Tower Hamlets is a whopping joke with its incompetence

Dear Ed,

Never mind all the connotations of pot-holes and vote-rigging. Although Tower Hamlets has plenty of both. Jokes aside, the governance of our borough in East London is now becoming a long running joke in several whopping parts.

We need only take two examples in recent weeks to see the shocking arrogance and incompetence with which the Labour administration attempt to maintain some control over their affairs.

First is that long running saga over the departure of the Town Hall's chief executive Martin Smith. In one of the poorest boroughs in London and indeed the country, this Labour administration is willing to throw away �400,000 of council taxpayers' money in a hefty payout and gagging order. The reasons are still to be made clear.

This is nothing short of scandalous. The Labour administration is still refusing to attend a special meeting with Opposition parties to discus the matter.

How can any local authority with such seeming disregard for public money be allowed to govern in this way? Surprise, surprise-you won't be reading much of this in the council's own 'East End Life', another total waste of public money.

The second episode of note in recent weeks was a crucial council committee meeting, chaired by Fazul Haque, to discuss the entire �1 billion budget. The meeting was passed through within just half-and-hour with no time for Opposition councillors to question what was presented to them.

The reason-Labour had also scheduled a group meeting for that time.

Yet again, Labour presents to us its contempt for our public finances, with �1bn of public money signed off in just half-and-hour without proper scrutiny. Only in the public sector you might say.

M Vaughan

Caledonian Wharf, Isle of Dogs