Speaking at Trades Council Rally Against Cuts

This afternoon I was invited by Redbridge Trades Council to speak at their rally outside the Town Hall in Ilford against public service cuts & in support of postal workers.

As Chair of London UNISON Labour Link (our union Labour Party supporting political fund) I offered solidarity to Postal workers and spoke about the Tory cuts to the NHS which has resulted in:-

horrendous reductions in services such as the longest ever waiting times for GP appointments & A&E admittance, Cancer patients not being seen in accordance to targets (and 10,000 fewer doctors).

As a Housing trade union activist I was also able to point out that this current Tory government has since 2010 built the least homes in the country since 1923; in the last 5 years they have only built 40,000 Council or Housing Association Homes compared to the 142,000 that the last Labour Government built in their last 4 years.

Labour are committed to building an average of 155,000 social housing homes per year with 100,000 being Council houses at Council rents. 

It was good to meet up with Redbridge trade union and Labour comrades as well as our Labour Candidate for Ilford South, Sam Tarry. Hat tip to Pushpa for photos and video.

It was great to be invited to such a well organised trade union rally.

Two Walkabouts & Groundbreaking at TwelveTrees Park

Amidst the madness of the General Election campaign I have to get on with the day job. On Friday I went to meet Residents in Ibex House in Forest Gate with local Councillors Rachel Tripp, Anamul Islam and officers from L&Q Housing Association. There has been issues regarding the lift and fire safety. The tower block has 105 homes and at its highest has 12 floors but only one lift. This lift has been out of action on a number of occasions (sometimes over a week). L&Q are proposing to install a new lift.

L&Q also need to clarify that the cladding on the block is safe and there are a number of repairs that need to be carried out such as fire doors that do not close properly. L&Q have undertaken to send us (and residents) an action plan.

I must admit that I thought L&Q were a living wage employer but outsourced staff working at the block are only just paid over the legal minimum.

Later I joined the Newham Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, to the ground breaking ceremony at what is now called TwelveTrees Park which is right next to West Ham Station. This used to be site of a former Parcel Force depot and it is planned that just under 4000 homes will be built here. It is a partnership with Berkeley Homes, Peabody Housing Association and the Mayor of London. I hope that the new tower blocks will have more than one lift!

Finally, I met residents, Deputy Cabinet lead Cllr Shaban Mohammed,  local Councillor Pushpa Mkwana for an unannounced walkabout around Newham Council owned Gainsborough Estate in Little Ilford.  There had been a number of issues regarding minor repairs and caretaking. It is a marvellous red brick low rise estate. It was agreed that we would come back with repairs and cleaning managers in the next few weeks for a full inspection and draw up our own action plan.

I would like to thank Kate (and the other 2 residents) in Ibex House and Sonia in Gainsborough for their work as resident advocates. We need a Kate and Sonia in every block or estate in Newham to hold all landlords and freeholders to account. 

Charlbury House Walkabout - 17 July 2018 with local Little Ilford Councillors (Art in Blocks)

Picture collage from this evening when I did a home visit to Charlbury House with local Little Ilford Councillors, Councillor Riaz Ahmed Mirza and Councillor Pushpa Dipaklal Makwana about an ongoing leak in the block affecting a number of flats that needs sorting.

We did a "walkabout" from top to bottom afterwards and around the outside. The block was generally clean and in good repair but I will be making a number of on-line communal repair & cleaning reports via #LoveNewham app and also assist Cllr Mirza in the chase up of the leak.  

I forgot to discuss with the ward Cllrs about "Art in Blocks" but it would appear that there is already a secure notice board (bottom right) that perhaps we can use?