'Barred over Damilola comments'

A black community leader has been barred by Labour from standing as a council candidate in Southwark because he criticised the authority after the death of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor.

Mike Rahman is threatening legal action against his local Labour party after he was rejected by the selection panel choosing candidates for next year's elections.

Mr Rahman, a Labour member for 10 years, also represents a Peckham tenants' group. In TV and press interviews, he was scathing of the effect council policies had on the estate where Damilola lived.

In the letter informing Mr Rahman of his failure to be selected, party secretary Peter Hore said: "The panel considered that during the period that followed the death of Damilola Taylor, on subsequent television news/current affairs programmes, you openly criticised the Labour-led Southwark council and called for the resignation of the Labour leader. You will recall that this matter was raised during the course of your interview. The panel was not satisfied with your explanation that you were only criticising council officials."

Realising the panel remained angry about his remarks, Mr Rahman, 52, later wrote a letter to the Labour group leader, Stephanie Elsy, but has not received a reply.

"I am very sad that the local party bureaucrats have chosen to discriminate against me in this way," he said. "In the interviews I gave after Damilola's death, I spoke on behalf of the residents, which is my job.

"It seems the council is not prepared to put up with people who have clear opinions and take principled positions. It also calls into question the whole notion of local democracy with Tony Blair's party. He cannot embark on an international crusade for democracy if those principles don't apply to his own party."

Mr Rahman is supported by Southwark councillor Mick Barnard. "The whole idea of a selection is to choose candidates suitable for the position," he said. "Mike clearly answers all of the criteria. As far as I can see, what he has been given is just a lame excuse. Mike has a very high profile here. He is the sort of person we need.

"This doesn't say anything about the party but it says a lot about certain individuals in the party. There is a small faction trying to control what happens at the next election."

Martin Chapman, chairman of Southwark's local government executive committee, said he could not discuss the confidential selection process, but added: "Generally, if you are seeking to be a representative-of a party... you have to be very careful in making public statements about the party and its leader. There are comments people can make in a sensible way but calling for the resignation of a party leader is beyond the pale."

Damilola was stabbed in the leg and bled to death in a stairwell near his home on the North Peckham estate a year ago. His murder triggered a national outcry and a debate about poverty and crime in deprived areas of London. In the weeks after the attack, community figures complained that MPs and officials lost interest in them once public attention waned.

However, the importance of the tragedy was underlined last week when it emerged that the Archbishop of Canterbury will lead church services to mark the first anniversary.

Four boys face trial for Damilola's murder early next year.