Pola Uddin, Baroness Uddin

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Pola Uddin, Baroness Uddin (2003)

Manzila Pola Uddin, Baroness Uddin (Bengali: মানযিলা পলা উদ্দিন; Manzila Pôla Uddin ; born July 17, 1959 in Rajshahi , Bangladesh ) is a British politician (formerly Labor Party ).

life and career

Uddin was born in Bangladesh. She moved to the UK with her parents in 1973 when she was 13 years old and grew up in London's East End . She attended the Plashet School in East Ham and studied at the University of North London , where she graduated with a degree in social work . Uddin began her career in the late 1970s with the establishment and leadership of community work groups.

In 1980 she started as a youth and community worker with the YWCA and later as a liaison officer for Tower Hamlets Social Services (1992-2000) and manager of the Tower Hamlets Women's Health Project . From 1982 to 1988 she was a project manager for Women's Projects . She started working for Newham Social Services in 1988. In 1990, she was elected Councilor for the Labor Party in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , the first woman from Bangladesh to hold such a position in British local politics . She stayed in office for two years. She was on the Council from 1993 to 1994 Deputy Chairperson ( Deputy Leader ) of the Labor Group and from 1994 to 1995 Deputy Council Chairperson ( Deputy Leader Council ). In 1997 she ran for the shortlist of the constituency Bethnal Green and Bow , but missed this.

She became a project manager at the Addaction charity in 2008 . From 2008 to 2009 she was Chair of the Government Taskforce on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Women .

Membership in the House of Lords

On July 18, 1998, she was made a Life Peer as Baroness Uddin , of Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets . When she was sworn in, she chose the formula with the affirmation "by Almighty Allah". She gave her inaugural address on October 13, 1998.

She cites women's politics, international affairs, human rights and equality between women and men as her political interests . She names Bangladesh as a state of interest . At the time of her call to the House of Lords, she was the youngest woman there and the only Muslim woman from Bangladesh. She was appointed to the House of Lords in particular because of her services to the advancement and equal rights of women and because of her commitment to the rights of the disabled.

Since joining the House of Lords, she has supported numerous initiatives, mainly in collaboration with government departments. She was a member of the Lords European Community Committee , the All-Party Children, Women and Disablement Group , the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association . She has a national and international reputation as a champion for equal rights for women, including human rights .

Uddin campaigned for a higher level of education for Asian women: In 1999 she founded the first education and training center for Asian women in Great Britain, the Jagonari Center , based in Whitechapel , East London . She is a member of the EOP Implementation Committee and is a member of the Trustee of the St Katherine's and Shadwell Trust .

In 2005 she was chosen by Tony Blair to be part of a working group to fight Islamist extremism. Nonetheless, in August 2006 Uddin was a signatory to an open letter to Blair criticizing British foreign policy, particularly the government's stance on the Middle East . It was an open letter criticizing the government's stance on the Middle East . This was supported by three Muslim MPs in the lower house , including Sadiq Khan and Mohammed Sarwar , three peers and thirty-eight populations. The letter was criticized by then-Secretary of State in the UK Foreign Office, Kim Howells , who criticized Muslim leaders for their stance on condemning British foreign policy.

In 2009, she was nominated for Female Peer of the Year at the Women In Public Life Awards , but did not win.

Uddin regularly attended meetings of the House of Lords until she was suspended. Their attendance figures have been consistently in the upper range since 2001.

Expense scandal

According to a May 2009 report in The Sunday Times newspaper , Uddin stated that an apartment in Maidstone , Kent was her primary residence. As a result, she has received £ 30,000 tax-free allowance annually since 2005. This indication of the main residence should have allowed her to claim an expense allowance for her second home, her London property. Neighbors in Maidstone reported that they had not seen any residents since Uddin bought it and that the property was completely unfurnished. Uddin, on the other hand, stated: “The Maidstone apartment is furnished and I strongly deny that I should never have lived there.” Uddin had been on the electoral roll since 1996 at her London address. Uddin's Facebook profile also states that she has lived in London's East End for over 30 years.

The Scottish National Party MP Angus Robertson called for an investigation by the responsible authorities in the House of Lords and the police on the basis of the report. On May 5, 2009, the Clerk of the Parliaments announced that appropriate departments of the House of Lords were investigating the Sunday Times report . Uddin welcomed the investigation: “I welcome this investigation and will cooperate fully in the hope of a quick resolution and clarification that I have not broken the rules of the house.” Uddin said, “I do not think I am anything Did wrong or broken any rules of the House of Lords ”. She stated, “I strongly deny that I never lived here. In fact, I've been here regularly since the purchase. ”Uddin said her primary residence has been outside London since 2001 and has received £ 83,000 in expense allowances as a result. Despite repeated questions, she declined to provide the location or details of her primary residence between 2001 and 2005. According to the entry in the land register, Uddin bought the two-bedroom apartment in central Maidstone in September 2005.

Neighbors of Uddin's second home in Wapping , however, insisted that they saw her come and go every day and that she was known as an "Auntie" by the Bangladeshi community. Uddin's house in Wapping, where she lives and is registered as a voter, is owned by a non-profit housing association .

On November 23, 2009, Uddin's case was handed over to police for possible prosecution for fraud. The Daily Telegraph newspaper later reported that it refused to cooperate with the police investigation and refused to answer questions.

In January 2010, The Times reported that the property was owned and occupied by her brother and family during the period for which it was claiming allowances. Uddin's sister-in-law stated that she did not remember Uddin ever living there. Uddin also claimed one of the highest overnight allowances from members of the House of Lords.

On March 10, 2010, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that Uddin would not be charged because a senior parliamentarian had ruled that a peer's primary residence could be a place where he or she stayed only once a month. There was no indication that the compensation would be paid back. On October 18, 2010, the House of Lords' Privileges and Conduct Committee ruled that Uddin had "acted in bad faith" and recommended that she repay £ 125,349 and be suspended by Parliament by Easter 2012. On October 21, 2010, the House of Lords voted in favor of the committee's recommendations.

The Labor Group suspended its membership in October 2010; since she is in the House of Lords as Independent ( Independent performed). In November 2011 it was reported in the media that Uddin might be able to return to the House of Lords from 2012 onwards without reimbursing unjustly claimed allowances.

Additional allowances claimed by Uddin later came to light when The Sunday Times newspaper revealed that she owned a villa in Bangladesh . This was described as being built of Italian marble , with tiles, mosaics and with a balcony. An investigation into this has been initiated. The villa was believed to have been built after Uddin became Life Peer in 1998 and cost £ 140,000 organized by her husband Kumar: The property is located in Jawa Bazar in Chhatak , where many of her husband's relatives are from. Uddin states that the land was bought by her husband's family in 1980 from Kumar's father.

family

She is married to Komar Uddin, his family is originally from Chhatak , Sunamganj in Sylhet . Together they have four sons and a daughter. Uddin lives with her family in a Housing Association house in Wapping, Tower Hamlets, but also stated that they live in Maidstone , Kent .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Deaf Parenting UK Ambassadors (PDF; 1.4 MB) Profile of Uddin at Deafparent , accessed on August 19, 2011
  2. ↑ a b The winners article in the Guardian, June 17, 2002
  3. ^ Minutes and Order Paper - Minutes of Proceedings Minutes of the House of Lords meeting of July 21, 1998
  4. ↑ Tomorrow's Islam Summary of Tomorrow's Islam , accessed October 26, 2003
  5. ^ Tahir Abbas (2005). Muslim Britain: communities under pressure. Zed Books. P. 184.
  6. ↑ Baroness Pola Uddin Manzila Biographical information on BritBangla , accessed 16 August 2011
  7. ↑ Baroness Pola Uddin ( Memento of the original from February 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Biographical information from Muslim Women , accessed September 22, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wisemuslimwomen.org
  8. ↑ Minister criticises Muslim letter article on BBC News, August 12, 2006
  9. ↑ House of Lords: Members 'expenses Members' expenses on the House of Lords website , accessed August 28, 2011
  10. ↑ Labor peer Baroness Uddin denies allegations that she left expenses home looking like a "squat" Article in: Daily Mirror of May 4, 2009
  11. ^ Labor peer Baroness Uddin faces investigation over £ 100,000 allowances claims Article in: The Daily Telegraph, May 5, 2009
  12. ↑ a b Labor peer Probed Over £ 100k Expenses Claims Sky News on 5 May 2009
  13. ↑ Labor peer Baroness Uddin claims £ 100,000 expenses on empty flat ; Article in: The Times, May 3, 2009
  14. ^ Calls for investigation over Labor peer Baroness Uddin's expense claims Article in: The Daily Telegraph, May 3, 2009
  15. ^ Labor peer faces allowance probe BBC News, May 5, 2009
  16. ↑ Labor peer 'claims £ 100,000 on vacant flat she said was her home Article in: Daily Mail of May 4, 2009
  17. ↑ Baroness Uddin provides no evidence for £ 83,000 claim ; Article in: The Times, June 21, 2009
  18. ↑ Peer faces quiz on empty 'home' £ 100k Article in: The Sun, May 4, 2009
  19. ↑ MPs' expenses: four police files go to prosecutors Article in: The Daily Telegraph, November 23, 2009
  20. ^ Two MPs at center of expensesinvestigation refuse to co-operate fully with police Article in The Daily Telegraph, December 24, 2009
  21. ^ Baroness Uddin caught in second expenses row ; Article in The Times on Jan. 17, 2010
  22. ↑ The deserted Kent flat did earned baroness £ 100,000 ; Article in: The Times, May 3, 2009
  23. ^ No expenses charges for Labor peer Baroness Uddin BBC News, March 12, 2010
  24. ↑ Three peers face suspension over expenses claims BBC News of October 18, 2010
  25. ↑ The Conduct of Baroness Uddin Investigation Report of the House of Lords , accessed August 17, 2011
  26. ↑ Peer Uddin may return to Lords despite owing expenses Article on BBC News of November 14, 2011
  27. ↑ a b Baroness Uddin has a marble mansion in Bangladesh ; Article in: The Times, May 17, 2009
personal data
SURNAME Uddin, Pola, Baroness Uddin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Uddin, Manzila Pola
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British politician (Labor Party)
DATE OF BIRTH 17th July 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Rajshahi , Bangladesh