political position. In some ways I go further than Labour when it comes to delivering social protection. In other ways my policies are more conservative than those promised by the Conservatives.
I truly believe that the basic human needs – heating, eating and housing – must be affordable to the community, especially where children are concerned. For example, children cannot learn if they are underfed and this is unfortunately happening in our borough. Hence my commitment regarding the school breakfast clubs. A community is assessed not on how well the rich live but on how well we look after the less fortunate among us.
I’ve been in business for most of my life and I understand how much we need good businesses to create jobs and pay taxes, which is why I support the growth and expansion of the business and financial districts in the borough, and I will help them above and beyond expectations.
The middle section of my politics is libertarian – the philosophy that places the highest value on personal freedom and limited government. More liberty helps us all to achieve more, to be happier and healthier, and it will make the community a better place to live in. I will integrate libertarianism with modern-day politics to confront the problems that we face today.
The national leadership of UKIP does not dictate our policy in local government but leaves us free to do what we need to in the local setting. UKIP is the fastest growing party in the UK because it is for everyone, especially the working man and woman. We believe that if you work then you should be better off. When we run the borough you will benefit. When we run the country it will be strong once again.
I was born and bred in the East End. I am old school, but my life experiences set me apart from the schoolboys that have been running the borough. My promises set out above will breathe new life into the borough, making it a better place to live and work. Our history, and our multicultural diverse community is what makes Tower Hamlets one of the most dynamic places in the world and one of the most interesting places to live and work.
Thank you for reading this, and I hope you will support my campaign for the greater good of our local community.
Love East End. Vote UKIP. Vote Nicholas McQueen for Mayor.
Trial by Jeory 
I’m confused by this heroin business – he says he is in favour of decriminalisation, but also a zero tolerance approach. These seem to be opposite.
While I support decriminalisation of drugs in general, and treating problematic use as a health issue rather than a criminal justice issue, decriminalising smack, but not pot, pills and acid, would seem to be the worst of all possible worlds: pushing people away from the fun and mostly harmless drugs onto the fully addictive and dangerous ones.
It’s a lovely dream Nicholas, but sadly we have heard all your promises before from existing council leaders, but our dreams were shattered. Never the less, Good Luck!
There are a number of flaws in UKIPs promises. Nick says that he is not a politician but he is promising things he cannot deliver which is a common political failing.
However I start with an inconsistency, Nick says above ‘There is overcrowding in the borough’ but in the Wharf newspaper on the 6th March in an interview is this comment ‘Mr McQueen says the Conservatives are not “being very conservative” by blocking development in the borough’
So Nick seems to be suggesting that we fix over crowding by building even more high-rise buildings?. That might provide more properties but at the expense of shared places like parks, GP surgeries, buses, roads etc so we just swap one type of over crowding for another type. We should have a detailed plan for sustainable living before we build more.
What about his other promises?
‘Quickly create new primary schools by using existing college buildings’ – I am trying to set up a new primary free school and have looked at many sites in the E1 area, I can tell you it is not that easy to find sites as free schools like Wapping High School have found already especially with external play areas. Canary Wharf College 2 are having to use a converted warehouse / office as a temporary solution from this September. Nicholas accused Conservatives of not being very Conservative by being anti-development but the difficulty in finding school sites is a classic reason why we believe in slowing down development as we have to find around 22 new primary & 6 secondary school sites in the next ten years.
‘I will introduce tolls on the Rotherhithe and Blackwall tunnels and use the money for new river crossings’ this was on the UKIP TH website four days ago but has now disappeared! Probably because TH Mayor has no control over the tunnels, they are a TFL responsibility. I wonder what other promises he will remove before polling day?
‘I will always stand up for Canary Wharf and oppose EU interference in our vital financial services industry’ – do you think the French and German government are going to spend much time listening to what the Mayor of Tower Hamlets thinks? They will listen to the UK national government, UK MEP’s and Boris Johnson as the Mayor of London. He is promising something he has no control over.
‘I will replace the mayoral dictatorship with a fully democratic system’ – how?, what does this mean. Lutfur Rahman was elected in 2010 because most people did not bother to vote but I did not see UKIP trying to do anything about it in 2010. By asking his supporters not to use their second preference vote in the Mayoral election he is also discouraging a fully democratic expression of peoples wishes. We have 45 council seats up for election in May but UKIP seems to be aiming to only contest 20 of them, not very democratic.
‘decriminalisation of drugs to solve the heroin problem in the borough’ – this is a national issue not a local issue. The Mayor of TH has no control over national drug policy so why is it in his list of local policies unless he is proposing that the council starts selling heroin itself? He himself says there is no link between local and national UKIP policies.
‘Moses clubs’ sounds good and I do not oppose but the real problem is that some of our schools do not represent the ethnic and religious mix of the whole borough, so to get kids to mix we need to bus them around the borough.
‘Free breakfast clubs and school dinner’ also sounds good but there are two issues with it. One is financial, where will the money come from to also provide breakfast clubs and after school ‘Moses’ clubs with their longer school day?. The real problem is that very few of our primary schools offer an 8am to 6pm school day for working parents and some of the few that offer it charge parents for it. From the free school application I have done I know you can have a longer school day and year but at the expense of fewer teaching assistants. Is this what Nicholas is proposing?
‘Technical schools’ already been done by the government i.e. Hackney University Technical College but where would we build such a school in TH?. Also free schools like City Gateway on the Isle of Dogs offer something similar.
‘Old Flo’ does it belong to TH?
‘I will cut open the belly of this beast for everyone to look inside.’ The issue is not so much transparency as we have a good idea of what is happening already (thanks to Ted J.), it is trying to stop it that is the problem.
I think somebody should remind Nicholas that the East End is full of people who came here from many different places, we were not all born here but when somebody who has chosen to live here for many years stands for election he gets accused of being ‘parachuted’ in and having no real background in the East End. Does that mean that if you were not born here that you cannot contribute to making the East End a better place to live in. Is that not a form of discrimination?.
I don’t think eastenders discriminate against people from elsewhere. I think that Eastenders love the houses and streets of the place like they are our brothers and sisters. People from outside perhaps dont understand the code of ethics us cockneys live for the same way they dont understand why we like green liquor on our pies! Whispers round the pubs that are left are the fella from the florist down the Roman is gonna stand for mayor. Cos he is one of our own those of us who normally use our polling card to wipe our arse with when we run out of andrex may well be inclined to go and put an x down for him. The reason cockneys dont vote is cos for a long time we ain’t seen anyone worth bothering for. Just cos we dont use fancy words does not mean we are daft. I hope he wins. Im going to vote for him
I drink in quite a few east end boozers, and no-one has whispered this to me. I feel very discriminated against.
I will respond to what I think is the only criticism of substance by Andrew. Yes you are correct that an earlier version of the policies had toll charging for the tunnels to raise revenue for more crossings. This was removed but not for the reason you suggest, it was pointed out that this might contradict a future UKIP national policy on road charging. Of course the borough mayor would lobby the London mayor and TFL to introduce this. I didn’t know Tories were following us so closely – perhaps you have employed some interns to watch us and dig up dirt as you are doing nationally?
We have no spin doctors, no publicity departments, no one to design our leaflets, very little money, we are a grassroots insurgency and we will make mistakes, but that is why people like UKIP so much, and is why we are going to cause so much carnage in your strongholds around the Isle of Dogs in May. I am expecting there to be more UKIP than Tory on the council after the 22nd.
I studied Politics at University and am interested in ideas and since Nigel Farage ditched the whole of your 2010 manifesto I was curious about what your policies would be and I looked at your website and wrote about I saw on another site which is why I had the information. I do like the section about offering free breakfasts and free drinks to people who help you to campaign, I wish we had the time and money to afford to do that. The Conservatives in Tower Hamlets also do not have spin doctors, publicity departments or much money but will still have candidates for every council seat. Like you we are dependent on local volunteers to get things done or write leaflets. It is one reason why my home is inundated with boxes of leaflets & paper. UKIP at a national level like the Conservatives does have a communication/spin department, yours is headed by somebody called Patrick O’Flynn.
Nick says ‘The national leadership of UKIP does not dictate our policy in local government but leaves us free to do what we need to in the local setting.’ but then you say that you withdrew the tunnel policy because it might contradict national policy?
We shall see on the 23rd May which one of us is right.
Free drinks and free breakfasts to people who help campaign? If these people are Tower Hamlets voters that could be seen as an election offence of treating. See. I’m being helpful here!
Andrew> investigate “The Eve Armsby Centre in Glamis Road”. Somebody should, purpose built and a mystery.
It’s a family centre used by social care the last time I looked? Has it closed?
John, it is a bit small, primary schools on average have 330 pupils and the government prefers having 2 form entry schools i.e. up to 420 although free schools are smaller as they have smaller class sizes i.e. Canary Wharf College has 20 pupils per class
oh there’s one tory so rattled by UKIP he goes and writes a rant all about it. The tories are right to be concerned. UKIP is going to do severe damage to them here and all over the country.
I am worried by low turnout as we saw at the last mayoral election in 2010. The more activity we have by all of the parties including UKIP the better as it will create a buzz about the 22nd May elections so I welcome the participation of UKIP even though I think many of their promises cannot be delivered. We might lose some votes to UKIP, Labour will lose some but we have not yet seen the Liberal Democrats active locally so I suspect we will gain more votes from them, then we lose to UKIP but results on the 23rd May will tell us.
I am an European Englishman and therefore pro-EU. I am realistic and pragmatic. Here are my thoughts.
LBTH needs a sensible, competent, whole community aware and inclined mayor. There is no reason to waste a vote on someone who, literally, has not got a clue.
1. I am an East Ender born and bred. = don’t matter
2. My life experiences set me apart from the political class. = dubious value, if any value.
3. Instead I will be honest, transparent and accountable. = but not in your pre-election material ?
4. Children in the borough are suffering. Some of them are being fed soup at the end of the month. – and your solution is ?
5. Others are being segregated due to the current mayor’s policies, and the funding for their clubs has been taken away. = what others ?, what clubs ? Not even one example is provided.
6. There is overcrowding in the borough = Fact of life but no solution proposed
7. I want to fight for the multi-cultural, multi-religious society of London’s East End. = I don’t. There should be ONE culture in England. How many cultures exist in Bangladesh ? Certainly less than the cultures in TH.
8. The East End is not a colour, we all become as one. = waffle
9. A community is assessed NOT on how well the rich live, but on how well we look after the less fortunate. = meaningless words. Less fortunately to someone in Canary Walk is someone on $75K p.a.
10. Mr Rahman uses policies of segregation rather than integration – for example his “mother tongue” lessons. = no solution proposed.
11. The mayor of Newham (Sir Robin Wales) has recently accused him of bringing a form of apartheid to Tower Hamlets. He rarely speaks in the council meetings. He does not have the interests of the whole community at heart. Have you ever seen him at Canary Wharf standing up for the City, one of our country’s most important industries and a major source of the tax revenue that funds our public services? = how is this waffle going to improve the lives of TH people ?
12. Yes of course I want him out. But the answer is not to elect a different socialist administration under Labour. Their candidate John Biggs will keep his role on the London Assembly – we don’t need a part-time mayor. He ran the council for a number of years and the Labour Party created Rahman. Would you give a lighter back to a previous arsonist? = negative. What is your policy ?
13. The Tory candidate (Chris Wilford) has been parachuted in. He has no real background in the East End and is currently talking about potholes. We need something very different for Tower Hamlets – UKIP can be that difference. = negative. What is your policy ?
14. We will breathe new life into the borough with our policies. UKIP does not have a whip in local government, which gives our councillors freedom to fight for the specific things that matter to their electors. = waffle.
15. We are very different to the other parties. See my views on the decriminalisation of drugs to solve the heroin problem in the borough. I will use council resources to generate more money. = waffle. Einstein proved that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Where is the money coming from ? Fantasy world ?
16. See my vision for an East End Wonderland every year in Victoria Park. = where is this vision ?
17. I will introduce free breakfast clubs for primary school kids and after-school “Moses” clubs to bring together children from all backgrounds (Moses is a prophet to the Jews, Christians and Muslims). = where are the figures, the costs and the funding sources ?
18. I want grammar schools for the academically-gifted children and trade schools for those of a practical disposition so that they can learn the real skills they need to earn good money in the trades. = more bollocks. In other areas of England with grammar schools, kids from outside the boroughs have the majority of places leaving locals with dump schools as their only alternative. No mention of how to keep TH grammar places for TH kids.
19. I will support small businesses in the borough by easing the bureaucracy and making the council more responsive. I have been in business for most of my life so I know what it is like. And I will always stand up for Canary Wharf and oppose EU interference. The City gave me my start in life – I started a business providing the plants for their offices. = waffle. Canary Wharf is an international money-laundering centre. EU wants to stop all forms of money laundering within the EU.
20. I will support genuine civic groups as long as they are for the whole community, to promote integration rather than separation. = and your specific plans are ????
21. The conduct of the council meetings is a disgrace. UKIP will restore order and dignity to the proceedings. = how are you going to achive that, legally ?
22. I will bring in forensic accountants to go over the books and look for asset stripping and misappropriation, and I will prosecute those responsible. Those accountants will also find me millions of pounds of savings and I will be ruthless in cutting out waste. = more waffle. No council person, councillor or staff, leaves criminal evidence for invstigators to find. Everything in the books was agreed by council meetings. Millions of savings? Where will they come from specifically ?
23. I will support the arts in the borough and will find a permanent site for Old Flo.
= why does TH need arts when kids are starving, drug addicts congregate everywhere and crime is up despite what the police say ?
24. I know a lot of Bangladeshis – some of them are my next-door neighbours. They have promised me their vote because like the rest of the community they are fed up with the current system. Why should they be any different? Their kids are also being targeted by the heroin pushers. So yes, I have Bengali support. But no, we do not yet have any Bengali candidates. If anyone from that community is interested in standing for UKIP please contact me. = again devoid of substance.
25. Zero tolerance on heroin to protect our youth. = should be no tolerance on unlawful drugs full-stop … to protect everyone.
26. Abolish unnecessary expenditure on faith buildings. = why are faiths getting money the non-faiths don’t ?
27. Abolish “mother tongue” lessons. = bollocks. My mother tongue is English. Why should lessons in English be abolished ?
28. Abolish the mayoral car and highly-paid advisors. = How are you going to get around ? On a push-bike, even in th rain ?
29. Stop the translation of information into foreign languages, removing the need for council-funded translators. = agreed.
30. Scrap the East End Life propaganda newspaper = agreed.
31. Personal message from Nicholas ……………. = your voters message is ghastly. You are not one of them. You don’t even understand the issues like they experience every day.
Curious Cat
Sorry Curious, but *yawn*
I see from the comments left to date that members of some political parties are more than a little concerned.
My observation – as an independent and apolitical observer – is that the points made will capture the interest and quite a lot of the votes of those who have stopped voting.
I don’t disagree that there is little substance behind some of them – but that’s a point that could be made about the electoral promises of most politicians in this borough.
In other words I think all the political parties who have collectively failed to deliver an effective Council for Tower Hamlets (witness Councillors’ behaviour in Council Meetings and the personal extravagance and total non-accountability of the Mayor) for one reason and another should be very concerned.
People like a change……..
Yes, lets stir-up things. Everything is so bland and neglected. improvement is overdue.
Curious Cat
i dont know if you are old enough to remember in the 60`s when you could goto yhr doctor and get a prescriptsion for your drug,once they made it illegal,crime soared,dealers got rich….are we winning the war on drugs??????….how much does the world spend trying to stop it??..p.s think more people die from smokeing,booze,but that is taxed so theres money to be made out of them killers..!!!!…
Thinking a little more about this……
I’m very curious as to how many resident voters from the Bengali community will vote for UKIP. You never know this Council might provide a real challenge to the conventional notion of what UKIP represents.
The thing is, given its take up by the various people of a wide range of views from around the country, it seems to be becoming the party for those fed up with those in power and the traditional parties.
I think people need to start to take the “independence” bit in the party title seriously.
I’m not saying I support them – what I’m saying is that i think they provide a credible challenge to the party in charge – however that manifests itself. They seem to be rather chameleon like – they seem to take on the causes that local people think are important.
It just keeps reminding me of the Focus Party coup back in the 80s! It’s happened here before – the party that comes from nowhere to a credible number of seats followed at the next election by the takeover of the Council.
It should make for a very interesting election!
I know there is someone out there who is good at FoI requests to Tower Hamlets so could you look into grants that Rahman has given recently to some of his new recruits? Michael Ambrose and Kathy McTasny are worth a look as well as Operation Black Vote which is claiming to be running a mentoring scheme or something for Somalis in Tower Hamlets.
OBV is certainly a supporter of Rahman as the first BAME mayor in the country, Ambrose raises money for various charities and all recent donations would be worth scrutinising.
🙂
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/grants_to_ethnic_organisations
NOTES
(1) The council’s reply was sent in their email dated 17 March 2014 . The PDF was created on 20 February 2014.
(2) You are dealing with ‘polished, smooth Professionals’ who are deliberately not going to incriminate themselves. The questions need to be phrased in a different manner mindful of the devious ways money can be funnelled-out without raising suspicions – perhaps using a third party umbrella body ?
Curious Cat.
=> Mr Mad Mullah
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/grants_to_ethnic_organisations_n
Curious Cat
=> Mr Insane Mullah
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/grants_to_ethnic_organisations_n
———————————————
LBTH wrote at https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/grants_to_ethnic_organisations#incoming-493867
“Our Equality Policy Statement states that “as a service provider we will promote equality of opportunity and eliminate discrimination in the planning and delivery of our services in terms of age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation, health and income status.” There are situations where it is appropriate for a service to be targeted at people from one of these groups as part of a strategy to promote equality of opportunity. Such targeting is consistent with the Equality Act 2010. We do not centrally record all the services which operate in this way and we therefore are unable to provide the information you have requested.”
FOI QUESTIONS
(1) Please list all the services Tower Hamlets Council deals with which it considers to be included in Tower Hamlets Council’s “service to be targeted at people from one of these groups”.
(2) Please list all the money and other benefits, of any description, paid to the above mentioned groups in the current and preceding 2 years.
FOI NOTES
(A) LBTH is subject to the FOI Act 2000.
(B) LBTH, using public funds, is giving, spending, lending, donating or otherwise financial assisting the above groups.
(C) If LBTH wishes to be slovenly or incomplete in its record keeping and oversight of its activities made, ostensibly for the public good, that is not a lawful reason to deny the public access to council information. The public should not be penalised for the council’s habit of bad, partial or even no proper record keeping. There is no excuse in 2014 for LBTH being unable to account for every single penny of public funds it uses. “Not centrally held” is simply a lamentable and pitiful excuse for managerial incomptence and a manifestation of organisation and accountability failures.
Curious Cat
If they don’t have the information ask them instead for facsimile copies of all grant applications which are always required to state the purpose of the grant and the nature of the community who will benefit.
Thanks CC. You are almost certainly correct as Operation Black Vote masquerading as Black Londoners Forum managed to disappear over three hundred grand of public money through the Lee Jasper scams. It is still up and getting public money.
There are similar things happening with racial politics in London to what Rahman is doing in Tower Hamlets. Check out http://www.allpeoplesparty.co.uk. Does any one know anything about the founder Prem Goyal?
Word on the street: Rania Khan’s “resigned”.
If it was rats and sinking ships there’d be more noise. It’s isolated so probably it’s domestic issues. Her crusade (or should I say “jihad”) against “sex establishments” came to nothing, maybe she’ll blame that
So apart from the fact that he couldn’t create grammar schools or decriminalise Heroin (both would require Westminster legislation), and that I’m pretty sure that Sir George Iacebescu CBE, the Romanian born CEO of Canary Wharf Group would find the idea of sending back all the EU workers and companies pretty damn crazy, there’s not a lot here is there?
And Moses clubs? Nice idea, but … we know there’s a significant Muslim population and a significant Christian minority, and a tiny Jewish population in LBTH, but there are also significant numbers of Hindus, and plenty who have no religious affiliation at all – so what about them?
When GT gets stuck in defending the obviously failed status quo on the basis of a theoretical 0.1% “what about them” poor whatever’s minority who haven’t and wouldn’t even complain. Give us all a break please… it’s suddenly got WAY beyond a joke. How profoundly out of touch actually are Labour??? And anyone know this isn’t altruism or philosophy this is only ever pure electoral self interest so therefore may we discern that Labour are l actually concerned about UKIP? In Tower Hamlets??? It would demonstrably seem that they are – you couldn’t make it up you really couldn’t.
WTF? I’m not defending anyone. My views on education in LBTH are completely at odds with Tower Hamlets Labour Party(TBJ, pasim). I hold no position in the Labour Party and make no claims to represent them.
However, I will be voting Labour in the Mayoral and local council elections as I beleive John and the team of candidates have a vision that will deliver for all – far more so than the last three local government elections that I played a significant role in organising! I’m undecided about the Euros, strangely enough UKIP are probably closer to my views on the EU than any other party – but the discussion here just proves what a bunch of snivelling cock weasels they are.
I love the idea of Tower Hamlets Labour Party having “A VISION” like Gandhi, Abraham or bloody Confucius…
John Biggs et al don’t “share a vision” for anything. What this is – and lets be honest – is about Labour NEEDING to be back in power because then they can get straight back to work telling everyone that none of this ever happened (look in to my eyes/don’t look around me eyes) and what you think you know, well actually you don’t and what you really need now is some more ‘fairness’ and ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance’ and then you’ll feel better; and if you still don’t feel better than you must be “against change” and in that case a little mark will be made against your name in the electoral roll and you’ll be cleaved from the herd and left to die…
Labour so spectacularly failed to “deliver for all” when it was in power before that the circumstances which enabled the apartheid state of LBTH came about. The party was only interested in courting Bangladeshi votes because it thought it could manipulate them perpetually and quite systematically ignored all other constituencies. It is only now when it knows it has lost most of the Bangladeshi votes and actually it was it who was manipulated that it comes back begging to the rest of us saying that it and it alone is the saviour. It is such bollocks. It is rather like a husband being repeatedly unfaithful on the wife and then when his mistress dumps him (to go off with a bloke named George) he comes grovelling back, demanding to be taken back, and saying he never fancied the mistress anyway (look into my eyes/don’t look around my eyes, that’s it… eat this pill).
Yes, John Biggs is MARGINALLY better than Lucifer Rahman. The only reason he is better than Rahman though is that he is not Rahman. It will be pleasing to see Lutfur and some his vile associates turfed out of office but my issue is if I was to actually vote Labour again it would be like I had forgiven them for creating this shit in the first place. I would feel dirty and used. I think I would rather vote for another party and feel that at least I had some values even though Rahman might be re-elected, which he probably will be, even if I were to vote for Labour. Also, about half or more of the Labour Party (beyond THLP) actually think Rahman is a good thing and want to re-admit him… so how can voting for Labour be justified if the difference between Labour and Lutfur is really some sort of conjuring exercise and at some point Lutfur will be united with people whom I’m convinced are involved in the same plot he is (such as Sidiq Khan) ??
I think I want to keep my hands clean and be able to look my children in the eye so I am probably just going to vote for some other guy or spoil my ballot or burn it..I for one think the “Moses clubs” are at least an attempt at doing something because something desperately needs to be done to bridge the yawning divide between the Bangladeshi and non-Bangladeshi youth in the borough. This divide is there and worsening and being encouraged by the current regime with their exercises to increase use of mother-tongue and the like. I think the intention behind these Moses Clubs are exactly the sort of proposal we need from TH politicians and to dismiss them on the basis that people who are Hindu might be offended on the “progressive politics offence calculator” is idiotic. Something needs to be done to bring the racial/religious divide and John Biggs has not got any answers other than “trust me when I’m back in charge the strength of “my vision” will make everything better again…just watch the watch…you’re feeling very sleepy…”
I see Lutfur is speaking at the UN anti racists day on Saturday. He joins a cast of has beens, wannabess, Trots, Islamists and Diane Abbott. A more pathetic Z list of celebs it would be difficult to imagine.www.standuptoracism.org.uk. This is another SWP front that should be avoided like the plague.
All it needed was Ken Livingstone, Lee Grasper and George Galloway to complete the line up but even they seem to given it a body swerve. Interesting about Rania Khan if it is true, the next few days will tell.
Basically Marxism is being disguised and presented by “anti-racism” in the hope they can mislead some well meaning twat….and then brain wash them into their cult, like Scientologists or worse. It would be sad and laughable if they weren’t such a menace stirring up racial divisions in the way they do
What is also interesting GM is that they keep flogging a dead horse. Marxism has failed everywhere and yet they continue having their Marxism festival every year although this year it looks as UCU students have banned them over the rape allegations.
It must be terrible to have believed in the party and Trotsky all your life and then found it was all a waste of time and you could have done something useful with all those years.
Stuart Madewell is a prime example of this. He as been in every fringe group going and now is backing the mayor. Stuart, you plonker!
Yes poor old Stuart; a prima facie example of a wasted life.
Ted…I love this blog….Better than Corrie! LOL
Does anyone know how many different political groupings Rania Khan has been in since first elected in 2006?
Se started off in Respect, then defected to Labour and finally, at the moment anyway, took the money from Lutfur and went Independent. Now, unless she has resigned, she will be standing for Tower Hamlets First so that makes four.
You forget two others: she was a member of the SWP and she defected from Respect to Respect Independent before joining Labour. She left Respect after alleged sexist comments from Respect leader Abjol Miah who is now standing as her colleague for Tower Hamlets First.
Quite a cesspit of loyalties.
I’ve asked Rania if she’s standing and have had no reply so far, but I think she’s moving on to more sensible things in international relations, so good luck to her. She says some stupid things sometimes but I’m a fan.
Is she going to Syria? Please say yes. So excited!
I didn’t know she had been SWP as well. What is she doing in international relations whatever they are?
So has she resigned or not?
If she has, do you think her resignation might in some way be linked to the Panorama programme?
Maybe she’s making a move to distance herself?
The leader of UKIP say they want investment coming in from the rich Asian countries (and other rich states) but do not actually want to see the Asians and other investors walking down the street….. sorry mate can’t have both.
East Bengal isn’t a “rich Asian country”. Sorry mate can’t have both.
Silly. East Bengal is not a country.
WikiPedia states:
Bangladesh is very rich in poverty, floods, mudslides, corruption, wife-beating including wife beating, female gentile mutilation etc. etc. Slowly Bangladesh is modernising itself but women and girls are definitely considered to be less important than men.
Goodness gratuitous Sahib. Why on earth do you think the Bangladeshi mayor lives in the West ? He would never get away with in in his native country 🙂
Curious Cat
Bangladesh is a total dump, no wonder they want to come and live here.