Dame Tessa Jowell with the Mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales and Cllr Ken Clark (pic: Newham Recorder)
Two more bits of bad news for Councillor Ahmed Noor.
He has now been suspended by the national Labour Party, not just by the Newham chief whip, pending an external investigation into his conduct. The procedure is called “administrative suspension”. He is still a councillor but until the investigation is complete he can’t attend Labour group or West Ham constituency meetings. He can still turn up at local ward meetings, but I gather he’s never much bothered himself with that anyway.
And last week London mayoral hopeful Dame Tessa Jowell toured the borough, accompanied by Sir Robin Wales and his new best friend, ex-London Labour party regional director Cllr Ken Clark.
She was there to inspect the work being done by local enforcement officers tackling ‘rogue landlords.’ Newham’s private rental licensing scheme would be a template for a London-wide initiative under a future Jowell administration at City Hall. Perhaps led by someone with lots of relevant local government experience?
Following the tour Sir Robin said
“The vast majority of landlords are doing their best but some of them are simply preying on the weakest, we have to tackle this issue head on.
“Tessa is absolutely right that we need to crack down on criminal landlords who are exploiting people across London.”
And what better way for Sir Robin to prove his mettle – and avoid potential future embarrassment – than by prosecuting an unlicensed landlord sitting on his own council? Ahmed Noor may find himself on the wrong side of the mayor’s wider political ambition.
Meanwhile an FOI request has been made to Newham council about whether or not Cllr Ian Corbett has declared all gifts and hospitality he has received. Cllr Corbett is a close friend of Noor and they have attended many West Ham matches together.
I wonder if our Cllr Ahmed Noor was the same person who gave the following gifts to Sir Robin Wales back in 2010?
22/12/2010 – One bottle of whisky, one bottle of Champagne and one box of chocolates – valued at over £25; Name of donor: Mr Ahmed Noor
If so, did he also give any gifts to his friend Ian Corbett that the councillor has forgotten to declare?
forestgatedotnet 
Martin:
Can’t find your email. I’m told there’s a (?final) Scrutiny next Tuesday. Are you planning to go?
Kevin
I wasn’t aware of this, but if it’s happening I’d like to go along.
What a pair, her who cann’t count, and him who wonn’t.
Ahmed Noor also used to give gifts to Unmesh Desai!
Why are Newham Council using residents council tax to fund Tessa Jowell campaign for Mayor of London?. This was a publicity stunt. I am certain if Lutfur Rahman, had promotes one of his chums, there would have been uproar.
What has Tessa Jowell done for Newham?
Tessa comes to Newham in 2015 and Newham is still a slum. What happened to the promised Olympic regeneration? Londoners paid £9billion for it.
We lost 5,000 jobs down to make way for the Olympic park. These were gritty working class jobs down Carpenters Road.
Olympic Flats sold off to rich Arabs investors.
Did the Olympics bring any regeneration for Newham?
To add insult to injury, Newham has had to pay £100+million for conversion of the Olympic stadium. Did Tessa Jowell speak up for Newham residents?. She comes to Newham to look at slum houses – just proof the Olympics where a failure for Newham. The rich got to tickets to the Opening Ceremony, and Newham has been left to pick up the bill.
Newham can’t find a few quid for repairs to a community centre. But millions are been spent on improvement to the Town Hall. This is after £110million been spent on Building 1000.
Good Luck to Noor. By getting suspended, he saving Newham residents a few quid in paying his wages.
Cllr Noor may be suspended from the Labour Party but we (the Newham cash cow public) are still paying his council allowances!