Author Archives: mihlalisidney

who is our next mayor of london?

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polling station in London

Below are some of the top candidates who will be the new mayor of London 2021.

By Mihlali Sidney

SADIQ KHAN

Sadiq Khan is the current mayor of London under the labour party, he has been at City Hall for an extra year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His achievements during his reign as mayor are the Hopper fare, cleaning up London’s air and banning derogatory advertising of women on the tube. But critics say he hasn’t done enough to tackle knife crime and was too slow to give TfL staff PPE during lockdown.

For his second term he plans to, have a fund to re-skill Londoners post-Covid, support for more than 170,000 green jobs and a review into decriminalising cannabis.

USP: A modern Muslim mayor who is as comfortable at the Pride parade as he is mingling with Jacinda Ardern and Justin Trudeau.

SHAUN BAILEY

Shaun Bailey is a Tory candidate and is second favourite to current mayor Sadiq Khan to win the election.

The former youth worker was brought up by his mother in a council house in Ladbroke Grove where he describes as a violent and traumatic place, he said “people carried knives, sold drugs”. Bailey has been a Conservative in the London Assembly since 2016.

His mayoral policies are; 100,000 homes for £100,000 each so that first-time buyers can get on the property ladder, while other catchy ideas include a competition to design murals around the city. He also promises to “hustle for the city” and provide extra 8,000 police officers and 4,000 youth workers to make London safer if he is elected as mayor.

USP: “I want my community to achieve things on their own and not be told what they can’t do.”

MANDU REID

The Swaziland born leader of the first black lead political party in the United Kingdom, Womens Equality party. Mandu plans to put the safety of women and girls high on the agenda after the Sarah Everard tragedy, majority of attention is t to Mandu Reid, who has been a leading voice in the fight for women’s rights over the last month. She has demanded that politicians of all stripes to “treat violence against women and girls as a political and policing priority.”

She grew up in Swaziland and attended the first ever school in Southern Africa where black children and white children could study together. With its diversity and rich culture, she says London is the “first place that ever truly felt like home”.

USP: First black woman to lead a political party

SIAN BERRY

Co-leader of the Green Party Sian Berry. The Camden councillor came third in the 2016 mayoral race with more than 150,000 first-preference votes and is seen as the leading lady in this year’s electoral race. Berry see’s climate change as an increasingly hot political topic across the capital.

The daughter of teachers who was raised in Cheltenham, Sian Berry went to a local grammar school before attending Oxford where she studied Metallurgy and the Science of Materials. Berry is fighting for tenants’ rights. Although imposing rent controls on landlords is currently beyond the power of the mayor, Berry has also vowed to lobby for “protection from soaring rents”. She also wants to introduce a £14 an hour living wage and piloting a universal basic income in the city.

USP: Leading woman in the race on the front foot of the green agenda.

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Social media reactions to the local elections 2021

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Polling station London, United Kingdom

The local elections have finally happened in England, and so far the biggest shock so far on social media is The conservatives, winning Hartlepool by almost 7000 votes, this is a big shock as Hartlepool for 47 years, has been under the Labour party.

From most of Twitter’s reactions majority aren’t happy with the, Tory victory.

Here are Twitter reactions so far.

Public asking for 20 year “Thames hero” Jimi to be honoured by the UK government.

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FolaJimi died in the river Thames whilst trying to save a woman in need.

Folajimi Olubunmi-Adewole 20 years

A petition online has been started by the public to get the attention of the government to honour young Jimi for his heroic act. The public is asking the government for a memorial plaque on London Bridge.

Petition for memorial plaque in honour of Jimi

Jimi was on his way home, coming back from work with a friend when they heard a woman calling for help from the water. Jimi bravely jumped in, in an attempt to save her along with another man, before emergency services arrived on the scene.

The coastguard and police marine units arrived at the scene and were able to rescue the woman and the other man who had jumped in, but Jimi’s body was found later on at 6am in the morning.

A fundraiser was set up to honour Jimi’s bravery with the target of raising £25,000. This is to support his family with funeral arrangements. The target quickly surpassed the target to over £100,000 from over 6000 donations. The organisers took down the GoFundMe after they had noticed that they raised a lot of money. The support from the public can only be described as an outpouring love, gratitude, respect and support for young Jimi who showed bravery and selflessness by trying to save the life of a woman who had fallen from London Bridge into the River Thames on the 24th of April.

GoFundMe surpassed the £25,000 target

Jimi’s, Michael Adewole told The Sun: “Jimi was a very nice, kind young man, he was the heart of our family.

“He was full of life, he had his life to live, he was ambitious, and he was so gifted.”

Mr Adewola believes his son should be recognised for his bravery. “We want justice for him,” he said.

Many in the country have been leaving tributes for the brave young man, as the city is rocked by the tragic news.

There are now calls for Jimi to receive a posthumous award and a Gallantry Award for his act of selflessness and Bravery.

“We want his life to mean something, it will always mean something to us, but he should be rewarded for the bravery he showed, he deserves a medal for what he did.”

online Crowd funding helping more than the government.

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How a young person from London helped an expecting unemployed mother to be using her social media account .

By Mihlali Sidney

Having a baby can be stressful for the expecting mother under normal circumstances but the stress is heightened when you are expecting in a pandemic unemployed. Pregnant women who are from low-income households, are being denied the financial support that during the covid-19 pandemic. According to unions and women’s support groups, who are looking to the government for urgent universal credit to reform. The statutory maternity pay is paid to higher earning women by their employers, who have the luxury of “claiming it back” as “earnings” this is then ignored when benefit payments are calculated. Both of these are supposed to be implemented for expecting mothers to lessen the load, to allow them space and time to bond with their new baby.

On the 18th/ 02/2021 a young woman Misharlie, reached out to her followers on twitter to help assist her with helping an expecting unemployed mother. The tweet read “Does anyone have any baby stuff for a new born, push chairs, cots, clothes. I’m trying to help a new mum who is about to give birth and is currently unemployed”

To her surprise, soon after her direct messages were flooded with offers for push chairs, nappies, baby clothes and money. The people are doing more for each other than the government.

In such challenging times the world has managed to open their hearts, to help each other.

Many people before covid would have probably not have bothered to extend help to another human being. Misharlie has wonderfully used an unequipped system to raise funds via social media and also help a family in need.

  • donated clothes for the baby

There are a few charities in the UK, that are there to help expecting mums in tough situations, Maternity action is dedicated to stand on behalf of pregnant women to help receive government aid for them and the baby.

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