Tower Hamlets Labour Councillors Iftar with the Community.

I had been invited on Tuesday evening by Labour Group leader (and long standing Unison member) Cllr Sirajul Islam to their Iftar at the
Waterlily function rooms at Mile End.

Ifter is the evening meal that Muslims break their fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan. I have worked in Tower Hamlets for 20 years but this was the first formal Ifter I have ever attended.

It was a marvelous event with hundreds of guests and overflowing tables. I was somewhat surprised to see my old comrade, the Branch secretary of Unison Tower Hamlets Local Government branch present at this Labour Party event.  I wondered after all the trails and tribulations of his current Party if he is considering coming home to Labour?

Even more surprising was to see controversial Tower Hamlets blogger, a Sunday Express Editor and fellow North Wales Gog, Ted Jeory, with his lovely wife Alberta, who was brought up locally in Whitechapel. I just had to sit next to him and ask if he had felt any sharp pains in his back since he had been in the hall?

There were a number of speeches including by local Poplar & Limehouse MP Jim Fitzpatrick, who gave a rousing endorsement of Labour Tower Hamlets Mayor candidate, John Biggs, partly in Sylheti (apparently with a slight Scottish accent). While Bethnal Green and Bow MP, Rushanara Ali, claimed that Jim's Sylheti was better than hers! She introduced the star attraction, East London Labour Assembly Member and Mayor Candidate, John Biggs.
 
Also multi-faith contributions and prayers from Christian and Muslim preachers. Cllr Abdal Ullah was the main compere who kept things running smoothly and to time.

I think that you must have tremendous respect for British Muslims, for fasting from drawn to dusk in high summer. It cannot be easy at any time of the year but non Muslims I come across simply cannot believe that they are not able to drink water as well as eat no food during the current super hot and humid conditions. Many also pray early and late into the night which means they have to endure a lack of sleep as well.

Iftar is obviously a religious event but I most impressed with the courtesy and respect shown to guests such as myself. The fast finished that night at 9.10pm. I am not at all sure that I will have been so polite and well mannered if I had no food or drink for the previous 18 hours.

Hat tip pictures in collage to Sami Photography.

Update: Check out Hope Not Hate "The Big Iftar"  and "Dine at Mine" if you have never been to a Iftar.

Ed Miliband Speech on One Nation Social Security at Newham Dockside

Yesterday I was at the Newham Council Dockside building to hear the keynote speech by Labour Leader, Ed Miliband on "One Nation Social Security" (it's not to be called "welfare" anymore).

The backdrop behind Ed is London City airport and (out of photo) the Tate and Lyle sugar factory. Local and London wide residents, Councillors and journalists were present as was our MPs Lyn Brown and Steve Timms, as well as local London Assembly member, John Biggs.

Newham Mayor, Robin Wales, welcomed and introduced Ed as our next Prime Minister, who in turn was very complimentary about all the good things being done by the Flagship Labour Council in Newham.

You can check out the full speech on Labourlist here but I will concentrate on some of the things I found particularly interesting.

Ed reminded us that "Labour", the clue is in the name, is the Party of work and that social security spending went up more under recent Tory government than new Labour because we got people into work.  Labour made work pay by introducing tax credits. Just because there is a small minority who don't want to work - there is a far greater majority who are simply desperate for work.

He spoke about the people who work hard, long, long hours but who live in poverty due to low wages. If a local authority can demand that its contractors can pay a living wage why can't a private company do the same?

For every pound that employers pay above the minimum wage towards a living wage, government would save 50 pence in lower tax credits and benefits and higher revenues.

We can’t afford to pay billions on ever-rising rents, when we should be building homes to bring down the bill. Thirty years ago for every £100 we spent on housing, £80 was invested in bricks and mortar and £20 was spent on housing benefit. Today, for every £100 we spend on housing, just £5 is invested in bricks and mortar and £95 goes on housing benefit.

He also I think appealed to "white van man" by arguing that the self employed and others should get more national insurance benefits depending on how long they have been contributing. Which I think is a very attractive policy politically (which the Tories may well nick - the problem for Labour of announcing policies 2 years before an election)

His key argument is only Labour can tackle the growing cost of social security because only Labour will deal with the underlying causes. Labour will get people into work and off unemployment benefits, increase real wages and shift from housing "benefits to building".  Good stuff Ed.

My question to Ed was that it great to hear his plans on the living wage to tackle employers who pay poverty wages but surely there is a logic that there should be a living pension and sickness benefits as well? Since while it would be marvellous if everyone had a living wage, if people then retire and have no living pension, they will be in poverty again and the taxpayer will have to make up the difference? He gave a cautious response about the need to investigate further around the whole living wage issue.

Overall, even though I had reservations about some issues I was convinced by many of the arguments and felt this was really a clever thoughtful speech of real substance.

Hat tip picture Cllr Ayesha Chowdhury.

Support TUC March 20 October 2012 for a Future that Works

 This motion below was passed unanimously last night by West Ham Ward Labour Party branch. 

Support TUC March 20 October 2012 for a Future that Works

"West Ham Ward Labour Party branch welcome the call from the TUC to help organise a National March for A Future That Works on Saturday 20th October 2012.

We agree to work together to maximise the participation of Newham Residents, employees, Labour Party members and affiliates to this event as we did for the 26th March 2011 TUC march for the alternative.

We welcome the TUC publication “Austerity is Failing. We Need A Future That Works” and recognise the need to ensure that in the next General Election a government is elected that will implement an alternative economic policy, to deliver that Future that Works".

It is to be submitted to the CLP, Newham Labour Group, Mayor Robin Wales, Lyn Brown MP, John Biggs AM and Claude Moraes EMP.

 

Similar motions will be sent in by UNISON affiliates to the CLP.

 

I hope that all trade union branches will pass such motions and the Labour Movement family will not only come out in force on 20 October as they did in March last year but also that we make the political argument that Austerity is not working and we desperately need an alternative economic policy.