Where's the fish 'n' chips?

I'm not averse to fried chicken or curries, pizza or kebabs. But why is it so hard to find a good old fish and chip shop? Someone point me in the right direction, please!

Revealed - truth behind Gilligan's Dispatches!

Many who have closely followed the politics of Tower Hamlets over long years were not a little surprised by the Channel 4 programme broadcast in March as part of the Dispatches series, misleadingly titled Britain's Islamic Republic. It was not the allegations of entryism and vote rigging that took us aback; for these the programme offered no evidence whatsoever, so it came across as part of a well-crafted smear.

No, the surprise was that Channel 4 could air what was clearly a vehicle for one faction of the notoriously divided local Labour party just two months before the elections. Accusations from Jim Fitzpatrick, a mention of Helal Abbas, and several local Bangladeshis joining in who all have close ties to Abbas, to the Bangladesh ruling party and to each other - all smacked of a well-planned assault on leader Lutfur Rahman using Gilligan's tried and tested tactic of damning by association with religious Muslims.

Where did Gilligan get the inside line from? Well, he couldn't resist including a short segment from none other than Ted Jeory, dishing the dirt as only he can without any mention of his close links to key Labour activists in Tower Hamlets. Now Jeory, whose unpopularity in these parts remains undimmed, has let the slip the real intention in the first post of his blog. I'll reproduce the key paragraphs here, just in case he tries to spirit them away:

The election was a triumph for former council leader Helal Abbas, who has spent the past two years plotting the downfall of his old friend and now sworn enemy, Lutfur Rahman. In this quest, he allied with his his former nemesis Michael Keith and his band of supporters such as Denise Jones and, more silently, Josh Peck. Together, they accused Rahman of being too much under the influence of the Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE), allegations partly designed to scare Ken Clark, the director of the London Labour party, into keeping the Tower Hamlets Labour branches in special measures.

This meant Abbas and co effectively controlled the selection process for candidates. And so it has come to pass that his supporters are now a majority in the new group.

Well, you have to hand it to Abbas: with Fitzpatrick's continued intervention, despite his wedding walkout fiasco, and the support of Jeory and Gilligan on national TV, he certainly scored a resounding personal victory, even if it did mean spinning a few porkies on the way.

The special measures refered to clearly haven't sorted out the Labour party in Tower Hamlets. It's time these people were swept away along with the baggage of Bangladeshi politics they bring with them.

And shouldn't someone be investigating Channel 4's involvement?

Betrayal!

In an astounding act of appeasement, our council leaders have humiliated Tower Hamlets by giving in to the racist English Defence League.

After the Guardian's investigation exposed the ugly true nature of the EDL, it was at first expected that they would be marching on the East London Mosque at the centre of the local Muslim population. But in a tactical switch, acting on a tip-off from the right wing anti-Muslim blog Harry's Place, they turned their attention on a conference organised by Muslim students at the Troxy, demanding that the event should be cancelled and promising to demonstrate outside only yards away from Cable Street.

A united response from all quarters of the community resolved to stand against the EDL. A peaceful counter march was put in place, with the blessings of the police. A clear message would be sent to the EDL: you have no voice and no place in Tower Hamlets!

Then in a disgraceful, shabby betrayal, the council leadership stabbed the community in the back. 'We're at our best when we're united' proclaims the headline in East End Life, but where was the unity when Helal Abbas and Joshua Peck broke ranks? They demanded that the Troxy cancel the event, and threatened to withdraw council cooperation if they refused.

The Troxy caved in, and the EDL rejoiced in their unexpected success: "We have achieved a great victory by putting pressure on Tower Hamlets council to force the cancellation of the controversial conference that was due to take place at the Troxy."

Those who try to refute the EDL's claim are flying in the face of the facts, not least because it has been revealed that the council and police were consulted by the conference organisers and received approval for their event before the EDL raised the spectre of protest. Not only that, the student organisers offered to withdraw controversial speakers from their programme, but they say this offer was spurned.

The shameless council leadership, obsessed with their own internal political wrangling at the expense of the good of the community, bring disgrace to the local Labour Party. Their appeasement of the racist EDL is a stain on Tower Hamlets' long record of opposing fascism. Let's hope none of these traitors stand for mayor.

Museum of London Docklands

This gem of a museum, the Museum of the London Docklands, has always been one of my favourites whenever I can spare the time. It was a bargain at £5 for a whole year of visits. But since April it has been free!

Starting on the third floor, your walk around the museum takes you chronologically from London's pre-history right up to modern times, with hundreds of artifacts, models and interactive displays.

Tucked away on West India Quay, anyone interested in the history of our capital will be greatly rewarded by spending a few hours there.

Keep the racist EDL out of Tower Hamlets!

The so-called English Defence League want to bring their racist protests to Tower Hamlets, according to a report at the East London Advertiser. Their forebears have been here before, famously stopped in Cable Street as they targeted the Jewish community.

This is in the wake of an investigation by the Guardian which has uncovered what we always suspected - that the EDL is just a BNP clone, a racist subset with Muslims in their sights. In days gone by the racists of old, in the form of the National Front, were a constant menace in Tower Hamlets and a threat to anyone in the nascent Bangladeshi community. Gradually, though, they were driven from our borough. The BNP has no foothold here.

If they're allowed to march into Tower Hamlets, it would present a serious threat to peace in our community.

In a thoughtful reflection on the climate that has allowed he EDL to establish itself, Robert Lambert and Jonathan Githens-Mazer draw attention in Comment is Free to the demonisation of Muslims in sections of the media, in particular Muslims in Tower Hamlets. And they quote Peter Oborne who observed it had become "permissible to fabricate malicious falsehoods and therefore foment hatred against Muslims in a way which would be regarded as immoral and illegal if perpetrated against any other vulnerable section of society". I hope over at the Telegraph and the Express they are taking note.