Were further proof required, the End Child Poverty campaign has produced a report that shows London to be full of hard-up kids. Its list of the 20 UK local authorities containing the highest percentages of children in poverty contains eleven of the capital's 32 boroughs, with Tower Hamlets topping the list on 52%. Islington, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham and Barking and Dagenham are up there too. Only a dozen boroughs have a child poverty rate of less than one in four.
Once again, the massive gap between the capital's richest and poorest is illuminated. Once again, questions are raised about what can be done to close it. There aren't any easy answers, as the report's disturbing predictions about the near future show: unemployment and the failure of both low pay and benefits to keep pace with inflation are set to make matters worse across the country.
London is no exception: indeed, previous analysis has shown our child poverty rate is the highest of any UK region. The gloomy outlook, following several years of improvement, is obviously related to a combination of global economic factors and government policy. So what can or could London itself do about it?
Boris Johnson pledged on the night he won the last mayoral election that tackling London's inequalities would be a priority for him. I'm not doubting his sincerity, but the levers at his - or any mayor's - disposal for making progress on this remain limited, and inequality has continued to increase. With election campaigning intensifying, let's hope the mayoral candidates come up with good ideas for increasing the capacity of London's elected leaders to deal with a problem that threatens the future prospects of the entire city.
The Guardian on London
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London blogosphere
Transport news from London Reconnections:
Last year TfL tendered for six new trams for the Croydon Tramlink...The first will be inserted into the normal timetable over the next two months, although it will not pick up passengers. It is currently expected to enter passenger service at the end of February.
Want to see how they look? OK, read on.
Coming up
Tuesday's London Assembly transport committee examines passenger transport services on the Thames and Thursday's economy, culture and sport committee considers sports provision for disabled Londoners. All of next week's public meetings at City Hall are listed here. Thanks for reading. Keep in touch.
