Despite publically downgrading “air-pollution” as a priority, the next day Environment Ministers were advising businesses to include “˜Air pollution and other emissions’ as the first of five environmental “˜Key Performance Indicators’ for companies. 

Labour London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said: “Boris based much of his re-election as London Mayor on his ability to get a better deal out of his conservative colleagues in government, now it’s time to prove that he can secure a better deal for Londoners by lobbying to get air pollution reinstated as a government priority.” 

“Each year more than 4,000 people die prematurely in London due to poor air quality. This is an issue that the government and the Mayor have failed to take seriously. It is spectacularly hypocritical that at the same time as advising business to make air pollution a key performance indicator, the government downgrading air pollution as one of their priotities.”

 “The Mayor needs to take real action to stop this invisible killer. He needs to lead the way by investing in electric buses and taxis, speeding up the retro-fitting of existing diesel buses with filters and creating clean air zones around schools. The Mayor also needs to issue smog alerts so that Londoners can take necessary precautions, especially those with respiratory problems.”

Ends

Notes:

Murad Qureshi is a London-wide Assembly Member, and also chairs the London Assembly’s Health and Environment Committee.

It was always going to be difficult to compete with the spectacle of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, yet Danny Boyle came up with a very distinctive, eccentric, and thus very British opening ceremony for the Games in London. It showed Britain as an open, multicultural society and was an apt tribute to the history of the United Kingdom. It has helped us feel good about ourselves for a while.

There was of course a very telling contribution by a Beijing digital media company called Crystal CG International. It provided the computer-generated creative imaginary that flashed around the bowl of the Olympic stadium, illustrating well the links made between Beijing and London from our recent experiences of hosting the Games.

This will undoubtedly be the biggest legacy of the London 2012 Olympics for us, feeling good about being Londoners and British particularly after the opening ceremony.

Of course there were some criticism of the Games, in particular concerning empty seats, the transport and the corporate sponsors of the events. We were always going to get some empty seats in the preliminary rounds of some contests, but the attendance figures have been quite astonishing if you look at the figures for track and field events and even football with the domestic season soon to start.

What has been pointed out is how it appears that corporate sponsors do not take up all their seats and it’s something the International Olympic Committee will need to look into more carefully, particularly when host cities’ citizens are finding it difficult to get hold of tickets. The publicity about transport during the London Olympics, along with the mayor’s announcements, meant that people thought the city would be heaving with people, so no one decided to go into the city center, affecting business. Once this was acknowledged in the first week of the Games, matters were addressed. All in all, this was all managed well, as and when matters arose.

As for the economic legacy, it’s yet to be clear how during the Games it benefited London and UK but in the long term could well attract further investment and trade as it promoted London as a global city to do business, or have pleasure. This as the Bank of England warned that the impact of the Olympics may not be long lasting on the economy, though there were lessons for the banking sector from the “fair play” of the Games.

By spreading happiness and good cheer the Games have made us all feel better. And, who knows, the impact on confidence may give the economy a boost. But ultimately the Games cannot alter the underlying economic situation we face: the United Kingdom’s economy has shrunk for the past three quarters. While we have been celebrating the Olympics, the economy has been flat lining with the downgrading of official growth forecast to zero in 2012 and the trade balance increasing against us, with the latter not helped by the euro crisis reducing the trade we are clearly having with our main partners in Europe.

Team Great Britain bagged 29 gold medals at these Olympics, and amazingly we came third in the medal table. I doubt we will be able to match this feat again. More importantly it was done in the spirit of fair play, and the crowds often showed their appreciation for the efforts of athletes from other nations as well.

Unfortunately this could not be said of all the teams. The United States raised questions about China’s swimmer Ye Shiwen, whose phenomenal performance at the tender age of 16 secured her two gold medals. Their accusations were shown to be merely bad sportsmanship when the British Olympic Association cleared her of any doping. This all the while as individual performances by athletes were greeted very well by the fans in attendance, the ultimate test of acceptance. British fans are strong supporters of fair play and this came out well during the Games.

London along with Athens has now had the honor of hosting the modern Olympic Games three times. On the previous two occasions in 1908 and 1948, we hosted it to assist the OLympic movement. On this occasion we wanted to host it, and I feel we have done a good job of it. The London Olympics has reflected well on us and showed us to be the sporting nation we undoubtedly are. So let’s bring on the Paralympics in a few weeks’ time, which will also receive great support from the British public.

(China Daily 08/16/2012 page9)

Olympic athletes walking pass lines of BMWs for their use.

While at the Olympic Village this morning, I was very pleasantly surprised to see most olympic athletes when leaving the site going by public transport rather then chauffeur driven BMWs at their disposal. As the above photo illustrates well, we have lines of BMWs lying idle at the entrance of the Olympic village for their use as a result of them walking by foot to Stratford International and Underground stations via Westfield. Another reason for them to abandon these cars at their disposal has been the public reaction of Britsh fans to them on public transport, where they have been made to feel very welcomed. So public goodwill and public transport facilities on their door-step has meant under used BMWs in the Olympic village. Thats bodes well for other events London may host in the near future.

Olympics Games also happening in Central London

With all the emphasis on transport issues during the Olympics in London on how to get to and from the main Olympic site in Stratford, you would be forgiven for thinking the games were not happening in Central London!

Well its most certainly happening in Central London in a variety of locations including Lords for the archery; Earls Court for the proper volleyball; Hyde park for the trianthlon; Horse Guard Parade for beach volleyball and finally the Mall for the marathon. And of course, the impact of the Olympic Road Network(ORN) is most keenly being felt in central London.

At lords it all felt as though TfL had over prepared with road restrictions and signage for the archery. At best the event has going to only attract 5,000 when it had a full house, this when on a full day during the next test match at Lords, you will get 30,000 daily at the beginning of the test match. Yet if you compare the transport information put out to spectators for the archery with that of the cricket crowd, the latter bearly get much of that attention at all. As for traffic restrictions like no right turns for cars along Lisson Grove to Lords this was clearly over done along with the parking restrictions enforced on local residents and closer of pedestrian crossings.

Earls Court felt like more like a football crowd was going there particularly when the Brazilians were playing at the venue and not surprising you didn’t have businesses complaining about a down turn in business from this locality. But was it necessary for volleyball fans to walk around the neighbourhood from the front of Earls Court tube station when West Brompton tube was nearer to the entrance on the side of Earls Court itself?  Particularly given it had better connections with the Overground and Thameslink, it would have meant fans could have got there by other means then the tube. And if accessibility of West Brompton tube station itself was a problem, why could this not have been sorted out when we had some 7 years to plan for  it.  West Brompton tube station has the potential to be a major interchange in West London between the tube,Overground and Thameslink yet TfL do not appear to want to invest in making this the case.  Meanwhile this is a well kept secret amongst West Londoners which other Londoners should know about.

As for Hyde Park, there could not have been a better setting for the trianthlon in the whole of London for this event and the fans particular those without tickets to get a taste of the Olympics. But many found the signage to Hyde Park very confusing particularly on the tube where tube stations had the pink strip but didn’t explain you could come into the Hyde Park in different directions. The same could be said about House Guard parade for the beach volleyball but was of course ticketed.

 Beyond central London l had reasons to go to other Olympics venues like Wembley for the football and Wimbledon for the tennis. Wembley can normally accommodate the numbers but for some reason had some difficulties for the mens finals between Brazil & Mexico which TfL have yet to give a full explanation and l understand FIFA representatives may of made complaints about already. And finally  the road restrictions to get to Wimbledon from Southfields seem like Lords over the top and unnecessary as Wimbledon is use to dealing with greater numbers when we have the annual Wimbledon tennis tournment.

And lets not forget the last event of the 30th Olympiad will be the mens marathon along the streets of London which will start and end along the Mall going through and back to the City of London and thus not in the Olympic stadium as tradition demands. The cities of Westminster & London streets accommodated this well, and who knows this might be a better street plan for the London marathon !  

So clearly there is a transport legacy for future sporting events in London particularly in Central London if we learn the lessons from the hosting of the Olympics. 

West Brompton tube station should have been made more accessible for the Olympics & been part of the legacy

For those of us using the tubes during London’s hosting of the games, you will not have failed to notice the prominent adverts at stations like the one above at Marylebone tube station. I have no problems with such adverts themselves but l am very concerned with the message given in these LOCOG adverts – that without the big corporation support we would not have had the games at all! Thus posing the question of who’s games are they anyway?

For some reason LOCOG, has forgotten to remember the contribution made by London council tax payers to the tune of on average £ 20 annually on their council tax since 2006/7 and running through to 2016/17 in very auster times. Thats not forgetting also the general tax payer and those who play the Olympic lottery as well for the huge capital costs and an element of revenue involved in delivering the Games in London.

If LOCOG feel that big business has been getting a hard time of it all, please do not forget the promotional value that all of them have getting by sponsoring the Olympic Games in London 2012.  Its been done for some very strong commerical interest and not necessarily by the goodness of their heart. LOCOG could have easily thanked us all for our contributions as taxpayers and residents of the UK towards the games, instead it choose to just thank the big corporations. If LOCOG is going to acknowledge the contribution of corporate sponsorship to the successul hosting of the games in London 2012, it must also do the same with taxpayers, residents of London and olympic lottery players.

I have written to LOCOG, to amend these adverts or withdraw them with their clear misinformation and propaganda. It is not acceptable for them to forget the contribution made already and will continue from London council tax payers long after the games has moved and big business has left town for the next big show around the globe. Lets see what response if any we get from them.

In the meantime we have had adverts like below in the press by the Lottery Fund thanking us for funding the Olympics by buying their lottery tickets. Now l think LOCOG could learn a lesson from this approach taken by the Lottery Fund.

Whilst BRIC countries interconnect between themselves, can London be the BRIC capital of the world?

At the first of the mayoral discussions at City Hall during the London 2012 Olympics, Jim O’Neill of BRIC fame (and fellow United supporter)  presented his paper Preparing for the Asian Century: Capitals & Markets at a discussion on Preparing for the Asian Century. He suggested in his talk at the beginning of the session that London should become the BRIC capital of the world.

I agreed with his economic analysis on the basis of productivity and labour market movements, that there will be a shift to the East from the West, as long as Asian countries still buy into globalisation. This is not just happening with China & India and the other BRICs ( Brazil & Russia ) but also another emerging group of countries called the N-11 economies which combined with economic and political changes could greatly further impact on the global economy.

Some useful points were made from the floor in response to his pearls of wisdom including the trend of increasing South-South trade & investment; the City not investing in Asia and doing it in other ways which involve the diaspora communities of London; and the importance of culture and language in Asian business.

There is increasing antidotal evidence we are seeing new patterns in trade & investment as we have enhanced levels of South to South transactions like that between two fellow BRICs. For example between Brazil and China was quoted from the floor of the discussion. There is also evidence that we have the same trend between China & India, as China supplies finance to Indian IT entrepreuers who use it to develop the sector in India.  This inter-BRIC interaction is one reflection of the South to South trading, as we also have BRICs investing in other Southern countries like China has already done in the instance of Africa particularly its infrastructure in return for supplies of  raw materials. All this of course bypasses London making it difficult for it to establish itself as the BRIC capital of the world.

As for actual investment into BRICs like China & India, the UK’s net Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has risen over the past decade but lags behind that of its main competitors like the US, France & Germany. So it appears the City isn’t doing its job on this front, to help London becoming the BRIC capital of the world. Other ways of doing this exist like helping to get the many diaspora communities in London within the Chinese & Indians to invest their remittances or money transfers into infrastructure rather then immediate consumption. As many government in the South know this is a more reliable and regular source of finance then aid assistance and FDI and something we could assist through the relevant communities.

And finally lets not forget the importance of culture and language in Asia. South Asian communities still invest alot of their savings into gold showing their risk averse nature and something that would need to change if its to help release their saving for infrastructural investment. And there is no doubt talking the same language helps seal the deal in business in Asia. Now given we boasted that we have some 300 odd languages spoken in London when we won the Olympic bid for 2012 in 2005, its a real pity we don’t make the most of this and instead assume both here and aboard that very one speaks English in business. This mind set needs to change, if we are going to make London the BRIC capital of the world.

 So if London is to continue to be the world capital for finance, it better take on board these points that were made on the floor of this discussion at City Hall asap, as Asia becomes increasingly most importance part of the global economy.

It was a pleasure to watch the mens archery final at Lords on early saturday evening between the USA & Italy, coming down to the last shot with the Italians requiring a bulls-eye to win the gold medal. I never thought l would get into such a sport but l certainly did on this particularly evening, as one does with many Olympic sports which don’t normally get much coverage at all.

That said, this was my first visit of an Olympic site that l know well during the cricket season as a spectator. On a big match day during a keenly contested test match like that against the South Africa later in the month, you can expect a sell-out crowd of 30,000.  More importantly the neighbourhood can deal with this well with all the good local transport connections and the informed cricket watching public take a variety of ways to Lords. So it has always surprised me by the over the top transport restrictions of roads through the Olympic Road Network(ORN) in the locality during the archery tournament in the Olympic games. For example along Lisson Grove we have no right turns between St Johns Wood Rd and Rossmore Rd as you travel up towards Lords. This was compounded by the reduction in local parking  for residents around Marylebone, noticably on Grand Central St, Balcombe St and Harewood Avenue and closer of pedestrian crossings as well.

How ever good the archery was going to be at Lords and has been so far, it was never going to attract the numbers we get on a big match day where we get 10,000’s turning out rather then if we are lucky to get 5,000 souls daily to watch the archery. So l do feel these restrictions and many others around Marylebone station were unnessesary in the first place given the scale of interest which was likely to be generated.

The Olympics rings have arrived on the banks of City Hall

Alot has already been said before l add my own contribution to the opening spectacular we saw on friday night engineered brilliantly by Danny Boyle. 

It was very much a British peoples history of the United Kingdom where the focus was on peoples contribution to agriculture, industry and art in their country. When normally the history of the nation is focused on aristocratic and militaristic basis. And while elements were very British in its eccentricity and even bonkers, we were all the better for it afterwards. Where else could you have the head of state jumping out of a helicopter to arrive at the global stage!

It was an apt tribute to the British people and the £27 million spent was excellent value for money given the feel good factor it generated subsequently and how its helped our good feelings about hosting the Olympic Games.

Figures released following a question to City Hall by Assembly Member Murad Qureshi last week show a steady annual rise in recorded crime, from 465 in 2002-2003 to 2,375 in 2011-2012.

The Metropolitan Police has been responsible for tackling park crime since 2003-2004.

Mr Qureshi said: “When the Royal Parks were managing there appears to be less crime; since the Met takes over there is more. It does suggest the Parks have been less of a priority.”

Mr Qureshi, who is a jogger in Regent’s Park, said he asked the questions following reports of a day-time rape of a young woman in May.

Explaining the rise, Mr Johnson said: “An increase in the number of crimes is attributed mainly to pro-active park policing approach especially to drug-related offences.

"A breakdown of the crimes shows an increase in drug offences due to pro-active policing so that the parks are not seen as a “˜free drug-taking/dealing zone’.”

Data for 2003-2004 had gone missing and figures could not be provided for that year.

Mr Qureshi, said he has written to the commissioner about the figures, added: “How has policing the Royal Parks been undertaken?

"I would like to know how the parks are policed operationally, for example, are they part of the Safer Neighbourhoods policing remit or is there a special dedicated unit?”

Mr Johnson said that a “dedicated Royal Parks Operational Command Unit” was set up on April 1 2004 by the Met, adding: “The unit provides 24/7, high visibility policing and public reassurance, in line with the principles of safer neighbourhood policing.

"It also tackles crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour, enforces Royal Park regulations and deals with local priorities.”

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Speaking after the event, Labour London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said:

"The Olympics will be a huge success and I was delighted to welcome the Palestinian Olympic delegation to London’s City Hall. The Games are bringing together people from across the globe in a shared celebration of sporting excellence and achievement."

"When London won the bid in 2005 we said that our city has people from across the world and every nation would feel at home. London is a truly diverse city that we all draw immense strength from and we should continue to celebrate this diversity. We warmly welcome the Palestinian team and wish them well in their Olympic endeavours. During this holy month of Ramadan I was especially honoured to share an Itfar dinner with them at City Hall last night."

　

Ends

Notes:

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Murad Qureshi is a London-wide Assembly Member.

Attached is a picture of Assembly Member Qureshi addressing last night’s reception with Hani Halabi – Chef de Mission and Palestinian Olympic team members and coaching staff.

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