Anyone planning to build skyscrapers in Bootle?

Businessman linked to Labour Party is caught demanding £2 million bribe from property developers.

The sad tale of Labour councils and property deals has taken a new national turn.  Sefton Council’s decision to buy the Bootle Strand shopping centre through an offshore company has been followed within months by a tape emerging of a businessman with close links to the Labour Party demanding a £2 million ‘bribe’ to secure planning permission for a skyscraper in east London. Local people are still wondering as to the true purpose and sense behind the Bootler Strand purchase where the supposed economics of the decision to buy the shopping centre for the Council have been kept totally secret despite demands from opposition councillors. Labour councillors have also bought the Business Centre in Warrington through an offshore company  – a purchase which has been condemned by MP Helen Jones.

Abdul Shukur ‘Shuks’ Khalisadar, a 38-year-old ‘entrepreneur’ is alleged by the Sunday Times today to have told consultants acting for ‘Far East Consortium’ – an international property development company – that he needed the lump sum to grease the palms of Labour politicians for a £500 million development in the Isle of Dogs. The startled consultants recorded the 58 minute conversation where the financial demands were made for a second time. It is alleged that Khalisadar said the cash would be divided equally between four Labour politicians. Acting as a ‘buffer’ between the politicians and the property developers, he is recorded as saying that he personally needed a further £15,000 a month, including VAT, as a consultancy fee. “To be frank,” he said, “A bulk of the premium’s got to go to these greedy f*****s — not me.”   Khalisadar is alleged to have been introduced into the deal by Shiria Khatun, a deputy mayor of Tower Hamlets council, who said that he was someone who could ensure planning permission approval.

During the call the businessman also bragged about his value among Labour politicians having been pictured with many top MPs including former Parliamentary Deputy Leader Harriet Harman (pictured above). When approached by journalists, ‘Shuks’ admitted asking for the £2 million but denied acting corruptly  Khatun, who resigned as deputy mayor of Tower Hamlets earlier this year, denies any wrongdoing. Tower Hamlets council officers have referred the case to the National Crime Agency’s Serious Fraud Office.