Labour disciplinary problems come not in single spies, but in battalions. As Woolasgate rages, Uncut understands that the NEC meeting on 30 November will see Ken Livingstone stage an audacious bid to get Lutfur Rahman reinstated to the party.
According to Labour officials, Ken has already discussed the issue directly with Ed Miliband, talks which a Livingstone insider described as “positive”.
Rahman, who defeated official Labour candidate Helal Abbas in last month’s election to become directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets, has asked Livingstone to broker his return to the Labour fold.
Sources close to Tower Hamlets Labour party confirmed that discussions have taken place between Rahman and Livingstone about his bid for re-inclusion, and that Rahman had decided to delay appointing a full cabinet in the borough until his status in the party had been confirmed. In contrast to the Livingstone camp, they believe that Ed Miliband will not endorse a return for Rahman, and that Livingstone does not enjoy sufficient NEC support to secure his readmission otherwise.
The decision to push for Rahman’s inclusion will create serious tensions within the local party. Local MP Jim Fitzpatrick has made his own submission to the NEC calling for disciplinary action against Ken’s public show of support for Rahman during the campaign.
Sources close to Ed Miliband have indicated that such action is unlikely.
Tags: Ed Miliband, Helal Abbas, Ken Livingstone, Lutfur Rahman, Tower Hamlets, Tower Hamlets mayor
As a Tower Hamlets activist I strongly believe this will be a kick in the teeth for the people of Tower Hamlets. Rahman ran the nastiest campaign I have ever seen. He make Phil Woolas look like a Saint.
http://trialbyjeory.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/wife-beating-smears-and-non-protests-a-new-low/
As a Tower Hamlets resident I know that this will NOT be a ‘kick in the teeth for the people of Tower Hamlets’. The negative campaigning conducted by Abbas’ supporters in and outside of the dodgy dossier was all along the lines of fundamentalists, extremists etc. It’s those divisive and unproven allegations that have truly kicked us in the teeth. The campaign for Abbas was so nasty with the added efforts of Andrew Gilligan and the Dispatches programme that it also brought Tower Hamlets to the attention of the world where fanatics in the US are now citing Tower Hamlets as the first European Islamic state, after the election of Lutfur Rahman. These are now the terrible, irresponsible (as Dave Hill of the Guardian says) consequences of Abbas’ campaign which we residents, as opposed you activists, have to live with.
The first response is the correct one.
Dave Hill’s wrote this in the same piece:
“Powerful players in the local party did all they could to crush Rahman, who’d been their own candidate until shortly before polling day, chosen by local members. They complain, with good reason, that some Rahman supporters fought dirty. Yet they would be wise to examine the virtue of their own tactics. They have openly pushed the “Islamist takeover” line and ended up making a rod for their own backs – the resulting publicity, titillating Muslim-haters around the globe, has not been appreciated.”
The whole piece is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/29/tower-hamlets-lutfur-rahman-mayor
And there is a follow-up piece here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/nov/08/first-muslim-executive-mayor-lutfur-rahman?CMP=twt_fd
Of course Judoker would say my response as a resident was not correct and no doubt Dave Hill’s are not correct…and so the negative campaigning and smearing goes on. (Judoker and Mike’s “correct response” links to the Express’ Ted Jeory’s personal blog. Ted Jeory worked on the Dispatches programme.)
Agree with TH-resident, Mayor Rahman should be re-admitted to Labour immediately as he wants to deliver Labour manifesto which would only help Ed Miliband who must however put pressure on Labour group leader Cllr Abbus to do the honorable thing and step down immediately for the greater interest of the Party.
Dave Hill is the sort of idiotic leftist who will support anyone who “the West” opposes. In this case the London Labour Party takes the role of the evil capitalist Western establishment. Lutfur Rahman – backed by a millionaire “curry king” – takes his place as the poor “little man” terribly smeared by big party money as an extremist just because of the terrible crime of being a Muslim.
Outrage! Horror! Racism and Islamophobia! Oh, but the replacement, loyal Labour candidate is Bangladeshi Muslim? Er, er……… He’s an Uncle Tom! And a wife-beater!
Meanwhile Lutfur Rahman’s first act in office has been to put CDs from a hate-preacher in the front lobby of his Town Hall: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewgilligan/100062902/lutfur-rahman-council-promotes-extremist-preacher-who-supports-wife-beating/
The Labour Party in Tower Hamlets is much better off without Lutfur Rahman and his motley crew of Labour councillors who, half of them, came over from Respect in 2008 in the first place. And the Labour Party in London would be much better off without Ken Livingstone, who takes exactly the same attitude as Hill; that if “the West” opposes something or someone, they’re top rate with him.