A BMW belonging to Hounslow Labour Councillor Hina Mir was spotted parked in a disabled bay without a blue badge, days after a colleague, Cllr Farhaan Rehman, apologised for a similar breach. The vehicle was seen on Tuesday, 25 November, during a full council meeting at Hounslow House.
Cllr Mir, a former Deputy Mayor of Hounslow and Chair of the Housing and Environment Scrutiny Panel, is also a practising solicitor. Hounslow Labour has confirmed it is investigating the matter.
The incident follows Cllr Rehman’s resignation as a committee chair after he parked a Lamborghini in a disabled bay on two occasions. He remains a councillor and a candidate for the 2026 elections.
Disabled parking bays at Hounslow House are marked with yellow paint, while standard spaces are in white. The car park is reserved for council staff and politicians, not the general public, although local authorities have previously said enforcement for councillors is a matter for Hounslow Labour. Members of the public caught misusing disabled bays would face a £160 fixed penalty notice.
Opposition councillors criticised the incident as evidence of a double standard. Cllr Jack Emsley, Conservative for Chiswick Homefields, said: “Labour councillors are taking residents for fools. It’s clear that a sense of entitlement runs rife through the Hounslow Labour Party, and this latest breaking of the rules will rightly be seen as them sticking two fingers up at residents who have faced the brunt of their heavy-handed approach for everyone other than themselves.”
Cllr Rehman’s parking breaches were also referenced humorously during the council meeting. Cllr Peter Thompson, Leader of Hounslow Conservatives, quipped about the council’s ‘Hounslow Vision’ brochure, saying: “The brochure is beautifully designed, it’s shiny, it’s got a glossy finish… the kind you usually see on, I don’t know, a high-end sports car… such as a Lamborghini.”
The incidents have sparked outrage among residents, who feel councillors are held to different standards than the public. Loretta Alvarez, 26, who faces a £1,000 fine for fly-tipping a single envelope, said: “I have no words. It annoys me because it’s like these are the people who should set an example. They set rules they want us to follow… but they act like they are above the rules.”
