It seems like a lot - almost a quarter of the year - and the months with the nicest weather.

Just received this from AEG about its forthcoming application to use Victoria Park for commercial events over 75 days this summer. Big thanks to Brockwell Park residents whose legal challenge last year means this prolonged restriction on access to public space now requires formal planning permission

Good to meet residents living near the proposed development at Remus Road last night. This co-living scheme exceeds the 6-8 storey height limit for Fish Island established by Tower Hamlets Council in 2010 and adhered to by the LLDC for the past 15 years. A planning application is expected next month

Ahead of the publication of the Schools White Paper, it's critical that young people's voices are heard & used to improve the SEND education system. I was delighted to bring together visually impaired & blind young people with Minister Gould at my roundtable recently www.aop.org.uk/ot/news/2026...

Key workers keep London moving. They deserve to live in the city they serve. That’s why I’m proud to have launched the Key Worker Living Rent scheme, which could save key workers thousands per year in rent.

This budget paper reveals the Labour Govt's decision to extend Free School Meals to all families getting Universal Credit will save Tower Hamlets Council £2 million a year. @thlabour.bsky.social will be demanding that Mayor Lutfur Rahman directly reinvests that money in our Borough's young people

Will be speaking in support of residents objecting to Sanctuary Housing's proposed two tower blocks at Strategic Development Committee tomorrow. The amount of affordable housing is good, but residents living in Ink Court (419 Wick Lane) will lose much of their daylight & sunlight if it is approved

Tonight, Labour MPs voted to scrap the two child limit – a move that puts us on course to drive the biggest reduction of child poverty in a single Parliament. The Tories and Reform UK voted against it. Don’t let anyone tell you voting Labour doesn’t make a difference 🌹

The deadline for Mayor Rahman to respond to the Govt's proposal to strengthen its intervention in Tower Hamlets Council has now passed. While we wait to hear, we can assure residents @thlabour.bsky.social cllrs have fully supported it and requested controls on publicity + oversight of the election

Fourteen constituents in my advice surgery, including two in their eighties who Gateway Housing has left with only intermittent heating + hot water over past month. I am escalating this, but the Regulator for Social Housing itself should be doing more to proactively tackle these systemic failings

Thanks to LBTH's Divisional Director of Finance for publicly acknowledging that the misrepresentation of the external auditor's concerns in yesterday's committee report wasn't appropriate. If others followed his example, Tower Hamlets Council would not now be facing a much stricter Govt intervention

Back in Audit Committee tonight to scrutinise Tower Hamlets Council's progress responding to the external auditor's report identifying a dozen "significant weaknesses" in securing value for money. Despite the positive spin in the published reports, progress is almost non-existent in some areas

Huge thanks to the staff and volunteers at Bethnal Green Sharks Swimming Club for a wonderful night of competitive swimming at York Hall yesterday. Tower Hamlets Council should be doing more to support BGSSC and other sports clubs in the Borough and helping more young people to participate as well

There are now just 99 days until the local elections. Here's a reminder why those in Tower Hamlets on 7th May are the most important in more than a decade. If you want proper governance, improved public services + value for money, please join our campaign for @thlabour.bsky.social's Cllr Siraj Islam

Unsurpisingly, Aspire's cllrs on Overview & Scrutiny Committee voted against asking Mayor Rahman to reverse his latest raid on NCIL funding. If @thlabour.bsky.social's Cllr Siraj Islam is elected Mayor in May, we will reinstate NCIL funding to improve Tower Hamlets' parks, playgrounds + public realm

One of the most questionable things about Mayor Rahman's decision to raid NCIL funding for pre-election grants is that the Isle of Dogs, Leaside + Fish Island which have borne the brunt of redevelopment will end up getting even less £ for public realm improvements than the pittance he gives them now

Tonight @thlabour.bsky.social cllrs will call-in Mayor Lutfur Rahman's attempt to syphon even more money out of the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy for grants. NCIL should be used to address the impact of development by expanding health/education facilities and improving the public realm

This stupid idea did the rounds in I think 2017 or so. The Tory leader of Havering council (Romford etc) dismissed it not because he necessarily liked being part of London but because it would mess with all sorts of practical things like the fire brigade and transport.

Re-reading @doriskgoodwin.bsky.social's brilliant 'Team of Rivals' charting Abraham Lincoln's rise to the Presidency. He forged his former opponents within the Republican Party into a powerfully effective Cabinet to serve the national interest. This ought to be required reading in Number 10 today

🚨 New on Substack: St Pancras was described as 'the Filth-hole and Sewage-yard of London' but in 1909 its new council housing could only cater for the 'better class of working men and women' ... municipaldreams.substack.com/p/housing-in...

Lost logos of the London Boroughs: I found myself in Columbia Road today, home to some LB Tower Hamlets lost logos. The 1970s castle-and-river one was the result of a public competition, the £100 prize won by an M.S. Shea of Newhaven, East Sussex. The Bethnal Green Neighbourhood one covers 1986-94.

The Bow flyover: commissioned by the LCC, delivered by the GLC. It has become an integral part of the East Cross Route (which travels beneath), but predates it - its primary purpose was to alleviate congestion caused by the limitations of the old Bow Bridge which carried the A11 over the River Lea.

“No one man can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices.” -Edward R. Murrow

I rarely say anything about the internal workings of the Party, because it’s usually not what matters. But it’s important that the next candidate for Gorton and Denton is decided by members in the North, not officials in London. Especially when trust in politics is so low. 1/2

The affordability crisis has deep roots says our closing speaker @ed-miliband.bsky.social. For too long, our economic system has been run not in the interest of the people, but of the wealthy and powerful. That is what we must challenge and change.

A year after the Best Value inspection, Ministers have escalated their intervention in Tower Hamlets Council. @cllrmarcfrancis.bsky.social sets out why this was necessary and what it says about leadership, culture and accountability. 🔗 Read more: t.co/P0vEZrZmQi

Thanks @rachburford.bsky.social for exposing Mayor Lutfur Rahman’s refusal to allow any debate on the Govt’s increased intervention in Tower Hamlets Council at Wednesday’s Full Council meeting. This obstruction doubles down on the ridiculous statement LBTH put out. www.standard.co.uk/news/politic...

Shoddy work even by the Institute for Economic Affairs' standards. And by the outlets which wrote it up without question. Via Private Eye

This letter from MHCLG to the Chief Executive sets out in more detail why the Government intervention in the running of Tower Hamlets Council is being tightened and what that will involve. Tower Hamlets Labour cllrs will demand that time is set aside for a debate on this at tomorrow's Full Council

Ministers have announced they are increasing the intervention in Tower Hamlets Council. This statement makes clear TH has made little progress in meeting its Best Value duties under Lutfur Rahman’s leadership + the auditor has revealed new problems. questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-stat...

At Wednesday's Full Council meeting, Tower Hamlets Labour cllrs will again demand a debate on the actions needed to improve Tower Hamlets Council's housing services. Mayor Lutfur Rahman's chaotic handling of the process to bring management back 'in-house' has left tenants with a much worse service

Grok is undressing women and children. Don’t expect the US to take action | Moira Donegan

Its now just four months until the local elections. Here in Tower Hamlets, the Mayoralty will be a straight race between Aspire's Lutfur Rahman and @labouruk.bsky.social's Cllr Siraj Islam. If you want better council services and a Town Hall that serves the whole community equally, Siraj is your man

Have 'called-in' of Mayor Lutfur Rahman's latest raid on Community Infrastructure Levy funding that is supposed to be used for capital projects to improve the public realm + amenities. The Govt has awarded Tower Hamlets Council £35 million extra next year, which should cover the cost of these grants

Just heard that, while most other people were relaxing over Christmas, some of the Aspire Party's cllrs were busy online spreading false allegations against Tower Hamlets Labour's Cllr Siraj Islam. To be clear, the external auditor's report is a judgment on Tower Hamlets Council in 2025, not in 2018

Really frustrating that yet again, Roman Road Market doesn't have a Christmas Tree. This symbolises Tower Hamlets Council's current lack of interest in local shops/traders. If he is elected as Mayor, Tower Hamlets Labour's Siraj Islam will bring Christmas back to The Roman to support our high street

Finance officers today confirmed that not only will Tower Hamlets Council get a £36.6 million increase in grant funding in 2026/27, but that similar increases are lined up for '27/28 and '28/29 too. Overall, that represents a 1/3 increase in grant funding since the Labour Govt was elected last year

Welcome that the Government's Local Government Finance Settlement re-orients investment to the most disadvantaged authorities, given they disproportionately shouldered budget reductions imposed on them since 2010. From the Institute for Government:

Just seen that over 300 residents have already supported the Neighbourhood Forum's petition against Mayor Rahman's plan to allow a more permissive approach to tall buildings across most of Tower Hamlets. If you haven't had a chance yet, please do sign up and share it with your neighbours

So many locations with real community and cultural heritage under threat now.

Buried in the papers for yesterday's Housing Scrutiny Committee was this table showing where Aspire's Mayor Lutfur Rahman is planning to build new homes. Site 6 refers to the Chisenhale Art Place. This suggests Chisenhale Gallery and Chisenhale Dance Studios will be evicted to make way for 52 flats

No surprise to see this civil servant blaming carers for DWP’s own failings. He’s been doing it to Universal Credit claimants for years. Well done @carers-uk.bsky.social + @carerstrust.bsky.social for challenging him publicly over this and to @patmcfaddenmp.bsky.social for disowning his opinions

It's #sketchpadvent – celebrating amazing modernist concept drawings and models. December 1: Milton Keynes from 1981

The auditor's report reveals further governance failings at Tower Hamlets Council under Mayor Lutfur Rahman's leadership. It agrees with some of the key criticisms Labour cllrs have been making at the Audit Committee for years. No wonder it was withheld from cllrs for 4 months + then published late

Tonight's Audit Committee will consider Tower Hamlets Council's response to an interim Value for Money report by its external auditors. As well as updating on the progress or otherwise in addressing four previous 'statutory recommendations', it identifies six more areas of "significant weakness"

There's something mesmerising about Badenoch's combination of supreme intellectual confidence and "Jesus? Didn't he play for Real Madrid?" command of detail. It's like somebody spliced the certainty of Margaret Thatcher with the work ethic of Boris Johnson.

Great to see ⁦the Bow Neighbourhood Forum launch this e-petition against Mayor Lutfur Rahman’s plan to allow a “more permissive” approach to new tall buildings across most of Tower Hamlets. Please support it and share amongst your TH friends/neighbours. democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/mgEPetitionD...

If the Government repeals the 2 child cap, not only is it an argument that they can win, but it's one that aligns with why people vote Labour. Headline support/oppose polling can obscure the ability to win an argument on this. My piece for @trusselluk.bsky.social www.trussell.org.uk/news-and-res...

The application at Development Committee this Thursday is for the redevelopment of the Genesis cinema on Mile End Road. The proposal is for 290 rooms of student accommodation + a new smaller cinema around 1/2 the size. Planning Officers are recommending refusal but it is for the committee to decide

Have been speaking to yet another group of Sanctuary (Swan) Housing tenants whose lift has been out for months. Have raised it with the Chief Executive, but it would be good to think the Social Housing Regulator who got tenants into this mess is challenging Sanctuary over this terrible service too