Rokhsana Fiaz: 'I will demand police’s unrelenting focus on women's safety'

Like you, I’m sick of it. I am determined to act on your concerns and do something about it.

It’s time for tough action on people who litter our neighbourhoods.

That’s why at Council Cabinet last night, we approved a new plan to get more enforcement officers on the streets, fining those who dump their rubbish in our neighbourhoods.

Now that lockdown is over, you’re going to see a lot more of me out on the streets, making sure that flytipping and littering are cleaned up.

Last Friday, I was out in Little Ilford, listening to residents’ concerns about the state of our streets and making sure our Newham staff are fully aware of how important clean streets are to our residents.

Rokhsana Fiaz is highlighting the importance of clean streets (Image: Andrew Baker)

Let’s all work together to make our streets cleaner.

Sarah Everard’s murderer is a monster who deserves to die in prison – and I welcome his whole-of-life sentence.

The details of what happened to Sarah were horrifying beyond belief.

Our hearts go out to Sarah Everard’s family, friends and everyone who loved her, who will all be devastated to have learnt of her horrific fate.

But this is not just about one monster.

Violence against all women and girls is at epidemic proportions. Women feel really afraid to be out on our streets.

It needs to be an offence to harass women on the street. We need increased sentences for this, and we need our police to take women’s safety seriously.

I will be demanding our police’s unrelenting focus in making our streets a safe place for all women in our communities.

And I will be holding them to account, ensuring they instil the trust and confidence of all women and girls across our borough as we do more to make Newham safe.