After watching the above Channel 4 clip a few nights ago, l was alarmed at the prospect of #coronavirus reaching Bangladesh. Particularly in a year when the Asian Development Bank anticipated that Bangladesh would grow its GDP by 8 per cent during 2020, there was high expectation that the country would be moving on from the days of the 1974 famine in the newly liberated country. 

But its transpires that the UN source of this concern, was based on the worst case scenario of the Bangladesh government not doing anything to stern the spread. Indeed if you look at the press release below, the UN are supportive of the measures being taken by the government in Dhaka. So it does make you wonder what the whole of the document actually said. 

So can l urge Channel 4 News not to be so alarmists with their stories. It is difficult enough with coronavirus issue dominating the headlines to have stories that do not quite give the whole picture.  

As of this week, l am back at City Hall as an Assembly Member (AM) in the London Assembly again for a year, till the end of this extended term. During this coronavirus pandemic, l just hope l can be of some use to Londoners!

As someone who up and till recently was themselves self-employed, l will be making sure those Londoners who are similarly self-employed are well represented in the government financial support packages. It is a critical part of the London economy and they should not have to choose between getting going out and getting a wage or staying in for their health and ours. The self-employed deserve support like the rest of the economy during these very difficult times.

It is noticeable that rough sleepers in my neighbourhood are getting support through the initiative of the Mayor with hoteliers during the pandemic emergency. In the long run we need to also accommodate rough sleepers in empty public buildings like Paddington Green Police Station for the many rough sleepers on the Gateway to the West End along the Edgware Rd.

And of course as a regular pub, gym, theatre goer in the West End l would like to see them back on their feet as soon as possible. Mixed messages from the PM have not helped the shut down during this emergency and they should be able to claim fully under their insurance cover. Also they should be special consideration of these small businesses when abolishing business rates with the threshold set higher, as there is a severe downturn in footfall with the lack of tourists in London.

Finally we need to take a firm stand against the raise of prejudice and attacks aimed at East Asians like the Chinese. So we need to say no to sinophobia during this pandemic as their businesses and community get socially isolated by this tide of prejudice coming from across the pond.

So get in touch with myself on London matters for our London. We live in momentous times, so let us shape them.

After watching the very polished performance of the South Korean Foreign Minister, Kang Kyung-wha on how the Koreans are dealing with coronavirus yesterday morning on the BBC Marr Show, it made me investigate what was being done differently there from the rest of the World. 

It is clear that the Koreans have more experience of dealing with pandemics like this, hence the emphasis on the testing and with their laboratory. capacity already in place from the experience with other pandemics in East Asia. As nearly 20,000 people are being tested every day for coronavirus in South Korea, more people per capita than anywhere else in the world. 

The South Korean’s have a pyramid system of mass testing 20,000 tests a day, then isolating the new cases and then tracking and test people who have been in contact with the new cases.  All you need to do is look at South Korea’s mortality rate in comparison to other countries particularly from Europe and you’ll see the benefits, as below. If you look at the UK trajectory on the graph is shows clearly how far behind we are, if nothing else. 

In the meantime, we have lockdown’s in Europe, taking various forms as the graph below illustrates. The key elements are the closure of schools, sporting events and travel restrictions with the Italians leading the way for a complete lockdown. Interesting in the UK, the closure of sporting events has occurred as a result of various sporting federations closing their games down rather than the government of the day telling them to do so.

Uniquely in Europe, the UK is pursuing an alternative path with its herd immunity. It is a form of indirect protection from infectious disease that occurs when a large percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, thereby providing a measure of protection for individuals who are not immune. So its more of a long run strategy being undertaken by the UK. Whilst those rejecting the ‘herd immunity’ theory that coronavirus can simply be left to rip through society until enough people develop immunity state there is no proof this will happen and thus the most deadly approach the government could take. All this while the World Health Organisation (WHO) tells us to “test, test & test” to fight coronavirus. 

So the question for is how quickly can we set up the tests & lab set-up behind South Korean #coronavirus effort where their ‘trace, test and treat’ may well now be saving lives? It certainly bets all the various forms of shut down in Europe and herd immunity in the UK. 

Making such national comparisons is very handy but lets also not forget we need also a global approach to this pandemic threat and maybe the next G20. But that is in November and it needs dealing with now across the world when the epicentre of it is in Europe as confirmed by WHO.  

In my neighbourhood in Central London, early in the morning, you can often see many fancy cars going into the underground parking of office developments.  Their movements are unlikely to be regulated by the parking regime in the City of Westminster which solely focuses on street parking. So maybe its time this parking was better regulated as l am sure a lot of the movement of vehicles going into the congestion zone know at least they will not be paying for parking and it will of course at least help improve the air pollution levels along the boundaries of the congestion zone like the Marylebone Road.

Having done some research on the matter, it is quite clear Hounslow Council are a leading authority on work place charging, with their proposal along the Great West Corridor (Golden Mile) to help fund a passenger rail link from Brentford to Southall.  Clearly Hounslow are the leading London Council on Work Place Charging matters in Greater London now and the success of their scheme will encourage other proposals. 

So it is interesting to see a suburban London borough investigating the possibilities while yet no Central London council has done so yet where its likely to be more financially viable. For councils like Westminster, it would presumably be a golden egg to fund further environmental and transport initiatives in the borough as the revenues will be ring fenced for environment and transport expenditure. The possibilities should at least be investigated for the City of Westminster. 

During my time at City Hall and and subsequently, l have been involved in the campaign against Heathrow expansion. Including going to the Royal Courts of Justice several times but last weeks visit beats them all, as the Court of Appeal stated the Heathrow expansion plans are unlawful on climate change grounds. Now normally l tend to concentrate on air and noise pollution impact on Londoners, as there is more than sufficient on these environmental impacts to oppose the expansion of flights at Heathrow.  Indeed that was what the London councils concentrated themselves on but those concerns were not the primary concern of the Appeal Court.  The Environmental Groups largely lead on climate change impact of Heathrow expansion and its CO2 emissions.  These were also regular items of concern we covered under my chairmanship of the Environment Committee, almost annually as a response to the numerous consultations we had had on Heathrow during my time at City Hall 2004-2016. 

At City Hall, not only did l have to restate the London Assembly opposition to extra runways at Heathrow but also called to end night flights and through The Plane Speaking report focus on the increasing road use impacts on Heathrow air quality. So glad to have made a small contribution in the defeat of Heathrow expansion. 

Heathrow will be appealing of course to the `Supreme Court but without the governments support it will be difficult tasks ahead for them but l am glad l have been involved in this campaign from the outset of my involvement in London affairs. The verdict also has major ramifications for any future development of transport infrastructure in the UK like the governments road programme which will almost certainly be the first of many challenges ahead based on the climate emergency concerns of climate change. 

One of the pleasures of being Chair of the Stop the War Coalition is being invited along to many of the diaspora communities events we have in Greater London. 

Since the beginning of the year, l have been out demonstrating with Indian’s in the UK against Modi’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act defending their multi-faith, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual Indian identity and the democratic secular constitution of India; celebrating the contribution of the Kurds in London at the AGM of DayMER and showing solidarity with their interests in the Middle East; and involved in an Afghanistan Peace Panel Discussion hosted by ACAA arguing for the withdrawal of foreign troops and popped into Portcullis House to hear a discussion on Human Rights in Kashmir hosted by Third World Solidarity. 

Going by the number approaches l have had, the action against the CAA and the registration of Indian citizens through the National Register of Citizens (NRC) have been one of the most divisive policies of the Indian government that has not only divided communities in India but has also been at the centre of a numerous protests and demonstrations in the UK and Europe. And its a new concern, while l dare say the other issues raised by other diaspora groups have been around for a long while. 

Very often as well the diasporas communities know more about what is happening then the UK media do, like for example the talk of Afghanistan Peace Deal in January was not premature given the US and Taliban this past weekend have just now signed a Peace deal though the Afghanistan government is not party to it. 

My local newspaper the Westminster Extra highlights on its weekly front page this week the impact of the coronavirus scare on business in Chinatown, a more than 50 per cent reduction in trade on normally bustling trading days. On top of this we have an IPSOS survey tell us incredibly that 1 in 7 people would avoid people Chinese origin or appearance with on-set of #coronavirus  But as the health officers have shown quite clearly sinophobia – anti-Chinese racism – won’t save you from coronavirus particularly when you remember that a ordinary Brit had brought it on to our shores

Unfortunately sinophobia has a long history. Chinese people have faced perceptions of being “unhygienic” and “dirty” long before coronavirus came along. As early as the 19th century Opium Wars, the Chinese nation was referred to as the “sick man of Asia”. This slur took a literal turn as Chinese migrants across the world came to be associated with poor hygiene and proneness to disease.

We are quite clearly seeing sinophobia raising its head again and it needs to dealt with head on. 

At the Sadiq for London 2020 London Policy Forum in Kings Cross, l put up some of my ideas for the Manifesto in the various sessions l attended during the day. 

The first session l attended was on Housing,Planning & Development. Here l suggested we needed to do more on slum housing through the Fit for Human Habitation Act 2018. Unfortunately their is more about then we acknowledge in London, like some of the old tenement blocks in Miles Buildings, Penfold Place, NW1 – just off the Edgware Rd near me. We need to be on the side of tenants up against landlords who are not providing habitable residential accommodation. This will not add to the stock of housing in London but will clearly improve the present stock to an acceptable level. 

The second session, l attended was on Transport, where l highlighted “work place charging levy” as a golden egg from parking which could earn TfL a new source of income, as a Hounslow council proposed levy shows clearly.  Here l told the session of the case of the parking underneath BNP Paribus HQ where you can see many sports cars going into the office development underground car park very early in the morning, who clearly are not paying for parking in Central London.  The leading authority on this front is Hounslow Council who have a proposal to develop a scheme along their golden mile and use the funds to invest in a commuter rail link between Brentford & Southall, putting them onto the Elizabeth line.  It struck me that if a suburban London borough could do it, surely Central London boroughs with the Mayor could do something similar and use the fund to invest in urgent transport and environmental infrastructure needed. 

And in the final session l attended on the Environment & Climate Change. Here l suggested that TfL could do a lot more to reduce London’s climate change footprint in response to the public #climateemergency demands as the largest consumer of energy in London. It could not only move decisively towards renewables but actually become a big buyer of renewables in London so as to encourage the growth of this sector in London’s economy while reducing our green house gases emissions. 

We will have too watch and see now if these ideas and many others from the Labour movement including our Trade Unions and Affiliates at the London Policy Forum, will be incorporated into the Labour London Manifesto for 2020.  Lets hope so. 

After listening to the deliberations of yesterday in the morning session of the Grenfell Inquiry on the case for and against the immunity of prosecution of corporate witnesses (on an individual basis), it would a travesty if the Chair SIr Martin Moore-Bick now refers the matter to the Attorney General. 

He should decide the matter in this investigation in light of what happened in phase 1 by throwing the request out.  No firefighter sought immunity from prosecution during their evidence to the Grenfell Inquiry in the first phase, as corporate participants are now seeking. It would be grossly unfair that you have this difference if the matter is referred further up and it is decided a case exists. Indeed as Michael Mansfield QC stated on behalf of the families any indemnity against individual prosecution in phase 2 would also mean a “license to lie” when not answering questions.  

So we all await this judgement today hopefully. 

I was glad to join the Global Day of Action against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act brought by the BJP in India today in London, as chair of Stop the War Coalition. 

The Citizenship (Amendments) Act as brought in by the BJP in India has caused huge nationwide protests, involving people of various religions, professions, castes and classes, such that we  haven’t seen since the freedom struggle, took place in India.

And why maybe this so? The CAA & the National Registration of Citizens (NRC) hits at the heart of the very nature of the Indian state constitution of being a sovereign, socialist, secular & democratic republic  and its multi-ethnic & multi religious Indian identity

Modi’s government says its doing this on the pretext of offering citizenship to “persecuted refugees” from three nearby countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan) But not, say the Rohingyas from Myanmar? Why is there a difference between them?  Has it got something to do with three of them being Muslim majority states!  On the basis of the BJP’s CAA Act, such desperate political refugees like the Rohingyas moving onto the sub-continent would have no basis of making a claim for citizenships. 

We have also seen in Indian politics the return of a federalism  as well as a response to these events. that the BJP is are even more bitterly hostile to than Indira Gandhi ever was. As six states – West Bengal, Kerala, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha – have refused to participate in Delhi’s plan for a nationwide NRC.

Many individuals have also begun to go into the civil disobedience mode that Indians adopted under the British, saying they would either not furnish papers for the NRC or that they would declare themselves Muslim. And would you believe it, Modi government are even using desperate restrictions from the colonial-era section 144 (proscribing a gathering of more than four persons) to restrict mass protest.

So l was glad to speak and defend the multi-ethnic & religious identity of being an Indian in a constitution that is a socialist, secular, democratic republic

And personally l also welcome a return to federalism as states like West Bengali who refuse to take part in the National Registrar of Citizens (NRC) and the BJP attempt to enforce their Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).