An heroic response to the pandemic by a nation of lions led by donkeys

So the year closes, as it opened, with everyone wearing masks and socially distancing. Everyone hoped we would be seeing the back of the Covid 19 pandemic by now but it seems to have revived with the Omicron variant. It would seem there is some way to go before it can be said the pandemic is behind us. Everyone has been through a lot, many losing loved ones. These are difficult times with people being asked to give up their liberties in exchange for the safety and security of all. What has been most galling is that some of those doing the asking have been exposed as so flagrantly breaking the rules themselves. The news that last year, as citizens obeyed government rules to socially distance, wear masks and not mix inside, occupants of Downing Street were operating in a totally parallel universe - partying the night away. One rule for us and one rule for them, had been the cry previously over the Dominic Cummings/Barnard Castle fiasco but the parties farago took the whole thing to a new level. Trust is vital if we are to come through this pandemic with the minimum of damage. And trust has taken a battering from this government. Citizens are being asked to abide by restrictions that they know those doing the asking have failed to do in the past. This is perfect storm territory. But the people must rise above the inadequacy of todays leaders and think of each other. It has been the community response that has seen us through in the past 18 months. The foodbanks, support for homeless and house bound. The heroic efforts of NHS, care staff, police, firefighters, soldiers, teachers, refuse collectors, local authority workers, postal and supermarket staff. These are just some of those who have helped everyone get through the crisis. We will all look to them again to see us through the latest stage of the pandemic. And we will get there. Everyone has a role to play, not least by getting vaccinated. It is just a shame that we have so much become a nation of lions led by donkeys (if that is not unfair to donkeys). Everyone deserves better in 2022. Happy New Year.

Let's have a less wasteful Christmas

Christmas is a time for celebration but also when a vast amount of waste is created. There is all the paper, food waste, packaging, and plastic. This year will be the first when the whole of Redbridge has been served by wheelie bins. The roll out of the wheelie bins has been a tremendous success, as well as making our streets cleaner by containing waste more securely it has increased recycling rates by around 5% - with around a third of our household waste now being recycled. This has been achieved by limiting household waste to what will fit in the wheelie bin and ensuring residents make full use of recycling facilities. Hopefully this will encourage people to create less waste in the first place. A group of councillors recently visited the East London Waste Authorities (ELWA) Renewi facilities in Newham and Ilford to see for ourselves what happens to the borough's waste. Household waste and recycling of Newham, Barking and Dagenham and Redbridge finishes up at these facilities. The waste end up in a giant warehouse type building. The waste then undergoes a treatment where it is shredded and dried out for 14 days, reducing its volume by about 30% with the moisture being pumped into woodchip containers on the roof of the building which biologically filter out odours and bioaerosols. Recyclable materials such as glass and metals that have not been separated by households for separate collection are removed for recycling from the dried waste, as well as organic material which goes on to be composted and used for land restoration. The remaining treated waste (about half of what entered the plant) then goes off to Energy from Waste facilities to create heat and power. The materials for recycling that comes from our boxes ends up at the site on the high road in Ilford. This is another impressive facility, with paper and cardboard dumped in one silo, cans, glass and plastics in another. A meticulous sorting process then takes place before the metals and plastics are crushed into bales and the glass bulked and then sold on for re-use The whole process us about re-using and utilising waste. So there is much positive going on to deal with the borough's waste, and ongoing efforts to reduce emissions and further widen what can be recycled - with the recent addition of plastic pots, tubs and trays to our weekly collections. The visit to the ELWA/Renewi facility was most instructive, and the scale of the operation and volume of waste also drove home the need for us all to be less wasteful. We all need to reflect more on the amount of waste being created and its impact on the planet. Less must always mean more on waste. So heres to a happy, cleaner, greener Christmas.

Wanstead Community showing true meaning of Christmas

It has been great this year to see the Christmas season return to something like normal, after the locked down version of 2020. In Wanstead, there was the lighting up of the Christmas tree on George Green. Milkman Steve did the honours, once again, as people flocked around the tree. Carols were sung and ice queens came amongst us. Then there was the Mayors Christmas event on Christchurch Green. The weather was a bit wet at times but that didn't stop people coming out. At one point people were queuing out of the green to visit Santas Grotto. The monthly market had a seasonal spin on the day, and there is an additional market coming in on 18th. The generosity of people in the area has once again been on display, with a number of charitable causes being supported. The past couple of years have been testing times, with the full repercussions only now beginning to really emerge. The lockdown of society was a severe step to take and has had many far reaching consequences, not least on people's mental health. Let us hope this does not happen again. At present, though there are the dangers of the new Omicron variant. Hopefully, the effectiveness of the vaccines will see the world emerging out of the pandemic period. This will only happen, though, when the whole world is immunised, so countries like the UK have to be generous in getting that vaccine out to poorer countries as well as vaccinating our own population. It is an important gift we can make to the world at Christmas and beyond. The biggest positive to come out of this period has been the way people have come together in community. Nowhere more so than in Wanstead, where people have been looking out for each other and well beyond our geographical borders - surely that has to be the true meaning of Christmas. A reminder to end that the last litter pick of the year will take place at 10am on Saturday 18th. Usual meeting place at Woodbine Place (by the buses) - mince pies will be provided, courtesy of Petty Son & Prestwich. Happy Christmas.

World must come together to confront universal problems

The world must come together to deal with the growing umber of threats to our survival. Last month, countries met as part of the COP26 process to address the joint threat of climate and biodiversity destruction. The protracted meeting was of limited success, with commitments to phase out fossil fuels and cut emissions but the proof will be in implementation. There were commitments made at the last COP meeting in Paris in 2015 but these just failed to happen. Foremost, amongst those commitments was agreement to transfer US$100 billion a year from developed (rich) countries to developing (poor) countries, so that they could make adjustments in their own economies to cut carbon emissions. This funding transfer failed to materialise. Similarly, with the Covid pandemic, the rich countries stand accused of stock piling vaccines, rather than getting them out to poorer nations. Yet, as former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pointed out Covid will not be overcome until it is dealt with everywhere, which means universal vaccination. The emergence of the Omicron variant illustrates this point, a mutation in a part of the world (Southern Africa), with just 24% of the population vaccinated. Migration is another area where a more holistic approach is required. Refugees are being created by war and environmental devastation. They arrive in the rich countries that have played key roles in creating the wars and environmental meltdown. Unequal development across the world forces economic migrants to flee their lands looking for work and a better life. All of these problems have world wide implications and demand a collective, holistic response. It will only be when all nations recognise the benefit of coming together to operate for the common good of all that these issues will be resolved.

Need for more respect in public life

The murder of MP David Amess shook the country, no more so than in east London. David went to St Bonaventures school and was a Redbridge councillor in the early 1980s. He was the epitomy of a good MP, serving his constituents in a devoted way on a daily basis. His death came five years after the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox. There have been other attacks, such as on Newham MP Stephen Timms. There does seem to be a worrying tendency at the moment toward violence against public figures. Whilst the nature of these attacks are all different, it cannot be denied that there seems to be growing animosity toward those who actually are there to serve the community. The divisive nature of the Brexit debate helped create a toxic atmosphere for political dialogue. The anger, though.has increased with the growth in social media. People seem to think there are no consequences and they can say what they like on various platforms. Many of the platforms that accomodate this sort of thing, exercise little control and believe anything goes. Some just seem to have a great deal of anger that they want to direct at something or someone. Elected representatives make a ready target. The level of anger seems to be increasing, probably exaserpated by the strange lives we all now live in the shadow of Covid. People also seem much more ready to come up to elected reprentatives and assail them in the street - any time, anywhere. This is a basic lack of respect. Yes, if people get elected to public office they have to be accountable, which means being prepared to answer up in many different forums. But at the same time they are not punch bags - there to take abuse and angst from citizens There has to be more respect shown all round. A failure to see greater respect and integrity re-established in our politics will see fewer people actually coming forward to represent their communities. Or the wrong sort of people - those that are more self serving and less interested in community. So let's all start treating each other with a little more respect, with the realisation that we are all in it together and commited to the common good of all.