Forum Topic

Does Rupa Huq Car?

Dear Rupa Huq, Do you care? I wrote to you some time ago about a neighbourhood problem:  a landlord with an appalling record and a council officer who, knowing his record, licensed him as a fit and proper person to have control of an HMO.   I received an automated respond but nothing more.  I felt that, because there was criticism of the Labour Local Authority in my email, you were putting your party before the safety of the lives of your constituents.Here is a chance to redeem yourself.  I am putting the matter to you again. THE BAD LANDLORD:  ThamesHouse Property Ltd.  For several years the landlord had been using his property (354-6 Uxbridge Road) as an HMO without planning consent.   The tenants were housed in damp rooms with cracked, mouldy walls; the smoke-alarm was taped over; the fire escape route was blocked and there were no proper fire-doors.   THE COUNCIL OFFICER Mark Wiltshire Wilshire knew all this.  He also knew the tenants were causing neighbourhood nuisance.  He was supplied with evidence that the landlord had admitted it but was doing nothing about it.  He had over thirty statements from neighbours setting out the antisocial behaviour they were suffering from the tenants: drunken noise within the building and a squalid business they were operating in the street outside, polluting the air with engines left running, fouling the road with empty food cartons and intimating passers-by. Wiltshire licensed this landlord as a fit and proper person to have control of large-scale HMO. As a candidate for the social-justice Labour Party that claims to care for “generation rent”, will you condemn this landlord, whose record was of a merchant in filth and fire-hazard, as unfit to have control of a large-scale HMO and unwelcome in our Borough and will you condemn the council officer, who ignored his record and who know rejoices in the title Director of Safer Communities, as unit to hold office? And BEFORE the election would be nice, JUST TO SHOW THAT YOU CARE.I am copying this to the local Labour Party as I am not clear whether you are receiving emails via Westminster. Andrew Farmer

Andrew Farmer ● 2187d32 Comments

My account of The Royal Crimea Guest House covered the years 1980-2000.  The bad things that occurred were when there was a Labour Council.  The only event that occurred when there was a Conservative one was when the planning officer misled the Planning Committee.  He made a sequence of mistakes all to the benefit of the RCGH.  There was concern about his integrity.  A public meeting was called, attended by around 40 people.  Cudmore told us what a splendid chap the officer was, but, when pressed, agreed to meet with a group of us.  He took the names.  When I rang him to arrange the meeting, his PA told me he had lost the list. There was another source of public nuisance caused by the property.  The owner was operating a three-coach service between Ealing and the Ukraine.    Her first coach was an old, fumes-disgorging vehicle known as “the Lviv Liner”.A “trading-post” activity was also going on.  Large numbers of people were arriving at night to collect goods “imported” for them and bringing goods to be exported.  This was conducted on the forecourt and in Hale Gardens.  It was a large-scale public nuisance and also a breach of planning regulations.  The Council refused even to investigate.  The planning enforcement officer was unable to witness three coaches parked on the forecourt!I spent a whole day photographing the event and shamed the Council into taking action.  This put an end to the major nuisance (for a while).  It coincided with the Council’s being obliged to withdraw its custom from the property and so the years you mention (2006-2010) were ones of relatively low-level nuisance.  We had far less contact with the Council in respect of the building.  Problems began when new owner took over the place as I descried in my first post.TO THAT RUPA HUQ HAS NOT RESPONDED.  SHE HAS HAD LONG ENOUGH.  SO, MY ANSWER TO MY OWN QUESTION IS:  NO.  SHE DOES NOT CARE. 

Andrew Farmer ● 2175d

Andrew, what happened during 2006-2010 when the Conservatives were in control of Ealing Council?

Terry Freestone ● 2176d

Why is anyone reading this thread not in the least surprised if what you say is factual & correct?We really do have a deep and very serious problem when actions like this by a Planning Department, if true, are allowed to occur and become the "norm".Says it all about LBE under BellEnd really.

Rosco White ● 2176d

And with your contribution, Ms Georgina’s Stuart, we descend to an unpleasant personal insinuation.  What “look” are you attributing to me?  If you want to make an accusation, do so.  If you can only insinuate, you would do better to stay silent.  You are not a clinical psychologist.   And what has the fact that Huq is female got to do with anything?  It is of no interest to me.  ANTI-SEMITISM is what concerns me. It has been my misfortune to have Rupa Huq as my MP for the last few years and my concern (not obsession) is not to have that happen again.  There is an election coming up soon.  People tend to talk about the candidates in the run up to one. 

Andrew Farmer ● 2176d

Yes. They have been using it on and off for over 30 years.    It was known at first as the The Royal Crimea Guest House and was a semi-detached property.  The owner, a Mrs Lipka, had been living there with an elderly dentist.  It became hers when he died.  The house was then in its original state.  She built a hideous side addition, constructed of breeze blocks and rough timber.  She began taking council tenants.  She bought the other half of the property.  That was in turn extended.  The neighbours and wider community objected to all her planning applications.  We felt she was being indulged because of her willingness to take Council tenants.A planning officer deceived the planning committee into believing that the property had consent for hostel use.  The Council began operating a hostel there.  Then came the Somalis and the pressure their numbers put on the Council.  Mrs Lipka was always happy to take one more.  The overcrowding was appalling.  Three of the Somali women turned to us, the neighbours, for help.  They provided a photograph of one of rooms in which one of them and five children were living:  wall to wall mattresses on the floor.  A child was scalded with boiling water as result of the kichen’s being locked at night to prevent arguments among the tenants.  One lady fled the building and took up occupation of a shed at the bottom of the garden.  We put all this to the Council (Cudmore). He did nothing.  The ladies gave us signed letters so that we could represent them. Cudmore had a legal officer write to say we couldn’t.  The people were only rehoused when the Government forbade placing families in B and B accommodation.  The Council then admitted it never had planning consent for hostel use. When Mrs Lipka died the property was sold at auction to the present owner, whose record is set out in the first item on this thread.  This is but part of the history of this appalling building and the Council’s relationship with it.  The full story, when told, would provide an index of the incompetence, negligence and abuse of planning regulations by Ealing Council and its indifference to the conditions in which people are living. .  I feel that this thread has run its useful course by now.  I have started a new one calling into question the moral suitability of Rupa Huq to be our MP.

Andrew Farmer ● 2176d

Not sure I agree with Tricia's use of the word 'loon' but the point she is making is valid. Appearing to be a bit obsessed with your MP, particularly a female one, is not a good look these days.

Georgina Stuart ● 2176d

Mr Farmer, do the Council themselves utilise the services of this HMO, you know, bung "clientele" in there?Might explain a LOT?  😉

Rosco White ● 2177d

I don't suppose she minds when a few local loons vote for her though.

Keith Iddon ● 2177d

And with this latest post the thread has descended to vulgar abuse!

Andrew Farmer ● 2177d

Mark's point seems crystal clear to me. If you really want your MP to help you, don't come across as a bit of a loon.

Tricia Arbuthnot ● 2177d

So Mark, you have explained what an mp has no duty to do in your opinion. What, exactly are their duties in your opinion? It seems l from what you write, that their only priority would be to avoid helping a constituent with a problem and to be re-elected.

Keith Iddon ● 2177d

I'm trying to make general observations rather than personal ones.MPs are both human and not blessed with unlimited time. If you have a problem that needs sorting then they have no obligation to help you. The only real sanction that you have is not to vote for them at the next election. If they get the impression that you never would do so no matter what they achieved from you, then you are likely to go to the bottom of the pile. This is even more the case if you give the impression of being slightly obsessed with an MP particularly given recent events.

Mark Evans ● 2177d

Mr Evans, I respond to your two posts of 16.11.19.Oh dear!  I did advise you it was wise to attend to facts, but here you are in your breakfast-time communication commenting on an email that I sent to Rupa Huq on 23.10.19, the one in which I wrote to her “at length”.  The significant FACT is that you cannot have read it!  It was not on the Community Forum.  It was copied only to a few neighbours.  You assume, because I wrote “at length”, that the email was too long. That would depend on how long in FACT it was (of which you are ignorant) in relation to its subject matter (of which you are ignorant).  As to your comment on its style (“rambling”), you might have been able to support that by quotation if you had been able to read the email - except that you wouldn’t because it was all to the point.  As to its content, in neither that email nor the post that began this thread did I say or imply that she was useless. I don’t know which of you is worse:  Huq for failing to respond to an email and a post she has had a chance to read or your commenting on one, the contents of which are unknown to you! 

Andrew Farmer ● 2179d

I am sure we have more common ground on this than not, but respect is a two way street .Also assuming that someone, MP or not, will 'do a good job for you' if you show them respect, is not always the case in my experience. I would say that if someone does a good job for you and who is paid by you to do that job, then respect is certainly due. If they ignore you, then they are fair game for any negative feedback.

Keith Iddon ● 2179d

That is all true but it does not give them infinite time and resources and they cannot deal with every request that comes to their office. If you need your MP to do something it is probably a good idea to frame your request in a way that doesn't suggest your ultimate intent is to show how useless they are. I requested assistance from Angie Bray over a matter when she was my local MP. I didn't share her politics and didn't think I would like her personally but kept that out of my communication with her. In the event she was brilliant. I know people whom Rupa Huq has helped in a similar way. MPs are human beings. Treat them with respect and they will do a good job for you.

Mark Evans ● 2180d

Not forgetting their expenses and their VERY generous pension.

Keith Iddon ● 2180d

Remind me..MP'S are public servants and their salaries paid by the public purse, correct?

Keith Iddon ● 2180d

Every MP will have a full post bag of requests for assistance from constituents which are too numerous for every one of them to be given the level of attention deserved. Therefore they need to have a method of sifting them so they can concentrate on the ones where they can actually help. This will involve categorising all contact and one pile will be marked 'green ink brigade'.It may be that your requests to her have gone on that pile because of the way you worded your communication. You said earlier that you wrote to her 'at length' about her response to the Ealing Common murder which may indicate where the problem lies.If you actually want an MP to take action on something you should politely outline the issue and specify what you would like them to do about it. If you just want to complain about their lack of response on public forums you should write them long rambling missives which make no secret of how useless you think they are.

Mark Evans ● 2180d

Unfortunately we are currently "MPless" until the election, so nothing will happen anyway.After the election your query should be passed on to the new MP or, of course, Rupa should revert to you.Either way, only "Rottweilers" win this type of game Mr Farmer, as you well know.  😉

Rosco White ● 2184d

Well said, Andrew.Mark is quite obviously a vexatious apologist for poor manners when it comes to (supposedly) accountable local politician, He will, quite possibly point out that she is accountable every 5 years, but like you, I don't think that is adequate.She is your MP, and there to represent you and could at least show you the courtesy of responding. It's more of a duty than a courtesy though, im my opinion.Have you tried going to a surgery with this?

Keith Iddon ● 2184d

You tell me.  I am not a mind-reader.  Why she would consider me a “vexatious complainant” I do not know.  I have only ever written to her twice.  The first email was quite the opposite of a complaint.  The second was about this matter.  When she failed to respond, I did not even follow the matter up, until now.  It is always helpful to know the facts.  Those are the facts.  I said in my previous email: wait and let us see what she has to say for herself.  So far, that is nothing and every time you make excuses for her the more that becomes apparent.  “Vexatious complainant”, by the way, is the excuse used by organisations, corrupt with unaccountability, to avoid answering questions in respect of matters for which they have no excuse.  Lying is the other expedient.  As a mind-reader, you will not even have to ask me the organisation I have in mind. 

Andrew Farmer ● 2184d

Is perhaps possible that she has formed the impression that you are a vexatious complainer and it would be pointless responding to you?

Mark Evans ● 2184d

You now admit that MPs DO involve themselves in local authority matters, important planning matters, you say.  “If you ask them about bins, parking or council tax they will all refer you elsewhere, but this does not preclude them from campaigning for their own party in council elections”, presumably in respect of matters more serious than “bins, parking or council tax”.  But who knows what Huq, Sabiers and “activists from as far afield as Southall” discussed as they braved the winter cold? Well, we are not involved in a local election now and Huq has been asked to respond to matters more serious than “bins, parking or council tax”.  This is about a landlord who exposed his tenants to death by fire and a council officer who did not think that was significant when he licensed him as a fit and proper person to have control of a large HMO.My only criticism of Rupa Huq so far is that she failed to respond to an email.  I set that aside and have put the matter to her again.  I am waiting for a response.  So, instead of knocking the matter into the long-grass of generalisation (“behaviour which ANY POLITICIAN would engage in”), you should wait until she responds.  We can then consider her behaviour in responding to this specific issue

Andrew Farmer ● 2184d

Bloody no wonder they don't reply If you write letters like this!

Paul James ● 2185d

I feel your pain Mr Farmer, I honestly feel your pain.Ealing Council under the (mis)guidance of BellEnd is a total, complete, and utter Shower.As we are all only too aware.

Rosco White ● 2185d

You clearly don't like Rupa Huq which is your prerogative but you are criticising her for behaviour which ANY POLITICIAN would engage in.All Westminster MPs try not to comment or become involved in issues which are local government matters. They may occassionally deviate from this, for example in the case of a particularly controversial planning matter, but if you ask them about bins, parking or council tax they will all refer you elsewhere.This does not preclude them from campaigning for their own party in council elections. That would be daft.

Mark Evans ● 2185d

You write:  “The local authority has several enforcement remedies under their HMO licensing schemes and other legislation.” It does not use them as I and my neighbours have found for three decades in respect of the property referred to in my original post, the infamous “Royal Crimea Guest House”.It has had three bad landlords.  Worst was Ealing Council itself, operating a hostel there in contravention of planning regulations.  Overcrowding: wall-to-wall mattresses.  Child scalded with boiling water due to deprivation of cooking facilities.  Reported to the Council (with photographs).  Nothing done.  That was a while ago.  Now we have Wiltshire, mentioned in my original post, licensing a landlord guilty of filth and fire hazard.Contact South Acton councillors Josh Blacker, Mik Sabiers or Yvonne Fletcher, you say.  We do.  No response.Sabiers has never answered any email from myself or my neighbours.  He takes the money as a representative but does not do the job.  Yvonne Fletcher?  I believe you have mistakenly used the name of the police-officer murdered by a Moslem. It is a name that sticks in many minds, as does that of Lee Rigby, victim of two ungrateful “guests” in our country.    You meant Yvonne Johnson.  Councillor Johnson takes on the responsibility of responding to emails, understandable in respect of Mr Blacker, who is, I believe, a single parent and has a full-time,  taxing job, not so in the case of Sabiers, whose history of gainful employment is a secret known only to himself.  Councillor Johnson responds to emails conscientiously in my experience EXCEPT IN RESPECT OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE INCOMPETENCE AND MENDACITY OF COUNCIL OFFICERS. We have no one who is prepared to call the executive to account. 

Andrew Farmer ● 2185d

You write: “This is a local authority matter and the protocol is that the MP should not get involved.” Protocol? At best a custom (and one “more honoured in the breach than in the observance”).  It is resorted to when MPs find themselves embarrassed by their local authority, which must be quite often here with Bell and Najsarek in charge. I am not aware of any legislation that forbids MPs commenting on issues that are the responsibility of their local authority.  They may not have powers to intervene, but comment is a different matter.  If they are not permitted to comment, I do not see how they can adequately represent their constituents in matters that affect their lives.  I recall, by the way, Councillor and self-styled “journalist” Sabiers recounting how on a cold winter day Huq set out with a troop of ward Councillors: “Last weekend South Acton was out and about getting to know local people’s concerns with a session that took us out in the cold. We picked up more casework and questions, and it was good to be joined from activists from as far afield as Southall as well as our local MP Rupa Huq.”So, what was she doing out with local councillors, whose concerns should be restricted to ward or local authority matters, according to “protocol”, if she is supposed to keep her nose out?  The report was accompanied by a photograph.    No snow on the ground and, while Huq was not wearing a burkini, neither she did look dressed to fend off frostbite.  So,  not quite  Captain-Oates-like courage we are invited to admire. 

Andrew Farmer ● 2185d

The local authority has several enforcement remedies under their HMO licensing schemes and other legislation. Contact South Acton councillors Josh Blacker, Mik Sabiers or Yvonne Fletcher.

Peter Evans ● 2186d

Oh dear that means you are relying on the kindness and caring nature of ….. Julian Bell

M Powes ● 2186d

This is a local authority matter and the protocol is that the MP should not get involved. Same for any MP, any party.

Mark Evans ● 2187d

She cares only for herself and her own career - as you have already, regrettably, discovered.

Tony Colliver ● 2187d