DR David Bull, the Deputy Leader of Reform UK and renowned Brexit-backing former MEP, has spoken to VoteWatch to reveal shocking incidents of potential vote fraud once again blighting the infamous Borough of Tower Hamlets.
“We knew years ago that there was a serious problem in Tower Hamlets, but little has changed” the TV presenter and medical doctor said.
“Every polling station we’ve been to there have been people campaigning outside, handing out leaflets and telling people who to vote for; and they’re incredibly blatant about it.”
“They even approach people queuing up to vote – telling them who to vote for and which box to put their cross in. It’s wrong and it’s got to change.”
Bull, who is himself standing for the London Assembly for Reform UK, confirmed that he and other members of his party had confronted the culprits and contacted election officials and the returning officer, but that no action had been taken.
In another shocking incident, Dr Bull said he became concerned after witnessing an individual arriving at a polling station to deliver a bundle of postal votes.
Walking into the polling station in question, situated inside Cubitt Town Infant’s School in Tower Hamlets, Bull said the man was brazenly holding a stack of pre-filled postal votes in his hand.
“Why is this always happening?” he said. “They’re postal votes; the clue’s in the name – you post them!”
Postal votes have long been used by Britain’s ballot-burglars to undermine democracy and commit vote fraud – a fine example being in Peterborough, where a former Labour mayor and three of his campaigners were sent to prison for postal vote fraud, following an investigation that cost the taxpayer over £800,000.
One of the key criminals involved was Tariq Mahmood, who still continues to campaign for the Labour Party.
After yet another suspicious win for Labour that saw Lisa Forbes become Peterborough’s MP by a margin of just 683 votes in 2019, an investigation into Mahmood’s activities went underway, discovering that the CCTV footage from a polling station used by Tariq Mahmood on election day had been ‘mysteriously’ erased.
This discovery was made after numerous residents claimed that Mahmood had attempted to coerce them into handing over their postal votes.
VoteWatch later revealed that the polling station in question was operated by an organisation of which Mahmood himself was a senior member.
“I even had a Labour Councillor, Mohammed Pappu, come up to me and point-out what was happening outside a polling station and saying how wrong it was” Bull continued.
“I’ve also been told that during campaigning people have knocked on doors pretending to be Councillors and have ‘helped’ residents fill-out their postal votes.
“Another problem we have is that in some areas there are people who don’t have English as their first language. We have no idea what they’re being told by campaigners, and no idea what’s being printed on campaign literature when it’s written in a different language.
Speaking of what his party would do to tackle vote fraud, Bull said:
“We’re clear about what we stand for; it’s there in the party’s name – there are some things in Britain that work well, and some that don’t.
“Our electoral system is one such area that’s failing. For instance, today I went to vote. I didn’t have to show any ID to prove that I’m the person who was entitled to that vote. It simply makes no sense.
“We need voter ID. At the very least you should prove that you are who you say you are.
“Postal votes should also be a temporary measure. They’re far too open to fraud. Someone who registers for a postal vote should have to reapply each year – it shouldn’t be automatic, and (although postal vote use by people with medical issues is fine) in general it’s often just a sign of laziness.”
Tower Hamlets has been plagued by scandal and crooked politics for decades, with the former leader of the borough’s council, Lutfur Rahman, making national headlines after being removed from office upon being found guilty of vote fraud.
One of Lutfur’s former key campaigners and close associates, Apsana Begum, is currently a Labour MP who represents the ‘rotten borough’. Begum is due to stand trial later this year after being charged with housing fraud.
VoteWatch has now reported people campaigning outside polling stations to the police, with an officer from Limehouse Police Station confirming that at least two officers are being sent to deal with the situation.
