Lib Dems talent shines through

It seems the Walthamstow Lib Dems continue to crawl from under their stone two years after their self destruction at the polls in May 2010.

A number of wards in Walthamstow have been receiving Lib Dem calendars announcing their teams. The Chapel End calendar is particularly interesting. (Click image left for full view).

The team consists of, former councillor Sean Meiszner (rumoured to have blubbered like a baby after losing his seat in Higham Hill ward), former Walthamstow Lib Dem Chair, Matt Lake (rumoured to have resigned during the 2010 election campaign when he became aware of the shenanigans of The Scarlet Pimpernel) and Tulat Raja.

Such is the talent of this ‘team’ that we understand the Chapel End Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) have received a number of complaints about the accuracy of the calendars content .

Meiszner, Lake and Raja aspire to run Waltham Forest Council yet do not have the intelligence to proof read the document delivered in their names. The Chapel End calendar lists the High Street SNT!

Even funnier is Meiszner’s website lists, as his contact, the email address of one of the former Chapel End Councillors he, and his cronies, were responsible for expelling from the Lib Dems – Bob Belam.

With such talent Waltham Forest will be safe in Lib Dem hands!!!

Labour Council Honours Truth Will Out

For many years the Labour Party has waged a campaign to stifle freedom of expression by pumping millions of pounds of local tax payers money into the Councils ‘pravda style‘ publication – Waltham Forest News (WFN).

It is said the ultimate aim, started by former Council leader, Cllr Clyde Loakes, and continued by ‘Strong Leader’, Cllr Chris Robbins, is to rid Waltham Forest of the free press such as The Guardian.

So it is with some pride that we have heard that access to this website, by Council staff, has been blocked by our Stalinist rulers.

A GREAT HONOUR INDEED!!!

THANK YOU CLLR ROBBINS 

Liberals find their voice

Four months after the relaunch of the Waltham Forest Liberal Party they have finally had something to say.

Former Waltham Forest Councillor, James O’Rourke, suggests he was responsible for getting the council to collect rubbish left “festering for the last three weeks” and is quoted as saying “Cllr Loakes has presided over the introduction of a contractor worse than the previous contractor – Verdant. Something I thought would not have been possible.”

He may well be correct?

Do we remember some years ago when the refuse collection contract was transferred from in-house to Verdant? Remember the uproar on blogs and local newspapers?

We do. The then politician responsible for bin collection was former councillor, Bob Belam. Bloggers and commentators filled Waltham Forest Guardian’s website with hundreds of criticisms – much of it threatening and personal – in what looked decidedly like a ‘politically’ [sic] organised campaign and also included many of Mr Belam’s former political colleagues!

What intrigues us is the ‘uproar’ to ‘Loakes the Jokes’ latest wheeze of engaging Kier to collect the boroughs refuse. Over three Guardian web articles a mere 31 comments have been recorded.

The lack of ‘official opposition’ in Waltham Forest from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats leads us to conclude, sadly, that we will have to watch the Labour Party destroy our borough until our next opportunity to remove them at the May 2014 local elections.

Waltham Forest deserves, and needs, to have elected people who put the boroughs interests above that of Party or personal interests.

Brown Envelopes

Politicians’ promises of transparency juxtaposes the reality of their actions. However, it is not actually transparency itself that is the most important thing. Transparency concerns us because it has a purpose. The purpose of transparency is accountability.

So it’s no surprise to hear that those accountable to us, Waltham Forest council and the Greater London Authority (GLA), have been negotiating behind the scenes to secure a pledge from property developer, London & Quadrant, of £1.75 million for improvements at Waltham Forest Pool & Track if it builds a residential estate at Walthamstow Stadium.

Two publicly funded organisations secretly negotiating with another publicly funded organisation to secure £1.75 million of taxpayers money as a ‘sweetener’ in return for guaranteed planning permission! Is there a connection to Councillor Marie Pye’s removal from her cabinet job for housing after her persistent denials that she was in secret talks with London & Quadrant?

Now, lets suppose the millionaire behind the Save Our Stow campaign was in similar secret discussions. He would undoubtedly be accused of bribery which could result in criminal charges.

The bottom line seems that ‘brown envelopes’ from publicly funded property developers is acceptable.

If, or rather when, London & Quadrant gets planning permission, even though a GLA report states that L&Q’s proposals do not

On balance…comply with the London Plan

it should be subject to Waltham Forest’s Section 106 policy. (Click here for general definition of Section 106).

Our fear is that that this deal will severley jeopardize the quota for affordable housing and valuable funding for infrastature (health provision, roads and schools) in and around The Stow to cover up the Waltham Forest Labour Party’s shortsightedness and ineptitude of not securing Olympic funding for Waltham Forest Pool & Track and the lack of meaningful regeneration in our borough.

The only transparency offered by the Waltham Forest Labour Party is that of its commitment to dodgy deals in the hope of electoral success at the next local elections.

Reward for failure

In a recent article we covered the publication of a damning Ofsted report which stated that vulnerable children in Waltham Forest have been put at risk due to council failures.

As a consequence the two senior Council Officers responsible swiftly ‘left’ their jobs no doubt with the blessings of the Labour Party and a large golden handshake.

Failure is almost always punished in real sports; in the shameless sport of politics, it is often no impediment.

Jon Ralston 

The latest example in Waltham Forest is the announcement that two fairly inept and failing Councillors have swapped jobs.

We agree with Archipelago of Truth that this shows (forgive us for another sporting analogy!) the strength in depth of the Labour team – or more accurately the lack of it!

But is this the entire story?

Why is Cllr Saima Mahmud still in the cabinet following her spectacular failure as Cabinet Member for Children and Young People? Could it be that her father has significant influence in the Waltham Forest Labour Party both financially and otherwise?

So what of Cllr Marie Pye who is no stranger to controversy? This is the Councillor who represents Waltham Forest Council on the London & Quadrant Housing Trust – Regional Committee and supports their plans for ‘The Stow’ and has her red sofa transported around the borough, at our expense, even though rumour has it she is not registered as disabled.

It seems if you are connected to the Waltham Forest Labour Party failure is an option; and can be well rewarded!

Once Upon a Time…

…at the beginning of this year Waltham Forest’s Head of Communications was summoned to a meeting to discuss her redundancy.

Suddenly, the Labour Party casts a spell, ‘Evanesco’, and the meeting is transformed into an interview for the post of Assistant Director of Strategy and Communications.

The only  ‘candidate’, Kathryn Myers, was given the job which attracted a salary between £71,000 and £127,000 a year.

Even the Conservative leader, Cllr Matt Davis, was subjected to Labour’s ‘Stupefy‘ spell as he was on the ‘interview’ panel.

7 months later we hear Kathryn Myers took voluntary redundancy as part of the authority’s restructuring plans earlier this month.

It seems the Labour Party looks after its own. By promoting Myers from Head of Communications to  Assistant Director of Strategy and Communications her redundancy package must of improved dramatically.

To add insult to injury it is alleged that the council is planning to give senior officers pay rises while cutting the wages of its lowest paid staff.

There are two things that spring to mind

1. An once of hypocrisy is worth a pound of ambition (in this case literally)
2. Waltham Forest needs strong and competent opposition to challenge Labour’s excesses.

Council’s Legal Eagle flys away

Waltham Forest Council’s Director of Governance and Law, Terry Osborne, is leaving to take another job after a mere eighteen months in post.

It seems Ms Osborne will not be missed as it is rumoured she was not well liked because of her over zealous behaviour.

We are led to believe an example of such behaviour was when Ms Osbourne threatened former councillor, James O’Rourke, with the Standards Board after he wrote an article on his blog entitled  ‘Council Cowardice’ just before the 2010 local elections. The on-line Waltham Forest Guardian picked the story up but then quickly dropped it before Mr O’Rourke’s article was also removed. Thankfully Mr O’Rourke’s article was copied by a regular contributer to this site, Nick Tiratsoo – click here to read it.

We understand that a comprehensive multi-agency enforcement operation,  relating to thirty flats built without planning permission in Walthamstow was called off at very short notice before the 2010 elections, apparently because Ms Osbourne thought it might be overly political –  ‘purdah’.

Disgracefully, sixteen months after Ms Osbornes ‘political concerns’ there has still been no action against those who built and currently rent out the thirty illegal flats. Interestingly, there has been no official comments from two High Street Councillors who are prominent in the housing market in the area

Inside ilegal flats

Cllr Liaquat Ali who is reputed to have a significant portfolio of ‘legitimate’ property in High Street ward and whose business premises, in St James Street, backs on to the illegal flats.

Cllr Mahmood Hussain whose business is in Hoe Street and has a significant rental portfolio in High Street ward

We sincerely hope that the ‘political concerns’ did not relate to rumours circulating that one or both of the above councillors have a connection to these illegal and unsafe buildings. We agree with Nick Tiratsoo’s comments, on one of our previous articles, that this matter “surely needs investigation.”

Ms Osbourne is not unfamiliar with controversy so we wish her future employers the best of luck.

Labour lemmings

Vulnerable children in Waltham Forest have been put at risk due to council failures, a damning Ofsted report has found following an unannounced inspection of its children and young people’s services department in June.

A result of this failure is the department’s deputy director, Linda Cointepas, has left the authority by “mutual agreement” and executive director, Chris Kiernan (allegedly a card carrying Labour supporter), is to ‘retire’ at the end of this month. Both, no doubt, with largess ‘golden handshakes’.

But what of the politicians responsible for this service?

The Labour Party have been responsible for this critical area of the councils services for well over a decade yet the current Portfolio Lead for Children and Young People, Cllr Saima Mahmud, has left commenting to a ‘spokesperson’.

We don’t expect the chair of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee, Cllr Ebony Vincent, to give this serious matter full and proper attention as we understand she is more interested in reporting to the Scrutiny Management Committee her activities with Walthamstow MP, Stella Creasy, and Cllr Mahmud!

Ironically, Leyton & Wanstead Labour MP, John Cryer, has an article on his website accusing Boris Johnson and the Government of “…shredding our services and putting our children’s futures at risk!”

Previous Councillors responsible for Children and Young People services are the councils ‘strong leader’, Chris Robbins (allegedly close friend of Chris Kiernan) and Liaquat Ali. Enough said!!!

Sham…bolic Consultation

A twelve week ‘consultation‘ in regards the future of Waltham Forest Library and Information Service may be proved to be a sham following rumours received by the Truth Will Out team.

Just six weeks ago Cabinet member for Leisure, Arts and Culture, Cllr Geraldine Reardon, said of the consultation  “First and foremost we must stress that no decision has yet been made and that these are still proposals” and the Councils consultation page states “The results of this consultation will be taken into account when a final decision is made.”

Whilst Labour politicians (fighting against low pay, workplace injustice and unemployment!!) are saying one thing in public we have been led to believe that  staff at South Chingford Library were told, in a recent meeting, it closes on 23rd December 2011. So what of Cllr Reardon’s assertion that “we will, of course, encourage as many residents and employees as possible to take part” if the decision has already been made?

If true, ‘Strong Leader’, Cllr Chris Robbins, champion of the working class, should advise Cllr Reardon that her position is untenable for presiding over a sham consultation and remove her from cabinet.

If you wish to contribute to the ‘consultation’ click here to fill in the online form by no later than 9th September 2011.

Note: The Labour Party are not novices at closing libraries in Waltham Forest – Friday Hill and St James Street libraries are just two examples.

Perception of Waltham Forest

The adage of “Any press is good press” sadly does not reflect how Waltham Forest is being perceived by the rest of the United Kingdom at the moment.

A woman is refused entry to a ‘Community Summer fete’ as she was inappropriately dressed.

Could this be the thin end of a wedge where one group of Muslims enforce their view of Islamic rules/rituals/laws on Muslims and non-Muslims alike?

• Was this a Community or private event?
• Did the Council agree to Noor Ul Islam’s ‘dress code’ on public land?
• How much did  Noor Ul Islam pay to hire this public area?
• Did the Council contribute to the cost of the event?

Insurers are forcing Walthamstow residents to pay a premium on their home insurance due to a perceived threat of terrorism.                           

Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy is absolutely right to say “To exploit the sensitive and serious issue of terrorism in this way is insulting to our community and an inadequate reason for adding an extra £68 on to their (insurers) fees.”

• However, what is she, and her Labour Councillor colleagues, doing to counteract this perception of our borough?

Both of these issues raise serious questions about community cohesion in Waltham Forest. So what has the Labour Councillor, Cllr Liaquat Ali – Portfolio Lead for Community Safety and Cohesion, said or done? To date nothing. It seems he is more interested in collecting titles and getting easy money from council tax payers.

Cllr Ali must be challenged to do the job he is paid for both from within his Party and externally.

We won’t expect Cllr Chris ‘Strong Leader’ Robbins to do anything as it is strongly rumoured his leadership depends on Cllr Ali’s support. Simples!