Council Surgery in Canning Town Library & West Ham walkabout

Canning Town Library – Covering Cllr Mohammed’s Surgery

Today I returned to Canning Town Library to cover the Councillor surgery of my colleague Cllr Shaban Mohammed, who had kindly covered my West Ham Ward surgery recently.

The session was scheduled for 10–11am but continued well past midday due to the number of residents seeking help.

Issues raised included:

• Housing disrepair

• Overcrowding

• Allocation bids

• Crime and ASB

• Litter

• Highway and parking concerns

• Immigration matters (referred to James Asser MP)

Some residents had hoped to follow up on cases previously raised with Cllr Mohammed, but were very happy to discuss them with me. I was struck by how many households were dealing with multiple housing problems while also caring for children with disabilities, making already difficult situations significantly harder.

I will pass existing cases back to Cllr Mohammed and raise new Member Enquiries on his behalf for the fresh issues brought today.

West Ham Ward – Estate Walkabout

After the surgery I joined (very late!) my West Ham ward colleague Cllr Adjoa Kwarteng to meet residents for an estate walkabout focused on serious ASB and parking issues.

Along the route I also identified:

• Overflowing bins in green spaces

• Abandoned vehicles

• Dangerous parking blocking emergency access routes

We will both be raising further Member Enquiries to ensure these matters are followed up.

Local Heritage

On my way I also passed the plaque honouring Jack Leslie, the Canning Town‑born footballer who became the first Black player selected for England — a reminder of the borough’s proud history.

The misery of being in opposition

Yesterday, I helped the Newham Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, with her surgery at Canning Town Library (next to the "Keir Hardie" room).

Trying to help the long queue of residents with their housing misery was far, far worse than before the election since there is now no hope of a Labour Government anytime soon. I saw 7 families and individuals, all suffering from dreadful housing problems.

I had dreamed last year that we would win the general election and would be able to build good quality, affordable homes for all in need. That is obviously not going to happen.

So we have no choice but to do our very best, fight, campaign and get on with it but....

We have 27,000 families in Newham on our waiting list
We have 5300 families in Newham who are homeless
We have 50% of all families in Newham living in poverty after housing costs

The Tories will not solve this emergency. Only a Labour Government in power can do this. We need to win the next general election.

 No ifs and no buts.