oh dear: Cabinet minister buys house next to Abu Hamza

[AtW]

Cabinet minister buys house next to Abu Hamza
By Duncan Gardham
(Filed: 12/11/2005)

A cabinet minister has bought a house next door to Abu Hamza, the radical Muslim cleric.

John Hutton, who recently replaced David Blunkett as Work and Pensions Secretary, paid £730,000 for the semi-detached home in west London.

Work and Pensions Secretary
John Hutton, the Work and Pensions Secretary

His new neighbour is in Belmarsh maximum security prison in south London awaiting trial on charges of incitement to murder and racial hatred. His wife Nagat shares the council home with their eight children.

Mr Hutton's new five-bedroom house was bought by a property developer earlier this year for £550,000 when the elderly resident died.

The kitchen was extended, the loft converted and an en suite bathroom added to the master bedroom. Then the floors were stripped back and the house was finished in fashionably neutral colours.

Mrs Hamza, by contrast, had her home spruced up for free, thanks to Hammersmith and Fulham Council's rolling programme of improvements to council properties. She has had a new kitchen, bathroom and boiler fitted at a cost of at least £10,000.

The means of Mr Hutton, 50, and his new neighbour differ widely. The minister, a former law lecturer with three children from his first marriage, earns £134,000 a year and his second wife, Heather Rogers, a former senior civil servant, earns around £100,000 as a lobbyist for Citigate Public Affairs.

The couple also own a house worth £200,000 in Ulverston, Cumbria, where Mr Hutton is an MP.

Mrs Hamza, 44, does not work and has her rent and her council tax paid by the state. She and her children live in the large property on income support and child benefits thought to be worth £1,000 a week.

Mrs Hamza was not available to say how she feels living next door to the man responsible for clamping down on benefits and Mr Hutton also declined to comment.

But in case Mr Hutton was worried about his new neighbours, one local resident said: "Abu Hamza's wife and children are really very friendly."

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I changed my mind about applying for British citizenship - will apply for asylum instead...

[mcquiggd]

I agree with Atw.


There is no point in being British - unless you are are in government. Might as well use this empty shell of a country while it still exists. Claim asylum, go for income support, housing benefit, etc etc, claim religious discrimination every day, get legal aid to support your claims that your house isnt big enough compared to the country estate you left at home...

And then buy a rucksack at Silvermans army surplus and blow your yourself up in the name of allah (note the capital 'S' and small 'a' - at least Silvermans actually exists and pays Council Tax.. ).

Welcome to the UK AtW, enjoy your stay.

[AtW]

I will apply for UK citizenship in a couple of weeks, probably in a week actually - I qualified 2 months ago but was not in a rush. Need to get that book and learn the right answer to whether pick up the fight in a pub over split pint or not

[mcquiggd]

P.S I think theres a typo in the koran. They actually worship asda.

Every little counts... ching ching...

(lower case with respect to any religious diety or belief is on purpose - I dont believe in any of that sort of thing.)

[mcquiggd]

I will apply for UK citizenship in a couple of weeks, probably in a week actually - I qualified 2 months ago but was not in a rush. Need to get that book and learn the right answer to whether pick up the fight in a pub over split pint or not

Dont bother AtW... unless you simply want to abandon your home country and have access to western Europe.


P.S Dont split pints. Especially in Laaarndon. All sorts of third world diseases are spreading there.

[OwlHoot]

I agree with Atw.


There is no point in being British - unless you are are in government. Might as well use this empty shell of a country while it still exists. Claim asylum, go for income support, housing benefit, etc etc

Me too. Can one claim asylum from Customs and Excise or the Inland Revenue?

Holiing up in a church used to work centuries ago, but they're all locked these days.

[AtW]

Dont bother AtW... unless you simply want to abandon your home country and have access to western Europe.

British passport is worth its weight in gold. At the moment I am not travelling but after imminent success of SKA I will want to travel the world and I have had enough of stinking visas for the rest of my life.

Are you still in Scotland? Don't they hate the English there?

[mcquiggd]

Yep, still in Scotland, hoping they go for independence now as basically Britain as a whole has been ruined by Nu Labour.

The Scots aren't dumb, thats for sure (apart from El Gordo and ilk). And actually, as well as being very good at warfare, they are also quite welcoming to those who prove themselves worthy of respect. My friends here are a mix of Scottish, English, Norwegian, Irish and Dutch.. religion is important to some but its not a 'barrier' as it is in some countries.

Ive been physically assaulted here 3 times in the last year, but I doubt it was due to my being English...

To be honest the biggest downer here is the lack of daylight... and a warm climate where you can enjoy a decent summer... same as England I suppose.

All in all, Im happy here - although despite meeting some lovely local women, the lady i hang about with is terribly home counties English - as am I.. but we have both been here for a while and you are soon welcome. My best friend now is a Glaswegian guy who has seen most of Europe, had a recording contract and been on TV... and is now studying for a Computer Science degree.

Edinburgh is great place, really. Turned down a job in Luxembourg, looks like ill be working just outside Glasgow for a while now as its only a 45 minute commute for 10 quid a day... but my decision is based more on personal rather than commercial factors....


P.S I have an Irish surname. The last offer I had for my passport was 5k (GBP) in 1988 in Boston.. add inflation and make me an offer....

[stackpole]

Yep, still in Scotland, hoping they go for independence now as basically Britain as a whole has been ruined by Nu Labour.

I think you'll find that the UK as a whole has been ruined by Scotland.

The government is run by incompetent Scottish ministers, not least Blair and Brown, and Nu Labour are in power largely because nearly all the Scottish constituencies voted them in up there.

Scottish independence - go for it! We'd welcome it down here. And with Welsh independence as well - we English would be rid of Nu Labour at last. Which would be nice.

[sunnysan]

Advice for your citizenship ceremony

Hi Atw

Like you will be doing soon, I am a new member of club Britannia and yes the UK passport is a great thing to have.

It is an absolute joy to go travelling with the UK passport after enduring years of sh 1 t from customs.

I was peeved however, after initially having my appication rejected on the grounds that I did not provide proof that I was proficient in English, to see that they offered interpretors to people obtaining citizenship, who clearly could not speak English!!!!

Dont listen to these doom mongers here. The UK has its issues, but relative to African,CIS and South American countries I would say they are pretty minor.

For your question about the spilled pint, the correct answer is "Break the glass on the bar counter and drive the base of the glass into the clumsy fools jugular"