Local News
Mayor and Deputy work together on fighting poverty
TOWER HAMLETS Council has marked Challenge Poverty Week (12-18th October) by “shining a spotlight” on the wide range of support services it has in place to help residents with the cost of living. The Council has an ongoing commitment to tackle poverty and reduce inequality in Tower Hamlets. It r...
Local messages
Romford flat severely damaged in fire
IT WAS just past 2pm on 13th October when the first of six calls came into the London Fire Brigade control centre, reporting a fire in a flat which was part of a terraced house in Westfield Gardens, Romford. Crews from Ilford, Dagenham, Hainault and other nearby fire stations attended the blaze. The...
Cable Street: proud of our past, hope for our future
THE 90TH anniversary of the battle of Cable Street was marked on 4th October. It was not just an occasion to be nostalgic – it also marked the subsequent history of immigration and growing Tower Hamlets into a harmonious borough. Now the Council is running two exhibitions to remind us of the past ...
Get Weekly Updates
Get the headlines in your inbox every week.
Narrow squeak for residents in Mile End flat fire
FIREFIGHTERS came to the rescue of residents of a block of flats in Mile End last week when they acted quickly to put out a fire on the second floor of the six-storey block. Firefighters came from Poplar, Millwall, Shadwell and Bethnal Green fire stations to tackle the blaze. The first report of the...
Hate speech found on Council Facebook page
TOWER HAMLETS Council has put quite a lot of effort into promoting the events being held by various organisations around the Borough to mark Hate Crime Awareness Week. However, hate speech appears to have crept onto its Facebook page and stayed there – despite the Council’s slogan that Tower Ham...
Fifth man charged with Newham murder
FOUR MEN had already appeared in Court to face murder charges after the death of Masum Miah in Newham. Now a fifth man has also been charged with murder. It was in the early hours of 18th August that reports of a shooting in St Bartholomew’s Road, Newham. The emergency services attended, but the v...
Deputy Mayor leads defence of D7 bus (again)
A FIRM “NO” came from a meeting of Tower Hamlets Council last week – in response to a proposal from Transport for London (TfL) to “restructure” bus routes on the Isle of Dogs. There was unity in the Town Hall as ASPIRE’s Deputy Mayor Cllr Maium Talukdar and Isle of Dogs Conservative coun...
Tower Hamlets Council marks Black History Month
OCTOBER IS Black History Month, and Tower Hamlets Council has put together a programme of free events and activities to celebrate, learn and enjoy – but has the Council been proactive, or is it just compiling listings? Some events are in Council venues, such as “Communities of Liberation: Discov...
Christmas cookies allergens are not in English
A POPULAR duo of Christmas treats have been withdrawn from sale for an unusual reason: the allergens they contain are not listed on the label in English. They have been on sale in Home Bargain stores. The presence of an allergen – such as common ingredients like milk and flour – does not mean th...
Why Malaysia came to Tower Hamlets
LINKS BETWEEN Tower Hamlets and Malaysia took another step forward this week, as H.E. Dato’ Indera Dr Azfar Mohamad Mustafar, High Commissioner of Malaysia, came to visit the Borough. Malaysia is made up of 879 islands – rather more than Tower Hamlets, which has just one. In the 18th century the...
Come on tour with Stop the War
WELFARE NOT WARFARE is the slogan adopted by the Stop The War Coalition to cover a short tour of meetings to build an international movement against war. The meetings will provide an opportunity to hear first hand accounts from a range of activists about actions being taken to end the wars – the m...
Mayor Lutfur Rahman thanks Cup footballers
THE MAYOR’S Football Cup is the highlight of the local football season. The September matches close the summer of amateur games and bring in the new season of competition locally and nationally. It’s a fitting time for Mayor Lutfur Rahman to look back on the competition. He formally congratulate...
Piri Piri Chicken Pot Noodle recalled from sale
A FAVOURITE pot noodle – Piri Piri Chicken Flavour – has been withdrawn from sale by Unilever as it contains milk, which is not declared is the list of ingredients. Milk can cause serious reactions in those who are allergic to it. The affected product comes in a 90g container which shows the bat...
Selling vape to under-18 cost shop over £2,000
IT PRESENTED as a Lemon & Lime flavoured vape, and the shop sold it to a 17 year old customer. However, that vape contained nicotine – and it’s illegal to sell vapes containing nicotine to under-18s. The shop that sold the vape is Al-Haramain Superstore in Whitehorse Lane, E1. The young pers...
Fire leaves Hackney flat badly damaged
WHEN 39 phone calls came into the London Fire Brigade Control Centre, it was clear that the fire was serious. A fire in a flat in a block on Loddiges Road, Hackney, was the problem. Firefighters came from Homerton, Bethnal Green, Whitechapel and other fire stations to tackle the blaze. The first cal...
Mayor Lutfur Rahman speaks at Cable St anniversary
IT IS 90 years since trade union and anti-fascist activists chased members of the British Union of Fascists off the streets of Shadwell – uniting under the slogan “They shall not pass”. Mayor Lutfur Rahman marked the day by joining local trade union and anti-fascist activists to walk from the ...
Cable fault cuts power across East and North London
A MASSIVE power cut is taking place across a large part of the capital. UK Power Networks say that this is because “A fault has occurred on an underground electricity cable in the local area.” The power cut his thousands of residential and commercial properties – particularly in the Shoreditch...
Deputy Mayor and colleagues mark Cable St anniversary
CLLR MAIUM TALUKDAR, Deputy Mayor of Tower Hamlets, was joined by councillor colleagues outside the Town Hall as he led calls to remember the message “they shall not pass”. Aspire councillor colleagues joining the Deputy Mayor included Cllr Bodrul Choudhury (Bromley South), Cllr Gulam Kibria Cho...
London marathon 2027 divides men and women
EVEN IF we’re not running, we all know – especially those of us who live in the boroughs on the marathon route – that the London marathon takes up a Sunday in April, right? Wrong! The London Marathon 2027 will be a two-day event, taking place on Saturday, 24th April and Sunday, 25th April. The...
Sounds on Sunday: 50 years ago – 1976-25
FIFTY YEARS AGO we were humming along to the hits of 1976. Some have magnificently stood the test of time; others have not. Join us on Memory Lane as we review them on their golden anniversaries. This week we say good-bye to Abba, thank them for their service – and move on to Mississippi by ... Th...