Councillor David Taylor: “Its Increasingly Clear That Authorities In Havering Are Totally Detached From The Reality Of Our Borough”.

Saying “Havering is safe” is both tone deaf and inappropriate. The public are angry because they don’t feel heard and they don’t feel represented. 

Councillor David Taylor shares His ‘Taylor Talks in the Havering Daily.‘

It is becoming increasingly clear to me that authorities in Havering are totally detached from the reality of everyday life in our borough, and leadership like that never ends well. Louis the 14th was famously detached from the poor, remembered for the phrase “let them eat cake” when told that there was famine. 

Nicholas the 2nd, of Russia, relied more on advisors than the public, and ignored that his nation had fallen apart. 

Nero was so detached from his population that he barely noticed Rome in flames. 

And local leadership keep telling me that we are a low-crime borough and that’s the message I’m supposed to share with my residents. 

Louis had his head chopped off, Nicholas had the Russian revolution, Nero was followed by civil war.

During my time as a Councillor I, as you will know, have done my fair share of getting into trouble with authorities. One of the frequent accusations thrown my way is that I scaremonger when it comes to talking about crime and safety. After launching my Safer Streets Now campaign, the same accusations are beginning to appear again. 

Havering is, one of London’s safest boroughs. By saying we have a crime problem, I am not in line with the data and just playing politics. Or so I am told.

I was told this last year, after a series of stabbings in Romford town centre. I shared that message with my residents and the backlash was angry. My inbox filled with angry mothers who have had sons stabbed, threatened, or involved in gangs themselves. They explained to me that kids don’t report these things, that it’s much larger than the police or leadership know, and they told me that “Havering is safe” is a tone-deaf message. 

You see, we can’t measure unreported crime. Not with statistics anyway. If no one is reporting a crime then it doesn’t show up on the data. If it isn’t in the data then we look better than we are. 

There is also another big reason that me saying “Havering is safe” is both tone deaf and inappropriate. I represent Romford town centre. Romford town centre is not the green fields of Upminster. We are not the sleepy greenbelt villages or affluent estates. Romford centre is a crime hotspot. The BBC just released that we are in the top 20 areas of London for ASB. Police data shows me that we had 84 cases of violent and sexual assalts in April this year, and that was an incerase on previous years. Things in Romford centre are bad and getting worse. I refuse to pretend otherwise. 

Does me saying “things are bad in Romford” take away from the hard work of our police and council? No, it highlights that Havering is made up of distinct areas. Lumping Romford in with Upminster, for crime stats, is of statistical wizardry and it paints a rosier picture than reality. And it isn’t just Romford that has problems. Go speak to actual people who live in Harold Hill, even parts of Hornchurch, and they will tell you that crime is higher than is let on.

In a simlar way, when I am told all about the hard work our council has done around tackling crime, I cannot sit back and say “that’s enough”. Has there been work to improve CCTV? Sure. Is it enough? No. Do we have a strategy for tackling violence against women and girls? Yes. Do women and girls feel safer now than last year? No. 

Aincent Rome used to have a tradition where politicians went into the market place and proclaim their views and ideas from a podium, known as a Rostra. The everyday citizen would gather around and listen and debate them. Our politicians now only seem to stand up and share their views in the comfort and detachment of the Town Hall. Residents are allowed in, but must stay silent. Even Councillors themselves are barely allowed to debate, we get one chance to say our point and no followup. When asking a question I am only allowed to ask one followup, and the Mayor will shut me down if it is a statment. If I dare accuse anyone of lying, even if just on a Facebook post, I can be punished by the legal officer of the council. 

To make things worse, only 30% of Havering even bothers to turn up and vote for local councillors. This means that a councillor can be elected by winning just 9% of the public’s support!

No wonder our politicians are so detached, they only need to make 9% happy. 

It is time for something better. Our leaders need to get out of the town hall, get themselves into the public and engage with them properly. 

Would Havering’s leaders dare walk into Romford high-street, on a busy shopping day, set up a rostra and declare to the public that Romford town centre is low-crime and safe? If they did, would they expect a round of applause and to be carried on shoulders as a hero?

When I engaged with the public I repeated the line given to me, “Havering is a safe borough”. I was met with anger, furious furious anger. I was told I was out of touch with reality. I listened, I changed my tone, and I rememberd that my role is to represent the people of Romford town centre, not those sat in their comfortable offices looking at spreadsheets. 

I will not sit by and accept that enough is being done to make Romford’s streets safer. 

I will not repeat the out of touch mantra of “Havering is safe”.

I will not pipe down because those in leadership are concerned I’m stirring things up. 

The public are not angry and afraid because I launched a public campaign calling for safer streets. 

They are angry because they don’t feel heard and they don’t feel represented. 

When I call for safer streets now I am repeating the frustrated cry of residents across my ward. We are sick of the violent and sexual assaults, we are sick of the shop lifting, we are sick of the intimidation.

If you are sick of these things then please join me for my Safer Streets Now protest. We will be outside the Town Hall on July 23rd at 6pm. 

If the politicians won’t come to the market place then the market place will come to them. Let’s make sure we are heard. 

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