The horrific killing of Plaistow-born Sir David Amess MP was a reminder that extremism and radicalisation still pose an urgent threat to our democracy and way of life.
From City Hall, I will continue to look at ways we can better adapt our response to this and stamp out hate in all its forms, working with Show Racism The Red Card as a member of their London Advisory Council and Hope not Hate.
On a brighter note, it has been fantastic to see pupils from Forest Gate Community School given £10,000 of funding through the London mayor’s Climate Kick Start Prize to take forward their hot composting and mushroom farming project.
With COP26 having looked at tackling the climate emergency on a global level, we should not overlook the importance of local initiatives being driven by the next generation.
Earlier this month, I was pleased to launch a series of events at City Hall focussed upon restoring Londoners’ confidence in policing.
I was joined by former Metropolitan Police Det Supt Shabnam Chaudry to host the first panel discussion, which specifically looked at addressing violence against women and girls through this lens.
We heard from representatives from local government, the Met Police and other organisations about some of the solutions that can be taken forward to tackle misogyny, harassment and sexual and domestic abuse in our society.
Following the event, I also chaired part of a London Assembly policing and crime committee discussion with women’s groups on this.
It has been positive to see the Met recently renew their strategy to counter violence against women and girls, but the success of any new measures will be underpinned by how successfully the police can rebuild the trust of the Londoners who they serve to protect.
I am pleased that my campaign for misogyny to be recorded as a hate crime is now making headway.
Despite London being largely overlooked by the chancellor in his recent Autumn Budget, I was pleased to see Newham receive £40 million from the government for its Connecting to Opportunity and 15 Minute Neighbourhoods schemes.
This was down to our strong collective lobbying voice and a step in the right direction as the borough has been hit hard by government austerity cuts.
For my part, I will keep rallying for proper investment in our community through my London Moving East campaign.
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