Henry Nowak Murder: Southampton Labour's "Joint Statement" That Isn't a Joint Statement At All

 

 

Following Andrew Pope's request to the Leader of Southampton City Council to make a Joint Statement with leaders of all political groups this morning, here is what they have deemed a "Joint Statement". Andrew Pope responds:

"Councillor Bogle's "Joint Statement" is nothing of the sort.

It only involves two councillors, and they are both Labour councillors. What I suggested was a united front, putting political parties to one side and Labour, Liberal Democrats, Reform, Tories and Greens all speaking as one. But she hasn't even tried.

And it doesn't support the independent investigation into Police started by Hampshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, preferring to back the widely discredited IOPC.

Councillor Bogle says that she wants unity. But she doesn't even attempt to provide unity.

She carries on as if Labour still has a majority on the Council. Even in this situation, Southampton Labour cannot put party politics to one side and it can't say or do what is in Southampton's interests. 

At least I tried."

 

Statement from Southampton City Council's Labour Councillors: 

"Following disorder in the city last night, Southampton City Council has issued a joint statement from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Sarah Bogle, and Councillor Toqeer Kataria, Cabinet Member for Communities, Safety and Leisure.
Statement from Southampton City Council on protests in Southampton on Tuesday 2 June:
Last night’s events in our city were deeply concerning, and I know many residents will be feeling unsettled this morning.
Our thoughts remain first and foremost with the family and friends of Henry Nowak. His death was an appalling and unforgivable crime and has had a profound impact across our city. 
Southampton is a city that has always taken pride in the strength of our communities to come together in difficult times. There is no excuse for the kind of violence and disorder we saw last night. 
While there are understandably strong views about the police's handling of Henry Nowak’s murder, it is important that we allow the IOPC to conduct a thorough, transparent, and independent investigation so that the facts are clearly established.
This is a moment for responsible leadership at every level. Those commenting from outside our city should take care not to use language that could inflame tensions. Our priority must be to respect Henry Nowak's memory and support our communities to come together, not add to division.
Council crews are out this morning to clear the damage caused by last night's disorder and there will be an increased community safety and reassurance presence in the affected areas. We will continue to work with our communities and partners to keep Southampton a safe, inclusive, and welcoming city for all.
At times like this, it is more important than ever that we stand together and focus on what unites us.
- Councillor Sarah Bogle, Leader of Southampton City Council
- Councillor Toqeer Kataria, Cabinet Member for Communities, Safety and Leisure"

 

EXCLUSIVE: Which Councillors Voted For The £60 MILLION Extension To the Council's Roads and Pavements Contract?

 

You Guessed It - Labour Councillors Voted It Through!

 

You guessed it! Labour councillors voted through the extension to the Balfour Beatty roads and pavement contract, also known as the Highways Service Partnership. It was the Conservatives who brought the contract in, fourteen years earlier, during 2010.

There was no media release, confirmed by Southampton Independents' enquiries. We only found out about it via legal procurement channels. An officer confirmed that no media release was put out.

When lead investigator Andrew Pope asked Council officers in procurement about how the extension was approved, they said:

"The approval route for the award of the Southampton Highways Partnership was via a delegated decision made by the Executive Director, Growth and Prosperity and Executive Director Enabling Services and S151 Officer in accordance with delegated authority approved by Cabinet and Council in March 2024.

For ease I have included the links to the relevant March 2024 Cabinet and Council meetings:

Agenda for Cabinet on Tuesday, 5th March, 2024, 4.30 pm | Southampton City Council

Agenda for Council on Wednesday, 6th March, 2024, 2.00 pm | Southampton City Council"

 

From the Minutes of the meeting, you can see it was Labour councillors only. This INCLUDES the two now Labour MPs, Satvir Kaur and Darren Paffey:

"NOTE: NOTE: FOR THE RECOMMENDATIONS: Councillors Allen, Barnes-Andrews, Blatchford, Bogle, M Bunday, Cox, Denness, Evemy, Fielker, Finn, A Frampton, Y Frampton, Goodfellow, Greenhalgh, Kataria, Kaur, Kenny, Keogh, Lambert, Leggett, Letts, McCreanor, McEwing, Mintoff, Noon Paffey, Payne, Quadir, Renyard, Savage, Shields, Ugwoeme, Whitbread, Winning and T Bunday." 

 

Note that some of the Labour councillors are:

• no longer councillors, or 
• have lost elections (e.g. Ugwoeme who lost Woolston then Shirley), 
• have been sacked as a Labour councillor (e.g. Whitbread, as exclusively revealed by us), 
• have stood down, or 
• have quit Labour to another party (e.g. Renyard who is now Green, M Bunday who is now Lib Dem). 

 

They were Labour councillors when they voted this through.

  

The only councillors who voted against it were Conservatives. Yet in a move of utter hypocrisy, they had originally let the contract in 2010. This includes Peter Baillie who told us that the contract is great, telling us when we asked about Councillor Rob Harwood's perceived conflict of interest in letting the contract as an officer, then turning up as a Tory councillor the next year:

"The Balfour- Beatty contract works far better than any in house solution." 

 

"NOTE: AGAINST THE RECOMMENDATIONS: Councillors P Baille, Beaurain, Fitzhenry, Galton, Houghton, Laurent, Powell-Vaughan, Blackman, Wood and Barbour. " 

 

Andrew Pope says: 

 

Andrew Pope

  

"The Cabinet of the Council contains ONLY Labour councillors. Nobody else. They voted it through.

Labour has a majority on the Council. So next...

Labour councillors majority-voted the contract through Full Council, which is the second committee mentioned by the officer.

Labour ward councillors would regularly receive complaints about the failures of the contract.  Yet they voted it through anyway, like the party puppets that they are. And this includes the two councillors who are now Southampton MPs - Satvir Kaur and Darren Paffey.

So let nobody be in any doubt, it was Labour councillors that voted through the extension to the failed Balfour Beatty roads and pavement contract.

This is why our City needs independent representation again, by councillors who actually put the priorities of their local residents first, instead of doing what their party tells them to do."

Please Note - Our Story, Our Exclusive

We gave information on our investigation to the Daily Echo's Editor Ben Fishwick about this in mid-February, and to the Local Democracy Reporter Jason Lewis, who is funded by the BBC. We had hoped they would cover it in the public interest.

An article was eventually published by the Daily Echo with the £60 million figure that we gave to them. We were never credited. We were never quoted.

When Andrew Pope complained to the Editor, we were promised a follow-up article. In good faith, more information was given to them.

It is now over two months later.

No follow-up article. No quote. No credit.

So we are publishing our investigation ourselves, in the public interest.

We are volunteers. Once again, we are doing more work than those who are paid to investigate. Because it is in the public interest.

EXCLUSIVE: Council Refuses Campaigner Andrew Pope's Request to Cancel Balfour Beatty Roads and Pavement Contract - Here's Their Excuse

Andrew Pope Demands That the Council's Road and Pavement Contract with Balfour Beatty is Cancelled
Image: Southampton Independents

 

Andrew Pope is the Redbridge ward Independent Network candidate for Southampton City Council. He has been investigating the Council's roads and pavement contract with Balfour Beatty. This is because of constant complaints about the roads and pavements from residents of Southampton.

 

Andrew Pope Independent Network
Photo: Southampton Independents

 

Andrew says:

"I've asked Council officers to cancel the contract. Why? Because it's a clear failure, and because Balfour Beatty are admitted blacklisters." 

 

Andrew Pope with Rubber Ducks in Rownhams Road, Southampton
Image: Southampton Independents (AP)

 

He has also been running the online game "Guess the Pothole", putting rubber ducks in the many potholes and posting the photos online, then asking residents where they think the pothole is, as reported by the Daily Echo. It has been very successful at drawing attention the failings. It also appears in Andrew's election address - see photo above. [The one in the photo is in Rownhams Road, when the gas pipeline was being replaced.]

The contract has been in place since 2010, when the Conservatives ran the Council. And since 2017, it has been extended - and extended again - by Labour running the Council.

Balfour Beatty has repeatedly admitted blacklisting. In 2014, four years after the Council's contract was first let, they apologised to MPs. 

"They confirmed their firms had used the services of The Consulting Association."

In responding to Andrew's demand to cancel the contract, a Council spokesperson said:

"Based on its due diligence, to the Council’s knowledge neither Balfour Beatty Living Places nor any company in the Balfour Beatty group was involved in blacklisting at 2017 nor at the point of the award of the most recent contract in 2025. The Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 enshrines the position in legislation. Indeed it is widely reported that the practice in the construction industry ceased in 2009, which pre-dates the Council’s first highways contract with Balfour Beatty. Based on this position, the Council does not intend to terminate its contracts delivered by Balfour Beatty as a result of the historic blacklisting as its policy has not been breached." 

Andrew says:

"The serious point to the game is to humiliate the Labour-run Council into cancelling the failed £60 million roads contract. 

This contract is clearly a failure. Nobody in Southampton, other than the Labour councillors who voted it through, and Tory councillors Peter Baillie and Rob Harwood, think it has been a success. They've had sixteen years!

It is interesting that before becoming a Tory councillor, Rob Harwood was the Council officer who wrote the report for the Balfour Beatty contract. Not once, but twice - in 2010 and 2017. And then in 2018, he was elected to the same Council as a Tory councillor.

What an amazing coincidence, that he thinks the contract is great and his Group Leader Baillie does too. 

Neither of them wanted to answer queetions when I asked him how he managed any perceived confict of interest. I gave them the right of reply. Worse than that, they said that such questions were 'irrelevant'. Harwood cost the Council over £25,000 for loose words; it seems that he has not learned his lesson.

On the doorsteps of Southampton, residents want to know. Residents want to know why the roads and pavements are so bad and why a failed contract has been allowed to go on for so long. My independent colleagues tell me that in Herefordshire, the Council cancelled Balfour Beatty. So should Southampton.

I've asked Council officers to cancel the contract. Why? Because it's a clear failure, and because Balfour Beatty are admitted blacklisters.

I changed the procurement rules of the Council when I was Councillor before. I was applauded by leading anti-blacklisting campaigners Dave Smith and Phil Chamberlain in their book "Blacklisted". The Council's rules that I put in place are supposed to prevent blacklisters getting council contracts. I took considerable time and effort to ensure officers put such rules in place.

Yet Council officers have refused in writing to cancel the contract, and have made excuses for Balfour Beatty, claiming blacklisting is somehow all in the past. Really? The unions don't think so, including Unite.

So how can a Labour-run Council justify handing another £60 million to Balfour Beatty - a figure which I uncovered and investigated?

They can't, if they are on the side of the working people of Southampton. But residents have worked out that Labour is not for working people and has not been for some time now.

What a shameful situation. Residents deserve to be protected from blacklisters and deserve to have better roads and pavement that are safe. Labour councillors voted this contract through, like the party puppets that they are.

I will carry on campaigning for residents - it is them who I respond to.

If I am elected on 7th May, I will have more powers to get answers and challenge for better roads and pavements." 

 

 

 

Labour's Corruption in Southampton and Westminster - Andrew Pope's Statement

 

Redbridge ward anti-corruption candidate Andrew Pope, who is a member of the Independent Network and is Co-Founder of Southampton Independents, issues a Statement today on yesterday's vote at Parliament on referring Keir Starmer to the Privileges Committee: 

 

Andrew Pope when Independent Councillor 
Photo: Southampton Independents (CT)

"Yesterday, Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer forced his MPs to defend his corruption when appointing Jeffrey Epstein's friend Peter Mandelson as UK Ambassador to the United States of America.

Labour forced a 'three-line whip' onto its MPs, which means that if you defy the instruction, there will be consequences which could include expulsion. 

And like the party puppets they are, the two Southampton MPs Satvir Kaur and Darren Paffey went along with it. 

Both Kaur and Paffey voted against a Parliamentary inquiry by the Privileges Committee into Starmer. You can see the evidence from the BBC website below. 

 

Satvir Kaur MP Southampton Test MP Voted Against Investigating Her Boss Keir Starmer
Image: BBC

Darren Paffey Southampton Itchen MP Voted Against Investigating His Boss Keir Starmer
Image: BBC

 

EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT STARMER IS GUILTY OF CORRUPTION AND OF POOR JUDGEMENT, AND THAT HE IS VERY UNPOPULAR AND SHOULD RESIGN OR BE FORCED OUT BY LABOUR! 

Yet the Southampton Labour MPs still defend him. Why? Is it because their political careers depend on it? Yes it is. They put themselves and their careers ahead of principles.

While we focus on local action, as independents, we have to call this out as Southampton MPs being corrupt. They are now complicit in corruption at Westminster, as Satvir Kaur and Southampton Labour have been complicit in corruption here in Southampton by taking £10,000 from a convicted criminal who had been expelled from Labour two years before. And not providing any evidence they paid it back, although we asked them.

And we have to call this out because as independents, Southampton Independents as members of the Independent Network subscribe to the Martin Bell principles.

Martin Bell was a BBC journalist who was elected as an Independent MP when he stood for Parliament as an anti-corruption candidate, and beat the corrupt Tory Neil Hamilton who was found guilty of cash-for-questions in Parliament.

 

Independent Network Emblem

 

 

The Independent Network works under the same Bell principles, so we are best placed to call out Labour's corruption.

I am standing as the anti-corruption candidate in Redbridge ward on Southampton City Council.

I have already uncovered corruption by Labour here in Southampton, and will continue to do so.

If elected, I will have more powers to uncover corruption and hold Labour to account."

 

 

EXCLUSIVE: NO EVIDENCE Corrupt Southampton Labour Paid Criminal Money Back - we checked! Vote Labour Out!

 

 

Labour Is Corrupt As Well As Incompetent
Image: Southampton Independents

 

Southampton Labour MP Corruption 

In 2024, Southampton Test Labour MP Satvir Kaur took criminal money from convicted violent criminal Shere Sattar, as declared in her Parliamentary Register of Interests. Sattar had previously been expelled from the Labour Party after his conviction in 2022, but had stayed on as an Eastleigh Town Councillor for THREE YEARS, despite now being a criminal.

 

Satvir Kaur, Southampton Test Labour MP
Photo: Under Licence from UK Parliament

 

The £10k was also shown by us appearing in the Electoral Commission register of political donations.

 

Electoral Commission Database of Political Funding Showing Shere Sattar Money
Image: Southampton Independents

 

But there is no evidence that Kaur or Southampton Labour has paid it back, which is what they claimed to the Daily Echo. We asked her and them. No response was received. No evidence was provided from her or Southampton Labour. They have claimed to have paid it back though.

Do you believe them, without any evidence? 

This is the same Labour Party whose Prime Minister appointed Peter Mandelson as Ambassador to the United States. Peter Mandelson is now under investigation by the Police, and had previously had to leave government in other scandals.

The same Labour Party. 

 

The Missing Evidence 

Yes - WE CHECKED IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE. There is no evidence Kaur, or Portsmouth Labour MPs Stephen Morgan or Amanda Martin, paid ANY of the criminal money back.

Neither is there any evidence that Central Labour HQ paid any of the £10,300 back - we checked with the Electoral Commission who said they had no requirement to be told, even if it was paid back!

As reported by The Times and Independent, the Shere Sattar criminal money totals £40,300. 

Seriously, we have looked everywhere and checked with everyone. 

 

WE CHECKED EVERYWHERE 

WE CHECKED with the Electoral Commission that regulates funding of political parties. Incredibly, they confirmed in writing that political parties can receive money from criminals. The law is set by MPs, mostly Labour and Tory MPs.

WE CHECKED with the three Labour MPs in Southampton and Portsmouth that accepted the money. We received no response and no evidence.

WE CHECKED with Shere Sattar, the former Eastleigh Labour councillor and convicted criminal who gave the money. We received no response.

WE CHECKED with Eastleigh Town Council's Town Clerk whether Sattar stayed on as councillor despite being convicted in 2022. He stayed on until May 2025 - THREE YEARS LATER. He served on committees and made decisions, as confirmed by the Clerk, DESPITE being a convicted criminal.

WE CHECKED with the Election Agent for Southampton Labour councillors, Councillor Christian Cox, who is Councillor for Millbrook ward. No evidence and no response.

WE CHECKED With Southampton Labour Council candidates and received no evidence and no response. 

We've also asked about Southampton Labour councillors' donations to the Labour Party, which appear to have stopped in recent years, according to records at the Electoral Commission. But have the councillors' donations actually stopped? We've asked Labour councillors and candidates, including the Leader of the Council and Leader of the Labour Group, who is Shirley councillor Alex Winning. Kaur was also a Shirley councillor.

 

Seriously, we have looked everywhere and checked with everyone.

There is NO EVIDENCE that any of the more than £40,000 that Labour took from Shere Sattar has been given back. 

The Electoral Commission confirmed directly to our enquiry that even if they had paid it back, the Commission is not obliged to be told, so there would be no record. 

 

Corruption Is The Only Word 

To take money from a convicted criminal cannot be called anything other than corruption. If you can think of a better description, get in touch. 

 

Do Not Vote Labour - Vote Independent! 

In the local Council elections, please do not vote Labour. In Redbridge ward, Vote for the anti-corruption candidate Andrew Pope Independent Network. Andrew is the only candidate who can beat Labour in Redbridge.

Everywhere else, either vote Independent or vote tactically against Labour.

It is First Past the Post, so please vote tactically to stop Labour and vote to remove as many Labour councillors as possible, and please do not vote any more in.

Vote Independent Network

EXCLUSIVE: CRIMINAL MONEY - Local Labour MPs Provide No Evidence of Paying £30,000 Back to CONVICTED CRIMINAL When We Asked - Corruption Is Out of Hand

 

Our Labour Highwayman Graphic That Labour Hates

Southampton Labour

We reported that Southampton Test Labour MP Satvir Kaur accepted £10,000 from convicted criminal and expelled Eastleigh Labour Town Councillor Shere Sattar.

 

Satvir Kaur, Southampton Labour MP for Southampton Test
Photo: UK Parliament under CC Licence

Kaur was asked to provide evidence that the £10,000 had been paid back.

No response has been received. We know that our email was received.

No evidence of paying the money back has been provided, despite being given over a fortnight to respond.

Portsmouth Labour

Stephen Morgan, Labour MP for Portsmouth South was also contacted. No evidence has been received and no response has been received. We know the email was received.

Amanda Martin, Labour MP for Portsmouth North was also contacted. Again, no evidence and no response. We know the email was received.

 

Regulator of Party Funding Confirms Criminals Can Give Money 

A reminder that we asked the Electoral Commission some questions about criminal money. They regulate party funding, but can only do so according to what Parliament and MPs decide what powers to give them and what resources and money to give them.

The Commission confirmed that political parties can accept money from criminals.

 

Broken Political System and Labour Councillors Repeatedly Bringing the Council Into Disrepute

Anti-corruption candidate for Redbridge ward on Southampton City Council, Andrew Pope, says:

Andrew Pope, Co-Founder of Southampton Independents
Photo: Southampton Independents (DW)

"As a member of the Independent Network, I subscribe to the Martin Bell principles. I have met Martin Bell via the Independent Network.

Martin Bell stood for Parliament against Tory and Cabinet Member Neil Hamilton and his wife when Hamilton was accused and then found guilty of corruption and bribery from the disgraced Mohamed Al-Fayed, in the cash-for-questions scandal. Fayed is now being accused of more crimes, although he is now dead.

And Martin won the seat as an independent.

I am investigating and exposing wrongdoing, and have been for a long time, whether I was in the Labour Party or after I quit Labour in disgust in 2015 because of Labour's wrongdoing to the people of Redbridge that I care about. 

I asked for investigations into Labour councillors when I was in the Labour Group. I was the Deputy Whip, but the Chief Whip Labour Councillor Cathie McEwing did not investigate disgraced Leader of the Council Richard Williams and did not investigate sacked Redbridge Ward Councillor Lee Whitbread when I raised complaints when still a Labour Councillor.

Neither did Southampton Labour officials - I told them though! And look what happened to both Williams and Whitbread! I also complained about Labour Councillor and former Tory Mike Denness, and he has just stood down after much controversy. I raised these complaints when in Labour, and when an Independent. And ever since.

Southampton Labour councillors have repeatedly brought the Council and the role of Councillor into disrepute. That's why I quit Labour to become an Independent. Eleven years later, I am still an Independent. 

And now, having brought the Council to its knees as Cabinet Member and Leader, Satvir Kaur is bringing the role of MP into disrepute. Her. the Portsmouth MPs and Central Labour Party HQ took £40,000 in total from Sattar. So far, no evidence of paying it back. They've been asked.

I campaigned for Southampton City Council to do criminal records checks (DBS) for councillors. It beggars belief that they stopped doing them. But still, two-thirds won't have been checked. It's wrong. How do we know that councillors themselves do not have a criminal record, or have obtained one while serving as a councillor? We don't.

The two party political system is broken. How can it be that criminals can donate to political parties and that it is not mandatory by law for DBS checks? Labour and Tory MPs decided the law for this and fixed the political system to favour them, instead of the people of our City. Labour have allowed it, and allowed the corruption to thrive."

 

RESIDENT ACTION: Labour Councillor Porkies and Bin Chaos - They Promised Weekly You Got Fortnightly (if at all)

 

Another MASSIVE Broken Labour Promise
Image: Southampton Independents

 

UPDATED (16/4/26):  Now with added ACTION. The Labour Leader of the Council, Shirley councillor Alex Winning (he's up for election on 7th May), does not seem to know who or when it was done.

RESIDENTS ACTION 

1. We supply email addresses to you for councillors and MPs who voted to cut your bins from weekly to fortnightly. 

2. Send them an email to ask them why they broke their promise "to keep weekly bin collections"! Just click the link to see their councillor page, and get their address to email them. 

 

A Pork Pie from Southampton
Image: Southampton Independents (AP)

3. Then contact us to tell us what the councillor or MP says, or if they even bother to reply.

4. You might need to do this very soon, as some of them might not be councillors for much longer as they might be voted out or may have already checked out (Mike Denness and Lee Whitbread, for example, as reported by us)! 

 

--- 

Letter to the Daily Echo 

A reminder: Labour councillors voted through cuts to bins but spent millions of YOUR CASH on "arts" at the scandalous Satvir Kaur's Arts Complex instead of the bins, a basic Council service that has failed time and again, while they put Council Tax up and up. Vote them out on 7th May.

 

Dear Editor,

I read with anger your report of:

Southampton fury as littering leaves high street as 'absolute dump'

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/26012097.southampton-fury-littering-leaves-high-street-absolute-dump/

It isn't just Shirley High Street that is a mess, lots of Council land is also a mess. And it's Labour's failure and cuts that have caused it.

Both Labour councillors quoted - Cllr Savage and Cllr Winning - speak as if it was nothing to do with Labour bringing in fortnightly bins.

It was precisely to do with Labour - Labour councillors voted through fortnightly bins in February 2017. I was there in the Chamber and watched them do it. 

I spoke against it and voted against it as Independent Redbridge councillor. The other two independents from Coxford also voted against it.

Worse than that, Labour promised "to keep weekly bin collections". It was another broken promise.

The minutes show that Councillor Savage voted for it, as did current Labour councillors Blatchford, Bogle, Denness, Keogh, Letts, Noon, Payne, Rayment, Shields and Whitbread. That's a total of ELEVEN Labour councillors. 

Plus, who could forget, Satvir Kaur and Darren Paffey, now both Southampton Labour MPs.

So if Cllr Winning thinks it was 20 years ago. It wasn't. And if he thinks somehow his party didn't have anything to do with it. He's wrong.

All he needs to do is ask Cllr Letts, who was Leader of the Council at the time. Perhaps Winning and Letts are not on speaking terms?

Southampton people know what to do - vote Labour out. Enough is enough.

I enclose a link to the minutes online. Minutes of Feb 2017 Full Council: https://www.southampton.gov.uk/moderngov/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=122&MId=3274&Ver=4

Regards,

Andrew Pope

Former Redbridge Councillor and Candidate for Redbridge

Independent Network

Southampton Independents

Andrew Pope at Millbrook Towers
Photo: Southampton Independents (CT)

Andrew Pope Poster
Image: Southampton Independents

 

EXCLUSIVE: We Reveal Details of the £60 MILLION Balfour Beatty Highways Scandal and Labour-run Southampton Council's "Transparency" Report in Teeny Tiny Writing

 

Southampton Labour's Highways Deal is a Scandal

As reported by us, in 2024 Southampton Labour and Portsmouth Labour took money from a convicted violent criminal, a total of £30,000. Central Labour HQ also took another £10,000 bung. All despite the criminal being an Eastleigh Labour councillor and then being expelled from Labour in 2022.

We have reported on the Electoral Commission's statement that political parties CAN accept criminal money.

And Southampton Labour, and Portsmouth Labour, did. Not a nice thing to have in common between the two cities. They claim to have paid it back, but there is no evidence that they have. We've asked the Electoral Commission, who have confirmed this. Labour expect people to believe them. Do you? We don't.

 

Our Exclusive Investigations Done by Volunteers

1. We exclusively showed the Electoral Commission's data showing the acceptance by Satvir Kaur and Southampton Labour of £10k from a convicted criminal. No other local media did.

2. We exclusively revealed Satvir Kaur's (Southampton Test Labour MP and Junior Minister), Ministerial Register of Interests. No other local media did. At the time of writing, to our knowledge, no other national media did.

3. We exclusively revealed Kaur's connection with disgraced Labour Together MP Josh Simons, who paid private investigators to investigate journalists. He was her maternity cover and resigned. No other local media did. At the time of writing, to our knowledge, no other national media did.

4. We exclusively revealed Satvir Kaur's husband's job - Head of External Affairs for Persimmon Homes, and that she did not consistently report it when Southampton councillor. We reported this to the Head of Legal at the Council, who took no action. Kaur herself only put this on any Parliamentary register of interests when she became a Junior Minister (see above). We also found a photo of Kaur accepting a cheque from Persimmon Homes, outside the Arts Complex. No other local media did, and neither has any national media... yet.

 

Labour And Taxpayers Money 

So what are Labour like with handling YOUR money, your council tax money, your business rates and your national taxes redirected from Government?

Absolutely shocking, that is what residents say.

And Labour councillors do not want you to know. So they scheme to ensure that cover ups are preferred to investigations and transparency. Which brings us to number 5 on the list:

5. We have exclusively investigated and reported how Labour councillors are appointed by other Labour councillors to "scrutinise" those very same Labour councillors who sunk the finances of the Council - Satvir Kaur as Leader of the Council and Darren Paffey as Deputy, now both Labour MPs.

No other local media did. As Delia Smith once famously exclaimed: "Where are you?"

 

What is the State of Local Democracy in Southampton? 

You may ask why is it that the other local media are not investigating like we are.

You should ask them. We have it on good authority from a previous Local Democracy Reporter, that he was told "not to upset MPs".

Now, we reveal what "transparency" means to Southampton City Council.

 

The Scandal of the £60 MILLION Balfour Beatty Highways Contract 

A report hidden.

A report in teeny tiny writing that has to be zoomed into. 

 

Council "Transparency Report" In Actual Published Format
Image: Southampton Independents (AP)

 

Can you read it? Thought not! Why is it in such tiny writing? Ask the Labour-run Council!

If you zoom in a lot, to over 300%, you can see the following:

"SCC-SMS-0832
Southampton Highways Partnership (SHP)

The Southampton Highways Partnership (SHP) (utilising the SCAPE Civil Engineering Framework) commenced on 1st October 2025 for a 5-year contract term with no extension provisions.  The ìContractorî under the SHP is Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering (BBCE) acting as agent of Balfour Beatty Group Limited. The operational delivery of the contract continues to be undertaken by BBLP as a subcontractor to BBCE acting as agent of Balfour Beatty Group Limited.

Status  SuccessfulBidValue      EstimatedValue     StartDate    EndDate

Active     £60,000,000      £60,000,000     01/10/2025    30/09/2030"

 

The report shows the huge scandal of the £60 million offered to Balfour Beatty for the Highways Partnership.

A contract extension by Labour of a Tory contract that has failed our City for sixteen years.

A contract awarded with no press release by the Council - confirmed to us by a Council officer.

A contract that we had to find from third-hand reports by the trade, instead of fanfare by the Council.

A contract "scrutinised" (obviously not very well up to this point) in secret by party politician councillors, but mostly handled by officers under "delegated authority".

A contract without competitive tendering. 

A contract awarded by Southampton Labour councillors to Balfour Beatty, despite them being admitted blacklisters that used The Consulting Association blacklist. Balfour Beatty told Parliament that they had ceased using the blacklist.

And extended despite the Labour Council's own procurement rules preventing blacklisting. 

Those rules were amended to prevent blacklisting by our very own Councillor Andrew Pope, in 2014 - one year before he quit Labour in disgust because they were not meeting their promises to Southampton and his people in Redbridge.

This was a contract initially drawn up by Rob Harwood when he was a senior council officer in 2010 and 2017. One year later in 2018, he then became a Tory councillor. 

We asked him how he managed any perceived conflict of interest. He said our questions on this were "irrelevant" as did the Conservative Group Leader Councillor Peter Baillie. Baillie also praised the contract! Other Conservative councillors were copied into the questions. They said nothing.

 

Why Didn't the Local Media Report This? 

Did we offer this not-very-transparent "transparency" report to the Daily Echo and the Local Democracy Reporter Jason Lewis, funded by the BBC? Yes we did, as an exclusive. Nothing.

More on that another time.

Serious questions have to be asked about local democracy in Southampton - whether the local media is fit for purpose, and whether the political parties are any good or not. 

We know they're not. Not neither. It's all a bit too cosy and complacent. This is worrying for democracy in our City.

More on that too later.

 

It's OFFICIAL! Regulator Electoral Commission Tells Us That Political Parties CAN ACCEPT MONEY FROM CRIMINALS!

 

The Labour Highwayman That Southampton Labour Hates
Image: Southampton Independents

... and the Electoral Commission has no way of telling whether the political party has paid it back!

Yes, it's enormous.

Yes, it's shocking.

Yes, it's scandalous.

The Electoral Commission regulates the funding of political parties. 

Today, the Commission has responded to Andrew Pope's complaint about three Southampton and Portsmouth MPs accepting a total of £30,000 from a convicted violent criminal, Shere Sattar. And the central Labour Party also accepting £10,000 from the same man. 

We checked the Electoral Commission's database and the register of interests of the MPs:

• Satvir Kaur, Labour MP for Southampton Test
• Stephen Morgan, Labour MP for Portsmouth South
• Amanda Martin, Labour MP for Portsmouth North

The total of £40,000 was originally reported by the Times and Independent national newspapers. And locally, the Daily Echo. Labour says it has paid it back. But where is the public evidence? 

 

Andrew Pope Reacts 

Co-founder of Southampton Independents and member of the Independent Network Andrew Pope says:

 

Andrew Pope in Millbrook, Southampton
Photo: Southampton Independents

  

"I cannot believe what I have just been told by the Electoral Commission today. Please see below for their response in full.

Not only can political parties accept donations from CRIMINALS, the Electoral Commission has no way of telling whether the political party has paid it back, even when the party claims that it has!

The Labour Party has made such claims - WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE? The evidence is there of the criminal's money going into their campaigns, but there is no public evidence that they have paid it back.

Are we just supposed to believe them, when they had already expelled him from the Labour Party two years before? 

I don't. Do you?"

 

Andrew Pope's Complaint to the Electoral Commission 

"Satvir Kaur has been shown by her Parliamentary register of interests to have accepted £10,000 from convicted violent criminal and Eastleigh Labour Councillor Shere Sattar. Sattar was convicted in 2022. He was expelled by the Labour Party. Yet in 2024, Kaur accepted the £10,000. It is in the Electoral Commission's database of funding. There is no evidence that she has paid the money back. There is also no evidence that the central Labour Party HQ has paid their money back. And there is also no evidence that Stephen Morgan MP nor Amanda Martin MP have paid their money back to Sattar either. Please advise whether there is any evidence of any of the £40,000 has been paid back to the criminal Sattar."

 

Electoral Commission Response 

"Dear Andrew,

 

Thank you for contacting the Electoral Commission. 

 

Regarding donations, there is no restriction on donors with criminal records donating to politicians. So long as the donor is permissible, parties, candidates and elected officials are allowed to accept donations from them.

 

In terms of whether we would know if any of this money had been returned, if someone returns a permissible donation then they don't have to report it to us, and as such we cannot confirm either way whether any of the money would have been returned. The law only requires permissible donations that have been accepted over the set threshold (£11,180 but in some cases £2,230), and all impermissible donations (over £500) to be reported."

Labour-run Council Fails To Give Details of Councillors in Council Tax Arrears 10 Days Over 20 Day Legal Deadline

 

UPDATE (2nd April 2026): Council finally responds, just before the Bank Holiday and almost two weeks past the deadline. They say that no Southampton City Councillors were in arrears.

So why the delay? We received an apology but no explanation other than the department was "busy". 

--- 

As we have reported, the Labour-run Southampton City Council failed to respond in time to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request over councillors in council tax arrears. It also failed to do so, given an extra week.

For transparency, we now publish the full request, and ask you to note that on Friday 3rd April 2026, it will be a full ten days after the 20 day legal deadline. 

Andrew Pope, who submitted the request, and has chased and only received apologies instead of the information, says:

 

Andrew Doing Safety Checks for Cyclists and Motorists in Redbridge
Photo: Andrew Pope

"What do you think about this?

Do you think that the Council might be trying to hide something?

Do you think they should be allowed to not respond?

Do you think that we should report them to the Information Commissioner's Office, who regulate FoIs?"

The full request reads:

"Please provide the following information.

1. All correspondence between officers, councillors and members of the public regarding any Southampton City councillors' non-payment of council tax and their inability to vote on council tax setting at the February 2025 Full Council that considered the Budget and associated matters.

   All correspondence should include all correspondence, meaning mobile phone calls, emails, letters, text messages and all social media including Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter.

2. The names of all councillors who did not pay council tax during the Municipal Year of 2024-25, the reasons they gave for non-payment, the amounts they were in arrears, how long they were in arrears, whether they paid up in full or partially, and whether they voted on the council tax setting and associated votes at the 2025 Budget Full Council that set council tax for 2025-26.

3. All actions the Council has taken against any councillor regarding non-payment of council tax, including but not limited to court action and the deduction of the council tax due from their councillor allowance.

4. The full details of councillors still in arrears from previous financial years, as in item 2 above."

 

EXCLUSIVE: VICTORY! Andrew Pope Redbridge Independent Network Candidate Confirms Southampton Labour Ditches Its Own Labour Councillor Lee Whitbread Ahead of May Election

 

Ex Labour Councillor Lee Whitbread

Photo: Southampton City Council

Southampton Labour recycles failed councillors. Today, Andrew Pope can exclusively reveal that, and has confirmed, that Lee Whitbread has been ditched by Labour. 

Whitbread's Council seat is up for election in May. Instead of Whitbread, there is a new Labour candidate, somebody with no experience of Redbridge or its people.

Southampton Redbridge Labour in Chaos 

We have reported on the chaos in Southampton Redbridge Labour. Whitbread sacked as a councillor. Sally Goodfellow sacked as a governor by her own Labour-run Council. And the other Labour councillor in Redbridge ... search our website about him and how we stood up to him and his associates. Associates that Labour councillors, a Lib Dem candidate and Tory candidates sided with, instead of standing up for respectability in Millbrook.

Andrew says:

 

Andrew Pope, former Southampton Independents Councillor
Photo: Southampton Independents

 

"I now know more about the situation regarding ex-Labour Councillor Whitbread and the allegations against him.

When I was in Labour over a decade ago, I tried to warn the Labour Party.

But they ignored me, and the evidence that I gave them. I tried to give it to the Leader of the Council then, the disgraced Richard Williams, and he ignored me. I tried to give it to the next Leader, Simon Letts. He ignored me. He lost his seat in 2018.

Now I tried the same with the current Leader of the Council, Shirley Labour's Alex Winning. He sent me to the central Labour Party HQ, instead of listening.

I offered Winning the evidence. He didn't want to know. Winning also needs to be removed by the people of Shirley ward. I have played my part in breaking down Labour's support in that Shirley ward, by standing in two by-elections. Labour or Tory, I said. People agreed.

The allegations against Lee Whitbread must have been really bad, for Labour to not cover them up, like they did when I gave them evidence of Whitbread's wrongdoing and asked Southampton Labour to investigate.

I have confirmed with neighbours of Lee Whitbread that the allegations are extremely serious.

Coincidentally, I was delivering my letters to residents today, and neighbours urged me to listen to their concerns. While speaking to a local resident, I also saw a policeman who asked me the way to Whitbread's house.

Whitbread must be investigated and residents' concerns must be listened to, and acted upon. I remember when Whitbread stood up for bad people, instead of respectable and law-abiding people in Millbrook.

Labour didn't act when I said they should, and the people of Redbridge have been afflicted by Lee Whitbread and his associates for years and years.

Voters must send a message and vote for the Independent Network candidate in May. I am the anti-corruption candidate and I am announcing my candidacy today."

 

EXCLUSIVE: Southampton Labour MP Satvir Kaur's Ministerial Register of Interests and Link to Resigned Minister Josh Simons MP

 

Satvir Kaur, Junior Minster Keir Starmer's Government
and Labour MP for Soutampton Test
Photo: UK Parliament under licence

by Andrew Pope, Co-Founder of Southampton Independents and Somerset Independents

Andrew says: 

"We publish the following information in the public interest. It is unfortunate that this has to be done by voluntary and community journalism, as there has been no coverage by the BBC or Daily Echo, nor any other commercial outlet locally, to our knowledge. Not so far, at least. Perhaps they will up their game now."

We reported on Satvir Kaur's acceptance of £10k from convicted violent criminal Shere Sattar, and also a total of £30k more accepted by two Portsmouth Labour MPs and central Labour HQ. They claim to have given the money back to the criminal.

Satvir Kaur, Labour MP for Southampton Test, was appointed to Keir Starmer's Government in September 2025 as a Junior Minister, Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office. In the Ministerial register, it states that she was on Maternity Leave until February 2026. 

Her cover, it says, was Josh Simons MP, appointed at the same time.

Before the 2024 General Election, Simons was seen as conducting a "purge" of the left-wing in Labour, as reported by the BBC's Political Editor Chris Mason. 

Simons recently resigned in February 2026, according to the Manchester Evening News, amid:

"claims that a think tank he ran before entering Government, paid a PR firm at least £30,000 to look into journalists"

In his first interview since resigning, Simons now claims in a BBC interview one month after his resignation, that he was "naive" in the scandal involving journalists and a think tank called Labour Together. The think tank has been criticised widely, over a considerable period of time, and again today.

Now that she is a Minister, Kaur is required to lodge an entry in the Ministerial register, a copy of which is below:

"Satvir Kaur MP, Parliamentary Secretary

The Minister is on maternity leave until 23 February 2026. Josh Simons MP is acting as maternity cover.

6. Any other relevant interests

Trade union memberships

• Member, UNISON

Previous employment/roles

• Leader, Cabinet Member and Local Councillor, Southampton City Council (2011-2024)

7. Relevant interests of spouse, partner or close family member

• The minister’s spouse/partner is Head of External Affairs at Persimmon Homes"

 

The entry confirms that Kaur's husband, former Southampton Tory councillor Ben Walker, is the Head of External Affairs at Persimmon Homes.

On a recent BBC South Politics programme, Kaur stated that she was "obsessed" with new forms of construction.

In January 2025, as reported by Construction News UK, Persimmon Homes announced:

"Persimmon Homes launches model home to trial new technology"

The BBC has been given the information in this article.