Posts

Labour takes William Morris, and Cllr. Marie Pye stirs the pot

June 30, 2017 Cllr. Afzal Akram, Cllr. Marie Pye, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

The results of the William Morris ward by-election are in, with Labour unknown Umar Ali romping home, followed by the Green’s Rebecca Tully, and our man, Walthamstow ‘born and bread’ Afzal Akram, bringing up the rear. Labour supporters are predictably jubilant on social media, but there is one puzzling comment that is worthy of note. In an extended interchange, a peer of Mr. Akram makes the observation that ‘Afzal should have not stood’, to which Cllr. Marie Pye responds: Of course, today Cllr. Pye is almost a forgotten figure, having for some reason fallen precipitously out of favour, but it is worth recalling that at one time she and Mr. Akram were close colleagues at the apex ... »

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Cllr. Liaquat Ali’s new Cabinet role: a square peg in a round hole?

June 28, 2017 Cllr. Clare Coghill, Cllr. Liaquat Ali, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

A couple of weeks ago, the incoming LBWF Leader Clare Coghill announced her first Cabinet, and one of the most notable developments is that she has moved Cllr. Liaquat Ali MBE JP from the community safety portfolio to take on ‘Transformation and Commercial Operations’, covering everything from ‘digital and smart technology’, via ‘revenues and benefits’, and ‘civil contingencies’, to ‘financial sustainability’. This is self-evidently an exacting and complex brief, requiring detailed technical expertise, and it is reasonable to ask whether Cllr. Ali is an appropriate appointment. It needs to be pointed out straightaway that Cll.Ali has considerable experience of local government matters, havin... »

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The forthcoming William Morris by-election: ex-Labour Titan Afzal Akram bounces back as a Tory (and with a bang) UPDATED

June 15, 2017 Cllr. Afzal Akram, Cllr. Liaquat Ali

Politicians in Waltham Forest are often good for a laugh, and the forthcoming William Morris ward by-election is not short of crackers. Labour is standing Umar Ali, brother of the recently deceased Nadeem (a thoroughly decent man, by all accounts), and son of Liaquat, the third in command of the party’s Town Hall contingent of councillors. Umar seems to have kept a low profile in the past, and so many are wondering what he has to offer. Questions are also being asked about how he arrived at the candidature, since no one seems to be sure when the selection process occurred, and who was involved – though it is fair to add that the Labour Party nowadays often does things in rather ad hoc ... »

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Council Leader Clare Coghill, trader Asghar Jilow, and the controversy over Walthamstow Street Market

June 12, 2017 Cllr. Clare Coghill, Mini Holland

In recent months, there has been a good deal of controversy about the future of Walthamstow’s famous street market and the shops that surround it. LBWF is involved in a strategic review, but many traders remain unimpressed, arguing that this is pointless because it fails to address two debilitating problems, which they believe are Mini-Holland and the authorities’ failure to clamp down on crime and ant-social behaviour. One trader, Asghar Jilow, has been especially vocal, and I reproduce below (with permission) some of his correspondence with the new LBWF Leader, Cllr. Clare Coghill. What is particularly interesting about this, perhaps, is less the issues themselves, and more the way that Mr... »

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Knife crime in Waltham Forest: a nasty little scandal (4)

June 9, 2017 Gang Prevention Programme, Policing/crime

Responding to my follow up e-mail to members of the Community Safety Scrutiny Committee, its chair, Cllr. Masood Ahmad states as follows: ‘Just to confirm, the Scrutiny Committee for Communities has not received any data relating to Sanction Detection Rates during the year. However, I would like to reassure you that we looked at a range of performance indicators relating to community safety, which include data on the total number of recorded crimes, the number of “MOPAC 7” offences, and the number of re-offences by the gang cohort being targeted by the Gangs Programme. We also looked at other data relating to violent crime as part of our inquiry into the gang prevention programme, whic... »

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