Five Reasons to elect John Griffiths Mayor of Tower Hamlets . . .
October 13, 2010 7:13 PM
1. It's time to put a stop to Labour's waste
When Labour were kicked out of government in May they told us "the money had run out." The Council in Tower Hamlets has run a similarly irresponsible administration for years, wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money each year on its weekly propaganda East End Life just to tell you supposedly how good they are, whilst frittering away millions of your money (£26m and counting) on vanity projects like the Rich Mix.
A Lib Dem Mayor would:
• Freeze Council Tax, seek greater control over local business rates
• Look to pilot the Local Income Tax in Tower Hamlets and extend local budgeting
• Lobby for additional government grants to support local services in the borough
2. It's time to tackle the housing crisis
A waiting list of over 23,000 is testimony to Labour's repeated failure to solve the housing crisis in Tower Hamlets. The Council is also going to miss its target that all housing should meet a Decent Homes Standard by 2010. A Lib Dem Mayor would:
• Back new investment schemes and financial incentives to build new homes and reduce overcrowding
• Bring scores of empty homes back into use with cheap loans and grants to stimulate employment
• Introduce a borough-wide home insulation scheme to reduce carbon emissions and create jobs
• Tax second homes in the borough to provide additional resources to tackle local housing needs and fund community development
3. It's time to clean up our Borough
In less than 2 years the eyes of the world will be on Tower Hamlets as we host the Olympic
Games. We have little time in which to clean up the grime and the dirt which blight our
neighbourhoods. A Lib Dem Mayor would:
• Crack down heavily on littering, graffiti, dog fouling and illegal dumping all of which contribute to urban degradation
• Cut car use through greener travel initiatives and support for cycling
• Support initiatives to showcase Tower Hamlets in 2010 and maximise the legacy benefits from the Games for local residents and businesses
4. It's time to hand power back to the people
In the wrong hands, an elected Mayor would exaggerate the worst of the Council's recent tendencies - centralizing power, reducing accountability (there is no way to remove a corrupt or incompetent Mayor) and ruling in the interests of a section of the community rather than the borough as a whole. A Lib Dem Mayor would:
• Draw on cross-party/community representatives and talent from across the borough
• Support the setting up of fully-resourced neighbourhood or parish councils
• Enable you to recall (sack) corrupt elected officials
• Open up more Mayoral and Council decision making to local residents
5. It's time to elect someone experienced whom you can trust
The Mayoralty is a hugely responsible position, overseeing a Council budget of more than £1bn a year. It needs a person with managerial skills, understanding of local government and leadership experience. John Griffiths, your Lib Dem candidate for Mayor, is:
• Led the campaign to save York Hall from Labour's demolition plans
• Former Tower Hamlets Councillor, deputy leader of the Lib Dem Group and Chair of the
• Local Area Partnership for Bethnal Green/Weavers
• Exposed the fraud in Labour's use of regeneration funding for Tower Hamlets which
• resulted in prosecutions of officers and Labour Councillors
• Managing Director of a successful regeneration company, Rocket Science UK Ltd., which
• he set up in 2001 and employs 15
• Board Member of Gateway Housing Association since 2002 and a Trustee of Bikeworks,
• an award winning social enterprise based in Bow, since 2006
• Former FE College Governor, 1995-2003 (Newham VIth Form College)
• Resident of Bethnal Green since 1997; married to Lulu Grimes (BBC Food Editor); one
• son, Oliver, attending nursery in Spitalfields;
• Educated at Cambridge University (BA) and the University of Alabama (MA)
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats