Forum Topic

Carnage in Heston

A week ago there were 9 Labour councillors in Heston.Now there are 4 Labour, 4 Conservatives and 1 GreenFrom the first time I got to know Heston a few years ago I would ask residents why they were raising issues with me, rather than their ward councillors.They all said there was no point raising anything with ward councillors because they never did anything, usually not even bothering to respond.You expect the council leader to get a special boost because of his prominence: Steve Curran always topped the poll despite having the also popular and prominent Katherine Dunne in his ward, with Theo Dennison trailing in third, but still winning his seat comfortably.This time Shantanu Rajawat was more than 200 votes behind his Cabinet colleague, the less prominent Lily Bath and also well behind the Conservative Satwant Kaur. Shantanu scraped in in third place in the ward with his colleague and close cooperator Ted Wall eliminated.In 2022 he was more than 1200 votes ahead of the nearest Conservative challenger, in 2018 he was 1600 ahead of the Tories and more or less the same in 2014.There seems to be a Shantanu effect here! I wonder whether the Labour members have noticed.Glad I escaped

Guy Lambert ● 20d22 Comments

You are consistent too, Guy. A consistent liar.Did you not drive to Crouch End recently to see what it’s like? Not an essential journey, just a jolly in your car.You also passed off LCC propaganda your own personal thoughts. Only an idiot would think that wouldn’t be found out. Your denials just emphasise what a liar you are.You like to think you are a man of the people but you only serve yourself. And when you get the finger pointed at you the thin skin and victim persona come out. At your age you should know better.As I said, a liar. And a hypocrite. And a fool.

Simon Hayes ● 10d

I will say for you Simon that you are consistent.Every time you post it is untrue

Guy Lambert ● 10d

You are a strange woman Philippa.There’s nothing pedantic about pointing out the double standards of a Green politician who is very vocal about the traffic levels and pollution in London - and who supports highly restrictive measures and costly imposed on on residents - who feels it’s fine to pootle about in his own car whenever the mood takes him.What do you find difficult to understand? It’s not about looking at things in different ways. It’s about not being a hypocrite. You have spent years lecturing us about this sort of thing but in Lambert’s case it seems acceptable to you.

Simon Hayes ● 12d

Thank goodness I'm  not as super-pedantic as you - Simon Hayes!  It just isn't always necessary and looking at things from a different perspective is important.

Philippa Bond ● 12d

Farage is documented as having given totally different reasons on different occasions for having been given this huge amount of money.

Philippa Bond ● 12d

"And this was given to me on an unconditional basis, completely unconditional basis. But frankly, it was given as a reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years."Of course it was, why wouldn't any straight thinking person believe that? Aaaaah! A pig just flew past my window.

Vanessa Smith ● 12d

Oh how desperate are you! Again quite disingenuous to state that according to Farage it was a reward for promoting “ the damage to  Britain” In any event this story of the gift being a reward is just boring non news with the  Greens and Tories desperate to make something out of it to smear Farage. The Tories are just furious that the BRITISH billionaire used to donate to them and has now donated £12 million to Reform. The Greens are just furious because they don’t have direction or any plans so they hang on desperately to the tails of all the other parties to keep their name in the news. They’re a lost cause in the wilderness of confusion and envy. The Greens can only dream of receiving donations because nobody with money believes in them or their lost causes which would  damage the UK. “The Reform leader also told The Sun he "cannot be bought by anybody" and the money from Christopher Harborne was given to him on a "completely unconditional basis".Farage said he is not concerned about the investigation. Farage has previously said he was under "no obligation" to declare the gift because he received it before he was elected as Clacton MP, it was for his "personal security" and "wasn't political in any sense at all".In total, the businessman gave £12m to Reform in 2025 and has donated to the Conservatives in the past.The separate £5m gift to Farage was made in early 2024 and Reform sources say it was made before he had decided to stand as an MP.Asked if he was worried about what people thought of the gift given the scale of it, Farage replied: "It's very unusual for someone to give up 27 years of their life to campaign for something.And this was given to me on an unconditional basis, completely unconditional basis. But frankly, it was given as a reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years."On whether it had an impact on his decision to return to public life, Farage replied "no" before also saying "I cannot be bought by anybody".

Paul Tucker ● 12d

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/world/europe/nigel-farage-reform-uk-gift-brexit.htmlIt was in fact (according to Farage) a reward for promoting Brexit and the damage to Britain.

Guy Lambert ● 12d

Absolute nonsense that Farage can be removed from office for receiving a personal gift. Typical of a Green Party member to be so disingenuous as to refer to Farage’s friend as only a Thai National!  Are the Greens so desperate? The British born BRITISH national is in fact a genius and it’s wonderful that he donated £5 million to Farage to pay for his personal protection. He can well afford such a gift. “Christopher Harborne was born on 18 December 1962 in Mosborough, Sheffield, to Edgar Harborne, an insurance investor, and homemaker Joan. He is a descendant of English writer R. C. Sherriff and has two siblings, including his late sister Katharine.[5]He went to  Westminster School. He took an MA and MEng from Downing College, Cambridge.[6] In 1988, he gained an MBA from the Institut européen d'administratioEducationWestminster SchoolAlma materDowning College, CambridgeIn the Sunday Times Rich List 2026 ranking of the wealthiest people with UK residence, he was placed 6th with an estimated fortune of £18.177 billion.”

Paul Tucker ● 12d

We'll see, but the £23M donations received by Reform last year, mostly from a Thai National including £5M personally given to Farage apparently blatantly in breach of parliament laws might lead to him being removed from office. People in Brentford (at least) are quite resistant to being bribed for their votes.The Thai is an 'investor' in cryptocurrency and this enthusiasm has apparently encouraged Farage to promote the same currency, seemingly after the non-political £5M personal gift, though what do I know about these matters.More immediately, the various councils which have now followed Kent down the REform black hole may wake up their supporters. No doubt they will have some influence in Hounslow too. We'll see how that plays out!

Guy Lambert ● 12d

Precisely as it has been in Mr Lambert’s Hounslow Council but nothing will change in these Boroughs until you get Reform led Councils. Unfortunately that doesn’t look likely in west London for quite some time as voters are still living in cloud cuckoo land and somehow seem oblivious to the gross mismanagement of power and the extremely high stipends paid to all and sundry in the corrupt systems which reek of open and blatant nepotism.  Hopefully a general election will demonstrate to the people that they are out of touch with reality and the rest of the country!

Paul Tucker ● 13d

If you think Hounslow is bad take a look at Ealing.It's the same but worse. Power weilding councillors and cabinet members far too arrogant or conceited to ever engage with their ward electorate unless they are affiliates or party members. Connections that are barely just permissible. Changing constitution articles during the election run up. Cosy relationships with developers and consultancies. Huge renumeration and portfolios which beggar belief for ordinary mortals to even be able to contemplate - hence the door open to over politicised advisors and appointees on salaries way above their true abilities.  Blights almost every council. Serious issues (to local people) are dismissed and never responded to.So no surprise that all 3 in one ward were ejected for Lib Dems in a ward which has always had at least one Labour member.  In the adjacent ward Labour remained but one of the councillors in that ward is responsible for implementation of schemes that were not detailed in the last manifesto and operates with a degree of divide and rule.  He has one virtue. He is about the only one who responds. But exposes his lack of depth on issues and his answers are always evasive. A true politician. and why so many simply give up voting or bothering to engage.Similarly in Hounslow. Voters taken for granted, a stampede for contract giving positions  by the same characters. And parachuted in candidates who cannot tell the difference between Brentford Dock and Brentford Lock ( a raw example from a good while ago but still pertinent )Party Machine and influence from associates must be a nightmare for diligent councillors of any political colours but the way the Labour Party operates with it's dark side always lurking and never flushed out is obviously with big majorities more prevalent and with a tiny majority might make for a better performance all round.Just how many Councillors can be seen as ward and residents first and party dictate second ? Not many and how thick skinned they may must be.

Raymond Havelock ● 13d

A brilliant example of  the Dunning–Kruger effect!

Paul Tucker ● 13d

Best roads and pavements of all London boroughs (assessed by traffic engineers in all London Boroughs)? For several years until they stopped publishing results Hounslow usually first, always in top 3.Flytipping reduction in 2022/3 22%. We did have a properly thought through approach to reducing flytipping that was proven effective. Now we have a performative approach which bullies people who (in every case I have seen) did not fly tip at all with threats of prison and £1000 fines (18 times higher than you can get for parking illegally)SInce I resigned, flytipping has increased. Weird that people who don't like bicycles can't see them, or hallucinate them cycling along the A4 (or both). By the way, I was no more than a supporter for Hanif Khan and later Katherine Dunne as they worked with TfL to make their heavily used C9 better designed to support our roads. It was never in my Cabinet portfolio but I was proud of what I helped make happen.

Guy Lambert ● 13d

“ The political elite refers to a small, select group of individuals who hold a disproportionate amount of political power and influence within a society. They occupy key positions in government, political parties, and state bureaucracies, actively shaping public policy, laws, and the overall direction of a country.”Lambert is far from being considered to be in the political elite group. He may have been a junior member as a Labour cabinet member when he was partly responsible for causing traffic congestion and pollution with the unwanted LTN’s and unused cycle lanes. He is also responsible for not dealing with adequate street cleaning, litter and potholes, not to mention making Hounslow Borough a flytippers paradise by not prosecuting the villains or installing surveillance cameras. However, as a turncoat Green he will be an unheard voice in the wilderness if he is even bothered to speak against his former masters in Council. Truth being that I suspect he will agree with their policies wholeheartedly.

Paul Tucker ● 14d

There is a difference. Being fully paid up he’s an enthusiastic participant at meetings rather than someone who just pays a subscription and does nothing else.You also miss the point Anne. If reducing car use is the issue - and the Greens and Labour bang on about it enough - then taking one’s car out for a day trip round London is a strange choice, as I’m sure you will agree. These Mr Toad jaunts aren’t essential journeys. Lambert doesn’t need a car for work. He could get taxis if necessary and thus free himself from the ‘tyranny of car ownership’.Or do different rules apply to the political elite?

Simon Hayes ● 15d

Is 'fully paid' up different to 'paid up'?Apart from that, you must surely realise that some effort is better than none.

Anne England ● 15d

That’s not what the London Cycling Campaign believes and Lambert is a fully paid up member of the local branch. He’s even copied verbatim their nonsense about the ‘tyranny of car ownership’ and passed it off as the ramblings of an ageing councillor. Unaware, as usual, that some of us will have seen that very nonsense on the LCC website.You have also missed the point - again - Philippa. Cllr Lambert thinks that there’s too much traffic on local roads and steps must be taken to reduce that, regardless of majority opinion. Yet he thinks it’s fine for him to polite about London in his own car on jolly jaunts and then write about it in his blog. Not very bright.Of course, as a pensioner he has a Freedom pass that would be perfectly suited for these trips but he’s obviously lazy as well as a hypocrite.

Simon Hayes ● 15d

I would consider it pretty extreme to be able to ditch all other methods of transport except the pedal cycle and shank's pony since different circumstances and situations call for different solutions.  Reducing and adjusting methods of transport is what most people with ability and a conscience aim for.

Philippa Bond ● 15d

Most people live normal lives.Being an active member of a political party isn’t normal. Being an active member of a political party that tells us fossil fuels are bad and using cars is bad, but then happily driving around on pleasure jaunts certainly isn’t normal.One wonders if Cllr Lambert will be practising what he preaches and ditch his motor car for good.

Simon Hayes ● 19d

There is no such thing as 'normal'!

Philippa Bond ● 19d

Good to see you so magnanimous Cllr Lambert. Shame you are continuing to rewrite history. You didn’t escape Labour, you were suspended and kicked out. There’s a big difference.You are clearly oblivious to the wider picture in the country, which is the Starmer effect. That’s why Labour has been wiped out in many places. Most of the analysis indicates that Green votes were boosted by those who wanted to show a protest against the Government. However the biggest winners were Reform, which must have you worried.The reality for those now about to ‘enjoy’ the benefits of Green administrations will soon live to regret it. Anti semites, banning meat and dairy advertising, and all the other weirdo policies that normal people really don’t believe in.As for your own Green credentials? A sham. Which leafy part of the capital will you be motoring to this week?

Simon Hayes ● 20d