Results tagged “Views”

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.

By Jim Fitzpatrick

The biggest political contest will take place in London between Boris and Ken for the Mayoralty of this great City this year.

Both David Cameron and more so Ed Miliband are nailing their colours to the masts of their respective candidates but Ed must have more to lose if Ken Livingstone doesn't pull it off.

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.

By Jim Fitzpatrick

The City - and I include Canary Wharf as part of this financial and economic landscape - can be a very confusing vista for Joe Public.

It's ironic that such a big global world of finance is such a small world, unknown and quite unknowable to most people. It has therefore been interesting to receive a number of emails in support of a "Robin Hood Tax".

By Peter Golds

Writing on Remembrance Day, my mind turns to the heroes. One of those was Tommy Flowers, born in 1905 in Abbott Road, Poplar.

He was the son of a bricklayer and, through night school, earned a degree in engineering and went to work for the Post Office.

By Lutfur Rahman

One of the most short-sighted policies that the Conservative-led Government has pushed through has been the abolition of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).

Some £30 a week may not sound much to millionaire cabinet ministers, but it does to our young people, especially in Tower Hamlets.

By Jim Fitzpatrick

Parliament operates at so many different levels. Prime Minister's Questions, debates, committees, all-party groups' meetings on every conceivable subject. And we are open to all. This week I've been lobbied by a constituent asking me to support the Tory rebels on Europe; teachers lobbying on the unfairness of the Tory-led Coalition's proposals for their pensions and youngsters making a film about youth unemployment. 

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.

By Jim Fitzpatrick

Tower Hamlets' bid to achieve city status continues to gather pace.

Odds on the borough have tumbled from the opening 40/1 against, and we are now considered to be one of the top bids seeking to catch Her Majesty's attention when she decides next year in celebration of her Diamond Jubilee.

I attended the opening of the new Stratford City shopping centre.

It is impressive, with 300 shops and restaurants, hotels, a cinema, bowling, and a casino and offices to come. Another DLR extension has opened to help get people in and out. On the opening day it was so crowded it was almost impossible to move.

Last week a group of Island residents and I, as local councillor, were involved in an outstanding piece of cross borough working for the benefit of Islanders.

As reported in The Wharf, a business was seeking licensing to operate a section of the Greenwich foreshore as a place of entertainment.

By John Biggs

The dust has settled a little following the recent disturbances, and maybe we can begin to be more thoughtful. I have two big worries.

First, that the reputational damage will affect jobs, employment and the positive image of London. This is vitally important for such an open city.

By Jim Fitzpatrick

Compared to other parts of London, Tower Hamlets got off lightly in the recent riots - but not if you were one of the victims, either personally or through your business.

The Prime Minister David Cameron focused on gang culture as the root of many of our problems. I agree with him.

Last week we reported on the conviction of two Muslim youngsters who spray-painted over the naked flesh of advertising models.

While their actions were clearly criminal, they were at least underpinned by some sense of morality.

By Jim Fitzpatrick

If one had stopped to think over years of the many and varied ways in which investigative journalists have obtained and fleshed out their articles and exposés, it would have been clear that some sharp practises were used to make the splash as eye-catching, lurid or dramatic as possible. But things take a vastly more sinister turn for the worst when a missing child's phone is hacked.

By Peter Golds

The funeral has taken place of one of our local unsung heroes.

Former councillor and mayor Barry Blandford recently died aged 77 and his funeral was on Friday.

He was devoted to the people of this borough, where he had lived all his life.

By Jim Fitzpatrick

I recently co-sponsored a debate in the House on circus animals. This was business with which I'd been dealing, as a minister, just before the election, but which we didn't have time to finish. Mark Pritchard, Tory MP for The Wrekin, Bob Russell, Lib-Dem for Colchester, and I jointly pressed the Government to ban wild animals in circuses.

By Peter Golds

Politicians require the media to exist, while both fearing and loathing it in almost equal measures. The Wharf invites a local politician to write each week.

The editor does not decide what we write. He will continue to publish stories and editorials about which we can agree or disagree.

By Jim Fitzpatrick

Tower Hamlets' churches gathered last Friday to celebrate social initiatives in the borough. Street Pastors, Tower Hamlets Foodbank and the Night Shelter could all be described as Big Society items but these initiatives pre-dated the Coalition and were not designed to replace gaps in services caused by cutting public spending too fast, too deep.