Tag: Zoe Garbett

Election results, new reports, and calls to ‘Decolonise’ Newham

Working-class ethnic minority communities across the city appear to be united by similar concerns: once welcomed to help rebuild the UK after the Blitz (WWII), many now feel they are treated with disregard by politicians and decision-makers. This month, however, People Power has broken through the political ranks in Newham, signalling that the ethnic minority votes can no longer be taken for granted by career politicians. 

Just Space Network’s Alternative Plan for a caring city

First of two newly published reports represents years of interviews by researchers and campaigners from Just Space Network (JSN), an informal alliance of community groups, campaigns and organisations advocating for fairer planning and development across the city. Acting as a collective voice for grassroots Londoners and local communities, JSN regularly brings together groups such as Friends of Queen’s Market (FoQM) with other struggles.

JSN’s latest report is the result of three years of research and engagement, gathering evidence on what Londoners want from their city plan. It has been shaped by the need for an alternative to successive London Plans which, over the past 25 years, have worsened conditions for many residents by deepening the housing and rent crisis, privatisation of public land, damaged street markets while enabling unchecked property development to reshape and hollow out communities – all for a quick buck for themselves!

The report argues that the close relationship between developers, political interests and finance has contributed to a model of city-building that often overlooks the needs of existing Londoners. JSN’s proposed Alternative London Plan for a caring city, offers a different vision for London’s future and can be read online via the link below [FoQM feature on page 41]: https://justspace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Justspace_Alt_Plan-2026.pdf

Image (above): Printed copies of the report are available to collect from selected community spaces.

How do we effectively address the Racism in the UK planning system?

This second published report follows the emergence of Protect Our Places (POP) in late 2023, a coalition of eleven campaigns, organisations and community groups across London, including FoQM. POP brings together anti-gentrification campaigns from across the capital, all working to protect the markets, town centres, high streets and affordable retail spaces that are central to their communities and cultural identity. You can read the Protect Our Places (POP) anti-gentrification report here: https://latinelephant.org/coming-together-pop-report-released/

Image (above): front cover of the report. Printed copies are available to collect from community spaces.

Is Newham witnessing a three-way political split, or are signs of a more democratic future beginning to emerge?

Recently, our supporters posed questions at the local election hustings at the Tate Institute in Silvertown, Newham – historically a social club for Tate & Lyle factory workers. The venue remains an important community space that now needs support to continue serving local residents. Those involved are working hard to keep the space open for vital community use, and donations are encouraged to help with renovation – click here to find out more. The community organisers generously hosted a hustings with all prospective Mayoral candidates on Saturday 2nd May, yet Labour’s Mayoral candidate was notably absent – rumours abounded, suggested concerns about a potential “Green trap” may have discouraged attendance. The Newham Independents candidate Mehmood Mirza spoke about his mistreatment having been targeted, with his family being followed in the lead up to him taking public office – see these YouTube videos ‘Targeted by Labour for their ethnicity’ – see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5vHEkYo6LU 
Also see: ‘The Labour Files: Episode 3. The Hierarchy – Al Jazeera Investigations’ [M. Mirza mentions being followed at point 39:49]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-cHBQf5z_M

The Green Party candidate, Areeq Chowdhury, a self-described “data nerd” did really well to face the audience largely alone because Mirza had to leave early – if Areeq has further information on how Newham Council uses public and retail data trends, whether larger private companies have access to this data, or why key local data, including statistics on the importance of Queen’s Market, food poverty and community needs continues to be overlooked in favour of speculative development plans, we encourage him to share it with us.

Scrolling gallery of photographs (above): A sign was placed where the Labour candidate was supposed to be, reading simply: “Labour?”

The proof is in the ballot box

Following the elections, the Newham Independents Party achieved a significant increase in council seats in and around Queen’s Market, particularly in Plaistow North (where Queen’s Market is located), Boleyn and Green Street wards – securing a whopping 24 council seats in total. However, the green shoots have been most surprising, with Green Party support resulting in 16 Councillor seats secured across other parts of the borough. Now, with no overall control, Newham Council’s long-standing one-party dominance appears to survive largely through Labour’s directly-elected mayoral system – clinging on for dear life as career politicians defend an ageing, crumbling structure that has rarely worked in the interests of Newham’s diverse and growing population.

For many local residents, the latest election results reflect the continuing importance of Queen’s Market in the lives of Londoners; at a time when food prices continue to rise and more families are being pushed deeper into poverty, people have shown what matters most by voting differently.

Image (above): “One finds oneself in need of an additional manservant, in order to arrive at the club with suitable haste” thought the colonial master. Are colonial roles like master and manservant being played out in Newham’s political scene?

Are we witnessing Newham finally moving beyond one-party dominance and toward Decolonisation?

The diverse electorate inside Newham has finally woken from the outdated and ‘toxic’ colonial-style politics, calling for increasingly transparent ways to engage in the democratic process, while also safeguarding what matters most to help their communities thrive. 

But will the newly elected representatives listen and understand that change is a two-way process, and that they also need to let go of what hasn’t been working for decades?

Upcoming hustings: which candidate will truly stand up for Queen’s Market?

Do candidates mean what they say, or is the real story unfolding behind closed doors?

After more than twenty years of campaigning, our community street market is still sadly under threat. Friends of Queen’s Market have always depended on community strength and the goodwill of local residents, traders, and shoppers – and once again, we find ourselves at that familiar point in the political cycle.

Recent interviews with the main political parties suggest plans to demolish the market building. This would impact thousands of families who rely on it for affordable fresh food and as an important social space. Meanwhile, councillors based in more affluent parts of Newham seem disconnected from the realities of the cost-of-living crisis, all while being funded by the public. It raises an important question: who is holding them accountable, and are they truly serving the community?

You can watch the recent REVIVE FM Newham Mayoral Elections recording below [Queen’s Market is mentioned 1:07:50 onwards]:

Newham Council Elections – Community Hustings

Hear from the prospective candidates on the following dates (in-person gathering)

  1. Tuesday 28th April 2026 at 6.30pm
    Held at: Clapton Community Football Club, The Old Spotted Dog Ground, Walter Tull Way, 212 Upton Lane, London E7 9NP (Nearest stations: Forest Gate, Upton Park)
  1. Saturday 2nd May 2026 at 4pm
    Held at: Tate Institute, 1 Wythes Rd, London E16 2DN (Nearest station: London City Airport)
    Sign up to attend here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/newham-mayoral-community-hustings-tickets-1987663387699 
    Stalls and activities from 2pm. Hustings start 4pm. Finish 6:30pm. Food and kids activities provided 

    Groups involved: London Renters Union, The Magpie Project, Newham Muslim Forum, Respace, PEACH, The Women in Newham Network, Newham Trades Council, Save Newham Libraries, Born Everywhere Made in Newham, Friends of Queen’s Market and Newham Poetry Group and more TBA


FACTS about Newham show why residents need the market! 

–   The poverty rate is one of the highest in London: the market helps alleviate poverty.

–   45% of children are in families with below 60% of the average income: Queen’s Market provides for hungry families.

–   More households in temporary accommodation than most other boroughs (59 per 1000): vulnerable families need to eat, so come to shop at Queen’s Market.

–   Unemployment higher than average: the market provides jobs to heads of families, and for women too.

–   Life expectancy is lower than average: Queen’s Market provides access to fresh affordable culturally-appropriate food

Some Candidates are talking about ‘developing the market’. FACTS ALSO SHOW that property developers will not protect or safeguard the market for the future. Their business is PROFIT for themselves, not the wellbeing of Newham’s residents. Developers already own land all over Newham. 

WE NEED A MAYOR AND COUNCILLORS WHO will commit to PROTECTING the Market and what it is here for – no gentrification, no pushing local people and businesses out.    

Position of political parties

LABOUR – The Labour Council under Mayor Fiaz has not looked after the market or managed it well. Even with a £7 million grant, promises were not kept and the money has been spent very badly. The Council’s Local Plan puts tall buildings on the site – our market would not survive that.

NEWHAM INDEPENDENTS – Councillors Mehmood Mirza (Boleyn ward) and Sophia Naqvi (Plaistow North ward) have consistently supported Queen’s Market.

GREEN PARTY – Councillors Danny Keeling and Nate Higgins have supported Queen’s Market. Zoe Garbett (Green member in the London Assembly) has supported the market.

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS – Good ideas on democracy but their plans are uncertain.

CONSERVATIVE, REFORM – Regarding the market, their polices would most likely benefit developers, not residents.

FRIENDS OF QUEEN’S MARKET SAYS: “LABOUR HAS NOT LISTENED TO THE PEOPLE. LABOUR HAS IGNORED OUR NEEDS. THE COUNCIL MUST HAVE MORE VOICES AND BE MORE DEMOCRATIC. WE NEED A CHANGE.”

You couldn’t make it up!

What’s perhaps most concerning is that Newham’s former Labour mayor – often labelled by critics as overly controlling – has now aligned himself with the ‘far-right’ Reform UK party. Yes, that’s right, “Sir” Robin Wales (robbin’ us dry!), alongside Councillor Clive Furness, who is standing as the Reform mayoral candidate. Wales held power in Newham for 23 years, first as Leader of the Council from 1995 to 2002, and then as the directly elected Mayor from 2002 to 2018, until his deselection in March 2018. His ego clearly has the better of him, and he’s back under another ‘dodgy’ outfit. Many residents feel that the current challenges facing Newham are closely tied to decisions made during his leadership, with some of his former allies now seeking to return to positions of power.

Disturbing divisive politics from the far-right “weasels”: (Left-right) Clive Furness, “Sir” Robin Wales, and slippery national figure Nigel Farage, whose surname suggests his ancestry is foreign, but he does not want other hard-working people to call London, England or the United Kingdom home… seriously?!

“There is something rotten at the core of the main party politics inside of Newham. These people who have joined a ‘far-right’ political party while when in power (under Labour) ate greedily from the public pocket – from our collective taxes. It’s shocking that they feel they can get away with this kind of behaviour”, says Abdullah Isaiah born and bred East Londoner.

Pulling the wool over your eyes

Over the past few years, what we’ve observed in Newham is a pattern of superficial engagement – consultations and listening exercises that appear to invite collaboration, but in reality fall short of genuine co-creation. Instead of meaningful involvement, the process gives only the impression of participation while delivering the opposite. This is an illusion of democracy.

We ask people to walk around the post-2012 Olympic site and see for themselves – after 14 years, where are the homes local people can actually afford on the Olympics site? Where are the genuinely affordable shops? How much public money and investment is really reaching the community? Because from where we stand, those benefits are nowhere to be seen.

Image (above): “Don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes” is an idiom that means do not let someone trick, deceive, or hoodwink you. It advises someone to be cautious, pay attention, and not allow others to manipulate them or hide the truth.

FoQM say: when you go to vote, choose people power and change that truly protects our community and public spaces that hold the community together, like Queen’s Market.

Newham is London’s most diverse borough, and this moment will help determine whether the next generation can afford to stay – whether they can access homes promised as part of the post-Olympics legacy, and meet the everyday costs of living.

Queen’s Market celebrates diversity, unity and anti-racism, and has become a real litmus test for prospective candidates towards understanding Newham’s citizens: if they can’t commit to protecting it, what exactly are they standing for?

Image (above): FoQM remind you to bring along your photo ID when voting in-person.

Demonstration held outside Newham Council offices: “The devil is in the detail”

Council accused of playing ‘Hunger Games’ with local people’s lives

Friends of Queen’s Market (FoQM) would like to wish all our supporters a Happy New Year. We hope 2026 brings healthier choices, stronger communities, and many visits to Queen’s Market for fresh fruit and vegetables.

Newham Local Plan under review

Newham Council’s Local Plan is currently being examined by a UK Government Planning Inspector to assess whether it is “sound”. In principle, this process should ensure that local people’s needs, voices, and aspirations are fully reflected. In practice, many residents fear that decisions are being shaped behind closed doors, with private developers exerting disproportionate influence. Local people are left asking: how transparent are these discussions, and have all interests been properly declared? Public land and public assets should serve the public good – not be treated as commodities for private gain.

As one local resident put it, these suited decision-makers often behave as though local land and communities are theirs to dispose of. That mindset must be challenged.

FoQM raised serious concerns about wording within the Local Plan that threatens the future of Queen’s Market. Ambiguous language, buried deep in planning documents, could allow redevelopment that undermines the market’s social, cultural, and economic role.

PHOTO (top): on a cold blistering morning, ardent supporters and Friends of Queen’s Market demonstrate outside the hyper-corporate 1000 Dockside (another waste of public money – see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24205638), to stick up for local needs before private greed.

Growing frustration with Council conduct

FoQM and other community groups increasingly experience a lack of respect and transparency from the Council. There has been persistent vagueness about the market’s future, combined with reports of heavy-handed enforcement by market inspectors.

Residents are entitled to expect professionalism and accountability from public officers whose salaries are paid through public funds.

One long-standing mother with 3 kids said:

“For Goodness sake, the Council has the entire borough to play with. They have the whole post-2012 Olympic site in Stratford where luxury flats already dominate. Why are they so determined to destroy a historic community street market instead?”

“If council officers want high-end shopping, it’s only 15 minutes away by bus. Why threaten something that generations of families rely on and love?”

Newham’s financial crisis raises serious questions

Recent reports that Newham Council was on the brink of bankruptcy are deeply concerning. For the 2025/26 financial year, Newham received £51.2 million in Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from central government.

This raises legitimate questions about governance, financial decision-making, and accountability. At a time of severe cuts to services, residents are right to ask how money is being managed and whose interests are being prioritised.

Related coverage:

When councils cut services, it is local people who suffer first – and local assets are often stripped away. Queen’s Market remains a vital lifeline: providing affordable food, clothing, and jobs for Newham’s diverse and growing population.

“Queen’s Market is affordable, welcoming, and essential. My neighbours from Stratford and my cousins from Essex shop here. We know the traders – they know us.

I don’t want over-wrapped, plastic-heavy supermarket food. Here I can touch the freshness of what I eat and feed my family properly. I also buy fabric to make clothes — the haberdashery here is unmatched.”

– local shopper who shops at Queen’s Market for 3 generations of his family

Read BBC article ‘How microplastics are infiltrating the food you eat’ [01/2023] on dangers of plastic getting into our food:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20230103-how-plastic-is-getting-into-our-food

IMAGE (above): Source: medium.com/Lorenzo Viglietti

“The devil is in the detail”

The Local Plan contains language that appears neutral but may enable damaging outcomes. Terms like “affordable” and “retain” are frequently used in planning while meaning the opposite in practice – housing that people cannot afford, or demolition framed as preservation.

This echoes the English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic George Orwell’s warnings about political language. George Orwell viewed the changing, degradation, and intentional manipulation of language as a direct threat to intellectual freedom and democracy. He argued that when words lose their precise meaning, or are intentionally redefined to mean their opposite, they become tools for authoritarian control, enabling political “doublespeak” that masks reality. His most significant analysis on this topic is found in his 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language” and his dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

PHOTO (above): Recent hoardings in Queen’s Square (also known as Hamara Ghar Square) promote “digital inclusion”, despite the Council knowing that its Co-create website has excluded thousands of local residents and wasted £3.1 million of public money.

FoQM and local supporters must navigate this complex planning terrain to prevent demolition and privatisation of Queen’s Market.

Have your say: Local Plan Examination

📍 Newham Council Offices, 1000 Dockside, E16 2QE
🚆 Nearest station: Royal Albert DLR

🗓 Thursday 22 January, from 2:00 pm
📌 Focus: Newham’s policy on Markets

More information on the Local Plan Examination:
https://www.newham.gov.uk/planning-development-conservation/newham-local-plan-examination

FoQM is calling for the removal of the Tall Buildings Zone designation, which would allow towers of up to 50 metres above Queen’s Market and Hamara Ghar. This directly contradicts other stated planning policies and must be corrected.

PHOTO (above): Highly corporate (dull), energy guzzler, over-budget, over-securitised – Newham Council offices at 1000 Dockside. Locals feel “locked out” of decision-making inside the London Borough of Newham.

Are local people being forced to just “survive”?

Image (above): Newham’s residents are increasingly seeing themselves in a dystopic episode of The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games (Book and film by author: Suzanne Collins) depicts a society where people must struggle, compete, and comply just to survive – while those in power remain insulated from the consequences.

Is this what life is becoming for Newham’s residents? A borough where communities are sidelined, essential assets threatened, and voices ignored?

FoQM believes Newham deserves better – and we will continue to stand up for Queen’s Market, for transparency, and for the people who make this borough what it is.

PHOTO (Above): Bureaucracy and red tape – Friends of Queen’s Market give counter evidence to the Planning Inspectorate on the importance of safeguarding Queen’s Market.

Green Deputy Mayor visits, but locals ask: who’s really standing up for Queen’s Market?

There’s never a quiet day when those in power keep trying to pull the rug from under our feet.

Recently, Green Party Deputy Mayor Zoë Garbett visited Queen’s Market. Zoe likely cycled down from the new Greater London Authority (GLA) that’s moved into Newham now. Funny, isn’t it? All this “movement” from City Hall, yet so little progress for the local communities living right where they’ve set up shop.
To be fair to Zoë and the Greens at the GLA, they have always bothered to listen to the plight of Queen’s Market’s traders, so we really appreciated them coming down.

During their visit, market traders shared powerful stories about why Queen’s Market matters: it’s not just as a place to shop, but is the beating heart of the community. One trader pointed out that the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, seems to view everything through a narrow “investment” lens. Well, if the Mayor truly wants to invest in London’s future, he should start by investing in the people who make this city alive, and not into sterile, privatised developments that push out working-class families and erase our cultural heritage.

London doesn’t need more glass towers and corporate plazas. It needs places like Queen’s Market – places where people connect, trade, and thrive together. But instead of supporting us, the powers that be are letting our markets crumble while calling their plans “regeneration.”

Across London, ethnic minority and working-class neighbourhoods are being steamrolled by gentrification, dressed up as “progress.” As one local put it bluntly: “They’ve proper gentrified the lot.” And for what? So we can pay more for fruit and veg while decision-makers sit in air-conditioned offices paid for by our taxes? No thanks, we won’t stand by and let that happen here.

Meanwhile, even the basics are being ignored. As the days grow shorter, Friends of Queen’s Market, alongside shoppers and traders, are once again pleading for proper lighting inside the market. The issue has been raised time and again – yet still nothing. It’s a simple, essential fix that would make the market safer and more welcoming. We’re calling on those responsible to act now before the new year, before another winter in the dark. Because this market isn’t just a retail place, it’s a community and social space worth fighting for.

Photos (above): Zoë Garbett, the Green Party Deputy Mayor visits Queen’s Market to hear the views of local people.