"On the Knocker" Newham Labour Xmas Street Surgeries

 

Today I joined Newham Labour Mayoral Candidate 2026, Forhad Hussain, local Councillors, activists and 2026 candidates, to carry out a series of street surgeries across Newham - Green Street (which I missed), West Ham, Canning Town and Little Ilford. 

There were also a number of other street surgeries elsewhere in Newham and tomorrow another full programme. 

In some of the surgeries, I led teams on the Labour Party doorstep app, while on others I knocked on doors and asked residents if they had any issues or problems with the Council that they wished to discuss with Forhad or our Labour teams. 

I only came across entirely local issues regarding parking, street cleaning and rubbish/waste collection and disposal. Resident were generally very pleased that we were there knocking on doors and asking for their views but many were also out Christmas shopping or away on holidays. 

There was blue skies and sunshine, a little cold but dry, you could not get better weather at this time of the year to go "On the Knocker". 

Canning Town's hidden history: pioneering good homes for all (Newham Voices)

Reading this months "Newham Voices" (early via subscription) I did not realise that Newham had been a test bed for Parker Morris space standards on new build Council properties. There are many problems with properties built during this period but the size and living space of those built to Parker Morris standards is amazing. These decent homes standards was ended by the Tories in 1980 quelle surprise.

Well done to Eastside Community Heritage for this project. 

What a great photo of Black and White East End kids in the 1930s

 

Crown Street, Canning Town, 1930s. Hat tip Newham History Society facebook page "Your periodic reminder, Britain's multicultural history is working class history". Mary Evans Picture Library.

This is a fabulous picture in so many way but I especially appreciated this comment on the site "I remember once being told that I will never be a true east ender because I’m not white, seeing photos like this honestly fills me with joy 

"

Anyone know anything more about these kids?

Grenfall Tower Fire - The shock and the horror but East Enders rally to help

Like everyone I was horrified at the news reports and pictures this morning at the fire and destruction of Grenfall Tower in Kensington.  I have been a housing officer in London for the past 25 years and have managed a number of similar high rise residential blocks, I was deeply shocked.

As a Unison trained Health & Safety representative (and member of IOSH)  I have been assured over the years, many, many times that such a thing could "never happen".

I am also a West Ham ward Councillor (London Borough of Newham) and this evening, I had by coincidence, my monthly surgery in the Tenants and Residents room in a 21 storey high rise and a concerned resident, who lived on the 14th floor, did come and ask me what is being done to reassure her and her family that they were safe. She asked if she needed some sort of ladder in her flat?

I have raised a member's enquiry asking for copies of all fire risk assessments for tower blocks in my ward. I have also offered to arrange joint inspections with residents, council officers and ward councillors of all our high rise blocks.

I also asked what has happened to our Newham Housing residents' scrutiny panel which has not met for a long time? Involving residents meaningfully in the management of their homes is crucial to ensuring their safety.

I did also speak tonight to Councillor Terry Paul, who is our Mayoral Advisor on Housing, who assured me that everything possible will be done to make sure our residents are safe and also keep them informed what is being done.

After the surgery, I went to the West Ham Labour Executive meeting in our HQ in Stratford. This evening (not now) our HQ was a base for local residents to drop off donations for Grenfall Tower Residents.

We had some people dropping off bags of donations.  Kay and her Mum, Mrs Brewer, (see above picture of them with Terry and Party member Karl Lewis) from Canning Town, who turned up with a car load of around 15 bags of donations. They explained that Canning Town had many tower blocks and local residents had been pleased to donate.

I dropped off the donations at Coffee7 in Forest Gate (see bottom picture). What a fantastic and generous community response!

Please check with the various charity organisers before dropping off any more donations at any locations.

Education not Segregation: Canning town Labour stall and door knock

Picture college from Saturday's West Ham Labour street stall and door knock in Canning Town. Our MP, Lyn Brown, spoke to people at the stall while canvass teams called at addresses near bye.  The theme was the reintroduction of segregation into our Schools by the Tories.

In one street I was somewhat surprised to see that Labour Party data list said that two households had claimed to be supporters of the Scottish National Party? I suspect a coding error rather than support in Canning town for Scottish Nationalism. I may be wrong?

Apart from that it great canvass, Mostly positive, some negativity (A women promised me £50 if Labour wins the next election under Corbyn - I told her I will come back to claim the £50:) but overwhelmingly a rock solid Labour ward.

A day with G Company 7 Rifles on Salisbury Plain

On Saturday I spent the day with 7 other Newham Councillors as the guests of G Company 7th Rifles Regiment, while they were training on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.

G Company is our local British Army reservist unit in Newham, based at Cedar barracks in my ward next to West Ham park. This trip had been organised by the one and only, Terry Paul, Cllr for Stratford ward.

The idea was to give local Councillors some understanding of what our reservist soldiers in the modern army have to go through. Terry and I had both been members of the "Territorial Army" (TA) when we were younger, so we had some idea of what to expect. But in our day the TA role was to support NATO against a Soviet Union invasion of Germany. Not to serve on hostile active service operations such as in Iraq or Afghanistan, which modern day reservists are normally expected to carry out.

We arrived at the Drill Hall at 7.45 and we were somewhat to our surprise were issued with combat overalls, waterproofs, Bergen's (rucksacks), 24 hour pack of rations, mess tin, cooker and steel helmets. Everyone was very welcoming and pleased to see us. We then drove by a minibus to Salisbury Plain which is a massive military training area and got off at at some disused farm buildings.

During the trip down the soldiers accompanying us were very honest and frank about their experiences while on active service. By coincidence one was born in Canning Town, a street away from where Terry was brought up while the other was his possible distant cousin. At the farm buildings we had a series of briefings about our day and were advised to put on all our warmest and windproof clothing.

G Company had arrived on the previous Friday evening and had spent the night sleeping out in the open and were carrying out reconnaissance training exercises all Saturday until about 2am the following day.  They were then planning a dawn attack on an "enemy" position on the Sunday morning.

We discovered why we had metal helmets as we climbed into our army cross country heavy goods vehicle to be transported to our first site. I used to be a military HGV driver and in my day (an expression which makes me feel pretty old) there was only a bench either side of the rear of the HGV that we were expected to sit on as passengers. Nowadays you have to wear a metal helmet and sit in racks with an airplane style safety harness. Going across rough country you appreciate wearing a helmet and harness.

After about 15 minutes we stopped at a wood near a training ground, got out and walked to the company machine gun platoon exercise. The platoon were practising coordinating and firing 7.62mm General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG)

We then spoke to the machine gun teams about what they do and examined the GPMG and their SA 80 rifles. The machine guns, the tripods and belts of ammunition were so heavy you could not imagine carrying them as well as your other military kit.

Afterwards we went into a nearby wood which had been the sleeping area for the company the previous night and had a fantastic presentation by a rifleman on how to cook lunch from our "24 hour ration packs".  It was very cold in the wood and we all enjoyed the hot food even if it took us a little while and a bit of trial and error. Hot food is a brilliant pick-you-up that you only really appreciate if you are very cold.

We then went off to observe a section of the Rifle platoon carry out different patrolling exercises and formations. If a patrol was attacked they practiced firing back and maneuvering either to attack or move away. This is what infantry soldiering is all about. If you come under fire on a patrol you know what to do instinctively since you have practiced this time after time after time.

It was sobering to think that some of the more experienced soldiers present had actually done this in real life and had carried out these exercises while under fire from live bullets.

Finally, we drove back to the base in the HGV and then had a debrief with a cup of hot coffee then left to drive home to East London. All of us fell asleep on the way back. At Cedar barracks we dropped off our kit and changed back into our normal clothes.

I think that every single one of us Councillors really enjoyed the day and found it fascinating and different but also the friendliness and hospitality shown by everyone towards all of us was simply stunning. Thank you very much G Company 7 Rifles. You did us proud.

Afterwards some of us went to the Black Lion in Plaistow to give a toast to 7 Rifles and wish them well with the rest of the exercise.

I must admit that I was also thinking that day of my Grandfather, Frederick Matthews, who in 1915 did his basic military training in the Salisbury Plain and then went on to command a machine gun platoon in Gallipoli and later in the trenches in France. Did he practice such military skills in these very same fields and valleys 100 years ago?

London Triathlon 2014

Off message but I have now just about recovered from completing the London Triathlon on Sunday.

I got "talked into" taking part by my very enthusiastic Newham Councillor colleague, "Red Terry" Paul, who had completed in other triathlons and was trying to get Councillors and officers to take part. I was the only one foolish enough to agree!

I must admit it seemed a great idea in January when it was ages away but less so as the day of the event approached.

We had entered the Olympic distance event which is a swim in the docks for 1.5km, followed by a 40km bike ride and then a 10km run. The open water swimming was the thing that worried me the most. I hadn't swam for about 10-15 years following an accident and while I knew I could swim that distance in a swimming pool, I was unsure about doing so in open water and while wearing a wet suit.

I also did not have a bike, Terry resolved this problem by selling me his old one last month.

Sunday started very early at 4am for me and at 5am I was cycling through the streets of Forest Gate to meet Terry and his brother-in-law, Andy Townsend (who was also competing) at his home in Canning Town. At 5.15 we were all cycling to the venue.

Our start time for the swim was 7am and we were expected to be at venue in the ExCel centre for 5.30am. We got there, collected our tracking "chip", "racked" our bikes and laid out our kit on the floor for the various "transition's" (from swim to cycle then cycle to run). We met up with Labour MP Gareth Thomas who was also taking part and in our "wave".

At around 6.30 we put on our wet suits and went off to the assembly area. There was 380 men in our wave which the organisers thought was too many for safety reasons so they separated us into 2 groups. Eventually we went down and jumped into the water in Royal Victoria Docks.

The docks water was actually cleaner than I expected and not salty. I didn't join in the mad rush at the start and actually had quite a slow but enjoyable swim around the docks. The great thing about wet suits is that not only are you warm but you are very buoyant in the water so even if you are not the greatest of swimmers, you feel quite confident.

The 40k bike ride was also better than expected. The weather was lovely and cycling past the Tower of London and along the Thames to almost the Palace of Westminster was a treat. The only downside was the hordes of people who flew past me. At times I felt I was on a stationary exercise machine. The super fast guys with the very expensive carbon bikes sounded as if they were on motor bikes and who shouted to everyone to get out of their way - "move to your left!" or "on your right!".  Needless to say I was always "on the left" and didn't need to move.

The 10k run at the end was tough and didn't feel I had anything more in me than a slow steady jog. The finish was brilliant not only because the pain stopped but you had a free pint of cold (non alcoholic) German beer. My time was - Swim 00:44:43, Bike 01:29:30, Run 01:03:20, Total 03:29:42 which could have been better but I was really pleased to just finish and not feel ill afterwards.

At the end we met up with Terry's partner Sarah (known to us in Newham for obvious reasons as "Saint Sarah") and her sister (Andy's wife) Rachel and their lovely children Rowan (aged 2) and Princess Lucy (aged 3).

We all walked back to Caning Town pushing our bikes and I then cycled back home to Forest Gate.

I had been really dreading the day but ended up (mostly) enjoying it. It was much, much better (and far less painful) than the running half and full marathons I have done in the past. It was also great to start swimming and cycling again.

Hope I keep up with the exercising and I am now actually looking forward to my next Triathlon.

Good News for Newham

Yesterday I went for the first time on the new Docklands Light Railway line from Canning Town to Stratford International Station.  It opened last week and is a great step forward for the whole area.  The 6km £211 million route has 4 brand new fully accessible stations which also connect five London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic venues.  In is particularly good news for West Ham ward since two of the stations are right next to the ward boundaries.  From Stratford International you can be in St Pancras in under 10 minutes. Eventually (fingers crossed) you will be able to pick up the Eurostar from Stratford.

Also, last week I went on another tour of  Westfield Stratford City.  Only a few weeks ago it was a building site and we had to wear safety helmets and boots.  Now the shops are being fitted out and you could walk around in normal clothing.  The new shopping centre (the biggest in Europe with 300 stores) opens this Tuesday.  Today, by coincidence, I had to go to Ilford to visit the nearest Marks and Sparks.  The Shopping centre in Ilford is a fairly pleasant enough location and I wish it well, but I really pleased that Newham will now have a world class shopping and leisure facility which will also provide thousands of jobs and careers for local people. Double click photos to bring up detail.

(Oh yes, isn't there is some sort of sporting event going on in Stratford next year as well? :)

“On the knocker” in Canning Town South

My third canvass session on Monday was with Newham Mayor, Robin Wales and Canning Town South candidates, Bryan Collier and Alan Taylor.

There was another positive response from local residents. People coming up to you and saying “Labour – that’s my Party”.

In between sessions I had also done some leafleting of West Ham ward.

Thinking about it – I drove around Newham for most of the day and campaigned in Custom House, Royal Docks and Canning Town but I didn’t see a single opposition campaigner.

Canning Town North Canvass

You may have not realised it but yesterday was a Newham Super Sunday campaign day! I was sent out with two teams of 4 Labour party activists to “door knock” parts of Canning Town North ward (see picture of both teams taken by Cllr Shama Ahmad). The ward is solid Labour.

It was one of those bright but cold canvassing days that you wished that you had remembered to bring your fingerless gloves with you. Especially if you were filling out the voter ID sheets on a clipboard! It was chilly enough for one pensioner we called at to say she didn't fancy going out and would I post a letter for her!

Most of the people we called at knew at least one of the local councillors personally and were pleased with their representation. People were quite happy to talk to us and raise issues which we will feed back to their Councillors. There were reassuring signs that our traditional core vote were waking up to the threat of a Tory government and indicating not only that they identify with Labour (to whatever degree) but they will go out and vote against the prospect of a Tory government.

I think that this is because working people are beginning to remember and accept that now is the time to stop just moaning about Labour and remember what the Tories actually do to working class families and communities in a recession when they are in government.

In the afternoon other teams went out to different parts of Newham.

When Gandhi met Charlie Chaplin in Canning Town

Check out this lovely report from the Newham Council website about the meeting that took place in 1931.

Before the meeting Gandhi said he had never heard of Charlie Chaplin!

Labour Stall in Canning Town

Yesterday morning we set up a Party stall in Rathbone Market which is in Canning Town, E16. As we were setting up we had a short “ding dong” with a BNP supporter who thought that the repeated use of the “F” word at high volume constituted a coherent political argument about immigration.

It was actually a useful reality check to remind everyone about the BNP. Especially now that their activists are encouraged to wear suits, grow their hair and try to pretend not to be racist Nazi’s.

I thought that it was a shame that the “Hope Not Hate” leaflets and posters have not arrived yet. We will have them for the next stall.

I was actually expecting to get a bit of stick from people about the MPs allowances and expenses. People did come up to you and say “what about expenses” and “what are you going to do about it” but I didn’t pick up any significant anger about the issue although there was an clear expectation that something must be done. Lyn Brown, the West Ham MP came down to help on the stall (confusingly she is not yet the local MP since Canning Town will not form part of her constituency until boundary changes take place next year). I thought she handled this issue very well although most people wanted to discuss individual case work with her rather than national events.

There were also a large number of local people who know Lyn and her family personally. Lyn is Newham born and bred. Her Mum and Dad are also respected local community activists. There are not that many MP’s I think nowadays who could hold street stalls in their constituency and bump into people they went to school with or who knew their sister or went to a club run by the MPs parents.

We had more activists than we needed on the stall so we sent members away to canvass surrounding blocks. At the same time there was another Newham Labour street canvass talking place in Canning Town South ward with about 20 members taking part.

Unlike last week’s stall at Stratford where people seemed to want to talk about national issues. Yesterday we picked up a lot of case work relating to local issues. Canning Town does have a number of serious economic and social problems. There is an ambitious redevelopment plan has just been agreed for the Market (see here) which should help transform the area.

There was another street canvass this morning (I was skiving) and all last week we held telecanvass sessions at the Party rooms in Stratford. A West Ham CLP Facebook Group has been set up by Young Labour activists.

In all I thought the stall went very well. Local residents seemed genuinely pleased that we were there talking to people and standing proud for what we believe in. We will be back.

There was a record 5 local Party members whose first name was “John” at the stall. One of whom disgraced our true Labour movement credentials in the local Market cafe by insisting that I ask for “Peppermint Tea” for him when it was my turn to go for the “Teas and coffees”. Needless to say they only had proper British tea which was hot, strong and refreshing (and of course Indian).