Nigel Farage received a £5m ‘gift’. Everyone assumes it’s a political bung and that Nigel must perform a service for Harborne who is a billionaire and £5m is peanuts to him. So it is possible that Nigel did indeed receive a No strings gift. But is now a political nightmare, which could wreck Nigel’s career.
Nigel’s £5m nightmare This is 3 minute video
Council Tax is based on 1991 property values. The eight bands, ‘A – H’, reflect those valuations, which haven’t been revised for 35 years. One outcome is that band ‘H’ houses pay a lower percentage Council Tax than band ‘A’. Council Tax is a reverse wealth tax.
Havering’s band ‘H’ Council Tax is £4,849.32.1 At the other end of the scale a band ‘B’ house pays £1,885.85.2 Council Tax was meant to be a property tax, which is absolutely not the case now.
There are many houses in Havering priced at £1m+, some of which are not in band ‘H’. Rightmove is advertising a house in Hornchurch for £3.9m.3 It’s in band ‘H’ and the Council Tax is £4,849.32. £4,849,32 is 0.12% of the price. This tiny amount isn’t even a ‘rounding error’. Simultaneously Rightmove is advertising a band ‘B’ property for £190,000.4 Their Council Tax is 0.99% of the value of the property. They pay eight times more than the band ‘H’ house in percentage terms. Council Tax means the poor subsidise the rich.
If the Band ‘B’ 0.99% Council Tax is used as the default, there would be sharp increases for expensive houses. A flat rate percentage Council Tax is a pure property tax. To equalise the Council Tax at 0.99% would level the playing field and end the subsidy that the rich receive from the poor.
Using the two houses that illustrate this blog, the Band ‘B’ house stays the same. This is absolutely not the case for the property valued at £3.9m. Their Council Tax increases from £4,849.32 to £38,610 p.a. This stonking increase is a vivid statement of the grotesque unfairness of the 1991 Council Tax banding system. Can you imagine the cries of horror of those who have this increase inflicted on them? Yet 0.99% is exactly what the poor are paying and it is equally unaffordable for them.
A percentageCouncil Tax is a fair property tax.
Conclusion
It will take enormous political courage, by Andy Burnham, to reform Council Tax. The losers will be the rich who can manufacture ‘outrage’ in the media. Meanwhile councils creak towards oblivion.
Addendum: Reforming Council Tax
There is nothing Keith Prince can do even if he wanted to. The point of this blog is to give a Havering context to the debate about Council Tax reform.
Notes
1 Council Tax bands and bills | London Borough of Havering
2 1 bedroom flat for sale in South Street, Papermill House, 363 South Str, Romford, RM1 I tried to find a band A property and couldn’t.
3 8 bedroom detached house for sale in Freeman Way, Emerson Park, Hornchurch, RM11 Accessed 16th July 2026
4 1 bedroom flat for sale in Grenfell Avenue, Hornchurch, RM12 Accessed 16th July 2026
Apologies “….have been received from Councillors Kevin Ayres (Reform), Petru Eugen Dinsorean [Reform], Diane Smith, Russell Smith [Reform], Geoff Starns [Reform], John Tyler, Liz Tyler, [RA] Christine Vickery and Tom Vickery [Reform]. This is a 16% absentee rate, a Red Flag for most organisations.
Question Time1
Question Time (QT) was a filibuster. Answers became speeches and it ended with the Mayor pulling the plug. Reform councillors were in heaven with a captive audience.
Q1 Sue Ospreay (26 minutes) asked Keith Prince about Launders Lane. His jot-trot through the history made my heart sink. Needless to relate he said nothing….at length.
Q4 Stephanie Nunn (40) asked Robert Whitton about the Romford Plan. He was silkily elusive and charming. Charm goes a long way and everyone believed in a better tomorrow after he’d finished.
Q7 Gillian Ford(54)asked Keith about housing. He doesn’t like other boroughs buying houses in Havering. Keith is helpless and indignant, which isn’t a good look. Gillian’s killer question about Havering’s export of homeless residents ended Keith’s happiness. He was reduced to a ‘Don’t know’ answer, which is the ultimate cop-out at QT. He should know.
Q8 Martin Goode (58) was on top form. A straight-forward question to Sue Benjamins became a meandering speech. Her economic model depends on heroic assumptions. Regeneration and additional business rates are her economic 5th Cavalry coming to rescue Havering. Martin was polite and didn’t spoil her fantasy.
Q9 Graham Day (1:08) was enjoying himself before the Mayor pulled the plug.
Best Question: Martin Goode
Best Answer: Robert Whitton
Note
1 Annotator Player All times noted relate to this webcast. The questions that were tabled are here Council questions.pdf
The enclosed podcast (3 minutes) discusses the recent increase in the cost of the 5 police officers that Havering employs from the MetPolice. That cost has increased by 50%.
Keith Prince’s Debut Speech as Leader of the Council
Keith is a veteran politician who’s a GLA member. This heightens expectations. So, when he did a *Memory Lane* about being born in Elm Park, I was puzzled. His jog-trot through Junior and Secondary schools was bizarre. It was as if he was overwhelmed. Keith didn’t tell us about his triumphs as a window monitor or school prefect, which was a relief.
My despair deepened by his claim to friendship with Ray Morgon. Keith said he was *Mayor*.1 Dear, oh dear! Where was all this going? It felt like a train crash.
Keith established that he’s an Essex Boy.2 The unspoken statement was that unlike Andrew Rosindell, Keith was the *Real Thing*.3 Andrew was born after Havering was created and is, therefore, a Londoner. Keith had his political steel toe-capped boots on and promptly began using them. He denounced the ludicrous Hexit obsessions of Andrew who wants Havering to leave London and join Essex. Keith’s Reform council wouldn’t spend any time on this.
Keith went further. He said that Hexit would be a very expensive for the people of Havering. (Did I hear silent regret for the Brexit fiasco?) Keith said he’d be using his political energy working to elect a Reform GLA Mayor. This was sly because Andrew is a failed Mayoral candidate.
Reading between the lines, there was more. Keith doesn’t want Andrew to think that he is calling the shots in the Town Hall. Keith wants to be master in his own domain. And! Keith is in power and Andrew is merely a political influencer. There’s a world of difference between being a ‘mover and shaker’ and someone shouting from the sidelines.
Keith said that he has a 100-day plan in his pocket. I’ll be counting the days and looking for the accomplishments. Or not.
Addendum
Keith might want to consider these trivialities for his 100-days plan:
OR
Notes
1 His speech begins at 1 hour 16 minutes. Go to 1:19:33 in the webcast Annotator Player Morgon was also a ‘friend’ by the way.
2 First mention 1:16:53 A very early signal which I should have picked up.
3 Keith begins putting the boot in at 1:24
This is the YouTube link to the podcast. It is 3 minutes long
Havering councillors make a difference – YouTube
HRA say that they are non-political but it is impossible to run a council without making political choices. This podcast discusses the 30 minute free period for Hornchurch and Upminster. It also looks at the previous Conservative Administration, 2018-22, and their decisions.
The podcast is 3 minutes long
The data centre was due to be discussed at the Planning Committee on the 30th April 2026. The meeting was cancelled. This is because it is politically inconvenient to make a decision on a toxic item a week before an election.
This podcast is three minutes long.
The GLA budget is a billion pounds affair. Trivial sums don’t really matter but the West Ham United stadium scandal does empty the pockets of Londoners. It’s a £20m a year debt in the accounts. Keith Prince, Havering’s GLA member, opened the topic – the entire exchange is below – with the Mayor. He didn’t land a blow.
The contract was negotiated by Boris Johnson. It stinks (see Addendum). It’s so bad that an unkind observer might say it was corrupt. Huge losses are paid by the GLA – or, to put it another way: You. The £20m is just under the Havering deficit for 2026-7. That deficit is driving the borough into bankruptcy. £20m is a triviality to GLA accountants but is life-or-death for Havering.
Keith didn’t mention Havering. Nothing at all. The exchange between Keith, the Mayor and the Chief of Staff was too pally, too cosy and too complacent. Keith says – with a straight face – that he endorses Reform UK’s slash and burn attitude towards local government finance. Well, he should have linked the WHU/London stadium stitch-up with Havering’s financial situation. Havering’s wallet is emptying by an annual £500,000+.
The London Stadium was the showpiece of the 2012 Olympics. A national treasure. And now? Its current value is ZERO! NOTHING!
There were mealy-mouthed equivocations. No one cares. Keith was on the right track but didn’t, or couldn’t, follow through. Perhaps, he’s still in thrall to Boris ‘Partygate’ Johnson who negotiated the contract?
Solutions? What one bunch of smart-arse lawyers put together another bunch of smart-arse lawyers can undo. Or, the GLA could use hard ball politics. Naming rights were cited as being an ASPIRATION. But what do we see blazoned across the stadium: WEST HAM UNITED. Do they pay for the privilege? Who knows? Who cares? Have GLA lawyers been to the London Stadium? Do they know what is going on? No, they don’t.
The losses will massively increase if WHU get relegated to the Championship next season. Havering will be under more financial pressure from Boris Johnson’s toxic legacy. Meanwhile WHU pay huge amounts of money on players, most of whom are, or become, hopeless.5
The GLA Debate: Keith Prince’s contribution
Keith Prince AM: Thank you, Chair. Good afternoon, Mayor, David, team. Just before I start, I will declare that I am a season ticket holder of the West Ham [United Football Club] Women’s team, just for clarity, because I intend to ask a question relating to West Ham. Mr Mayor, LLDC sold the London Stadium to GLA Holdings. Could you explain the reason for that move, please?
Sir Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London): Firstly, before I ask the Chief of Staff to respond, I hope we are still talking after Sunday. It is a big game on Sunday for both of our teams!
Keith Prince AM: I am very much hoping we will be talking. I will settle for a draw. How about you?
David Bellamy (Mayor’s Chief of Staff): This is part of the transition that took place at LLDC as it reached — we say LLDC is now in its third phase. The first was the run up to the games [2012 Olympics]. The second was the period after the games and then, with so much progress made, it is time to transition. With LLDC becoming a smaller organisation, the conclusion that we reached was that rather than E20 – as it was then called – being a subsidiary of LLDC, in turn a subsidiary of the GLA, it would be better done just to be a standalone company directly underneath the GLA.
Keith Prince AM: I will ask another question of the Mayor, but I am quite happy for you to answer, David. As we know, the deal cost GLA Holdings £1. That reflects the fact that London Stadium makes a significant loss each year. Who is now going to bear the burden of that loss, and what moves have been made to reduce that loss? (see Addendum) As people will be aware, for the last ten years, I have been encouraging LLDC to engage with West Ham in order to find a naming rights sponsor, which most people estimated would be of a value of around £4 million. Because it has not engaged with West Ham and because that deal has not been done so far, one could reasonably presume that it has lost £40 million. Either Mr Mayor or David, will there now be encouragement for the new holding group to engage with West Ham and to have a joint venture in relation to the naming rights? It cannot be done solely by GLA Holdings because of the rules around the Premier League.
David Bellamy (Mayor’s Chief of Staff): In answer to the first part of your question, Assembly Member, in terms of the losses the stadium makes as a consequence of the deal that was done by the previous Mayor, it routes differently. It used to route through LLDC, and it now routes through the GLA Mayor budget but, ultimately, the Mayor’s overall budget has to bear the consequences of that loss. What we do is we work hard to minimise that loss. There are clearly a number of aspects to that. There is the efficient running of the stadium. There are invest-to-save projects. For instance, over the years, we have replaced a lot of the seating in the lower bowl so that it is cheaper to move seats for other events. We have held additional events. There are commercial deals. In terms of naming rights specifically, it is a difficult market. You can see that with some other notable stadiums not having successfully secured naming rights. Any deal has to be one that will work for us and will work for West Ham as well. It is not accurate to say that this is something we have never worked with West Ham on, and there are there are discussions with it going on at the moment and, clearly, we always want to work well with West Ham –
Keith Prince AM: A quick question, please. Also, as part of the scaling down, Mr Mayor, you know that the planning powers have now been returned to Newham. I understand why that is done, but do you think that is sensible? Newham is the fourth worst borough for planning applications. Would that put at risk any developments coming forward?
Sir Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London): Let me just say, it was always the intention to give back to the councils the powers that had been taken from them. There were five boroughs involved in terms of the original LLDC. All of them now have their planning powers back. Do you think it would be wrong if we carried on in perpetuity the planning powers? Each council is in charge of applications in its respective borough.
Minutes – Appendix 2 – Questions to the Mayor.pdf
Addendum: The contract Boris Johnson *negotiated* with West Ham FC
1 Notably, West Ham United pays a relatively modest rent of £3.6 million per season, which covers none of the stadium’s upkeep costs such as heating, cleaning, or maintenance. This situation is compounded by the fact that West Ham retains all ticket revenues and a portion of the catering income, further skewing the financial equation in favour of the club. Source: Report: West Ham’s £20.9m London Stadium Loss Hits Taxpayers Hard | OneFootball see also London Stadium – Wikipedia Obviously there is more. The small matter of a 99 year contract, which Boris ‘Genius’ Johnson managed to saddle your great-grand children with https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/london-assembly-members/bassam-mahfouz/Boris-bombshell-july24
2 The annual loss is £20.9m which the GLA finds out of its budget. Source loc.cit
3 This financial situation has led to the venue’s long-term value being assessed at zero by independent experts, a stark indication of the economic challenges it faces. Source loc.cit
4 All emphases throughout this blog are mine.
There is a legal requirement that Councils have a balanced budget. This is impossible because Havering is bankrupt. Its statutory commitments can’t be funded from revenue. The strategy is to add to debts to pay revenue commitments. This is fiscal insanity as the interest can’t be paid.
Enter Chris Wilkins, Cabinet Member for Finance (13 minutes).1,2 He declared the budget will be legally balanced because…..he’d organised more debt. The debt mountain will be £229m by 2029. Chris gives an excellent impression of being a nodding donkey. He doesn’t seem to understand what he‘s reading. A debt of £229m means interest payments will be 30% of the budget by 2029. Chris didn’t mention interest charges during his 13 minutes speech. Philip Ruck (1:31) noticed and was outraged at the sheer folly of it. Annual (unpaid) interest payments would be about £17m and would be added to the capital. Credit card maxxed out!
Keith Darvill (25) introduced the Labour amendment3 self-consciously. He was ultra-defensive and apologetic – as if he was speaking out of turn.
Michael White (36) gave a masterful speech. He demonstrated his command of the subject and critiqued HRA’s four years in a probing, forensic way. The principal highlight was his remarks about the GLA budget, which amounts to nearly 25% of the total Council Tax bill. He made play about the lack of a medium-term plan for the dire budget pressures. He worried about the impact of the Israel-USA-Iran war on interest rates. Michael made obvious remarks about relying on loans for revenue expenditure. Thus, he successfully trashed Chris’s blissful optimism.
Martin Goode (53) denounced the reliance on long-term debt to fund current expenditure. He demanded that the Council throw in the towel and face facts. He wants Government Commissioners to take over the Council. Gillian Ford (1:00) said only the section 151 officer could ask for Government assistance like this. That ought not be a problem as she had previously stated HRA was following an unsustainable strategy.
Keith Prince (1:01) has a curious flippant style, which mostly falls flat. He worried about debt and the borough’s future Council Taxpayers. Interestingly he claimed the borough’s woes were turbo-charged by the lack of detailed scrutiny. This is theoretically likely but Havering’s culture of absenteeism4 by councillors means more scrutiny is unlikely. Unlikely because it involves doing homework and turning up.
Ray Morgon (1:28) indulged in chit-chat. Judith Holt (1:34) pointed out special skills were needed to read a budget book 1070 pages long. Nisha Patel (1:40) did a good review of Michael’s speech reinforcing some points. Gillian Ford (1:42) had a breathless shopping list of achievements. The concept ‘strategy’ appeared many times. Brian Eagling (1:45) said that football pitches had seen fees rise yet again and that sport should be promoted. Oscar Ford (1:48) used fluent management speech. This didn’t always coincide with reality. Barry Mugglestone (1:51) was combative, which livened the meeting up. He and Keith Prince exchanged pleasantries about the Freedom Pass. They were both right, which made it more entertaining.
Jane Keane (1:56) did a Hollywood Oscar’type speech praising the Council’s staff. David Taylor (1:58) is a class act who will be badly missed. His nemesis, Andrew Rosindell, was given a quick going over. Andrew has consistently voted for the bankruptcy of Havering. Luckily he was in the chamber to enjoy David’s speech. James Glass (2:01) was demob crazy and is a loss. What he lacks in accuracy he makes up for with boyish enthusiasm.
Best speech: Michael White
Most sincere speech: Brian Eagling
Notes
1 Annotator Player All times relate to this webcast
2 Group spokesmen had 20 minutes for budget speeches. Astonishingly, Wilkins only used 13 minutes.
3 This Council calls on the Administration to introduce and promote an SME Support Package, initially, funding such a proposal from unspent UKSPF (and/or other unspent grants) seeking partnership for such a support package with organisations such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Adult College. (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Council, 04/03/2026 19:30 p1073
4 Havering Councillors and Their Attendance – Politics in Havering
Politics in Havering 