I am proud that communities in Newham have pulled together during this pandemic, demonstrating exceptional care for the most vulnerable of our neighbours and solidarity with key workers.

We, in Newham, need these strengths more now than ever, because our communities are particularly vulnerable to the damage this virus does. In April and May we suffered the highest Covid-19 mortality rate in the country.

We are likely to be one of the most economically vulnerable places, since so many Newham people work in hospitality, events and weddings, or do work linked to conferences and exhibitions at the ExCeL exhibition centre.

Sadly, we also have the second highest child poverty in the country. Statistics released by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University before the pandemic are appalling; in West Ham alone there are almost 20,000 children in poverty. As those numbers come from before the pandemic hit, I think it is clear they will have gone up significantly and Iam fearful of what will happen to those children and their families throughout the Winter and into next year.

How this Government treats areas with the largest risks doesn’t give me any confidence either.

The Government appears to be using the pandemic for political advantage, trying to force our London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, into unpalatable decisions; as a pre-condition to keeping Transport for London going. They seem to want him blamed at the London election next year for extending the congestion charge or cancelling free transport for children.

Greater Manchester has been denied the funding it needs, to support self-employed people and minimum wage workers, as businesses are forced to close by the Government.

In both cases, Boris Johnson is playing politics with people’s lives, in a Trumpian display of petulant and domineering power, regardless of the consequences.

In the first wave of this pandemic, the Government offered some vital support, though far too many people were left out.

The consequence was that we pulled together and people lived up to their duty to each other. If the Government thinks it is appropriate to divide and conquer, and to cut the support families need to stay afloat, I think it’s inevitable that many won’t feel able, nor willing, to observe the rules in return.

This Winter, our local solidarity as Newham neighbours will be even more vital, just to get us through.

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