Cllr Dr Aysha Raza, the Labour & Co-Operative councillor for Greenford Green Ward is making Ealing a truly diverse borough of London, home to people with roots all over the world to live and celebrate diversity
Tackling inequalities has been a life mission for Cllr Dr Aysha Raza who is using her power and position as the Labour & Co-Operative councillor for Greenford Green Ward effectively for the same. She is the first cabinet member with the portfolio for tackling Inequalities in the London Borough of Ealing. Though the pandemic has affected the functioning of the council, Aysha has ensured that that the council’s activities are centred around public health and the NHS messaging reaches every household through the in-house publication around Ealing and online channels in the community languages. Explaining the process she says, “ Throughout the lockdown during the pandemic I have fielded an increased number of phone-calls mostly beginning with the words ‘I didn’t know who to call so I hope you don’t mind me calling you to ask’ Mostly these were calls for practical help like getting shopping, organising bill payments etc when digitally excluded, routine healthcare appointments, hot meals for those on their own, worried people with loved ones in hospital or recently bereaved needing to organise funerals. We saw the best of our community coming together to help neighbours in need, it was so very heartening to witness. Covid mutual aid groups supported by the council’s Ealing Together phone line and staff were enabled and continue to support so many in need as we move towards a recovery. Much of the response was managed centrally but wherever possible the council has supported our residents with continuing vital services like refuse collection.”
She added that the council was responsible for the distribution of government food rations for those that were vulnerable and shielding, often substituting unsuitable food items for better quality culturally appropriate ones.
Aysha says that it upsets her to think how COVID-19 has affected the minority communities with so many lost to the virus in both the first and second waves. “Many of these people were our keyworkers who remained on the frontline providing vital services during lockdown. The cracks of inequality were already widening with life expectancy lower by a decade in areas like Southall compared with our affluent neighbourhoods in central Ealing. Minority communities already affected by gross inequalities of every sort were just unable to cope with all the recent changes including Brexit. Tragically in the UK we have had a policy of austerity which has run down our public services, severely affecting our resilience to any possible crisis. A period of economic instability during the Brexit transition has been escalated by COVID-19. I would say it’s the perfect storm.”
She unapologetically voices her views on this issue as according to her it has been a political choice to follow a programme of austerity mercilessly cutting the budget of local government that is expected to help everyone in their time of need. “We now look to the charity and voluntary sector to deliver much of what we used to be able to do,” she adds.
Aysha further throws light on the strategic efforts being taken to address their grievances, needs and adverse situations. “Our biggest challenge now has been to get the minority communities vaccinated. As we face the Delta variant of Covid-19 sweeping through the UK with alarming speed the only way to insure people survive is vaccination, but we are up against the fake news campaigns online and via phone messaging apps. Sadly, the most vulnerable communities have succumbed to misinformation and conspiracy theory, so it has been difficult to get past vaccine hesitancy,” she says.
The councilor further adds that the authorities are working with NHS partners to set up walk in vaccination events where no appointments or NHS numbers are needed, residents can get vaccinated easily and efficiently. Aysha says that walk-in vaccination drives have been successful in Southall. “In the immediate future we are looking at how best to support our residents in the Covid recovery, with livelihoods, housing, and food security, thankfully we have a very pro-active mayor in Sadiq Khan leading on this in London,” she adds.
George Floyd’s case has been one of the greatest examples of racism and inequality of all times and different views and opinions about the same have been doing rounds in the international media. Aysha, being an active member of the recently set up Independent Race Equality Commission has been ardently following the case. Commenting about the same she says, “Racism and inequality are alive and sadly thriving even today, even on our streets and it is up to us as allies to call it out and stamp it out. Everyone who watched the footage of George Floyd’s death was horrified. However, the subsequent formation of the Black Lives Matter Movement brought into sharp focus the experiences of our black friends, family, and neighbours. The commission chaired by Lord Simon Wooley has been making steady progress with several meetings and listening events having taken place already. Meetings around health and housing, crime and justice, income and employment, young people, and education, as well as continuing outreach events and a survey have been gathering vital findings.”
As the first cabinet member given the responsibility to strategically tackle inequality, Aysha has multiple things in her mind that she ensures will be implemented. “I hope to help make Ealing a fairer place to live, learn and work for everyone. In Ealing we are proud to be a truly diverse borough of London, home to people with roots all over the world and we celebrate our diversity, it makes us stronger. Anyone or anything that seeks to divide us is not welcome in our community,” she concludes.