Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman accuses Daily Mail of telling porkies

Lutfur Rahman banner

Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman has refuted allegations that the borough has banned pork sausages from being served in schools.

Mayor Rahman responded on his blog to an article in the Daily Mail which claimed the council has banned sausages due to “religious reasons.” The article stated that 85 out of 90 schools in Tower Hamlets do not offer pupils a pork option, a figure which Mayor Rahman attributed to a lack of demand.

He wrote: “The facts are that pork sausages are available to the minority of schools where there is a continuing demand for them.

“However, it is the case that in a majority of our schools there isn’t any demand for them. Clearly there is no demand for pork sausages for Muslim and Jewish school pupils, but that is hardly a new development.

“At a time when there are severe pressures on local authority budgets, why should our council be obliged to waste money on unwanted pork sausages?”

East London Advertiser, 18 June 2012