I hope you have had a good break and are looking forward to 2019!

The festive season was tinged with sadness though when news that you may have seen about the death in Iceland of two members of a family and constituents who died in a car crash. I met them recently at a Diwali event in Blackwall with Mayor Biggs where one of them had just been elected secretary of the newly- formed Virginia Quays Residents’ Association.

My thoughts go out to the deceased families and for a speedy recovery of those injured.

On a personal note my challenges for 2019 include working even more determinedly with your council, local MPs, police and community groups to push back against the tide of violent crime and to campaign for the Met to be properly funded.

Finally, the scandal of child poverty, particular prevalent in the borough, needs to be urgently addressed through measures to tackle health inequalities and an increased uptake of the London Living Wage.