Back to normal in Newham?

It was seeing the bouquets of flowers outside the surgery that stopped me in my tracks. The rising and disproportionate number of deaths due to Covid, particularly among Black and ethnic minority communities, had been a main topic in the news for weeks. Closed shops, empty buses and long queues outside the supermarket let us know that we were in a period of quarantine or lockdown - depending who you spoke to. But it was on a walk in an almost deserted high street in May 2020 that the impact of Covid-19 really hit home. The flowers were for one of the GPs, who had died from Covid-19.

On 1 May the Guardian reported that in Newham people had been dying from Covid-19 at a much higher rate than anywhere else in the UK.¹ The borough is close to the UK’s major financial districts - the City of London and Canary Wharf. Yet, in contrast to the great wealth of the City, Newham has for a long time been lived in by people on much lower incomes. As in other parts of the country, Covid-19 has revealed these inequalities in new ways.

Situated roughly five miles to the east of the City of London, Newham is a predominantly young borough. With a median age of 31.9, and with 72% of the population claiming a Black or ethnic minority background, it is one of the most culturally diverse areas in the UK. The multicultural nature of the area is in keeping with its history as a location for significant migration from former Commonwealth countries and beyond.

Because of its location, Newham has been undergoing a period of extensive regeneration and redevelopment, particularly in areas near the docks, and around the Olympic Park in Stratford. House prices and rents have risen across the borough, but only a very small percentage of new builds are allocated to social housing. The new Crossrail route has three stations in Newham, making the area even more desirable for those that can afford it.

There are plans to create 35,000 jobs and 4000 new homes in the Royal Docks and 40,000 jobs in Stratford. Currently residents are employed mainly in occupations that are relatively low-paid, including health, care and retail. These patterns are unlikely to change for most residents.

Being a host borough for the London 2012 Olympics was supposed to bring benefits to the borough in terms of more jobs, better opportunities and affordable housing. Almost ten years later, promised opportunities have not materialised in any substantial way. Longstanding Newham residents are still low paid, with a below average median salary of 24,923, but they still live in expensive housing - London rents are some of the highest in the country, no matter which borough you live in. Newham is place of contrasts, with newly gentrified spaces displaying pockets of wealth while other parts of the borough experience some of the worst overcrowding in the country.

On a national scale the UK government’s shambolic response to the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the gaping cracks in our systems. Dire conditions in the criminal justice system, the NHS, and in health and social care have been exposed.

We can see with great clarity what it is like to live with very little money, no back up and few resources. We are becoming more and more aware that for some the interactions with state agencies, benefit systems, and the police are fearful and problematic. We cannot help but know that living cheek by jowl in the inner city brings its own pressures.

Like many inner city areas, Newham has been on the receiving end of almost a decade of austerity measures. Unemployment rates remain high, and 52% of children live in poverty. An 81% cut in youth services has left young people with little to do and few places to go.³ Affordable housing is in short supply; despite regeneration, large numbers of people - 45 per 1000 - are still living in temporary accommodation.⁴

Throughout the lockdown period, young people have watched their parents...