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 suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation by the national party. We condemn anti-Semitism and racism of all kinds but cannot comment further until the Party investigation has concluded.”’... »
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 suspicions: Mr. Cryer’s Parliamentary record is indeed lacklustre. The bare bones are as follows. Mr. Cryer, it turns out: ‘Has spoken in 15 debates in the last year — well below average amongst ... »
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 beneath). The material of course largely speaks for itself. One point is important though. LBWF Chief Executive Martin Esom claims some expertise in counter-extremism work, and chairs the London Prevent B... »
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 Turner, and more generally were nervous about what they perceived as the ‘academisation’ of Waltham Forest schools. Indeed, my contact told me, the rumour circulating was that Cabinet member Cllr. Mark R... »
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 Cllr. Robbins’ response to me, it hardly needs saying, is irrelevant, but I am struck by the line about ‘as a matter of routine’ not responding to ‘either publication’. The allegations made are serious o... »
Word reaches me that earlier in the week Labour councillors were circulated with an e-mail which announced that Cllr. Ahsan Khan, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, had stepped down from the Cabinet, pending an independent investigation by the LBWF Monitoring Officer. What appears to have happened is that Cllr. Khan organised an event in the Town Hall, attended by the Mayor, which was then t... »
A local Labour Party mole writes in as follows: ‘When Labour was re-elected at the 2014 council elections, it was assumed by many insiders that this would be Chris Robbins’ last term as Leader. Speculation turned to the succession, with Clare Coghill and Mark Rusling generally believed to be the leading contenders. However, those who knew Robbins well were always sceptical, because he previo... »
The LBWF councillor code of conduct requires each member to answer questions on a register of interest form at the beginning of their term of office, and then update as necessary, with the results being published on the authority’s website. In 2012, the Waltham Forest Guardian reported that councillors were finding this requirement challenging. Some had missed out crucial details, with, for exampl... »
From Private Eye, no. 1408, 19 December 2015 – 7 January 2016: »
I have written before about Cllr. Johar Khan, noting in particular his puzzling relationship with the by now notorious E11 BID Co.. This afternoon, the Waltham Forest Guardian reports ‘A Labour Party spokesman’ as saying: ‘“We can confirm Cllr Khan has been suspended pending the result of an investigation.”’ Coincidentally, in the last few days, I have received an anonymous... »