Labour accuse Tower Hamlets mayor Rahman of ducking police cuts issue

Mike Brooke Wednesday, July 11, 2012
4:00 PM

Labour councillors in Tower Hamlets have accused independent Mayor Lutfur Rahman of ducking the police cuts issue and not standing up to Tory London Mayor Boris Johnson.

They point out that 19 more violent crimes and 350 more burglaries were reported in the East End compared to last year, while 17 neighbourhood police posts remain unfilled—thanks to Boris’s 20 per cent budget cuts.

The Labour group’s crime and community spokesman, Abdal Ullah, said: “The Tory Mayor in City Hall cares more about cutting his balance sheet than public safety.

“Keeping streets safe should be his top priority, especially with the Olympics on our doorstep—but instead is forcing through 20 cuts.”

The group accused Lutfur Rahman of not standing up to Boris after he rejected their budget amendment for more neighbourhood police in favour of relying on council enforcement officers to take up the slack.

But Mr Rahman points out that his ‘task force’ partnership with police has led to 400 arrests, 3,500 stop-and-searches and 450 sanctioned detections since last year. He has also funded 18 more neighbourhood police officers who are on the streets from October.