As organisations based in Tower Hamlets, we love being in a thriving community, where people from all walks of life live and work side by side. For a senior Conservative to say that parts of Tower Hamlets are “no-go areas” is simply untrue and risks inflaming tensions and further exacerbating the Islamophobia that affects so many people in Britain today (Tory MP Paul Scully claims there are ‘no-go’ areas in Birmingham and London, 26 February).
We are in Tower Hamlets day in and day out, and we see a part of London that has endured government neglect for many years. The problems faced here are not because of closed communities, but because the people who live here have been at the sharpest end of economic mismanagement and prejudice. Some 51% of this community’s children live in poverty while living in the shadow of some of the highest earners in the UK in Canary Wharf – that’s the real issue faced here.
We reject the divisive language from politicians and call on them to tackle Islamophobia at all levels, from the political debate to the classroom and workplace.
Raheel Mohammed Director, Maslaha
Fizza Qureshi CEO, Migrants’ Rights Network
Fatima Ibrahim Co-director, Green New Deal Rising
Shaira Begum Organiser, London Renters Union
Heidi Chow Executive director, Debt Justice
Henry Chango Lopez General secretary, Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain
Mona Bani Executive director, Revoke
Nathalie McDermott CEO, Heard
Rosie Clarke Interim co-director, Medact
Kate Metcalf Co-director, Women’s Environmental Network
Will Stronge Co-director, Autonomy
Robert Noyes Campaigner, Platform
Barney Iley National coordinator, The World Transformed
Ben Beach Director, Unit 38
