Saturday 13 October 2018

A Breach of Trust!

by Les May

I had hoped that the opposition parties in Rochdale would do their job and hold Allen Brett to account for his decision not to ask for the resignation of Labour Councillor Faisal Rana who admitted to soliciting two votes in the local election in May this year.  After a single feeble complaint by Lib-Dem leader Andy Kelly, no more has been heard from either party. Indeed there seems to be no record of the Tories saying anything, effectively they are condoning Rana’s behaviour.

Disappointed, but not surprised, on 14 September 2018 I wrote the following letter to Councillor Faisal Rana.   As a matter of courtesy and for information, I sent a copy to the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive of Rochdale MBC.

I have been aware since mid August that you have received a police caution for electoral offences relating to the poll of 3 May 2018.  Until a few days ago I had not read the transcript of the interview which you gave to Sky News.   I assume that the transcript is a true and correct record of what you said.

I am particularly concerned with the paragraph which reads:

I legally registered my votes by providing my genuine national insurance number, date of birth and addresses and when I received these through the post I thought it would have been OK and that is why they issued me two ballots for two constituencies’.

In my view this appears to imply that the electoral services of RMBC should have checked for a duplication of national insurance numbers and dates of birth, and informed you of the illegal nature of your actions.

From my own experience registering to take part in the ballot is an active process. It is necessary to provide an address at one is resident in order to receive a ballot paper at that address.  Ditto for a postal vote.  I assume that you are quite properly registered at the address at which you reside permanently with your family and that you legitimately used that vote in that ward.

What is in question is the ‘other’ address, which I assume was in the ward in which you stood as a candidate, and what legitimate interest you had in the property at that address which you considered gave you an entitlement to register yourself at that address and apply for a postal vote to be sent to that address.

As a resident of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough I would like answers to the following questions within 15 working days of the date of this correspondence.

What was the address used to apply for a second vote?

What legitimate interest did you have in the property identified by that address?

Were you a tenant of the property identified by that address?

Were you the owner of the property identified by that address?

The 15 working days were up last Friday.  I have not had a reply from Councillor Rana or an acknowledgement from the other two recipients.

Councillor Rana clearly does not want us to know the address at which he registered in order to get his second vote or why he thought he was entitled to two votesThe 2017-18 electoral register for the Spotland and Falinge ward shows that a Faisal Rana is registered at 170c Spotland Road, together with Hassan Tehzeeb and Amna KiranThis is a change from the three previous registers, 2014-2017, when a Susan Williams was registered at this address.

So just why did Councillor Rana think that he had an entitlement to a second vote.  Was it because he was now claiming to be resident at this address or was it that the change in occupancy of 170c Spotland Road now gave him a convenient address at which to register and to receive the papers enabling him to cast his second vote?   If this is indeed the case then it suggests that both the police and the Labour leader have not been so diligent as perhaps they might have been in enquiring much more closely into Faisal Rana’s actions and motivation. If there is another explanation, then what legitimate interest did he have in 170c Spotland Road?

A number of people, including a fellow councillor, have come forward to act as apologists for Councillor Rana seemingly without reflecting upon the morality of the act of deliberately soliciting a second vote and upon the way that his actions have tainted the Labour party.   I’ve heard stories about his being so contrite that he was in tears, that he undertook a pilgrimage out of contrition and perhaps most ludicrous of all, that he should not be forced to resign because if he did it would lead to a bye-election in the ward and this would cost the town £50,000.   None of this cuts any ice with me.

Electoral fraud is not a minor matter.   This is what the Pickles’ review into electoral fraud, Securing the Ballot had to say:

Electoral fraud and corruption is intertwined with other forms of crime as well. Local authorities have a large procurement role.  A group of people who cheat their way to power are unlikely to hold a higher moral standard when handing out public contracts, or when making quasi-judicial decision on planning and licensing.   Electoral registration fraud is connected with financial crime
and illegal immigration.’

In other words there is a moral as well as a legal dimension to a Councillor deliberately seeking to obtain a second vote.


Councillor Rana has shown contempt for electoral law and the basic premise of our democracy, ‘one man, one vote’.  He actively sought to obtain for himself a second vote, but he lacks the moral fibre to admit that he did wrong and to do the honourable thing by stepping down.  By this he taints Labour as a party that will tolerate electoral fraud for the sake of expediency.

In May 2018 a large number of Labour party members went on record as showing their support for Jacqui Beswick being elected as leader.


From what I hear of this lady she would not have been so tolerant of Faisal Rana’s wrongdoing as Allen Brett.   Perhaps it is time for Labour party members to once again let their views be known.
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1 comment:

NV Editor said...

On the 15th, August 2018 (ROCHDALE ONLINE),the Leader of the Rochdale Liberal Democrats, Councillor Andy Kelly commenting on the Faisal Rana case said: 'I think this is an extremely serious offence. It is absolutely staggering at what councillors can do before Labour will take action on their behaviour. There’s investigations and police arrests, and there seems to be the assumption that councillors are above the law.'

Councillor Kelly added: 'I, for one, will never trust Faisal again.
“If he has any moral fibre, he would resign, but I don’t expect he will.'