Romford Recorder: Havering is not London
"Havering is at a turning point. We, the local people of this borough must now discuss and argue freely about options for the future. Havering is not London, it is Essex, but in the 1960s, we were given no choice when the Borough of Romford and Hornchurch Urban District Council were pushed into a new administrative region of “Greater London”. Things have never been the same since and six decades on, I don’t sense that anyone is truly happy with where we have ended up. Havering is effectively locked into the administrative control of inner London, with the Mayor and “City Hall” having power over us, each household paying a huge precept to the Greater London Authority and our ability to make local decisions in the best interests of Havering being gradually lost, as central government and City Hall impose their agenda over us. The time has come to fight back and as your MP, I will lead that fight! Either we accept the status quo, give up the battle and allow Labour to merge Havering even more deeply into “east London”, or we look at alternatives to give us hope that our identity and autonomy can be restored. Labour are now scrapping Essex County Council and amalgamating historic Essex boroughs into bigger unitary authorities. I fear that Havering will be next, with the inevitable attempt to merge us with Barking & Dagenham, Redbridge and even Newham and Waltham Forest, or some kind of similar configuration. If this is coming down the line and there is much talk of it at the moment, why shouldn’t we look at joining the new Essex authority, perhaps with Havering, Brentwood and Epping Forest working together under the proposed Mayor of Essex? Isn’t that an option that should be considered? Under my plan, Transport for London would be legally bound to offer all boroughs where they operate equal travel concessions such as the Freedom Pass, so as TfL services run to Brentwood and Epping, pensioners free travel would be safe. We need a serious debate, a better future for Havering and a fairer financial settlement too. Havering residents shouldn’t just accept permanent control from inner London. We must fight for something better! I will be speaking out strongly on this and urge everyone to take part in the UK Government’s Devolution consultation, closing on 13th April. Tell me what you think, e-mail your thoughts to [email protected] today!"
