Results tagged “Lutfur Rahman”

By Peter Golds

I was not surprised when Mayor Lutfur Rahman used his power to increase spending on his private office to £700,000.

However, on opening my most recent Freedom of Information request on how much he spends on personal spin doctors, even I was taken back that just one of these is paid £51,000 per year for what appears to be part time work.

By Lutfur Rahman

Although there were no local elections in London last week, there is no doubt that the political map in England has been changed by the surge in support for the UK Independence Party.

It would be foolish to dismiss the anger many ordinary voters feel for the established political parties.

By Lutfur Rahman

April 1 is traditionally the time for April Fool jokes. But for thousands of people in our borough experiencing life at the sharp end, the huge welfare changes announced by the Government on April 1 are no laughing matter. As Mayor, I am determined that my administration will do all it can to continue to protect the vulnerable in our borough.

Tower Hamlets Labour Party have picked John Biggs as their candidate for the borough's mayoral elections next year.

Biggs is currently a London Assembly member for City and the East and has led the borough council in the past. He now takes on Lutfur Rahman for control of the £1.2billion budget.

By Peter Golds

The sums involved in the budget of a local authority such as Tower Hamlets are now so vast that one gets perspective by paraphrasing Joseph Stalin, "one pound is of interest, one million is a statistic". When I recently received the information that in just six months the mayor and some of his supporters had managed to spend over £7,000 in taxi fares, I was shocked but not surprised.