London election hustings in Lambeth and Southwark

With less than eight weeks to go to the London Mayoral elections and elections to the London Assembly, hustings are being organised in Lambeth and Southwark for London Assembly candidates.

These include:

17th April - Faiths Together in Lambeth Hustings at the Karibu Education Centre, 7 Gresham Road, Brixton, SW9 7PH, beginning at 6.00pm

24th April - Sustainable transport hustings, beginning at 7:30 (venue tbc) including Lambeth and Southwark cyclists. We launched our campaign in Lambeth and Southwark back in November around these issues and it's been good to see them increase in prominence since then.

I'll be taking part in both. I'll also be accompanying our mayoral candidate Jenny Jones to the Inclusion London mayoral hustings next week on 20th March at Coin Street Community Builders, on the South Bank. As the organisation points out the mayor has a range of important powers that will directly affect the 1.4 million Deaf and disabled people living in London. There is still a huge amount to be done to overcome the transport apartheid which leaves the overwhelming majority of the tube system inaccessible, as well as tackling negative attitudes to disability and a range of other issues which exclude Londoners from full participation in the life of the capital.

I understand however that neither Ken Livingstone nor Boris Johnson will be attending the inclusion hustings. If this is true, it is shameful - particularly in the year that the paralympics comes to London. It will be seen by many as speaking volumes about the lack of priority being given by these two mayoral candidates to issues of accessibility and inclusion.