Beckton Street Surgery 15.6.25

 

Busy day yesterday. I took part in some interviews in the morning then joined Cllr Blossom Young and Cllr Rohima Rahman with some new campaigners in Beckton ward, Newham London. Cllr Tonii Wilson, the 3rd Beckton ward Councillor was unable to join the team on this occasion. 

Beckton is a huge ward with lots of parkland and low rise properties. Our role was to knock on doors and explain to residents that we were from the local Labour Party and were out today with their local Councillors to see if they would like to speak to them about any problems or issues and also advise them about the advice surgeries that take place in the ward every Saturday. 

It was a glorious warm, sunny day and many people were obviously out but we did speak to a number of residents and picked up a lot of case work for the Councillors to follow up on. 

It was for me a pleasure to see how many residents knew Blossom and Rohima, and were pleased to see them and to have a friendly chat. I met up with a former now retired colleague from Tower Hamlets Council (a Unite convenor) and we had a very good discussion about local issues and problems as well as reminiscing about past work colleagues. 

Obviously, not every single resident was that pleased to see us but the overwhelming reaction was very, very positive. 

I was leading the group using the Labour Party Doorstep phone app but was very grateful that that local Councillors were with me since Beckton is somewhat "complicated" to navigate around. 

The two new campaigners (who live in the ward) had been fully briefed by Blossom on what to do and what to expect. They watched us knocking on doors and chatting to residents, and then in a little while, when they felt comfortable, they were more than happy to knock and chat by themselves. They were both naturals. 

After the street surgery I cycled home then that evening I joined many others helping to celebrate the wedding of the daughter of a fellow Councillor (and personal friend). A simply lovely family event and a marvellous ending to a great day. 

Newham Council Annual General Meeting 2023

Yesterday evening was the Formal Annual General Meeting of the London Borough of Newham Council in the Old Town Hall in Stratford. It is the nearest we usually get to "pomp and ceremony" in Newham Council meetings. 

On the way in we were lobbied effectively by a well organised branch of the local Rental Union on tenants rights. 

At the start of the meeting, we had terrific songs  by a local primary school choir.  It was nice to see the outgoing Chair of Council (in a Executive Mayor Council such as Newham, this position is somewhat similar to a traditional Civic Ceremonial Mayor) Cllr Winston Vaughan, in his red robes, fur and cocked hat being given a lovely send off. The new Chair, Cllr Rohima Rahman, also wore red robes but as the first female Chair of Bangladeshi descent in Newham, also wore her traditional headdress. 

She was a very good chair and had to deal with the obligatory "shouty" protest in the hall which disrupted the meeting for 15 minutes and then some sharp political debates about committee positions between the Labour Group and the 2 Green Councillors. For my pennyworth I must say that I found it disconcerting that our Greens make a play as being the Party of democracy and principle but then went on to make some pretty partizan and frankly, silly, claims over their influence and "achievements". 

My long standing Colleague, Cllr Stephen Brayshaw made some very pointed remarks while, our Executive Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, also pointed out some pretty obvious inaccuracies in what had been said by them. 

Afterwards there was some nice snacks in the Courtyard, then my ward colleague, John Whitworth and I, went off to a quiet beer (or two) at the nearby, King Eddies.