THE Independent candidate to be Bedford’s next MP said there has been a lack of progress made in Bedford, and he will work “day and night” to make it a “successful place”.
Javed Tarek said: “I’ve been here most of my life, although I’ve served in the RAF travelling to various different locations, but Bedford has been my home from day one.
“I’ve seen a lot of changes, but changes on the negative side rather than positive side.
“Bedford doesn’t seem to be going forward, it seems to be going backward.
“I want to make a difference for the working class people of Bedford.”
Tarek said his experience of serving in the RAF for 35 years means he has the skills to be a “great MP”.
“The military teaches you loyalty, integrity, punctuality, and camaraderie,” he said.
“Those are all the skills that I think will help me to achieve my goals in a timely manner. I’m a great believer in putting hard work in to get the results and I will do my utmost best to put all the effort in to make Bedford a successful place,” he said.
Tarek pins the blame on Bedford’s problems on both the borough council and the Labour MP.
“Between them they could have done a hell of a lot more than what they’ve done so far,” he said. “They’re not passionate enough to go further.”
Tarek has eight campaign pledges, with one being (if elected) he will “spend half his parliamentary salary to help local services.”
“I will do this as a duty to serve,” he said.
“Over the course of my life I’ve heard lots of people say MPs take a big salary and they don’t actually deliver. I’m doing this for the passion, the money is not the driving factor for me. I would need to deliver 100 per cent to bring about a better Bedford, that’s what’s driving me."
As an example of his actions to serve others, Tarek spoke of his time raising money and then spending five days helping victims of last year’s earthquake in Turkey.
“Me and my colleagues went to Turkey, at our own expense. We went tent to tent, village to village and we distributed £135,000 directly to the affected people in Turkey. We distributed the aid from morning to evening to all these people. This shows the level of dedication I’m willing to put to people overseas," he said.
“So imagine what I’m willing to do for the people of Bedford where I’ve been brought up. I will work day and night, if I have to, to bring about positive changes to Bedford. I want to produce the right goods, the quality goods, for the people of Bedford. I’ve come from a working class background, and I want to be there for the working class people of Bedford.
He added, “I want to be there for everybody, but championing people that are hard working. I think they have been let down so far, it’s about time that somebody stood up and championed those all people."
The other candidates standing to be Bedford’s next MP are: Prince Sadiq Chaudhury (Workers Party), Pinder Chauhan (Conservative), Ben Foley (Green), Matt Lansley (Reform UK), Henry Vann (Lib Dem) and Mohammad Yasin (Labour).
(Local Democracy Reporting Service)
Davindra and Seema Misra, and Vijay and Gita Parekh
Varchas Patel with his father Vipin and mother Jayshriben
Hasmukh Shingadia and his wife Chandrika were all victims of the Horizon scandal
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Man pleads not guilty to murder of BBC presenter's family
A 26-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering the wife and two daughters of BBC sports commentator John Hunt in a crossbow and knife attack.
Kyle Clifford, who also faces charges of rape, appeared via video link at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday.
Clifford, arrested in July after a manhunt, is charged with three counts of murder, one count each of rape and false imprisonment, and two counts of possessing offensive weapons – a 10-inch knife and a crossbow.
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session.
He is expected to enter a plea for that charge at a later date.
The victims were Carol Hunt, 61, wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.
An earlier hearing revealed that Louise had been found tied up and that both she and her sister had been shot with a crossbow, while their mother had been stabbed with a knife.
The fatal attack occurred at the family’s home in Bushey, a commuter town near Watford, northwest of London.
(With inputs from AFP)