Spiral Notebook: The line of least resistance

Tower Hamlets charity Real has a strong chance of claiming the disabled services contract that was initially won by out-of-towners Pohwer.

Spiral Notebook: Why London's Left will be keeping an eye on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio

It's Eyes Left as Bill de Blasio takes up residence in New York City Hall with the promise of the kind of new socialism that Labour's Ed Miliband has been test-driving.

Combining tax-the-rich rhetoric with redistributive zeal, De Blasio, a former aide to the last Democrat Mayor (David Dinkins), arrived from nowhere in the 2013 primaries to take the most important municipal post in the US on the promise of aggressive remedies to close the "affordability gap".

Spiral Notebook: Rahman's insult to Tower Hamlets

Tower Hamlets Council has endorsed an investigation by Tower Hamlets Homes and the police into the curious case of the "Rahman canvassers".

This follows reports that bogus representatives from the social housing company were using their access to residents in Wapping to flog Mayor Lutfur Rahman's re-election bid.