Bid thwarted to oust Tower Hamlets top Tory over C4 Islamism expos�

ATTEMPTS were thwarted in East London last night to get the Tory Opposition leader suspended from Tower Hamlets council after he took part in Channel 4’s controversial Dispatchesdocumentary about alleged Islamist infiltration at the Town Hall

By Mike Brooke

ATTEMPTS were thwarted in East London last night to get the Tory Opposition leader suspended from Tower Hamlets council after he took part in Channel 4's controversial Dispatchesdocumentary about alleged Islamist infiltration at the Town Hall.

It follows a report on the East London Advertiser website yesterday revealing Labour councillors planning to oust Peter Golds from last night's �1.1 billion budget meeting.

Labour council leader Lutfur Rahman was approached by chief executive Kevan Collins just before the meeting warning him that such a move would not be constitutional, it is understood.

Cllr Golds later told the Advertiser: "I felt confident nothing would happen and it didn't.

"The website story thwarted the pre-emptive strike to suspend me. The motion would have been unconstitutional anyway."

Members of the ruling Labour group accused him of leaking council documents to Channel 4 journalist Andrew Gilligan about the controversial appointment of assistant chief executive Lutfur Ali, which Cllr Golds denied in the Advertiser's report. Mr Ali has since written to Cllr Golds, it has been confirmed.