Electoral Review of Tower Hamlets - Lutfur Rahman's Warded Communities!

Posted on | Friday 9 March 2012 | No Comments

In his Electoral Review Submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE), Lutfur Rahman wastes no time in revealing his understanding of what community means to him, i.e., community identity is represented by ‘strong ward boundaries that reflect communities’.

So, given that by ‘community’ he accepts the commonly held definition that it means to have a common cultural and historical heritage, we are left with the realisation that he intends ring fencing Tower Hamlets’ communities based on ethnicity. Should we therefore expect his revised Ward boundary recommendations to support, e.g., a Cockney Ward perhaps, or a Jewish one, or why not a Bangladeshi one? Is this his understanding of multiculturalism? His master class in multiculturalism would need to be supported by a housing policy restricting applications to those sharing the ethnicity of the appropriate Ward, and the same would apply to schooling of course; there would be no place for a young cockney sparrow in a Bangladeshi warded school nor any cross ward blending of cultures.

Is this what we want? Are we aware that this is where we may be taken? This is not integration – it’s the frightening opposite; segregated communities. Don’t let it happen! 

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