Anonymous

Labour’s  2024 general election manifesto included a commitment to “prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against”.

Great.

As some Landlords are indeed exploiting their tenants via the poor conditions of their properties being, at times, most uninhabitable as a place that is fit to live in .

However it seems that one of their, Labour party’s, successful candidates who was elected as an MP in the recent GE, is a Landlord who has now been reported in the media (BBC UK investigation) as one who rents out flats that have “ black mould and ant infestations” and also some of these flats owned by him contained “dirty communal areas, lights that did not work and fire alarms hanging loose from the ceiling”.

“One resident said they had been threatened with eviction by the property’s letting agent when they complained”.

The newly elected Labour MP, Jas Athwal, has now said that his tenants have been “let down” (by him as a Landlord) and he pledged that repairs and maintenance work would be completed “swiftly”

( As finally, now that he has been caught out, then he, as a Landlord, has to act to address the sorry (unfit) state his properties are in for his Tenants. Mainly as he is now a new Labour MP so he needs to try and stop this scandal in it’s tracks).

So the ‘the cat is now out of the bag’ so he , as a Landlord, but more so , he as a new Labour MP, must now fix this mess .

Which, as a situation, not only exposes him as being a part of a scandal but also exposes his party, Labour , to ridicule and disgrace based on what was in their manifesto pledge in respect to private renters not being “exploited“(by for example unscrupulous Landlords who are now , it seems, also a new Labour MP?)

Mr Athwal said that he was not aware of the problems highlighted by the media in respect to his properties as they, as rented properties, were managed by an agency.

So we are now, yet again, with someone in the Labour party, seeing a ‘pass the buck’ and ‘blame game’ being deployed as opposed to them taking some (or all of the ) responsibility and accountability for this situation (as after all he, Mr Athwal, owns these properties).

BTW Mr Athwal is also still currently a Councillor as well as being a new Labour MP.

It was also disclosed that Mr Athwal owns 15 properties, making him the biggest landlord in the House of Commons.

The Labour MP also admitted that his flats did not have the correct property licences under a scheme he introduced as the leader of Redbridge Council. (He has now resigned as leader of that council )

However there is more as in 2019 it was reported that “he, Mr Athwal, was once suspended from the Labour party on the evening before members were due to vote to elect a Labour candidate for the 2019 GE for the Ilford South constituency. His suspension, as a potential candidate, was on the basis of “serious allegations of sexual harassment”.

He, Mr Athwal, denied the allegations and called for due process but he was not selected to stand as the Labour candidate in that 2019 GE.

On the 15 September 2020, Mr Athwal , was cleared of wrongdoing by the Labour Party, and his suspension was subsequently lifted. (and look at him now as he is a new Labour MP but one, who as an individual, is yet again embroiled in another scandal ).

It was also reported by the media that “Mr Athwal has described himself as a “renters’ champion”, saying he prided himself on being a good landlord who had never evicted a tenant“

That’s a strange (and quite a false) statement for him to make as:

His rented properties poor conditions dispute his statement as he was not in any way a “good Landlord” or a “renters champion”.

Also he previously said that he left the ‘day to day management of his properties’ to an agency , and that was his excuse for him not being supposedly aware of the poor state of his properties, so he himself would not be the one to evict the tenants would he. That would be the responsibility of the agency that he paid to deal with matters connected to his ‘properties’ , that as an agency would , if they felt it appropriate, evict tenants.

So will Starmer now remove the whip via any investigation into this MP on this matter (scandal).

As in the same whip Starmer demanded the former Tory PM ,Rishi Sunak, remove from his Tory MP’s ,via any scandals reported by the media that were connected to them, when they, the Tories , were in power at WM.

However now for Starmer, the Boot is on the other foot, so will he Starmer, as the new PM, act as he, Starmer, once demanded that the previous Tory PM should act when any Tory MP was reported as being involved in scandal ?

Seems as if this is going to be a bumpy ride with Labour in power . (for them that is but perhaps also for us the public too)

Where it will be more than just their Labour party policies that sees them trying to emulate the Tory party.

As perhaps it may also be a succession of Labour party scandals as well that sees them, Labour, being the same as the Tories were when they were in power. (So definitely no “change” there then via Labour compared to the Tories)

Watch this and that (Labour at WM) space as well.