Our spirit gives me hope
East End Life, August 15
Firstly, I would like to say a huge thank-you to
the community for the display of unity shown in the face of last
week’s disturbances.
Whilst we did have some unacceptable acts of violence and
destruction, thankfully they were nothing like as bad as the scenes
we saw in other areas.
It was heartening to see first hand
examples of our wellknown community spirit across the borough, with
residents volunteering to clean up following damage to homes and
businesses.
I spent Monday night accompanying the
police going about their tireless work across the borough.
They have my wholehearted praise for
the way in which they bravely worked through the night to keep
residents safe.
Their job is tough and demanding and
it’s essential they get the resources they need to do it
properly.
Like the council, the police are
feeling the force of Government cuts, and we must do all we can to
ensure people are not put in harm’s way as a result.
Our youth service was also out all
night, engaging with our young people and those from other parts of
London.
They helped to keep calm and bring
peace of mind to our residents. I visited them on the streets in
the early hours of Tuesday and was overwhelmed by their
professionalism and dedication to our young people.
Our concern now is to ensure the
violent minority are brought to justice –we will do everything we
can to assist the police in identifying the perpetrators.
There can be no excuse for the
violence and destruction, however my deepest concern is how we have
come to a state of affairs where some young people feel
alienated from the norms of society.
There must be a public inquiry into
why these acts of violence sprung up all over the country. With the
Olympics less than a year a way and the eyes of the world upon us,
we have a social and moral duty to address what has gone wrong.
But what fills me with hope is the way
in which we came together, showing strong community spirit. In
Tower Hamlets communities work with, not against each other.
It’s this kind of spirit that makes
the divisive intentions of the EDL completely unwelcome, and why we
continue to do everything in our power to prevent them peddling
their message of hate on September 3.
Along with council and community
leaders from across the country I have renewed my calls to the Home
Secretary to ban the EDL from marching in our great borough.
Mayor Lutfur Rahman