Another Councillor in Hot Water?

It does seem that the mayor’s specially chosen councillors are hell-bent on embarrassing their leader. We understand that another councillor, this time Cllr Miraj Patel (Deputy Cabinet Member for the Environment) is the subject of a formal complaint.

We should stress that at the moment, these are just allegations, but they are serious.

Our enquiries have revealed that an allegedly drunken Patel is said to have abused his position as a councillor and sought to extort money from a shop keeper. The events in question are said to have happened on 25th September 2024 at a shop premises, off Green Street.

The first of the allegations is that Patel was both aggressive and under-the-influence when he verbally abused a shop owner and a member of his staff.

Then it gets worse. It is alleged that he sought to elicit a bribe. He is said to have used his position as a councillor to threaten a fine, but that he would take £100 if the shop owner settled there and then. Presumably he had identified a breach in one of the codes but we don’t have any knowledge of which code.

When this was refused it was alleged that he called in a council officer to enforce the threat of a fine. The complaint states that Deputy Cabinet Member Patel made use of phrases such as “I am good friends with the mayor”, seemingly to imply that she would be backing up his demands for cash.

If the statement is true it does suggest that another of Fiaz’s hand-picked high-quality councillors has a somewhat distorted understanding of his role and the limits of his authority.

We understand that an unidentified man arrived, either claiming to be or implying that he was, a council enforcement officer. Clearly no money passed hands, and the incident seemed to be over.

But some hours later, we are told, Patel returned to the shop causing the shop owner to call the police who diffused the situation.

We understand that the complaint is backed by a number of statements and by cctv footage.

In addition to several breaches of the Nolan principles, if the allegations are true, it would seem that Cllr Patel has also opened himself up to criminal charges under the Bribery Act and the Public Order Act.

We wait to see what action Newham Council will take on the matter.