Organising during a global pandemic for an improved Tottenham

Why Tottenham needs to Build Back Better

By Haringey Green New Deal Hub

Organising community action during a global pandemic and national lockdowns is no easy task. But that’s what we at Haringey Green New Deal Hub, a team of six local volunteers, have been doing over the last few months.

We’ve been working on the Build Back Better campaign launched by Green New Deal UK, a non-profit organisation formed in 2019 by organisers who are committed to social, racial, economic and climate justice.

Residents of Tottenham and Haringey more widely, face a variety of challenges that a Green New Deal would radically improve. The area has large communities that are systematically marginalised in the UK, who are bearing the brunt of Covid-19. Our borough is one of the most deprived in London with high rates of homelessness, unemployment, people living in temporary or poor quality rented accommodation, and in fuel poverty.

Clean travel options (like walking and cycling) are very poor in Tottenham.

Covid-19 has revealed chronic inequalities in our society that mean the most vulnerable people have been hit hardest. Nobody has been unaffected by Covid-19 – whether through illness, the loss of family members/friends, job insecurity or redundancy, or anxiety and isolation. Build Back Better seeks solutions to all of these challenges.

Build Back Better is supported by non-governmental organisations, unions, academics and youth voices. It is a call to our government to produce a post-Covid recovery plan that prioritises people, invests in the NHS and creates a strong economy that is capable of tackling the climate crisis.

The recovery we want is a transformative Green New Deal. It will base the economy on 100% clean energy in a way that tackles inequality and enhances the lives of ordinary people, workers and communities. It should create thousands of new, well-paid, secure, unionised jobs across the country.

We have been making contact with other grassroots community groups in Haringey, building relationships and seeing how we can collaborate to help each other’s work. Firstly, we asked if they would sign up to the Build Back Better campaign letter that we wrote to MPs David Lammy and Catherine West. We received support from over 20 Haringey community groups, and we delivered the letter to David and Catherine via an online meeting a few weeks ago.

We are really happy that both MPs are behind our campaign and we look forward to working with them as we move forward.

For more information on how to join or support us, email: [email protected]

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