Stephen Cowan is reportedly expected to stand. Cowan is currently leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council. He was first elected to the council in 1998, was selected as leader of the Labour group in 2006 and subsequently became leader of the council in 2014 when Labour took control from the Tories. Under his leadership, Hammersmith and Fulham has become the only council in England to abolish charges for adult social care and has been the only UK council to send social workers to refugee camps, rescuing more child refugees than any other council. I feel like the book could have dived into the Nur’s anxiety more and the stigma that surrounds his dealing with depression in his Pakistani-Muslim community, because the book highlighted great points about mental health. The unbearable deflection he put onto his parents the entire book derailed that component. The story kept repeating the same questions Nur had in his mind with no concrete answers nor a solution to resolve his doubts and worries. It seemed like the author was pushing for Nur to have a climactic moment, when at the end Nur was more lost than ever before. Talking over the phone from Newcastle—he is visiting from London for a friend’s birthday—he explains how he cried at every episode “because it really moved me” and “that’s the kind of person I am”.

You should have taken some more time off,” his father says. “It’s nice having you home, makes it feel like it used to.” Throughout this book, we follow the life of Nur, as he takes his course of life through family status, relationship status, and finding out his overall identity. Scared to tell his parents about a girlfriend, Nur tries to balance his family life with his love life. At a certain point, the two worlds collide, and Nur now doesn't know where to go. Absorbing, compelling, and beautifully written . Its ending brought me close to tears." —Beth O'Leary, bestselling author of The Flatshare

'General manager' of drug dealing enterprise Kasim Ali jailed as part of Operation Blade

Nur!” comes a shout from the living room. His mother’s voice, urgent. “It’s about to begin! Come down!” Nur loves how she gets so excited about something that could so easily become mundane to other people, the same year in, year out. He loves that she makes them all sit there, her husband and their three children, in a family tradition crafted from something that only she truly enjoys. It’s the countdown to the New Year, and Nur is steeling himself to tell his parents that he’s seeing someone. A young British Pakistani man, Nur has spent years omitting details about his personal life to maintain his image as the golden child. And it’s come at a cost. One of the most eagerly awaited debuts of 2022 . . . Exploring race, romance, and mental health problems with disarming candor . . . [ Good Intentions] is a rather clever novel about vulnerability and victimhood that subtly subverts the reader's expectations.” He is sitting at the top of the stairs, and it is nearly midnight; his parents are in the living room, waiting for the fireworks to start. He’d said he was going to get his phone. That was ten minutes ago. In a few minutes, the celebrations will begin.

Read this book under the impression that it be an insightful view on the pressures and thought process of marriage by a male Muslim character, however the storyline was dragged beyond measure. The author wrote the book jumping between different years of Nur and Yasmina’s relationship, and though this added suspense or wonder of how each grew as people, it was disappointing to see how Nur’s character was so stagnant. It was exhausting witnessing a character who was questioning themselves and their relationship countlessly, with little to no explanation of what their issue was until the very end of the book. The time leaps were also repetitive and boring to say the least, except when Nur’s friends came into the picture. Also, Yasmina and Nur’s relationship had little substance provided which made Nur’s love for her even more conflicting with how he treated her. Kasim Ali, whose début novel Good Intentions was published by Fourth Estate in March this year, is talking about “Pachinko”, the “incredible”, he says, Apple TV+ drama series based on the 2017 novel by Min Jin Lee. Kasim developed a system where small kitchens could produce food safely and distribute it efficiently.I want to show that you can be a South Asian softboi, and that you can be the kind of person who falls in love with someone and expresses that emotion” – Kasim Ali Mr Latif said that revealed at the time of the offences, Ali was in ‘emotional turmoil’ after losing his father and two uncles. No taboo is off-limits in Kasim Ali's bold and thought-provoking debut. Good Intentions is a necessary addition to literature." A picture of a man’s genitals was sent and Ali graphically described lewd acts he wanted ‘Emily’ to perform. I miss having you here,” his mother says, and a sharp guilt pierces Nur. Even now, after all these years living apart from his family, he still feels it. It’s impossible not to.

Good Intentions is so absorbing, compelling, and beautifully written. Its ending brought me close to tears—what an incredibly assured debut. I can't wait to see what Kasim Ali writes next." Kasim Ali launched his campaign earlier this month in a social media post. Ali is deputy leader of the Labour group on Kensington and Chelsea Council and has served as a councillor since 2019, representing Dalgarno ward. He is currently chair of the council’s housing and communities committee. Outside of politics, Ali does research for universities on global prosperity. He came to the UK as a refugee from Somalia while he was a teenager and has lived and worked in Kensington throughout his adult life. Ali has been endorsed by ASLEF and the Socialist Health Association. The talk of racism and prejudice in Asian community, specially South Asians, Pakistanis in this book is refreshing, this issue is rarely seen. But again most of the conversation about race was mostly in protagonists head not with actual people. Dont even get me started on that ending.When Riz Ahmed gave a speech in Parliament in 2017 about Muslim representation on screen, I had hoped it might be the turning point. People say it’s totally made a difference and they’ve sent photos of them wearing them. I was a bit -worried because I’m not a nurse and I don’t know if they’ll work, but a couple have said how brilliant they are. Ali was arrested for drug dealing on May 11, 2016 in Merstow Green, on September 10, 2017 in Bromsgrove, on September 30, 2017 in St Paul’s Street, Worcester and finally on November 6, 2017 in Teme Road, Worcester.

Kasim Ali is without a doubt the writer I have been desperate to encounter in the South Asian contemporary sphere. Good Intentions is a stunning debut willing to contend with the uglier realities of our culture without solely placing blame on a parental monolith, without refusing to question the cyclical nature of perpetuated abuse, and without brushing past the need for millennial accountability. It paints an utterly human picture of South Asian life, endearing and distasteful qualities all wrapped into one per the most humble, yet critical means. Yet, we also tend to underestimate our parents — a theme Ali highlights in his book. “Sometimes we talk about our parents as being a product of their time and their environment — we think that we have all these ‘progressive’ and ‘liberal’ ideas of the world and that our parents are not going to be accepting of those opinions,” explains Ali. “I really wanted to talk about the difference in politics between our parents and us and the gap between those dimensions, but I also really wanted to talk about giving our parents a chance to change with us.” Representing modern and multidimensional MuslimsAli sent ‘Emily’ a picture of him lying in his bed before asking for images in return, saying he was performing an inappropriate act. Nur wants to be a good son to his parents and a good boyfriend to Yasmina. He wants the best for his family, but also the best for his future. Nur has kept Yasmina a secret, putting growing strain on his first serious relationship, because although his parents want the best for him too, their aspirations do not match his and he doesn’t want to upset them with his choices. But is love really a choice for him, and how does Nur decide where his loyalties lie?