Ken Livingstone yesterday announced his Community Relations Manifesto which sets out five key areas for developing good community relations in the city.
Describing London as “the world’s most international, and therefore, multi-ethnic city” Mr Livingstone said the capital “enjoys among the best community relations in the world, racist attacks have fallen by over fifty per in eight years.”
“But creating this situation required huge effort and following a clear multi-culturalist policy. Only just over twenty years ago London witnessed serious rioting in Brixton and Broadwater farm and the MacPherson report revealed an unacceptable situation in the Metropolitan Police.”
The Mayor said that maintaining good relations had “required constant effort to transform the make up of every institution representing Londoners. It has required working with the leaders of every community in London.”
“Great progress has been made in this direction. But much remains to be done. That is also why I am making defending, promoting and improving London’s present system of community relations a central plank of my manifesto for re-election of Mayor of London.”
The five areas are:
1. That London be united by the right of every Londoner to equal real opportunity to share in our city’s success and where all discriminatory barriers in education, training, or employment are lifted
2. That London be united by the right of every Londoner to be themselves, to live their life as they wish, to have freedom of thought, religion, politics and culture on the sole condition that they respect the right of every other Londoner to the same freedom.
3. That London be united by respect and tolerance of all of its different cultures, with official recognition and celebration of the contribution of all of London’s communities to the life of London culture with all obeying a single legal system that applies equally to all Londoners.
4. That London be united by zero tolerance of discrimination.
5. That to achieve this unity we strive for all of London’s elected institutions and public services to reflect the diversity of the communities who they are there to serve.
