Hot potato or cowardice?

As you know the Truth Will Out team, along with other bloggers, keeps an eye on those in, and those who aspire to, public office in Waltham Forest.

It seems us bloggers are needed more than ever as Waltham Forest is bereft of a challenging press.

Former Waltham Forest Liberal Democrat Councillor and now old-fashioned Liberal, James O’Rourke, recently issued a statement in response to alleged calls from Walthamstow MP, Stella Creasy, for Sharia-compliant student loans.

We are sure O’Rourke will have contacted our local press on an issue that invites undesirables, such as the EDL, to say “We told you so” yet nothing has appeared on either Waltham Forest Guardian or Yellow Advertiser web sites.

Has our society become so paranoid as to stifle public debate on matters which affects us all for fear of retribution?

Go Compare

The recent Larkswood by-election showed how disenfranchised the electorate are from our politicians – 76% did not vote!!!

After seven attempts to become a Councillor John Moss managed to reduce the Conservatives share of the vote by 6.6%!

It is rumoured that the Lib Dems indulged themselves simply to wreck the Liberal campaign – yet only got 15 more votes and halved their share of the vote from 2009!

You will see from the tables below that only two Parties actually increased their vote – Labour and the Liberals.

Warsi’s Farcei

Sadly, it seems the national Conservative Party co-chairman, Baroness Warsi, has been caught up in the well known, yet unspoken, corruption within Waltham Forest.

Prime Minister, David Cameron, has ordered an official investigation into whether Baroness Warsi broke ministerial rules by taking a business associate Mr Abid Hussain, a relative by marriage with whom she is involved in a catering business and Waltham Forest resident on an official trip overseas.

Mr Hussain is well known to all three main political parties in Waltham Forest as he was, until recently, an ‘independent’ member of the standards panel for Waltham Forest Council –  a body charged with monitoring Councillors conduct.

Mr Hussain’s connection to all three main political parties may give some some credence to the allegation that radical Islamist’s have been infiltrating all three main parties in the hope of turning Britain into an Islamic republic.

All three main political parties are guilty of pandering to ‘ethnic votes‘ to gain power.

In Waltham Forest Mr  Hussain has links with The Scarlet Pimpernel,  the Ali dynasty and Cllr Afzal Akram.

Such allegiances need to be challenged not just nationally but within Waltham Forest – those in public service, elected or otherwise, need to represent the whole community and not just the ‘minority’!

Democrat becomes Liberal

A former Waltham Forest Councillor exiled from the Liberal Democrats for speaking out against alleged corruption and racism is standing in the forthcoming by-election in Larkswood ward.

James O’Rourke has thrown his hat into the ring as an old-fashioned Liberal. Whilst we, and others, are encouraged to hear of his return, we thought the negative impact of The Scarlet Pimpernel would have discouraged Mr O’Rourke from returning to politics for life!

However, we wholeheartedly agree with Archipelago of Truth that Mr O’Rourke was a “…hard-working, case-working councillor when he was the representative for the High Street ward” and that by standing as a Liberal Party candidate it “…is the closest thing … to standing as an Independent without actually taking the plunge.”

Realistically, Mr O’Rourke is not going to beat the Conservatives on their ‘home turf’ but we wish him all the very best in dramatically reducing their majority and seeing off the other pretenders.

Ali family extends their empire

Not content with building their property empire in Waltham Forest the Ali family have extended their grubby tentacles into the Councils innermost sanctums – the cabinet and the mayoralty.

One week after the inauguration of the Mayor for 2012/13  Cllr Nadeem Ali, son of Cllr Liaquat Ali, hosted a celebration of Waltham Forest’s Mayoralty in the Town Hall Council chamber. The event, filmed by an asian TV channel and posted on YouTube, shows Cllr Liaquat Ali thanking family and friends for attending.

‘Chairing’ the meeting was newly elected Mayor of Waltham Forest and first citizen, Cllr Richard Sweden, so we assumed that this event was to celebrate his coming year in office. NOT SO!!!

The event was a ‘jolly’ for the family and friends of Cllr Nadeem Ali to celebrate him being the youngest Deputy Mayor of Waltham Forest!!!

Questions need to be asked of the Councils ‘Strong Leader’ Cllr Chris Robbins including:

• Was the Mayor used to promote Cllr Ali and Cllr Ali who are known to be business men in area?
• Was this an official Council sanctioned event?
• Who paid for this event to glorify Cllr Nadeem Ali?
• Were refreshments provided?
  • If so, who provided and paid for them?

Such narcissistic abuse of public facilities by Labour Councillors needs to be challenged.

If anyone can answer our questions please come forward with information.

Note: Brother of Liaquat  and uncle of Nadeem sits in his grey suit directly in front of Mayor, Cllr Richard Sweden.

L & Q Wins Race

Walthamstow Assembly Hall played host to a special Planning Committee tonight with celebrity racing pundit, John McCririck, joining hundreds of local residents and Save Our Stow campaigners to oppose London & Quadrant’s proposals.

After a tortuous four hours the four Labour Councillors (Cllr Pete Barnett, Cllr Jenny Gray, Cllr Ebony Vincent & Cllr Asim Mahmood) outvoted the two Conservatives (Cllr Alan Siggers & Cllr Ed Northover) and the solitary Lib Dem (Cllr Liz Phillips) giving L & Q the go ahead for their ludicrous scheme which does not meet any of the Councils own targets. Interestingly, it was noted that Cllrs Gray, Vincent and Mahmood needed to take their cue when voting from Chair Cllr Pete Barnett who in turn kept looking towards the Councillor formerly responsible for housing and planning, Cllr Marie Pye, who was in the audience.

The standard of the debate from those opposing L & Q’s plans was extremely high. Not so from the highly paid L & Q staff (who described their organisation as a charity) nor, bar one, Waltham Forest’s elected Councillors!

The merits for and against this development can be easily found elsewhere.

We are more interested in the fact that democracy had been given short shrift tonight by an ‘accountable’ charitable and our Labour run Council whose political interests are more important than that of the community it supposedly serves.

We understand that an irate Labour supporter challenged Cllr Pete Barnett to resign so as they could both contest the seat in a by-election. Cllr Pete Barnett is reported to have replied “You can challenge me in 2014″. (Privately, it is rumoured that Cllr Barnett and his partner Cllr Angie Bean will not be standing for election in 2014).

Sadly, Waltham Forest is now being run by a Labour Party clique who lacks vision and has lost contact with its own supporters and residents. The opposition….what opposition!!!

Waltham Forest’s residents need to challenge the political incestuous allegiances by either putting up or supporting candidates in the 2014 local elections who will put community first.

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!!!