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| Muhammed Butt, Sadiq Khan & Dawn Butler at the 'non political' Harlesden Transformation ceremony in February |
Supporters of candidate David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, had talked about the impact of 'machine politics' on the nomination process.
Private Eye, after discussing the changes made the the 'supporters' registration process to make it more open after pressure from Lammy and Abbot, continues LINK:
Ratbiter goes on to say that 'Khan is rumoured to have promised [Ken] Livingstone control of London transport in return for his endorsement'.But the attempted stitch up didn't stop there. Miliband had not only made Khan his shadow justice secretary buthis shadfow miister for London, too. This job gave him access to the email addresses of ondon Labour members, which the party denied to Lammy and Khan's other rivals until last week. As early as December, Khan was using his advantage to direct potential supporters to his personal website - Sadiq Khan: Let Londoners Run London - and urging them to 'sign up to my campaign'.
Brent Council Leader Muhammed Butt has left little doubt on where he stands. He has been avidly retweeting Khan's tweets and those of his supporters.
What post has Khan promised Butt if he wins? I heard Cabinet?
ReplyDeleteMaybe Butt's endorsement for Khan could be the 'kiss of death' for decent voters' support for Khan?
ReplyDeleteBut beyond that and maybe more importantly, might there not be confidentiality issues involved in Khan's use/abuse of privileged information regarding referral of shadow ministry e-list members to his London mayoral bid website?
Standard Operating Practice for Brent Labour. As in the use of what's supposed to be impartial premises as a polling place - but, oh how coincidental. The same place chaired by a leading Labout light, supported by Mo and used as a campaign HQ. Corrupt as hell.
ReplyDeleteButt and Butler are joined at the hip at present.
Polling Station, Pakistan Community Centre you mean?
DeleteYup. That's the one. Objections to its use were overruled by the General Purposes Committee. There's still also huge bitterness amongst some of my acquaintance about the fact that it isn't exactly for the Pakistani community as whole.
DeleteSaqib Butt Saqib ( is he related to Cllr Butt ?) is also trustee of the charity that runs Pakistan community centre. http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/ContactAndTrustees.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=1088884&SubsidiaryNumber=0&TID=827591
DeleteSaqib is the brother of our illustrious leader. He's also connected to the association that took over the former Tokyngton library I believe.
DeleteAlison do you have a date reference or a link to the General Purposes Committee meeting which discussed the use of the Pakistan Community Centre so we can look up the minutes?
Sure. 29th January this year.
DeleteA relevant paragraph: “The committee discussed the use of the Pakistan Community Centre, Marley Walk NW2 for Polling District CDU6 in place of a temporary polling station in the vicinity and noted concerns set out in the report regarding the suitability of using this location. Members expressed the view that as a community centre, it should be open to all, noted that at a recent meeting of the Cabinet at the location, they had been made very welcome and reiterated the need to celebrate and value diversity.”
This is what I sent in to object to its use:
I understand that it is proposed to use the Pakistan Community Centre as a polling place in the future. I have the gravest concerns about its use, as I do not believe it to be politically neutral in any way. The chair, is a Labour supporter and activist, and the Brent Labour fund raising officer is also involved with the PCC. Several Labour councillors, and the Leader, also have interests in the PCC, being current or former officers there. There have, I understand, been Brent Labour events there, including the attendance of Dawn Butler, PPC for Labour. The PCC are obviously free to run events as they chose, and to elect trustees and board members as they equally choose. Indeed, they are also free to support political parties and to recommend to their community that they vote in a certain way.
However, all of the foregoing makes the PCC wholly inappropriate as a polling place. It is not politically neutral and its officers and members are not impartial. it is perceived by many to support Labour, and it is likely that voters using the PCC will associate it with Labour. Given events during the May 2014 local elections, it is even more imperative that polling places be free of any partisan influence, or the possibility thereof.
I therefore wish to raise objections in the strongest possible terms to the use of the PCC.
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Basically, General Purposes overruled the officer recommendation.
Thanks for explaining your objections. Knowing the mosque I am not sure that its perception as a Labour stronghold is widespread but I do not live locally. As election agent for the Brent Central Green candidate I didn't have any reservation as expected a professional separation from the polling station and its council staff and the Centre. I did not hear of any issues on election day itself or since.
DeleteAs it is mainly perception you are concerned about did you think that non-Labour voters would be reluctant to turn up and vote there or that somehow its perception as a Labour stronghold would increase Labour's vote?
One of the LibDem candidates at the May local elections is a regular attender at that community centre and mosque. Admittedly he has now become a Labour supporter but being part of the PCC didn't put him off joining the LibDems in the first place.
DeleteThink you are overstating things here Alison. There isn't really a perception of the PCC being a Labour stronghold locally or particularly aligned in any way.
Don't associations get paid for the use of their buildings on polling day? I am sceptical of claims that the voting was influenced but I think this was just one more way of Butt making sure council money ends up up funding his mates.
DeleteCllr Butt is also former trustee of the organisation that bought the Tokyngton Library building.
DeleteAlison Hopkins Pakistan Community Centre is run by the family members of its Founder member late Bashir Dar. Tariq Dar though a Labour supporter but not a blind supporter. He do speaks his mind whenever he disagrees with Labour policies. There is a power politics in that part of the world a former Lib Dem Cllr of Pakistani origin won in 2006 with the support of the then trustees of Pakistan Community centre but he was opposed in 2014 as they had one of their own family member (Cllr Arshad Mahmood) contesting the same ward as Lib Dem former Cllr.
DeleteMartin, my real worry was that there would be undue influence over voters and a pressure to vote for candidates linked to the PCC. I saw some very messy things happen in May 2014 and that certainly influenced my thinking - that included people actively canvassing outside polling stations and pressure to vote in certain ways. Women, in particular, were targetted and vulnerable. If the PCC is associated with particular views, and that is known to be so to the community, then some may take that as a voting signal.
DeleteI'd also expect a proper separation by officers, but it is deeply worrying that the GP committee saw fit to override their recommendation. Voting needs to be scrupulously fair in administration and practice to the point where those who administer it are almost absurdly fussy. I do not think Christine Gilbert was a competent Returning Officer - unlike Gareth Daniel, who was positively anal on this.
It isn't just perception, 16:39. The PCC has several trustees who are Labour activists, officers and is simply not immpartial.
I have good friends of Pakistani origin who dislike immensely the fact that the PCC is exclusive and discriminatory, especially to women, who have no power there.
18:40 - not sure what they get paid, if anything.
Very strange that Labour Cllrs who are also active members of the Pakistan Community Centre failed to get enough votes to be elected as Chair of the Scrutiny Committee and Deputy Mayor. (Cllr Aslam Chaudhary and Cllr Arshad Mahmood Cllr Mahmmod polled 8 votes I have been told)
DeleteLib Dem former Cllr was also opposed by the then Trustees of Pakistan Community Centre during May 2010 elections. Power politics. Cllr Butt, Cllr Arshad Mahmood, former Lib Dem Cllr of Pakistani origin and Tariq Dar belongs to same area back home and are Kashmiri by caste.
DeleteAlison Hopkins please accept the ground reality people who voted Lib Dems voted in protest (Iraq War) but when Sarah Teather decided not to contest May 2014 they went back to their natural home that is Labour. People of Brent Central voted for Labour Party not for Cllr Butt not for the Trustees of Pakistan Community Centre.
DeleteButt and Arshad Mahmood are cousins I believe.
DeletePressure to vote for candidates linked to the PCC may well have been exercised but there's no evidence that this is increased due to the polling station being inside the PCC. Polling stations are literally taken over by council officials on polling day, its not as if voting is reliant on a PCC officer escorting someone into the booth, nor do they issue ballot papers or have any involvement with the administration of the election other than handing over their premises.
People could be canvassing outside polling stations wherever they are, the location is immaterial.
I agree it doesn't "look" right if a polling station is somewhat linked to a political party, but Alison is simply in fantasy land and can't explain how this "undue influence" manifests itself.
23:16. Not quite sure how that relates. Aslam WAS chair for one thing. And, voting for Brent posts is limited to Brent councillors, isn't it.
Delete23:21. Yes, I knew they're all Dars. I am being careful what I say in that regard. As to the former councillor, if you mean who I think, his wife was dying at the time of the 2010 elections. So that may have had more to do with it - he could do very little.
23:30. I don't believe in the natural home concept for any party. Votes should be earned properly. Sheeple voting ends up with lousy MPs, whatever the party. Hence Butler.
00:19. Let me see if I can explain it better. It is common in some communities - not just Pakistani - for families and communities to decide en masse which way to vote. This can result in pressure on women, espeically, to toe the line and follow the edict. That isn't just perception, it was what I have been told and observed. Indeed, I know local women who voted against what was the received wisdom and were roundly abused outside a polling station. (Not the PCC, as it happens.)
The PCC purports to represent the "community". However, every single image of them is of old men, who are apparently the elders. No women - and indeed, again, my female Pakistani friends are very bitter indeed that they can't use the PCC as they wish.
I suppose what I'm getting at is that if you have people, women especially, who wish to go against the mass diktat of family to vote in a certain way, then using a polling place which is strongly politicised and ALSO the purlieu of supposed elders who support that party is not clever. It's intimidating.
The fact that it happens to be Labour and the PCC is not germane. I'd object to any similar model of any community or party. I also object, strongly, to the fact that officers thought the objections valid but were overruled by Butt. Brent politics is dirty and corrupt enough without this nonsense.
Alison please accept the fact that Lib Dems in Brent RIP
Delete11:18. I warned other political parties about the PCC issue at the time of the elections. I won't apologise for being a perhaps old fashioned idealist in my views about how democracy ought to work.
Delete00:19
DeleteCllr Butt is NOT related to Cllr Arshad Mahmood.
Alison you've basically said "I'm not making assumptions, but..." and then gone on to make several assumptions.
DeleteYou do know that no one is allowed to accompany anyone else into the actual booth don't you?
What you are really talking about is unconscious influences. People may have numerous unconscious influences upon their vote and that is entirely normal. They could range from anything from say, a majority of the doors in an area being painted red/blue to wanting to be loyal to a dead parent's memory (to take two completely random possibilities)
So how do you separate the "acceptable" unconscious influences from the "unacceptable" unconscious influences? The answer is that you can't.
You need to give up these allegations of fraud/malpractice, it's eating you up. Accept it and move on.
I see my Labour councillor friend is back. Tell you what, I'll introduce you to some of the people I'm talking about. It would, of course, mean you'd have to sacrifice the anonymity, so I don't suppose you'll take up the offer.
DeleteWhy did Butt go against Peter Goss's strong recommendation, then?
Oh, and it's the ad hominems that are a dead giveaway - but given the comments about my appearance elsewhere, I'm not really surprised at you.
Yours is the post full of ad homonyms Alison, not mine. Just read them back.
DeleteCould you really introduce me to someone who would freely admit that they didn't vote the way they really wanted to while they were alone in a polling booth in a secret ballot, all because the chair of an association based in the same building was a supporter of a different party?
DeleteIf that is true then I'm not sure the person concerned should even be allowed to vote.
Um, a homonym is a different animal entirely. Perhaps some Swiftian confusion?
DeleteAs to ad hominems, those are comments relating to a subject's perceived phyiscal or mental attributes, and are used to attack them, rather than the argument being made.
Corrupt practice is what it is. It is not confined to any one party or sector.
My offer stands. Will you accept it?
Doesn't surprise me with Khan. After all, this is a former chair of Liberty that voted opposite of each Liberty policy when MP.
ReplyDeleteMight be worth reporting him to the information commisioner on this one.
Most notably, Sadiq Khan was the whip in Blair's government responsible for pushing 42 day detention without charge of people suspected of terrorist offences through the Commons, having been outspoken against extended detention as chair of Liberty. Asked about this in a Guardian interview he said “The thing you’ve got to remember is, it’s a different role you’re performing. As the chair of Liberty, your job is to to put pressure on governments of whatever colour, right?"
DeleteIs there any greater evidence that this is a man devoid of principle?
Butts first political assistant when he became Leader of the Council went to work for Khan when he left Brent - Jack Stenner.
ReplyDeleteButt's political assistants don't seem to last very long. He's already on his third in 3 years...
DeleteIndeed he did. I went down to Wimbledon for a debate at the time of the election and there was Mr Stenner. He was a tad less than polite about Brent Labour and seemed glad to be rid of them.
DeleteButt is already onto his 3rd political assistant in 3 years...
DeletePaid for by us, of course.
DeleteI don't think the Lib Dems should keep paying for political assistants
DeleteHave the Lib Dems never had a political assistant paid for by the taxpayers of Brent (before they were reduced to one solitary councillor)?
DeleteWe had an admin officer. He was not a political officer. He helped advise on casework, for example - he didn't raise the cases, but pointed us in the right direction, did research, that kind of thing. He most certainly did not write speeches, run campaigns or anything of that ilk. Labour hve long had a highly politicised set of officers paid for by residents. Just like the bloody mayor.
Delete"Research" to back up your political policy positions and paid for by residents. Highly disingenuous to pretend otherwise.
DeleteWould be nice if Brent Labour knew the meaning of "research" and their policy would be more effective
DeleteNo, it wasn't political research. He gave support on how best to fix casework, for example, or how to get things done. He did dig around a lot on financial incompetence - rather well, too. My experience was that he worked in a totally different manner from the Labour counterpart. And actually, that's based on his predecessor who I knew long before I got involved in local politics "properly" - he was very helpful on the Brent Cross campaign.
DeleteHang on, Alison at 22.37.
DeleteYou LEFT Dollis Hill?
So he did get involved in campaigns then. Alison the more you write the more confused you become.
DeleteSo he was helpful on the Brent Cross campaign but he didn't campaign. Sounds legit.
DeleteThe Brent Cross campaign to which I refer is the Coaliation for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood. It was founded in 2007 and was and is proudly cross party. It includes Brent, Barnet and Camden councillors past and present, GLA members, MPs and many others, with representation from all parties bar the Tories. (Not for want of trying, that last.) Navin Shah, for example, was superb in his assistance: I've a great deal of time for him.
DeleteTob, who was then the Lib Dem support officer, helped the Coalition to set up some meetings and did a bit of useful research and advice, especially on planning committee protocol. Brent's planning committee unanimously opposed the plans, with a cross party vote against. For what it's worth, I didn't join the Lib Dems until three years later.
The Coalition is not a party political campaign, other than the fact that the controlling party in Barnet, the Tories, refuse to engage.
I think it's pretty poor that "new" councillors know so little about an issue which is profoudly damaging for so much of Brent.
Ann John was very supportive of the Coalition. Her successor has not been for some time. This may be connected to the S106 money that Brent are trying to extract from Barnet and the meetings Mo has had with the developers. I wish he'd talk to Navin.
Not everyone who is challenging your twisted version of events on this thread is affiliated with Labour
Delete13:30. So, why not use your real name then? One might think there's a bit of an aurora about what you post, but then, that person has more cojones and synapses than to hide behind a blank screen.
DeleteI can totally understand why current Brent staff choose to post about Davani, say, without revealing their names. I respect them for even posting at all. I have no respect for serving and past councillors who choose to be anoymous, or their pendant underbridge dwellers.
By the way, if you doubt the Brent Cross Coalition bit, feel free to talk to Lia, Shafique, Martin, Navin, Barnet Greens or even Dawn Butler.
So he helped a campaign but he didn't campaign. It was a cross party campaign but it didn't include the Tories. And he dug around on financial incompetence which was a main part of the LibDems election campaigning but it his work wasn't related to campaigning or party politics. Right. Gotcha.
DeleteThe Brent Cross Coalition repeatedly asked the Tories to join it, and would be delighted if any of them chose to do so. They have not and did not. Make of that what you will.
DeleteOh, and it isn't a "was" campaign either. It is still going on, and we'd welcome anyone who wishes to join.
The financial incompetence digging was often related to Scrutiny and helped both me, as Chair, and my splendid Labour vice chair. You may also make of that what you will.
You do like to throw your net about don't you Alison? For all your condemnation of anonymous posters you still resort to making sly implications about the many people who disagree with you on this forum. Take one more guess...
DeleteOh and I'd be interested to know - if you invited the Labour party or the Conservative Party to join the Lib Dems would that make the Lib Dems a cross-party party?
Khan is also a member of the Labour NEC and managed to manipulate the date for nominations to close until after the general election so he he could announce his candidacy after he would know whether he was going to get a government job in Labour's cabinet. Khan deceived the people of Tooting when he stood at the GE, at least David Lammy was up front with Tottenham voters that he was running for Mayor.
ReplyDeleteY..
ReplyDeleteU..
C..
K..
He will not be getting my vote, with his Voters are bastards comment after losing the election and especially if he's anything like Butt
ReplyDeleteCllr Muhammad Butt
ReplyDeleteCllr Michael Pavey
Cllr Abdifatah Aden
Cllr Aisha Eniola
Cllr James Deneslow
Cllr Aslam Choudhry,
Cllr Kana Naheerathan
Cllr Amer Agha
Cllr Krupesh Hirani
Cllr Aisha Hoda-Benn
Wilhelmina Mitchell-Murray
Cllr Sarah Marquis
Cllr Arshad Mahmood
For SADIQ KHAN http://sadiq.nationbuilder.com/councillors
Deneslow has eyes on leadership.
ReplyDeleteDenselow has a well respected career as a middle east expert. Can't see him giving that up to mess around with local politics. MP at some point, maybe...
DeleteHe also has a very large ego. Not many people know of him as a Middle East expert outside the gilded circle of journalists and pundits. Leadership would suit the agenda.
ReplyDeleteYou really don't know as much as you think/pretend you know
DeleteEgo is constantly posting on a rival political party's blog and thinking anyone cares what you think
DeleteI don't regard Martin or this blog as rivals. That kind of attitude sums up much of what is wrong with New Brent Labour thinking of late. See above re Brent Cross Coalition.
DeleteYet you personally stood in an election against the Greens and LibDems stood in elections against Martin himself. I don't know if you are as unaware of yourself as you appear or just very very cynical.
DeleteFor the record the Lib Dems did not stand against me in the Barnhill ward by-election in May 2012. This was the by-election that saw Michael Pavey elected for the first time. However, they did stand against me in the 2014 local election in Willesden Green ward.
Delete17:28. If you don't understand or wilfully choose not to so be it. All I can say again is that I do not see Martin or this blog as any kind of rival.
Delete00:19 Cllr Butt and Cllr Arshad Mahmood are not related to each other.
ReplyDelete