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.

For almost 30 years, Tom Duncan was editor of the Newham Recorder. He lived in Beckton and for many years had been a keen observer of, and was much involved in, Newham life.

On December 6th 2022, Tahir Hamid and Nazma Yaqoob were driving in Newham. Between them they were issued with three fines totalling £390.

They decided to contest these fines and engaged legal representative, Ivan Murray-Smith. Mr Murray-Smith happens to be a Tory councillor in Great Yarmouth.

You might have thought that piles of dumped mattresses are top of the mayor’s hit list. Or maybe, abandoned electrical goods, fridges, freezers etc. Or you might have considered the occasional pile of builder’s rubble that appears at the end of the street to be an issue that the mayor needs to get sorted. Or just maybe, you are offended by the piles of silver vape canisters that litter the roadside.

Newham was recently reported as one of the dirtiest boroughs in England. Against this backdrop we would hope to see bold initiatives and a commitment to both better response times to dumped rubbish and some level of enforcement, but of course, the mayor doesn’t like enforcement.

Following his embarrassing connection to a convicted paedophile, Philip Glanville has resigned as mayor of Hackney.

The following statement comes from the website of Hackney Council:

It seems that Mayor Fiaz has overcome her long-standing antipathy towards holding full-council meetings at East Ham Town Hall.

Robert the Tank Engine is 90 years old. He was built in Bristol in 1933. Having been retired from service first in the mines and later with a heritage railway company, he was purchased by the LDDC and went on display, first in North Woolwich, near to the ferry. Latterly he was moved to a spot near the entrance to Stratford Station.

From Newham Voices, we learn that Mayor Fiaz and deputy cabinet member, John Whitworth will be joining the DESI protests. Again.

The tribunal hearing for Dennis Carabott is drawing close. Any desire on the part of Newham that this issue might be quietly forgotten seems to be in vain. Members of the Unite Union at Folkstone Road have been balloted and they have voted in favour of strike action.

Politicians and senior council officers have to have thick skins. It’s in the nature of the work. It would be nice if everybody was thoughtful and considerate, but they aren’t.

We have frequently reflected upon the mayor’s fixation on her pet policy programmes. Of themselves, there is generally not much of a problem with them, if taken in isolation. We are not keen on some, but so what?

Social media is buzzing with photos like these. They speak for themselves.

This was the headline in 2014.

Below Mayor Fiaz is repeating it in 2023. Interestingly, it is not a policy that she has always been so supportive of.

The Labour Party has suspended its last leader and alongside him they have suspended the former front bencher, Diane Abbot. Even the Tories haven’t managed that, but then, they don’t seem to have the same problem with antisemitism.

Cllr Mirza has managed to embarrass the powers that be in Newham Council. Again. In his own words (and pictures).

When it comes to campaigns and declaring their socialist credentials, a number of Newham councillors are prominent extolling their trade union involvement and demanding the rights of workers everywhere. Everywhere that is, except Newham.

It seems that the election of Cllr Mirza continues to dominate the political agenda, at least on social media.

Forest Gate blogger and supporter of Mayor Fiaz, Martin Warne has waded in to criticise Mirza.

In his campaign to overturn the Labour majority in Boleyn Ward, Mehmood Mirza promised to oppose a range of money-making schemes imposed by Mayor Fiaz at the expense of motorists. His campaign against the variable (emissions-based) charges for residential parking has begun.

We are used to the mayor and her paid supporters blaming everything on the previous administration, even now. Let’s see how they spin this.