This month, I released ‘Policing London: A Vision for a Safer City’ that sets out 10 pledges outlining my campaign to tackle crime in east London.

From combatting violent crime to ending the scandal of modern day slavery, the document sets out the work I will be doing at City Hall and across the constituency to promote the necessary measures to make our community safer.

Support is growing for police forces to record gender-based hate crime. I have been raising this issue in City Hall since my election as a London assembly member, and it is a key policy focus in my ‘Vision for a Safer City’.

It has been positive to see this campaign picked up in parliament, led by Stella Creasy MP. As a result of her efforts, the government is now starting to take action, and has asked the Law Commission to look into proposals to make misogyny a hate crime.

Violent crime remains a significant concern locally, and I took the opportunity at a recent plenary meeting to quiz the Mayor of London about his work to implement a joined-up approach to knife crime which provides our health services with a more clearly defined and prominent role to play.

It is unacceptable that right-wing extremism is beginning to rear its ugly head. At the most recent Police and Crime Committee, I raised this issue with the Met Commissioner, Cressida Dick, and asked what the police were doing to monitor and counter the threat of fascism and groups like the English Defence League. The commissioner acknowledged and gave examples of the very real threat of far right extremists and also stated that monitoring those groups whose members may be susceptible to becoming involved in terror plots is important.

Finally, I was pleased to second a motion at a London Assembly meeting calling for the Met Police to carry out a pilot on the wider use of spit guards. Being spat at is one of the most degrading experiences, and several former and serving officers have told me they consider this to be the worst abuse they face in the job. Any pilot must be underpinned with training and guidelines on using spit hoods, so that their use is appropriate.

It has by no means been a quiet summer, and with committee work now back underway at City Hall, an equally busy autumn is on the horizon!