London: a bustling, vibrant metropolis which over 7,000,000 people call home. With the highest population density of any settlement in Britain, the clear need for decent infrastructure and services to serve Londoners and the institutions that exist within the city has been cause for some emotive debates for centuries. In addition to services such as transport, which virtually all Londoners will interact with on a daily basis, it is essential that we have good emergency services.
In the tragic 7/7 terror attacks, it was London Fire Brigade and the London Ambulance Service which were first on the scene, and they saved many lives because they had the resources and manpower to respond swiftly. More recently, the incident in which a helicopter crashed into a crane and then onto Wandsworth Road (in Vauxhall) would have been a lot worse had firemen from the local Clapham fire station not been so nearby.
Unfortunately, Conservative-led administrations in both Whitehall and City Hall do not recognize the necessity of well-funded emergency services, and are planning dangerous cuts to the headcounts and budgets of NHS, police and fire services.
This is the extent of the planned cuts:
· All three services’ budgets are being cut by around 20% over the next two years
· Various police stations will be replaced with part-time ‘contact points’ in supermarkets and coffee shops
· 4,200 police officers
· 560 fewer paramedics
· The closure of 7 out of 32 A&E departments
· Closing up to 30 fire stations- including in Clapham and Kensington
The south inner London boroughs are set to suffer disproportionately due to these cuts. The boroughs have already lost 1 in 5 of their police officers (far above the London average; and will have local hospitals under increased strain with the loss of Lewisham A&E. Not only does this mean that the community will bear a greater burden of redundancies, but it will also be a dangerous place to need emergency assistance. There is no possible way such severe cuts will not delay call-out times, or avoid placing severe strain on courageous workers already doing some of the toughest jobs in existence.
This is why Labour, in collaboration with other London residents, is running the 999SOS campaign. Its aims are very simple: to make the city and central governments rethink their commitment to these dangerous cuts. Whilst it’s true that the Coalition is imposing the bulk of the funding reductions, Boris Johnson is letting Londoners down by failing to follow Labour’s example in local government: to highlight the impact of such cuts and pressure the Treasury to put people first.
We can’t rely on the Mayor to defend our interests. If we are to prevent London becoming a dangerous place to live, we must act ourselves to protect visible and capable emergency services, for the wellbeing of the entire community.
