‘Tory Election Fraud’: Time for Mayor Biggs to cut ties with his Tory friends

Tory Election Fraud – Time for Blue Labour Mayor Biggs to cut ties with his Tory friends

Channel 4 News has revealed that some 12 police forces have submitted files on an unknown number of Conservative MPs to the Crown Prosecution Service on the grounds of electoral fraud.

Michael Crick, the Channel 4 News journalist who has been investigating claims of fraudulent expense claims by a number of Tory MPs for well over a year, has also claimed that the rot goes all the way to the very top. Senior aides to the Prime Minister, he claims, are complicit in a wide scale, an organised fraud designed to cheat elections by throwing huge, and illegal resources, at them. But given the scope of his investigations, Crick and Channel 4 News, believes that the 12 police files could contain incriminating information on up to a dozen Tory MPs.  If convicted, Theresa May would lose her majority overnight.

So far, the Electoral Commission has used a light touch approach with the Tories. Their latest fine has amounted to a mere £70k. It fined the Conservative Party £70,000 over “significant” election campaign expenses issues.

The independent elections watchdog said the party had made “numerous failures” in reporting its expenses for the 2015 General Election and three by-elections in 2014.

But with the latest torrent of claims, the courts may feel obliged to tread where the Electoral Commission tiptoes.  If prosecutors decide to make an example of the party, criminal charges against key Tory politicians are possible. Some of them can potentially go to jail – something the Tory machinery is desperately trying to spin the potential fraud as ‘human and/or administrative error’

But currently from a Tory perspective this a pretty good outcome. More, it demonstrates the utter hypocrisy of the Tories in their vilification of Lutfur Rahman, despite an exhaustive investigation.

But nor has a special ‘Elections Court’ been set up under a QC with the power to annul parliamentary elections if necessary.

Double Standards?

Their reek permeates Downing Street, Parliament and yes, local politics here in Tower Hamlets.

Here we have a different sort of Tammany-Hall-style rottenness, with ‘blue’ Labour Mayor John Biggs working in cahoots with local Tories, and in particular with the deeply disruptive Tory councillor, Peter Golds.  The Labour/Tory love-in goes so deep that both Biggs and Golds allegedly called upon their supporters to use their second preference votes for one another. This would be touching, except for the fact that actual Labour & Tory voters hate these sorts of sweetheart deals. In Scotland, after Labour and the Tories shared platforms during the last independence referendum, Labour support plummeted so badly that at the last election, the party was left with one seat.

Justice Mawrey’s Judgement

So, the important question is will the Mawrey’s civil election petition decision against Luftur Rahman, facilitated by Peter Golds’ Tories and Tower Hamlets Labour, come back to bite the Government and the Tories on the bum?

Remember, during the petition hearing, it was mentioned that although there was no proof if there was indeed ‘industrial level fraud’ or even that a few votes were allegedly gained wrongly.

John Biggs and his supporters, along with Peter Golds and local government Minister, Eric Pickles continue to run down the reputation of our wonderful Tower Hamlets, the Metropolitan Police Service, Tower Hamlets Council and its staff, with accusations – still – ‘unproven’ of corruption for their political gain, personal vendetta, and because of their personal animus for a man who remains hugely popular, locally, Lutfur Rahman. This is in spite of the fact that all such allegations were fully investigated extensively and thrown out by the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The Biggest Scandal in British Politics for a Generation

Ironically the attack on Lutfur Rahman begins to look like a smokescreen to block coverage of probably the biggest scandal in British politics for a generation – the scandal now contained in stacks of files from 12 police forces and now in possession of the Crown Prosecution Service.

Perhaps we can now see why the Tories – with the disgraceful support of Mayor Biggs and his supporters – have instead continued to attack the Election Commission and the Metropolitan Police for failing to find any charges to lay at the door of Lutfur Rahman.

What’s wrong with Labour?

So where is Labour Mayor John Biggs in all of this?

When is he going to dump his local Tory friends?

Or is he incapable of doing so?

Where is the local media in this?

And, where is the Labour Party nationally in all of this?

Special Measures for a Quarter of Century

Why hasn’t the leadership stepped in to lift the ‘special measures’ on Tower Hamlets Labour Party, which have now been in place for a quarter of a century?

Why is the leadership allowing itself to be led by the nose by the same old local, rotten Labour Right wing machine, led by John Biggs?

U-turn and Kick-out 

Today, critically, Theresa May – ‘the wannabe lady is not for turning’ who just announced a massive U-Turn on National Insurance for the self-employed – could lose her majority and there could potentially be an early general election.

Given that the Tory Government can be potentially kicked out of office, its austerity programme stopped, and the attacks on the most vulnerable, working poor and the working/middle class defeated, is it not strange that Labour in Tower Hamlets or more broadly, have not issued a single statement of criticism or requested a formal inquiry?

To date, there has still not been a single statement from the Labour Mayor and the local Members of Parliament and key Labour figures on the corruption claims now swirling ever closer to the Prime Minister and her key advisers?

Presumably, Mayor Biggs is too busy trying to secure Tory votes for 2018 with the help of his long-time ally, Tory councillor, Peter Golds.

Defiance of Transparency and Law

But is it not disgraceful that the Tories even defied the Election Commission – which had to drag them kicking and screaming to the court to force them to disclose certain information which they should have done in the first place?

Defenders of Democracy and sanctity of Election Law 

Where are the so-called defenders of the sanctity of election law and democracy to stop these illegal, fraudulent election practices?

Or do these rules only apply to the black and ethnic minorities or indeed, the first elected Muslim Mayor in Europe, Lutfur Rahman?