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Panorama.S2014E12.The.Mayor.and.Our.Money
Transcript
00:00This is Britain's first directly elected Asian mayor. Last year, a government minister accused
00:13him of divisive community politics.
00:16Luthfer Rahman claims he stands for what he calls one Ta Hamlets.
00:23It's not giving a facility to the community.
00:26But has the mayoral system given too much power to one politician?
00:31We have a lot to thank him for. If he can't do it, he will tell you that. And I think
00:35that's all you can ask a politician. Don't tell me lies, tell me the truth.
00:41Opponents say he's handed out favours to help him win the upcoming mayoral election.
00:47So the allegation that's made by...
00:49It's untrue. It's absolutely untrue.
00:52Tonight, Panorama investigates the most serious questions raised so far about our system
00:58of directly elected mayors.
01:01The allegations that Panorama raise are of a completely different magnitude to worries
01:08and concerns that I have with other councils.
01:31This is Ta Hamlets in East London, one of Britain's most ethnically diverse boroughs.
01:39It has some of London's most iconic landmarks too. And it's also home to some of its poorest
01:46inhabitants.
01:49Ta Hamlets is perhaps the most political borough in Britain. It has a long history of bare-knuckle
01:56politics.
01:57And we will fight for it until and unless we are satisfied. Thank you very much.
02:03Those who've done 12 rounds here tell me it's rarely been more brutal than it is today.
02:13Three and a half years ago, the residents of Ta Hamlets voted for their first directly
02:17elected mayor.
02:19Lutfur Rahman, having polled, 51.76% of the vote is hereby elected. There's no need to
02:27compete.
02:28I will work for you and each and every member of Ta Hamlets.
02:38Lutfur Rahman won with a fraction of the electorate, just 13% of registered voters.
02:46Of the people that did turn out to vote that day, nearly two-thirds were from his own Bangladeshi
02:51community.
02:52Lutfur Rahman stood as an independent. Vilified by opponents, his supporters saw him as a
03:00David standing against the Goliath of his old party, Labour.
03:07Four years on, the balance of power has shifted.
03:12The intention of the directly elected mayoral system is that we elect people who are accountable
03:19and visible to the community. This is moving to a more presidential system rather than
03:24a parliamentary one. And this is in order that we have strong, visible leaders who can
03:30make decisions and the public know who they are because they've directly elected them.
03:43An early decision from Mayor Rahman was the creation of a new logo for the new office
03:49of mayor. He's the only directly elected mayor to use both his name and photo. He's even
03:56branded the council's binman.
04:02The mayor has already created an image within the community that he is someone very powerful.
04:10We would like to give the message that he's the most powerful person, powerful man around.
04:16And that's the kind of image he wanted to put by portraying his pictures throughout
04:20the whole borough.
04:21The other side, some tall buildings, you can see it.
04:24I had a lot of questions for the mayor, but first he insisted on showing me some of his
04:29achievements. He also lined up some supporters, like Lillian Collins, who lobbied the mayor
04:36to renovate these Art Deco swimming baths in Poplar.
04:41So after eight years, we've got this wonderful man as our leader.
04:47The mayor says he upholds the highest standards of probity and transparency, like not using
04:54public money to promote himself, beyond, of course, explaining his policies.
05:05Like many mayors, Mayor Rahman funds a news sheet from the public purse. But unlike any
05:11other mayor, his is actually a weekly newspaper. As well as reporting the news, the mayor's
05:17newspaper has made the news.
05:21No power exists to tackle its political propaganda sheet. And it is further evidence of a worrying
05:27pattern of divisive community politics and mismanagement of council staff and resources
05:34by the mayoral administration.
05:37A recent council survey of Tower Hamlets residents says they don't think that East End Life is
05:42biased. Council newspapers are, of course, supposed to reflect the make-up of the council
05:48as a whole. So I've been through every edition of East End Life over the last year. Even
05:55though opposition parties outnumber the mayor and his party by more than 2 to 1, the mayor
06:01and his party still get 29 times more mentions.
06:09The council's own new publicity code requires coverage to be fair and balanced. I asked
06:17the mayor's former communications chief if he thought the mayor abided by the code.
06:23Do you think having 97.3% of quotes, sharing them between him and his cabinet, do you think
06:30that amounts to political advertising?
06:34It sounds like it to me, yes, because if this newspaper's going through over 90,000 letter
06:40boxes every week and that's the level of exposure that the mayor is getting, to me it's cult
06:48of the personality.
06:52Our review shows that over that year, 97.3% of all quotes were from you and your cabinet.
06:59Does that strike you as balanced?
07:01The East End Life is a fair and a balanced paper. It's been around for the last 20 years.
07:06The style and the format has been the same style and format since I've been a councillor
07:11about 15 years ago. And it's about reporting on the services that we deliver in this community.
07:18Is 97.3% fair and balanced?
07:21It is a fair paper reporting on the services of this council, what we deliver.
07:26Does it amount to political advertising?
07:28Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
07:32From today, a new law on council publications will outlaw East End Life from publishing
07:38in its current form.
07:42It's partisan. It's there promoting not only the mayor, but the mayor's party.
07:46I mean the mayor would say, look, directly elected mayors were elected to become the
07:52face of the council, the face of campaigns. And so you would expect a higher concentration
07:57of coverage on one individual.
07:59And let him use his own money to do that. He shouldn't abuse his position and use taxpayers'
08:07money for that. And with due process and with due consideration, we may well be issuing
08:14instructions to the mayor to desist.
08:19Mayor Rahman has an unorthodox relationship with some local TV stations, one that's also
08:26unique amongst elected mayors.
08:29This is Channel S.
08:30Channel S, passionate about exceeding expectations.
08:35It broadcasts to the nearly half million Bangladeshis who live in the UK. It's especially influential
08:42amongst the 80,000-odd who live in Tower Hamlets.
08:46Channel S is one of the very powerful channels which reaches to most of the Bangladeshis
08:51in this country. And a lot of people's opinion is that they also be a bit biased towards
08:58the mayor's team.
09:03Under Mayor Rahman, Tower Hamlets has so far given Channel S £17,000 of public money to
09:09sponsor programmes and events. The mayor has also been made very welcome on Channel S.
09:16I'm grateful to make me accountable to the people of Tower Hamlets.
09:21In this interview, for example, the channel seems to have let the mayor promote himself.
09:52What do you think of the clip you've just seen?
09:56Well, I've never seen anything like it before. It's just so partial, it's beyond belief.
10:04I'm trying to think what the broadcast equivalent of vanity publishing is. But that's what we're
10:11talking about, isn't it?
10:13Let's go for a break then.
10:16Since 2008, Channel S, who declined to comment, has been found guilty of bias in favour of
10:22Mayor Rahman by the TV regulator Ofcom three times, including once when he last stood for
10:28election.
10:31Mayor Rahman has paid the chief reporter of the channel that's promoted him £50,000 a
10:36year to be his community media advisor. So I asked the mayor, didn't that amount to a
10:43serious conflict of interest?
10:46Mr Jubeir does not report on any matter pertaining to the mayor's office or the mayoralty or
10:53on any issue dealing with this council.
10:56That's not true.
10:57That is absolutely true.
10:58I'm afraid that isn't. Well, I will double check, but I think that's not...
11:03Please do check.
11:04So we did.
11:05Welcome to Channel S Awards 2013.
11:09Mr Jubeir denies reporting on the mayor.
11:13Yet here is the mayor's well-paid advisor reporting on his boss.
11:19What's more, the mayor sponsored the event for £5,000 and he also got a platform to
11:26promote his administration.
11:28The investment that we are making into Hamlets clearly shows that it's paid off.
11:33One of our young people, a young woman, has won your education achievement awards.
11:39Mohamed Jubeir, Channel S Television News, London.
11:42Do you have any concept of how odd this close relationship with Channel S appears to be?
11:49Channel S is a small regional digital TV station, but we have a professional relationship of
11:55all the local media.
11:56It's a cosy relationship.
11:57A professional...
11:58You know exactly what I'm saying. It's a cosy relationship.
12:00It's a professional relationship with all the local media.
12:06There's little critical scrutiny of the mayor and the Bangladeshi media generally, and what
12:11scrutiny there is risks being treated with suspicion, as we discovered.
12:17In the course of making this programme, we hired a trainee Bengali journalist.
12:23Within days, she had copied some of our confidential material and handed it to the mayor's office,
12:29presenting herself as a whistleblower.
12:32Apparently, she felt that our approach had been racist and biased, even though the most
12:37serious allegations we were investigating had come from fellow Bengalis.
12:47The mayor says his priority is to create harmony across Tower Hamlets' diverse ethnicities
12:54and faiths.
12:55He calls this One Tower Hamlets.
12:59He's especially proud of building new homes and improving estates like this one.
13:06So there hadn't been any work done before you became leader?
13:08No.
13:09No at all?
13:10No at all.
13:11Even some critics agree, with supporters like Brenda Daly, that he's got a good record on housing.
13:17Now you come in, it's open, it's green, and it's lovely.
13:21And, you know, I love living here, basically.
13:24We have a lot to thank him for.
13:26So he's got your vote?
13:27Yes, he has got my vote.
13:29If someone promises you something and they deliver, then you think, well, you know,
13:33if he can't do it, he will tell you that.
13:36And I think that's all you can ask of a politician.
13:38Don't tell me lies.
13:39Tell me the truth.
13:40The mayoral mantra may be One Tower Hamlets.
13:44However, his cabinet and advisers, none of whom were available for interview,
13:48are all Bangladeshi, as were nearly two-thirds of voters on the day.
13:53As were nearly two-thirds of voters on the day he was elected.
13:58Even though the borough is only one-third Bangladeshi.
14:04To win next May, the mayor is expected to need a high Bangladeshi turnout once again.
14:11This has led to accusations that for all his talk of One Tower Hamlets,
14:16some of Mayor Rahman's policies are divisive.
14:21The mayor has become the first and only mayor to fund faith directly from local taxes.
14:29He's set up a £3 million fund to preserve what he calls faith heritage.
14:36He says he was inspired by a visit to this synagogue.
14:40It's a wonderful building, beautiful architecture.
14:43But see the way the rain is seeping in, the walls are cracking.
14:48I believe it needs us to protect it and protect the heritage and history of a very important part of our borough.
14:57However, so far, most of the applicants for the mayor's faith fund have been mosques.
15:04When Labour ran Tower Hamlets, religious groups were given public funds to provide social services.
15:11But Mayor Rahman's faith grant scheme comes with no such strings attached.
15:22Although it's been popular with faith groups, a number of local Muslims told me it was potentially divisive.
15:30Only one was prepared to voice his opposition publicly.
15:35Faith divides people. I mean, we are living in a multicultural society.
15:39If I am a strong believer of a particular faith, I have to have a different opinion,
15:45a particular opinion about if we are belonging to a different faith.
15:48Faith should be kept within yourself.
15:51I don't believe that it basically unites people, rather it divides people.
15:55The mayor says his faith grant helps build community cohesion.
16:00Does it?
16:03This is the Eshetal Mosque. So far, the mayor has given them £25,000.
16:12Last December, the mosque gave a platform to a senior Saudi imam,
16:17even though, when interviewed, he doesn't seem to have a clue about community cohesion.
16:33Sheikh Al-Kabbani has previously been a guest of the mayor.
16:38Amid press criticism of his return visit last December, the Home Secretary cancelled his visa.
16:45My question is, how does inviting a cleric with those views contribute to community cohesion?
16:51I condemn any discrimination based on race, religion, gender...
16:56I'm sure you do. So why give them any money?
16:59If anyone breaks the law, I will condemn them.
17:02If you have any... This is an invite. It's a question of values.
17:06If you have any evidence that someone in my community have broken the law...
17:11That's not my question.
17:13..Mr Ware, forward it on to my monitoring officer.
17:15That's not my question. You know that's not my question.
17:18Tower Hamlets is one of the most deprived boroughs in the country.
17:22Many residents depend on council-funded charities.
17:29This community association, which is also a mosque,
17:33has been given nearly £100,000 by the mayor
17:36to run a lunch club, advice service and homework and sewing classes.
17:44In the run-up to the election, the mayor had good news for hundreds of charities in Tower Hamlets.
17:49He said he wanted to fund many more of them from the Mayoral Grant pot.
17:55And by our calculation, he increased that pot to a record £14 million.
18:01However, the opposition were sceptical.
18:05We now return to members' questions.
18:07The next question is from Councillor Rachel Saunders.
18:10Is there any link between mayor's funding to new organisations in the borough and the mayor's campaign?
18:16Mr Williams.
18:18I have a very short and simple answer.
18:20There is nothing improper about what we do.
18:24That's the bottom line. There is nothing improper.
18:27Alibor Chowdhury is one of 14 councillors in the mayor's new party, Tower Hamlets First.
18:34Despite emphatic denials, the opposition still believed there was something improper
18:39about the way the mayor exercised his personal power over grants.
18:44I am pretty sure that there is some quid pro quo in some of those grant decisions being made.
18:50I am pretty sure that part of that quid pro quo
18:54is about supporting the mayor politically on the ground in the run-up to the election
18:59because he doesn't have a political machine and he needs organisations out there
19:04making sure that the electorate turns out to vote for him.
19:08Suspicion that electoral advantage was the mayor's motive
19:11has been fanned by opposition claims about the process he used to award the grants.
19:18If the mayor's selection about which groups to fund
19:21was based on who he thought would get the vote out for him,
19:25well, that would be unlawful.
19:29Because the mayor insists he upholds the highest standards of probity and transparency,
19:35we approached the financial standard setters for local government.
19:41It's very important that the process isn't behind closed doors.
19:46When it's behind closed doors, it calls into question
19:50whether or not that process is being properly followed
19:53and whether or not the decisions are being soundly made.
19:55So up and down the land, you will see councils very keen to ensure
19:59that their decision-making in this regard, in these areas, is very much in public.
20:05And that's the way it was until the mayor took his grants process mostly behind closed doors.
20:12We've had access to confidential council paperwork
20:15relating to nearly £9 million worth of grants he approved.
20:20What they show is how officers tried to do what the mayor wanted
20:24to help some of the neediest in the borough.
20:28What they also show is the sheer scale of how the mayor rejected this advice.
20:36You're determining who will execute your policies best,
20:40and after a rigorous process, you come to a set of recommendations.
20:47But the mayor didn't like most of his officers' recommendations,
20:51so he redistributed nearly £6 million between hundreds of his chosen projects.
20:59More than half these changes were because the mayor funded projects
21:03which officers hadn't recommended or because he rejected projects which they had.
21:11I don't know the specifics of a case.
21:13Of course it will change a bit.
21:15That's why we elect people, in order to make final decisions
21:19on behalf of the community, spending public money.
21:23But it's very unusual for that degree of material change to take place.
21:30Inside Tower Hamlets, a council lawyer warned the authority was...
21:35..vulnerable to legal challenge.
21:38The man representing Tower Hamlets Charities also complained
21:42there was no explanation for the scale of changes.
21:48Kaderu Mahdi is the chief executive for Tower Hamlets Council for Voluntary Service.
21:54As the one outsider given access by the mayor to the otherwise secret process,
21:59he was intended to be the eyes and the ears of the charity sector.
22:05But in this confidential memo, he says he was being kept in the dark.
22:13The information fell short of what was required.
22:16I have not been privy to the detailed review.
22:20It's in the best interests of the council for the process to be fair and transparent.
22:27A fair and transparent process means providing detailed explanations
22:32when major funding changes are made.
22:35And yet the only explanation given for hundreds of changes
22:39amounting to £6 million is contained in just a few words
22:43that local knowledge was applied
22:46and that it was known where money needed to be redistributed.
22:52I'd expect a detailed explanation in the audit trail of why decisions have been made.
22:57And so if...
22:59Well, not just the odd parrot the sentence.
23:01No, no, you expect detailed explanation of why decisions have been made.
23:05And if there isn't an explanation...
23:07..then the decisions are challengeable.
23:10You mean in the courts, judicially reviewable? Yes.
23:14Our analysis covers 362 grants worth nearly £9 million approved by the mayor.
23:22The biggest winners by far have been charities run by Bengali or Somali trustees.
23:30Officers had originally recommended
23:32that these groups should get £1.5 million.
23:36Mayor Rahman increased that by nearly 2.5 times
23:41to £3.6 million.
23:43To pay for it, he dipped into the council's reserves
23:47and he cut what was left for everyone else by 25% overall.
23:56The last mayoral election had a high Bengali turnout.
24:00So if the mayor was using grants to build up his voter base,
24:04it would make sense to push the money.
24:08You've more than doubled the grant officers recommended
24:11to Bangladeshi and Somali-run organisations
24:13and you cut everyone else's, or many others, to help pay for it.
24:17And that's why the opposition say
24:19that this is as much about electoral advantage as it may be about need.
24:22What do you say to that?
24:24Listen, it went through a rigorous process, Mr Ware.
24:26So the allegation that's made by the opposition...
24:28It's not a legal allegation.
24:30It's not a legal allegation.
24:32It's not a legal allegation.
24:34It went through a rigorous process, Mr Ware.
24:36So the allegation that's made by...
24:38It's untrue. It's absolutely untrue.
24:40But can I just say, my principle has all along been
24:43that we will distribute the money to as many organisations as possible
24:47because they benefit the community of Tower Hamlets, Mr Ware.
24:50Let me just... The maths show
24:52that you made very significant changes to officer recommendations.
24:55There isn't an adequate explanation for the changes that you made.
24:59In fact, the only reason given, really,
25:03is that local knowledge is applied.
25:05Why is there no adequate audit trial?
25:07Oh, there is adequate audit trial, Mr Ware.
25:10You just... Your informants, your researchers,
25:13just give you selective information.
25:15No, I've read all the papers.
25:17My research is I've read all the papers.
25:19You choose to air selective information.
25:23Directly elected mayors have more personal power
25:26than ordinary council leaders.
25:28In return, they're expected to be personally accountable.
25:34The mayor is asked many questions at council
25:37and the response is always the same.
25:39Total silence.
25:41We were frustrated to find
25:43that the mayor was refusing to answer any questions
25:45and were told by the legal officer
25:47that not only was he not subject to the Constitution,
25:50but that it would be against his human rights to force him to answer questions.
25:53Against the human rights of an elected mayor?
25:56It would be against his human rights to force him to answer questions
25:59from members of the public and from elected representatives
26:02in a public council meeting.
26:04Trying to hold the mayor to account
26:06has become a familiar battle in full council meetings.
26:11Look, it is not about being a Bengali mayor or Asian mayor or black mayor.
26:15It's nothing to do with that.
26:17It is about decisions you make on behalf of the residents.
26:20If you are divisive, if you make decisions on grants,
26:24I want to see much more accountability, transparency from the mayor.
26:29The one forum where all decision makers are expected to be held to account
26:34is called Overview and Scrutiny, or ONS.
26:41And yet, in the last year, Mayor Rahman is the only one
26:45out of all England's 15 directly elected mayors
26:48not to have answered questions at ONS.
26:52Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
26:54Can I just say that my disappointment again, Mayor Rahman,
26:57for your non-attendance and your, again, on the eighth occasion
27:01that you've declined to attend the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
27:05Since then, it's gone up to ten.
27:09OK, OK, it's OK, please, please.
27:11By our count, there have been of the order of ten requests to the mayor.
27:17He has not presented himself.
27:19Is that unusual, in your view?
27:21That's virtually unprecedented.
27:23And I'd be very interested in understanding
27:26why an important part of the local government settlement
27:31of having scrutiny is not happening.
27:34Why haven't you been prepared to turn up and answer questions about the grants?
27:38Mr Ware, let me answer.
27:40Three grants panel, four cabinet meetings, two ONS meetings about the grants.
27:45A vigorous process, after which I made the final decision.
27:49But you didn't answer any questions.
27:51So what was true over in scrutiny committees?
27:53My executive members attended, answered each and every question,
27:57and gave a proper answer.
27:59No, they didn't, I'm sorry.
28:01That is your interpretation.
28:03The 17th of December, no-one turned up.
28:06You said you had other business.
28:08That's a fact. To the record.
28:12We took a summary of our research to the man ultimately responsible
28:17for the ethical framework of local government.
28:21I will look at it very carefully,
28:23and if I feel the allegations that you made are substantial and serious,
28:28I will actively consider intervening.
28:31In what way?
28:33Well, I have powers to put in an inspector
28:38to look at the way that the council has been run.
28:45This is International Language Day,
28:47Tara Hamlet's annual celebration of diversity.
28:54This annual occasion gives us the opportunity
28:58to celebrate our cultural differences.
29:01We are a microcosm of what this country is today.
29:08In two months, the electorate will decide the difference
29:11between the mayor and his political opponents.
29:14He has accused Panorama of becoming their mouthpiece,
29:18a portent of just how visceral this contest is set to be.
29:30On the eve of the Queen's historic trip to the Vatican,
29:33a Panorama special asks if Pope Francis
29:36can really transform the Catholic Church.
29:39That's on Wednesday at 10.35.
29:42Next tonight on BBC One, Silk,
29:44or brand new on BBC Three now, Life and Death Row.