Now that the complete farce that was the Tower Hamlets governance referendum is over the borough can get back to the normal farce of a dysfunctional local authority pretending they know what they are doing and failing miserably.
A perfect example of this BS posing as policy approach is the announcement (drum roll please!) of a ‘Poverty Review.’
To quote the marketing BS Tower Hamlets council is so fond of…
‘We are seeking views on poverty in Tower Hamlets, especially its impact on children and older people. We are inviting evidence as well as the experiences and opinions of our residents, local partners, and others.’
The survey questions are a nonsense. What will answers to the questions below add to our knowledge of poverty in the borough? Why is this survey devoid of proposals which residents could then rank in a closed question response?
Or is it simply that the survey results with open questions where people could enter whatever they like can be much more easily manipulated by politicians and council officers? Probably this.
LBTH Poverty Survey Questions
LBTH Poverty Survey Questions
Why is there no mention of Universal Income in a survey about poverty? Instead of taking it as a given that residents will be poor why are there no questions asking for ideas about how to stop residents getting poor in the first place? How about a question (maybe even two) asking residents if they think educational standards are linked to poverty levels? And why is there not a single question about how racism and poverty are linked?
And why only four questions? Could the pigeon-brained people behind this tripe not think of a fifth question to ask about the biggest and most persistent problem in the borough?
Biggest question is why the council think residents are so stupid they are not capable of providing real input into a survey?
Dumber and dumberer
Other calls for evidence forthcoming from LBTH in the next year are…
Banana Review – ‘Have you ever slipped over on a banana? We are seeking views on the amount of fruit on pavements in Tower Hamlets, especially its impact on children and older people. We are inviting evidence as well as the experiences and opinions of our residents, local partners, and others.’
Do Bears Go Poop Poop In The Woods? Review – ‘Have you seen a wild bear in the borough? Did you see it go poop poop in the woods? We are seeking views on the hygiene levels of both black and brown bears living wild in Tower Hamlets, especially their impact on children and older people. Like eating them ‘cos they can’t run fast. We are inviting evidence as well as the experiences and opinions of our residents, local partners, and other bear species.’
Blindingly Obvious Review – ‘Have you ever noticed something which is blindingly obvious to everyone else? We are seeking views on the amount of blindingly obvious things in Tower Hamlets, especially their impact on children and older people. We are inviting evidence as well as the experiences and opinions of our residents, local partners, and others.’
Reviews Review – ‘Are you aware of a subject that should be reviewed by the council but which has so far been ignored? We are seeking views on the amount of subjects in Tower Hamlets that have not been reviewed yet but which should be, especially their impact on children and older people. We are inviting evidence as well as the experiences and opinions of our residents, local partners, and others, all of which will be reviewed to eternity.’
Liveable Streets Review – ‘Do you think the council should call the crass incompetence that is the Liveable Streets programme the Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) to bring it into line with other parts of the UK? We are seeking views on calling something a different name for reasons of which we are unaware especially the impact of this on children and older people. We are inviting evidence as well as the experiences and opinions of our residents, local partners, and others. As long as they ride bikes, natch.’
Rebranding Poverty Review – ‘One way of eliminating poverty in the borough is to call it something else. We think this is a super idea. We are seeking views on rebranding poverty with culturally empathetic words which we can’t think of at that the moment. Possibly a trendy jingle too. We especially want to understand the impact of this rebranding on children and older people and the fact that it will change nothing. We are inviting evidence as well as the experiences and opinions of our residents, local partners, and others.”
The above forthcoming reviews are jokes of course. They really are. Aren’t they? Should we have a review of humour in the borough?
If the current LBTH administration, or any other administration of any political party in power, does not know what to do about poverty in our borough after six years in power it is safe to say they never ever will.
Tower Hamlets Council
A short note for the sake of clarity. It is normal journalistic practise to provide the subject of news stories for a statement or right to reply in advance of publication. It is also normal practise for a local authority media office to answer questions posed by journalists. Tower Hamlets council refuses to respond to any correspondence from the East End Enquirer including requests for comment, request for right to reply, requests for answers to the most basic of questions. So we have stopped asking. As to why they are acting in this manner? Our guess it is because the truth often hurts….
If you found this story useful please consider helping the Wapping Mole and the East End Enquirer continue to cover issues like this by clicking the PayPal link below.
TH Labour treats Tower Hamlets poverty as just another box ticking exercise
Now that the complete farce that was the Tower Hamlets governance referendum is over the borough can get back to the normal farce of a dysfunctional local authority pretending they know what they are doing and failing miserably.
A perfect example of this BS posing as policy approach is the announcement (drum roll please!) of a ‘Poverty Review.’
Honest. A review of poverty in the East End.
Poverty Review: Call for evidence
To quote the marketing BS Tower Hamlets council is so fond of…
‘We are seeking views on poverty in Tower Hamlets, especially its impact on children and older people. We are inviting evidence as well as the experiences and opinions of our residents, local partners, and others.’
The survey questions are a nonsense. What will answers to the questions below add to our knowledge of poverty in the borough? Why is this survey devoid of proposals which residents could then rank in a closed question response?
Or is it simply that the survey results with open questions where people could enter whatever they like can be much more easily manipulated by politicians and council officers? Probably this.
LBTH Poverty Survey Questions
Why is there no mention of Universal Income in a survey about poverty? Instead of taking it as a given that residents will be poor why are there no questions asking for ideas about how to stop residents getting poor in the first place? How about a question (maybe even two) asking residents if they think educational standards are linked to poverty levels? And why is there not a single question about how racism and poverty are linked?
And why only four questions? Could the pigeon-brained people behind this tripe not think of a fifth question to ask about the biggest and most persistent problem in the borough?
Biggest question is why the council think residents are so stupid they are not capable of providing real input into a survey?
Dumber and dumberer
Other calls for evidence forthcoming from LBTH in the next year are…
Banana Review – ‘Have you ever slipped over on a banana? We are seeking views on the amount of fruit on pavements in Tower Hamlets, especially its impact on children and older people. We are inviting evidence as well as the experiences and opinions of our residents, local partners, and others.’
Do Bears Go Poop Poop In The Woods? Review – ‘Have you seen a wild bear in the borough? Did you see it go poop poop in the woods? We are seeking views on the hygiene levels of both black and brown bears living wild in Tower Hamlets, especially their impact on children and older people. Like eating them ‘cos they can’t run fast. We are inviting evidence as well as the experiences and opinions of our residents, local partners, and other bear species.’
Blindingly Obvious Review – ‘Have you ever noticed something which is blindingly obvious to everyone else? We are seeking views on the amount of blindingly obvious things in Tower Hamlets, especially their impact on children and older people. We are inviting evidence as well as the experiences and opinions of our residents, local partners, and others.’
Reviews Review – ‘Are you aware of a subject that should be reviewed by the council but which has so far been ignored? We are seeking views on the amount of subjects in Tower Hamlets that have not been reviewed yet but which should be, especially their impact on children and older people. We are inviting evidence as well as the experiences and opinions of our residents, local partners, and others, all of which will be reviewed to eternity.’
Liveable Streets Review – ‘Do you think the council should call the crass incompetence that is the Liveable Streets programme the Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) to bring it into line with other parts of the UK? We are seeking views on calling something a different name for reasons of which we are unaware especially the impact of this on children and older people. We are inviting evidence as well as the experiences and opinions of our residents, local partners, and others. As long as they ride bikes, natch.’
Rebranding Poverty Review – ‘One way of eliminating poverty in the borough is to call it something else. We think this is a super idea. We are seeking views on rebranding poverty with culturally empathetic words which we can’t think of at that the moment. Possibly a trendy jingle too. We especially want to understand the impact of this rebranding on children and older people and the fact that it will change nothing. We are inviting evidence as well as the experiences and opinions of our residents, local partners, and others.”
The above forthcoming reviews are jokes of course. They really are. Aren’t they? Should we have a review of humour in the borough?
If the current LBTH administration, or any other administration of any political party in power, does not know what to do about poverty in our borough after six years in power it is safe to say they never ever will.
Tower Hamlets Council
A short note for the sake of clarity. It is normal journalistic practise to provide the subject of news stories for a statement or right to reply in advance of publication. It is also normal practise for a local authority media office to answer questions posed by journalists. Tower Hamlets council refuses to respond to any correspondence from the East End Enquirer including requests for comment, request for right to reply, requests for answers to the most basic of questions. So we have stopped asking. As to why they are acting in this manner? Our guess it is because the truth often hurts….
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As community journalists we do exactly what it says on our tin – we work for the community.
In Tower Hamlets, which covers most of London’s East End, that means we spend a lot of time investigating allegations of political corruption.
It is an unfortunate fact that the poorest local authority in the country is still beset by the highest levels of corruption.
As Love Wapping we were instrumental in exposing the electoral corruption of Mayor Lutfur Rahman.
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