Senior council members of London Borough Tower Hamlets have spent more than £7,000 on taxi fares in six months a Freedom of Information request has revealed. 

The Docklands and East London Advertiser report:

Cabinet members of Tower Hamlets cash-strapped administration have been slammed this week for splashing out £7,675 in cab fares in just six months instead of using public transport.

The 246 rides were “charged to council taxpayers” by Mayor Lutfur Rahman and his cabinet between 2011 and 2012, according to Freedom of Information data obtained yesterday by Tory Opposition councillors.

The Conservatives intend challenging the Mayor at tomorrow night’s council budget meeting—accusing him of “squandering public funds” when the authority faces £100 million spending cuts.

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I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.