Opinion

In a borough marked by unique challenges, Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman and the local council find themselves under renewed government scrutiny, prompting questions about the motivations behind this external review. As concerns mount, the mayor’s resilient leadership and the council’s commitment to progress come to the forefront, despite growing critique and speculation. The government’s decision to initiate a review …

In a recent interview on LBC, Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, made statements that have ignited a storm of controversy and raised questions about the party’s stance on international law and human rights. These remarks, and the subsequent response, also highlight the significant role of Tower Hamlets Labour in enabling Keir Starmer’s leadership, with the endorsement of …

Here we go again. The witch-hunt that never really stopped, starts again with subtle questions and innuendos to rebuild a prejudiced case instead of analysing and learning from Aspire’s success in booting out the incompetent and seemingly arrogant administration of Labour party from power in Tower Hamlets. In a transparent and successful May 2022 local elections in Tower Hamlets, Aspire …

By Lutfur Rahman Running from Whitechapel Road to Shoreditch, Brick Lane’s rich history can be read from every corner of its mile-long stretch. It has existed since the 15th Century, and has welcomed many different cultures over the centuries. It forms the beating heart of Spitalfields, in London’s old East End. Long, winding, and narrow – a walk down it …

Would you like a person who is chosen by a group of councillors to be the leader of the council? This would mean you will have no choice in who this person will be, this will be a change from how the council is run now. Or would you like the council to be run by a person who is …

Why I object to the Black Asian Minorities Inequalities Report by Tower Hamlets Council, noted by the Mayor and Cabinet on the 24th March 2021. And why I will be seeking support to challenge the decision on the report, asking for a genuine debate. Orientalism Revisited: We are not all Abduls! 43 years after Edward Said’s seminal work, Orientalism. It …

Recently Tower Hamlets Council published its ‘Inequality Commission’ report on racial disparities. Speaking to grassroots stakeholders and those who took part, the report and process raise more questions than it answers. In Tower Hamlets, 10 years after the Equalities Act, how did we come to this? Enemy identified, war waged, victory declared: Long live #AntiRacist Tower Hamlets! Looking at the …

The climate change crisis is a fact. The problem of air pollution is a fact. Then why are working-class voices and perspectives silenced in the debate in Tower Hamlets?  The rejection by Tower Hamlets Council of a cross-party call-in, challenging the Mayor’s decision on Bow Liveable Streets might give us some answers. Cancel Culture Tower Hamlets – Call in on …

By Lutfur Rahman Ask the average Tower Hamlets resident what politicians should prioritise in 2021 and not many would say changing the constitutional structure of local government! And yet, in a few months, residents will vote on whether to abolish the Mayoral structure and replace it with a Leader Cabinet structure in a referendum that will cost them £350,000. Under …

The latest statistical release from the NHS released on the 4th of March shows that Tower Hamlets in terms of vaccine roll-out is below the national average in all priority age groups and, in all wards, in some areas 20% below the national average. What do these numbers say, and why are some people comfortably numb about it? Behind the …

Is equality under law being applied by Tower Hamlets Council in regard to Shamima. If so, why are they refusing to carry out a Serious Case Review? Or is Shamima and others like her, an ‘exception’ to the rule? “[The] Sovereign is he who decides on the exception.” – Carl Schmitt  The Rule of Law in Britain is something all …

A look at low traffic neighbourhoods (Liveable Streets), are bike-induced road closures creating a new “tale of two cities” in Tower Hamlets? With details of cross-party Tribunal to look at the issue. Forty years ago, inner-city areas of England were facing their worst economic depression, rising unemployment and rising tensions. There was an economic recession throughout the country, but inner-city …

Details of new Cross-Party Inquiry in Tower Hamlets Ten years ago the Single Equalities Act was passed by Parliament, simplifying the law by bringing together all anti-discrimination laws and creating a public sector duty to tackle entrenched discrimination. It was hailed at the time as the biggest idea in progressive politics for the decade, as a move by the political …

I’ve lived in Tower Hamlets all my life and I love it. I’m voting for Labour and Sadiq Khan because if the Conservatives win Tower Hamlets will be too expensive to live and poor people like me will be kicked out. I’m already struggling to pay the rent and council tax but if the Conservatives get in it will get …

The Tower Hamlets that was resisting the plots of the Conservative government’s deficit reduction perforations not too long ago, signed off ‘difficult decisions’ for front line services as Tower Hamlets Labour party mayor John Biggs’ austerity toxin locates its first victims. The victims of the budget – passed by a 21/17 majority on the 24th of February – are familiar …