“A Local Business Shouldn’t Have to Pay for a Job the Police Should Do”-Romford MP Slams Parade Funding Fiasco.

“It is outrageous that our Scouts need £9,000 to march safely – police should be protecting them, not local businesses!” #StGeorgesDay #Havering.

The Reform Member of Parliament for Romford-Andrew Rosindell MP shares his statement on the £9K donation by local community hero Dean from Chigwell Windows to save St George’s Day parades.

Dean Floyd and his team at Chigwell Construction have been amazing supporters of our community in Collier Row for many years and again, Dean has come to the rescue to save our traditional St. George’s Day Scout parade.

I am truly grateful to him.  Dean is a hero for doing this, but he shouldn’t have to.  We pay a huge amount to the Mayor of London by way of a precept, to provide us with local Police to look after our borough, but we are not getting  the support we pay for.

It is outrageous that our Havering Police cannot protect our local Scouts for a short parade in Collier Row, but they are sent into London to police marches that are pro-Palestine, left-wing anti-capitalist demonstrations, pride parades and climate change fanatics disrupting our capital, but a non-political parade that celebrates England, English culture and the Patron Saint of Scouting, St. George, is not supported to keep our young people safe.

It is beyond imaginable that this has happened in Romford and I am appalled that a local business has had to pay for a job that the Police should be doing automatically.

The issue is this, if we back down and accept the decision by the Police and Havering Council to charge the Scouts £9,000.00, how will this be funded in the future?  We cannot expect Dean and Chigwell Construction to pay for this every year from now on.  It is completely wrong.

I am calling on the Metropolitan Police to reverse their shameful decision and support our local Romford Scouts and the Hornchurch Scouts too.  It is not acceptable that such a huge sum of money needs to be paid for a so called “traffic management” plan, when a few Police and some volunteer marshalla could do the job at no additional cost.

I will be raising this with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and with the government in the House of Commons. 

This cannot happen again next year, and I can assure Romford Scouts that when there is a change of administration in the Town Hall in May, there will be no charges imposed on them for celebrating St. Geroge’s Day, should Reform UK take control of our Town Hall.

I have worked with and supported the Romford & Distract Scout Association since I was a councillor in Havering over thirty years ago, and I can assure them that as their M.P., the Scouts will always be able to count on my support.

Stay up to date with all of our latest updates and content by following us on our social media accounts!

We have created community pages where we will share our up-to-date stories happening in the area. Add the area closest to where you live.