Newham Awaits “Best-Practice” Prostitution Model. Meanwhile…

While the mayor is recovering from the failure to get the Borough of Culture Award, the residents of Newham are still occupied with their everyday problems.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to invest in the arts, indeed, we see that the mayor intends to continue to do just that. Residents will reasonably ask whether spending XXX on a new arts programme is justified when they are “under siege” from “drug dealers and prostitutes”.

We have covered the issue, at least in part previously.

Readers will recall that there has not been unanimity on the issue of prostitution along the Romford Road. Cllr Lee-Phakoe held the cabinet position for crime. She was known to favour enforcement action to move-on any prostitutes plying their trade in the area. In this she had the support of local councillors and residents. Her reward for this was to be shifted from that cabinet role.

The mayor, supported by the Greens had other ideas. Prostitution was equated with victimhood and they didn’t want the police moving the working girls on.

Instead, we were told, the council would seek to “identify local needs, gaps and wider community impact so that a comprehensive strategy can be developed.” They also promised a “review of best practices locally, nationally and internationally …in order to develop solutions for Newham”. That was in April 2023.

We are still waiting.

The attitude of Fiaz towards the views of residents was one of the principal reasons that Cllr Lee-Phakoe resigned her cabinet position. 

We know that the opposition, in the shape of the Independent Group have targeted the wards along the Romford Road and the apparently laissez faire attitude taken by the council. They have focused on prostitution as one of the key battle-ground issues as prioritized by residents. They continue to do so.

We look forward to seeing what the mayor intends to do about the issue. Her research should have been concluded a month ago and a report sent to council. For some reason, there was nothing there.

It may be that Mayor Fiaz is content to lose a few seats in the north-east of the borough, as long as she can retain her luxury beliefs and her status amongst the chattering classes.

It seems that local councillors have taken the initiative to engage with the community. Whether their efforts will result in action is entirely unclear.

They may want a more traditional response to the problem, but they are facing a mayor who has decided that those plying their trade along the Romford Road are victims, presumably of Tory austerity. They are not individuals making a choice. And it is their wellbeing that the mayor is focused on, not the wellbeing of women and girls that actually live in the area. 

We suspect that for all of the efforts by local councillors, their labours will be in vain, because the wishes of the residents do not fit with the mayor’s intentions.