Chris Best

Fantastic turnout in Sydenham to knock on doors and talk to residents about their concerns - there was strong support for change. Top priorities are improving the NHS, support for our local high street including reducing business rates and more funding for local public services. Residents showing strong support for Ellie and the Labour Party pledges.

Talking to residents in the Thorpes and hearing about the need for change and support for Ellie Reeves and the Labour Party. Local residents welcome the transport policies - clearly see the benefits of London Overground and welcome the campaign for the extension of the Bakerloo Line to Lower Sydenham.

We had a positive roving surgery in Sydenham with Ellie Reeves, Labour candidate for Lewisham West & East Dulwich and Deputy National Campaign Coordinator. We spoke to residents about their concerns with anti- social behaviour & rough sleeping, We were able to have a joint operation with Thames Reach to get the homeless person housed and work with Lewisham Council to clear the "camp".

Sadiq has a longstanding call for rent controls and this is now more urgent than ever as private rents in London forecast to surpass £2,700 per month next year in the latest report from City Hall.



The Mayor backs London’s 2.7 million renters and calls on Government once more to urgently introduce rent controls in the capital. New data shows Mayor’s proposed two-year rent freeze could save London renters £3,374 on average, providing vital relief during cost-of-living crisis.

Sadiq has delivered record-breaking levels of housing in the capital, but insists the Government must provide £4.9bn each year to fix London’s housing shortage.

Sadiq is taking bold action to tackle air pollution and climate change - and it's making a difference:

* tackling killer air pollution with the Ultra Low Emission Zone

* Declared a "climate emergency" in London
* Doubled the length of protected cycle lanes
* Introduced the Hopper bus fare and froze TlL fares
* Protecting London's Green Belt from development

Another sunny day door knocking - concerns with speeding on the Bromley border - 30mph Bromley Council with 20mph Lewisham Council - we need drivers to slow down - alongside more enforcement and signage.

I was delighted to be joined by Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chancellor, when campaigning in Sydenham high street.

We discussed how the UK’s high streets have been hit by unprecedented challenges throughout the pandemic and face more threats in the coming year. These include government changes to planning rules which will allow shops to be converted into low quality flats over the heads of local communities, and the staged return of business rates, with firms liable to pay full rates again in April next year.

I am campaigning for a career structure for carers working in social care. There needs to be a recognized pay grade, the equivalent to the Band 3 Health Assistant in the NHS.

I was delighted to talk to the Labour Party's Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner how we can bring about change in valuing the work of our carers and move away from an hourly rate and often on zero hours.

Angela is now the Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and has said pay and housing will be among the priorities of a Labour government as part of a “real life levelling up” for workers.

Angela has set out her approach to levelling up, criticising “false promises and sound bites” from the government she said had left the British public feeling “levelled down”.

Please see my blog below. -

https://lewisham.gov.uk/articles/blogs/consider-a-career-in-social-care

Across the UK, the principles of sanctuary are being applied by local communities, often supported by councils like Lewisham, which is the first Borough of Sanctuary in the UK, officially recognised by the national charity, City of Sanctuary, for our work supporting migrants, refugee and asylum seekers.

We’ve removed Home Office staff embedded in the Council and used the funds saved to pay for independent legal advice for residents with uncertain immigration status. When the Home Office sought to introduce new rules that would have seen rough sleepers threatened with deportation, we publicly refused to collaborate with them, alongside the Mayor of London and other councils across London.

While the Government’s cruel policy of No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) has continued to deny support to those most in need, we have been working locally to ensure migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are able to access vital services, regardless of their immigration status. All of our GPs in Lewisham are now signed up to Doctors of the World’s ‘Safe Surgeries’ scheme, helping ensure undocumented migrants can safely obtain medical advice and receive their COVID-19 vaccination, and the Council has made sure that no child is denied access to Free School Meals because of NRPF.

We’ve also worked closely with local charities such as the Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network to ensure that migrant communities can receive advice and support in relation to issues such as housing, benefits and immigration applications.

As well as supporting those already living in the UK, the crisis in Afghanistan has underlined the importance of offering sanctuary to those fleeing violence or persecution abroad. Lewisham was one of the first local authorities to commit to resettling Afghan refugees back in August and we have now begun welcoming the first families from Afghanistan to be permanently resettled in the borough. Since 2018, we’ve resettled 47 refugee families from Syria, Afghanistan and other areas of conflict, and have welcomed 100 families in total as London’s leading borough for refugee resettlement.

While all of this rightly supports migrants in need, it is not to the wider community’s detriment. Migrants are fellow human beings who bring their own potential and variety of experience. They have been the backbone among the key workers that have held up our NHS and other public services in the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of Lewisham’s refugees have been volunteering providing support to people shielding, and a junior doctor from Syria has been helping with vaccinations at the local hospital.

I welcome and support refugees, asylum-seekers & migrants across Lewisham not least because my grandparents were migrants from Southern Italy around 1900.

It was a real honour to meet Margaret Beckett and talk about the change in welcoming women to senior political roles. Margaret was Britain's first female Foreign Secretary in 2006 and served in the Cabinet of Tony Blair throughout his tenure. Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1992 to 1994, Margaret briefly served as Leader of the Opposition and Acting Leader of the Labour Party following John Smith's death in 1994.

Margaret was first elected to Parliament in October 1974 for Lincoln and held junior positions in the governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. She lost her seat in 1979, but returned to the House of Commons in 1983, this time representing Derby South. She was appointed to Neil Kinnock's Shadow Cabinet shortly afterward; she was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in 1992, becoming the first woman to hold that role. When John Smith died in 1994, Beckett became the first woman to lead the Labour Party, although Tony won the election.

After Labour returned to power in 1997, Margaret was initially President of the Board of Trade and later served as Leader of the House of Commons and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, before becoming Foreign Secretary in 2006, the first woman to hold that position, and—after Margaret Thatcher—the second woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State. Gordon appointed Margaret to his cabinet as Minister of State for Housing and Planning in 2008, before she left the government for the last time in 2009.

Margaret holds the record for the female MP with the longest service overall (Harriet Harman has longer continuous service) and is the only sitting MP who served in the Labour governments of the 1970s. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours for public and political service. On 26 March 2022 Beckett announced that she would stand down at the next general election.

I was talking to Sadiq at Beckenham Place Park about the health benefits of quality green spaces where residents can walk and fill their lungs with clean air.

As well as the impact on residents health the pandemic is continuing to have a serious impact on London’s finances and the Government is still refusing to properly fund our public services, particularly the Met police, Transport for London and the London Fire Brigade.

Sadiq is considering raising council tax by £2.66 per month and has made it clear that the Government is leaving us with no choice if we are to help prevent the collapse of TfL and ensure our police officers and firefighters have the resources they need.

Your Labour Councillors have been working with Lewisham Citizens and London Community Land Trust (CLT) to provide genuinely and permanently affordable homes on the garage site at Brasted Close, SE26. Following a good deal of consultation with the local community, the land has been declared surplus by the Council and work is starting on site. We are constantly reviewing the ownership of land in our area to ensure we can provide more homes to meet the housing crisis in London.

The Council supports community-led schemes as they can create a greater sense of ownership over places and are generated by people co-designing their homes and shared spaces. This former garage site will provide 14 new homes held in trust. Lewisham Citizens are part of the registered charity Citizens UK and campaign for safe, modestly sized and affordable housing to root residents to friends, family and community.

The Bakerloo line extension would bring undeniable benefits to the borough of Lewisham. These include:

• better connectivity to the London Underground from New Cross Gate, Lewisham, Ladywell, Catford and Lower Sydenham
• more frequent services, with trains running every 2–3 minutes straight to the heart of central London, reducing your journey time by up to 15 minutes
• new interchanges at Lewisham and New Cross Gate
• a possible further extension to Hayes, which would support growth and regeneration in Catford and Lower Sydenham
• thousands more homes and jobs, including affordable homes

I am delighted Ellie was re- elected on the 12 December 2019 General Election and able to continue working for Sydenham from her election at General Election on 8 June 2017.

Ellie has taken up many local issues including writting to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State requesting that Sydenham High Street Crown Post Office was not downgraded to a franchise partner and run as an independent business. "I am concerned that this would lead to good quality, skilled jobs on decent pay being replaced by insecure and low-paid work. Furthermore, research shows that franchised Post Offices offer poorer disabled access, longer queuing times, worse customer service and fewer staff. This would have a big impact on the local economy."

Ellie has met with Network Rail regarding the changes to train services and now has assures regarding the services to East Croydon as well as no changes to the ticket office in Sydenham.

We were delighted with the result on the 3 May 2018.

Damien Egan received 54% of the votes on the first round - a huge endorsement from the residents of Lewisham on a turnout of 37%.

In Sydenham we had a turnout of 39% - and I received 2,757 votes 23%, Tom Copley 2,291 19% and Liam Curran 2,226 19%.

In February we were delighted to welcome Angela Eagle to talk to us about LGBT History Month and the importance of this month of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements.

The event came in the wake of the abolition of Section 28 in 2003, the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 as well as the government's proposals to bring in a single equality act and a public duty, although this, in fact, did not come to fruition until 2010.

The Month is intended as a means to raise awareness of, and combat prejudice against the LGBT community while celebrating its achievement and diversity and making it more visible. History Month has three taglines -'Claiming our past. Celebrating our present. Creating our future',

Angela stressed the importance of an inclusive community and standing up to homophobia..

Following publication of the NHS Five Year Forward view, all NHS regions in England are required to work together and with their local councils to produce a Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) for local services.

Lewisham Council we will continue to fight for quality services locally. There are current budget pressures across SE London and the STP shows the funding gap and proposals for change.

The STP for SE London is on the web site -



http://www.ourhealthiersel.nhs.uk/

Heidi Alexander spoke during the Opposition Debate in the House of Commons on the 14 September 2016 - speech here raising several concerns.

I am delighted that Harriet Harman, MP for Camberwell and Peckham has become the longest continuously serving female MP. Harriet has served in various roles on the front bench - Social Security Secretary in Tony Blair's first cabinet; Commons leader and equalities secretary under Gordon Brown.

She served as Labour's deputy leader, under Gordon Brown's premiership, and as acting leader after Mr Brown stepped down following the 2010 general election and in 2015, when his successor Ed Miliband quit.

Harriet has long campaigned for more women MPs and more family-friendly policies.She stated that the EU is important for equality, human rights and has backed equality, and rights at work. Voting to leave has put at risk equal pay, paid annual, maternity and paternity leave and the protection of agency workers. The EU ensures minimum standards and without this guarantee, it would be left just to the Conservative Government, who have never stood up for human rights, and equality or fought to improve people’s living conditions.

Our health services need people who come from other European countries to work as nurses, doctors and care workers. We need to get the terms for Brexit right - King’s College Hospital is a centre for medical research and treats many local patients.

The UK has received over £700million of EU funding for medical research projects. A further £60billion of funding has now been made available to EU countries with the UK receiving the most approved grants so far.

To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (25 November) I have been wearing a White Ribbon.

Overall domestic abuse-related crime makes up 8% of total crime. Reported domestic abuse incidents recorded by the MET police have increased year on year from 2007/08, rising over 70% by 2015. More people are reporting this abuse, however many still don’t as they are too afraid. On average two women a week are killed by their partner or ex-partner every week in England and Wales.

We have seen progress in the fight to ending this abuse. At the end of last year coercive or controlling behaviour against an intimate partner or family member was made a criminal offence. 95 out of 100 domestic abuse survivors in one study reported experiencing coercive control, however it can be very hard to identify. In the first six months the newly introduced law was used just 62 times. This type of abuse can often involve control over normal day to day actions and police are working with Women’s Aid to help recognise these signs.

For many years I was the Secretary of Lewisham Womens Aid and we found that working in schools is so important to tackle the issue of bullying and ensuring that schools follow the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. There is a campaign to extend this to include the issue of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools.

Young people who experience abusive behaviour can be led to believe it is acceptable and these ‘norms’ can be carried on through to adult life. Teaching and intervening at an early age could make young people safer and less open to abuse.