On Saturday 18 November, Councillor Benali Hamdache spoke to a crowd of hundreds at the Highbury and Islington rally for Peace and Justice. Here’s the transcript of his words – head over to Facebook for the video: “Oxfam. Save the Children. Médecins Sans Frontières. Action Aid. Amnesty International. War Child. All over the world humanitarian […]
Letters to the Papers: We need leaders who understand the full impact of the Climate Emergency
Storm Ciaran was already the third ‘named storm’ of this autumn and October has been the wettest ever recorded in some parts of the country. So-called ‘one in a hundred year’ weather events are happening more like every two or three years, now. And impacts are being felt across all sectors of the UK, with […]
Letters to the Papers: Proactive measures needed for Islington’s housing stock
It’s disappointing, to say the least, that Islington has had to be fined by the Housing Ombudsman for delayed repairs to its own housing stock (‘Council fined for housing complaints’, 27/10/23). Council budgets have of course been badly depleted by years of government austerity policies but every delayed repair is yet another household living in […]
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Letters to the Papers: Now more than ever, we must show solidarity with all Londoners
Last week, I and my wife, both in our eighties and both white skinned, joined thousands upon thousands of others to walk, in the drizzle, through central London in support of peace in the Middle East. What we encountered was, yes, some very angry people. But also acts of such kindness, love and concern from […]
Letters to the Papers: Celebrating our right to boycott
From the eighteenth-century campaigns against slavery, when the sugar boycott against buying goods produced by enslaved peoples attracted 300,000 supporters, to their role in bringing to an end apartheid and segregation, boycotts have been shown to work. They are a vital democratic tool to address global injustices, which take power back to the people from […]
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Letters to the Papers: We must hold our politicians accountable for the sake of the future
As my seventieth birthday approaches, it occurs to me I’ll never know, personally, if humanity manages to overcome the Climate Emergency challenge. With the best will in the world, it will still take years to slow and turn the ship of our carbon economy, then decades more to be sure we’ve avoided the catastrophes it […]
Letters to the Papers: Greens are long-time supporters of Clean Air standards in London
John Wilson asks if the Green Party has said nothing about ULEZ or has taken a stand which just hasn’t been widely reported (‘Will the Greens come to Khan’s rescue on ULEZ?’). I can confirm that we have been pushing Mayors for London-wide clean air zones for more than a decade now and have backed ULEZ on the Assembly […]
Letters to the Papers: Road safety progress shows power of community campaigns
Transport for London has announced that its roadworks along Holloway Road will shortly move into Phase 2, around the Drayton Park and Liverpool Road junctions. Local residents have been campaigning for safer crossings at Drayton Park and Palmer Place for literally decades, so were delighted in 2019 when TfL announced it would be putting improvements […]
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Letters to the Papers: TV companies are not rising to the demands of our climate emergency
Every time I turn the TV on I seem to find either worldwide floods, wildfires and other extreme weather events or programmes enjoying the globe-trotting lifestyle of millionaires in Dubai and luxury hotels in the Maldives. Published research shows that from 1990 to 2015 the world’s wealthiest 1% were responsible for more than twice as […]
Letters to the Papers: New Highbury Fields café progressing with input from the community
As councillors for Highbury ward, we’re delighted that the new design we’ve been pushing for, for the new café and facilities on the Fields, has been broadly well received by your readers (‘Look again at the new café design detail’ and others). We truly believe it will be a gamechanger for the Fields and will […]
