Rushanara Ali

Today the End Child Poverty coalition released new statistics showing the extent of child poverty across the UK broken down by constituency, Local Authority and ward.

On Sunday 17^th December, Rushanara Ali, Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow was joined by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan to officially open the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster memorial. 

Dr Mubashar Hasan, a Bangladeshi professor and policy analyst has been missing since 7pm on Tuesday 7^th November. Dr Hasan is an expert in the field of political science and has previously held a position at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh and has worked as a public relations and communications specialist for Oxfam.

The iconic sculpture by Henry Moore named ‘Draped Seated Woman’ or as it is commonly known ‘Old Flo’ was unveiled on 25^th October in Cabot Square, Canary Wharf after spending 20 years out of the borough. ‘Old Flo’ had originally been displayed outside the Wickham and Ewhurst tower blocks in Stepney before being loaned to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in 1997. The sculpture was nearly auctioned off in 2015 by the former Mayor of Tower Hamlets Council Lutfur Rahman. This decision was halted after a local campaign was formed called the “Save Old Flo,” chaired by Rushanara Ali MP.

On Tuesday 17^th October, Rushanara Ali, Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow and Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy in Burma called on the Government to apply greater pressure on the Burmese military and government to protect Rohingya Muslims.  

On this day in 1936 the Jewish community of East London and its allies blocked the streets in order to prevent Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists marching through in what became known as the Battle for Cable Street.

Following the recent escalation of violence targeted towards Rohingya Muslims in Rakine State, Myanmar, 158 Parliamentarians have written to the Foreign Secretary urging the Government to exert more pressure on the Burmese Government:

Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Burma said:

“I am deeply concerned about reports that nearly 400 people have been killed in the last week and close to 38,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled their homes in Rakhine State, Myanmar. I utterly condemn this escalation of violence over the last week and urge both the civilian-led and military-led sections of the Myanmar Government to immediately bring an end to the violence. 

Humanitarian organisations must urgently be granted access so that humanitarian relief can be delivered.

Last night in Bethnal Green, the police were called to an incident involving two people who were sprayed with acid whilst in their car.

Responding to the event, Rushanara said:

"This is yet another incident this year involving a corrosive substance in East London. Since the beginning of July, the police have arrested and charged 6 individuals involved in 5 separate acid attacks. It is completely unacceptable that these kinds of attacks are becoming so common."