Lutfur Rahman. Goodbye and good riddance.

Sometimes the gentrification of the East End of London can be a good thing. This week, it led to the downfall of a truly disgusting human being. Lutfur Rahman, Mayor of Tower Hamlets, was removed from office after corruption charges were brought against him by four brave and principled residents. They risked everything to see Rahman found guilty of electoral fraud which involved vote-rigging, bribery, blackmail and telling gullible Muslim voters that it would be un-Islamic not to vote for him. The Labour Party was cheated out of victory and yet, to its eternal shame, did nothing about it for fear of being accused by Rahman of being racist and Islamaphobic. The poorest people are always the most easily bullied by nasty politicians but Tower Hamlets’ new middle-class residents are not so easily cowed. So with Luthur Rahman finally out, I trust they’re all now singing along to this.