Lutfur Rahman is a Tower Hamlets politician, with links to the Jamaat-e-Islami aligned Islamic Forum Europe, and to “millionaire businessmen and social housing tenant Shiraj Haque“.
He was dumped by Labour’s NEC, when it was presented with evidence that Rahman was engaging in “vote banking“: neighbours claimed that they were being signed up as Labour party members by Rahman’s team, which also paid their membership fee.
RESPECT is a political party which is also closely connected to the clerical fascist Islamic Forum Europe. Interestingly, until May, the millionaire businessman and social housing tenant Siraj Haque was bankrolling the ‘Yes to Mayor’ campaign: which RESPECT supported, but Labour did not. Haque is also linked to RESPECT.
When Lutfur Rahman managed to get himself selected as Labour’s Mayoral candidate, RESPECT announced that they were not going to run a candidate themselves. When Lutfur Rahman was deselected as a candidate, RESPECT announced that they would run a challenger to Rahman. Now that Rahman has decided that he will run as an “independent”, RESPECT has decided that it will back him.
Once again, the nominally Labour supporting Andy Newman has the announcement from RESPECT:
Councillor Rahman on the other hand has a fine track record as leader of the council and has declared that he wishes to lead the fight against the appalling Condem cuts on the basis of a broad coalition involving the trade unions and community groups across the borough. We strongly believe he can win the mayoralty on this basis and we will do all we can to help bring about his victory.
That’s not the real reason RESPECT is supporting Rahman, of course. The true explanation is that both Rahman’s candidacy and RESPECT are manifestations of the efforts of the Islamic Forum Europe to get its hands on political power.
It isn’t going to happen.
UPDATE
Lutfur Rahman was, of course, expelled from the Labour Party last night.
And there are already calls to expel Labour Left Briefing from the Labour Party. Surely they’d be happier in RESPECT as well?
The spectre of Christine Shawcroft – who when the Liberal Party ran Tower Hamlets, led the Labour party into glorious defeat.
The Blessed John Biggs finally led us back to victory after 12 years in opposition and was then shafted by an alliance of …errr Islamists and the hard left. Christine is a leading light on the Editorial Board (where have we hard that term before?) of Labour Left Briefing along with Dave Lawrence (her ex husband), Steve Beckett and Jenny Fisher – the three of whom each hold important positions in Tower Hamlets Labour Party. Despite Christine living in Nottingham – she was outside the Laboour HQ screaming and shouting at Abbas’s people on Tuesday night.
Surrely it is time that this ragbag of neo-Trotskysists became a proscribed organistaion? Despite them proffessing to be ‘Labour till they die’ they refuse to work democratically selected non-Left candidates as they’re not ‘proper’ candidates! Not that we would have welcomed them on Jim, Rushamnara or (previously) Oona’s campaign trail – but despite being senior local activists – they never lifted a finger (apart from turning up to party meetings to crirtiisie them).
The NEC must act – it’s not just the IFE lot that need expelling. Beckett and Fisher must go too.
