Robbed of our Essex Identity
"Essex Day, which took place last Saturday, 26th October, is more than just a celebration of our heritage. It’s a declaration of pride in our identity, our history and our sense of belonging to our county. Yet, despite this, historic towns like Romford have been pulled into a messy, failed experiment as a corner of ‘Greater London’ that simply doesn’t work for us.
When Tony Blair introduced the Greater London Authority (G.L.A.) and the Mayor of London in the late 1990s, it was supposed to make regional government more effective and responsive. Instead, it has become an expensive bureaucratic entanglement, with a Mayor that can do as he pleases and a London Assembly that makes little, to no difference. Mrs Thatcher was right when she abolished the Greater London Council (G.L.C.) in 1986. She could see that local councils like Havering could perform the functions of the G.L.C. just as well, if not better. Yet despite this, Labour brought the whole thing back, leading to what we have today, a sprawling, Central London money-grab, stripping Havering of resources, stretching our police services to breaking point and robbing us of our Essex identity.
‘City Hall’ represents a costly bureaucracy that sucks resources away from Romford, forcing us to subsidise initiatives and services that cater to inner London, not to our own community. We see this most clearly in policing. Officers who should be protecting our streets and town centre, are repeatedly called into the capital to handle mass demonstrations and high-profile events, leaving the streets of Romford without patrols.
Romford is not London, we are Essex, but we do orbit the capital. So, we need a system of regional government that recognises this and allows boroughs like Havering to control our own resources and make our own decisions, whilst still having influence on regional policy making and remaining part of all TfL travel schemes, especially the pensioner’s Freedom Pass.
The current system has become an obstruction, forcing Essex towns to live under policies and spending schemes that have little to do with our local needs. The U.L.E.Z. expansion is a prime example! This centralised, London-focused system is holding us back. It is time for root and branch reform of London government and an end to this costly experiment that has failed us all."
