Results tagged “Lutfur Rahman”

By Lutfur Rahman

London's East End will play host to two great national and international events this year: the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations and, of course, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Games will bring all sorts of new and hopefully lasting opportunities in their wake.

Tower Hamlets' Mayor Lutfur Rahman is to allow corporate and commercial events in three Isle of Dogs parks sparking fears that local communities will find their access restricted.

Millwall Park, Sir John McDougal Gardens and Island Gardens are among a number of parks in the borough to be hired out, raising up to £200,000 a year for the Council.

By Peter Golds

The most recent Tower Hamlets Council meeting was held on the same day as the Chancellor's Autumn Statement.

At a time of financial crisis, a local council meeting can appear parochial, but that is the reason for its existence.

Victoria Park in Tower Hamlets is one of three open spaces selected to be at the heart of London Live - the extravaganza celebrating the arrival of the Olympic Games in the capital.

It will join Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square in being transformed by event promoters Live Nation into giant fan parks with the sport screened live, free entertainment and activities to take part in.

Tower Hamlets bid to become a city received a high profile boost at a Parliamentary reception last night hosted by Limehouse and Poplar MP Jim Fitzpatrick.

The borough is seeking to be awarded city status as part of The Queen's Diamond Jubilee next year, and the event - held on the House of Commons terrace - celebrated its history and achievements.

There's some financial respite for residents of Tower Hamlets after Mayor Lutfur Rahman confirmed Council Tax is to be frozen for the third year in a row.

The freeze has yet to be ratified by the full Council and will be discussed over the coming months before going for a vote next spring.

Scrapping the Education Maintenance Grant was, "a mean spirited and short-sighted action by this government," according to Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman.

Yesterday he announced a new scheme to fill the gap felt by students in the poorest borough in the country.

By Peter Golds

Once in a while even Tower Hamlets Council can leave one lost for words. Earlier this year an ominous paper was approved by the Executive Mayor regarding using the borough's parks for revenue raising.

The result was that Victoria Park was used for a series of concerts.

By Lutfur Rahman

Our borough, Tower Hamlets, has a record to be proud of when it comes to standards in local schools.

Pupils secured their best ever results this summer and some 62 per cent achieved five A* to C passes in Maths and English.

Plans to make merry at a memorial to dead servicemen and women have been shelved after Tower Hamlets council vetoed Christmas party proposals by Moving Venue.

The events company specialise in organising functions at unique London locations and had applied for a licence for a series of commercial parties at Mariners' memorial Trinity Garden Square in Tower Hill.

Two lucky youngsters from Tower Hamlets have bagged themselves the hottest tickets around.

Young people in the borough were invited to design their own Olympic poster to celebrate the 2012 Games, with the winners offered a pair of exclusive tickets to next year's Games.

Tower Hamlets politicians have condemned the violence that has occurred across the borough in the last 24 hours.

Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse Jim Fitzpatrick and Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman have both promised that everything is being done to try and safeguard people and property in the area from rioters.

The Isle of Dogs didn't escape last night's rioting with looters stealing £15,000 of goods from a Tesco store and four cars being burned out on the Timber Wharf estate.

The violence began at around 10.25pm when a gang of up to 60 youths attacked Tesco Express in Pepper Street.

An English Defence League march through Tower Hamlets should be banned, according to activists and politicians.

Anti-fascist campaigners held a rally at Whitechapel's London Muslim Centre calling for Government to step in and stop the event.

An Isle of Dogs councillor defected from the Conservative Party to join Tower Hamlets' Mayor Lutfur Rahman's team.

Maium Miah, Conservative councillor for Millwall, has left the party to become Mr Rahman's executive advisor for the Third Sector and Community Engagement.

A rally calling for the Home Secretary to ban the English Defence League marching through Tower Hamlets is being held in the borough this evening.

Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman is assembling a coalition of residents from every faith and non-faith background, community activists and trade unionists to meet in Whitechapel.

Residents of Tower Hamlets can now add their names to the borough's bid for city status.

The council have launched a petition to back the campaign which has competition from 25 other candidates including Blackpool, Middlesborough and Reading.

Let's hope it wasn't an ominous omen but the rain poured down today as Tower Hamlets officially launched its bid to be granted city status.

The Tower of London was the venue for the ceremony to mark the borough's fight to win the honour, which will be awarded next year to mark The Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

Tower Hamlets - for all its many ills - should have as good a chance as its rivals to become a city.

Less historic than the City of London, less glamorous than the City of Westminster, it still stands head and shoulders above the suburban conformity of a Reading or the dourness of a Middlesbrough.

The Olympic Torch will hit the capital first in Tower Hamlets after a tour around the country.

The decision was part of a deal struck in February to compensate for the loss of the Marathon route.

The agreement, reached by Lord Coe, chairman of Olympic organiser Locog, and Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman saw the borough reap a number of cultural and employment benefits from the Olympics.