Think Deckchairs, (rearrangement thereof) and Icebergs.

Newham is hemorrhaging money. Council tax has been raised by 25%. A Refuse Workers’ strike has just been averted, even if it is only temporary. The streets are in the worst state in living memory. The Housing Department is censured for maladministration. In the courts they have managed to impugn the integrity of a practicing solicitor and were found to have abused the legal process in prosecuting their own staff.

The mayor remains the subject of a standards board investigation and appears to be estranged from most of her council colleagues.

You might think that this was a time when it was appropriate to fix some of the basic problems.

But no. We learn from Mayor Fiaz’s own Twitter/X posting that Newham aspires to be the Borough of Culture for 2025.

Great. I’m sure that we all look forward to this.