A note for readers…
This is a personal blog, which aims to scrutinise the powers that be in Waltham Forest, from the Council (hereafter London Borough of Waltham Forest or LBWF), both elected members and staff; to our MP... »
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Cllr. Ahsan Khan and a Mayoral reception to honour ‘a friend of mine’ UPDATED
Browsing YouTube at the weekend, I was amused to come across this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9fLay0VLbE It is a short film shot in the Town Hall, at which Waltham Forest’s Mayor honours a... »
LBWF Leader Chris Robbins and Syrian refugees: the same old same old
Back in October 2015, the Leader of LBWF, Cllr. Chris Robbins, went public with a pledge to house Syrian refugees. The Waltham Forest Guardian story started with his picture in large format – &#... »
Ex-mayor Cllr. Saima Mahmud and her ‘receptions to honour’ at the Town Hall
The recent fuss about Cllr. Ahsan Khan has revealed that the 2015-16 Mayor, Cllr. Saima Mahmud, habitually hosted receptions in the Town Hall, at which supposedly distinguished visitors were honoured ... »
‘Cllr. Khan cleared’ shock, and other Labour Party witterings
In what surely must be the biggest surprise since Leicester won the Premiership, it appears that barrister Jonathan Auburn’s no doubt thorough review has cleared Cllr. Ahsan Khan of any wrongdoing, an... »
LBWF Chief Executive Martin Esom responds to my questions re the Cllr. Ahsan Khan affair
I post Mr. Esom’s responses below. Much of what he writes is self-evidently vague, and seems to have been written with the explicit aim of avoiding giving anything away, hardly appropriate in the ligh... »
Waltham Forest Labour and anti-semitism (1)
The Waltham Forest Guardian is reporting that the Labour Party has suspended Walthamstow activist David Watson, with a statement reading: ‘“An individual member of Walthamstow Labour Party has been su... »
John Cryer MP’s lacklustre Parliamentary record UPDATED
I have periodically joked that, so rarely is John Cryer seen or heard locally, he must love his sleep. Now the website They Work For You provides some hard data to chew upon, and largely confirms my s... »
Extremism in Waltham Forest: a quick roundup of the recent lowpoints
It has been a busy few months on the extremism front in Waltham Forest, so here is a short roundup of the major stories that have been featured on this blog (links to the full versions are pasted bene... »
Academies, George Tomlinson Primary, and LBWF Interim Director of School Standards Rosalind Turner UPDATED
Earlier this week, a reliable contact in the Town Hall rang me to say that some Labour councillors seemed spooked by the stance being taken by LBWF’s Interim Director of School Standards, Rosalind Tur... »
Cllr. Robbins on the Private Eye and Guido Fawkes allegations about Cllr. Ali
I reprint below some correspondence that I have had with Cllr. Chris Robins, Leader of LBWF, concerning allegations involving his close colleague Cllr. Liaquat Ali and the latter’s family. Most of Cll... »