Corbynista MP Apsana Begum has made an appearance alongside the 200 refuse collectors responsible for the piles of rubbish and swarming rats in London’s Tower Hamlets to back their strike action. Her constituents will no doubt be as pleased as Keir Starmer to see the Labour Party representative supporting the strike. The bin-men have been on strike since 18th September and joined a solidarity protest last week with striking NHS workers. There is frenzied talk of a new Winter of Discontent among residents…
Local businesses have taken to hiring their own bin collectors while the striking rubbish men reject a £1,925 pay increase and extend inaction until 15th October. Despite her constituents keeping their children off the streets for fear of rats, Begum praised the striking workers, saying “they’ve captured the attention of everyone in our area”. That’s one way of putting it…
Last night the hard-left Corbynite MP Apsana Begum’s local Labour Party voted to trigger a selection battle. Just before midnight her CLP procedural secretary Asra Anjum wrote to the branch’s executive committee to “confirm that the local Labour Party branches and the affiliates to our CLP have voted for a Full Selection.” All 10 wards voted for open selection, just one – Lansbury & Poplar – tied on 43 votes for and against. Begum will automatically be included on the shortlist…
According to former local Labour councillor-turned blogger Puru Miah, “no other contemporary Labour MP” has achieved the accolade of being deselected in every single ward in their constituency. It may not be an accolade she uniquely holds for much longer – as Guido reported yesterday, Sam Tarry is facing a very similar uphill battle…
Since her June 2021 victory in court, fending off allegations of housing fraud, Corbynite MP Apsana Begum has gone incredibly quiet. Last night we learnt why. Apsana has said she needs to take some time off from her £84,144 job due to a “sustained campaign of misogynistic abuse and harassment”, which has had “a significant effect on my mental and physical health.” Her GP’s signed her off sick – presumably it took from the end of her court trial to now to get said appointment…
A statement published on Apsana’s social media says “it is hard to have to take time off from my work representing the constituency in which I grew up and live, and for which it is my honour to serve as the MP” and promises to “see you all once I am better.”
A statement: pic.twitter.com/kcCRqpShBo
— Apsana Begum MP (@ApsanaBegumMP) June 22, 2022
Maybe she can ask Nadia Whittome how to cope with the mental stresses of being an MP…
Labour MP Apsana Begum has been found not guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court of housing fraud. The BBC reports Begum “collapsed and wept in the dock after the verdicts were returned”…
With Apsana Begum’s housing fraud trial still ongoing, John McDonnell made a guest star appearance this afternoon as a live defense witness. While it only lasted a few minutes, McDonnell gave the hard left MP a gushing character reference. Guido’s courtroom mole gives the rundown:
“She came across as a very straightforward, sincere, committed person”
“[She is] honest, sincere, extremely caring, and she comes across always as wanting to do the right thing. She comes across as a very good person.”
McDonnell confesses he was hoping to take her on as a PPS had Labour won in 2019, saying he had confidence in her judgment, ability and dedication. Damning…
When asked whether she was intelligent, McDonnell replied “very bright”. He confirmed that in his view she is “capable”. When asked whether she is a good political operator he claimed the term would be “derogatory” though “can put a good argument”
“She has won over people with her honesty and sincerity in Labour and in the House overall.”
The court returns at 11am tomorrow and deliberates on Thursday…
Apsana Begum’s trial yesterday saw the Poplar & Limehouse MP accused by Tower Hamlets council of defrauding them out of £64,000 in social housing claims over three years. She supposedly “withheld information” to boost her chances of getting on the list, specifically the fact she was no longer living in an overcrowded home at the time of her application. Begum claims she kept housing officials informed “as best she could”.
Begum applied for the social housing list in 2011, remaining on it until March 2016, at which point she was awarded a studio flat tenancy. Her 2011 application was on the basis her family home was overcrowded, however it’s claimed she failed to tell the council after her circumstances changed. Given she worked for Tower Hamlets from 2011-13, the whole affair must be rather awkward for her…
