Year of the Pig in London

Enter the Dragon...

London hosted one of the largest Chinese New Year celebrations outside Asia on Sunday, drawing tens of thousands of visitors to the heart of the capital to share the joy.

The celebration began with a grand parade featuring 30 teams, including a Chinese Dragon and Lion team, an iconic London double-decker bus and a variety of floats, streaming through the streets from Trafalgar Square via the West End before reaching its final destination, Chinatown.

More live entertainments were presented on the many stages set up around Chinatown, and a martial arts and cultural zone was also put up to offer a show of Chinese handicrafts, Chinese zodiac animals and a dim sum feast.

Despite some drizzle, visitors' enthusiasm remained high for the celebration to mark the arrival of the Year of the Pig, the last of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals.

Winston Lo, one of the presenters of the stage performances, said that there is “a growing and greater sense of eagerness” amongst the British public to participate in the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration as China's cultural influence continues to expand across the globe. “Look at this weather, and thousands and thousands of people are still coming.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who was amongst the audience in Trafalgar Square, said that London and China enjoy a strong friendship with a “huge link in business, tourism, and students”, and that London remains open to the Chinese and other communities despite Brexit uncertainty. “We see everyday, Chinese community and young people coming to our city making a massive contribution. It's really important that carries on going forward and my message is London is open.

“China has made a massive contribution to world civilisation for centuries. And I'm pleased to see London benefiting from the contribution of the Chinese community as well."

Chinese ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming said that the Brits' enthusiasm for the Chinese Spring Festival has been very high, which shows increasingly close ties between China and Britain and a greater eagerness of British people to know about China.

“The Spring Festival is a miniature of China–Britain cultural exchanges. I expect even more fruits to be reaped from China–Britain cultural and people-to-people exchanges in the Year of the Pig,” Liu said.

The Chinese New Year celebrations in London, organised by the London Chinatown Chinese Association (LCCA), began as a small community event in Chinatown more than 20 years ago. The festivities have now become the largest of their kind outside Asia, attracting tens of thousands of people to the capital each year.

Xinhua

Khan calls for ban on petrol and diesel cars

 The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has joined city leaders from England and Wales to call on the government to ban the sale of new diesel and petrol cars and vans by 2030.

The cross-party leaders, representing around 20 million people from towns and cities in England and Wales, urged the government to bring forward current plans to phase out the vehicles from 2040 to 2030 to tackle the growing air quality health crisis.

Currently poor air quality is estimated to contribute to more than 40,000 premature deaths across the country each year, with emissions from cars and vans estimated to cost £6 billion annually to the NHS and society.

But research has shown that the phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles would lead to a 30 per cent reduction in pollution in 2030, improving health, and potentially boosting the country’s economy by billions by making Britain a global leader in low-emission technology.

The call for action was discussed this week at a national air quality summit in the capital organised by the Mayor of London, the UK100 local government network and the Institute for Public Policy Research.

The city leaders pledged to working together to reduce emissions and tackle pollution for the good of the country. In addition to taking strong action in their own areas, this will include calling for the earlier phasing out of diesel and petrol vehicles, an enhanced Clean Air Fund from government and manufacturers that will support Clean Air Zones, a targeted national vehicle renewal scheme to replace older polluting vehicles, and a Clean Air Act that sets strict air quality limits.

 Sadiq Khan said: “Air pollution is not an isolated problem, it’s a national health crisis. Our country’s filthy air is shortening lives, damaging lungs, and severely impacting on the NHS. That’s why we’re bringing together city leaders from across England and Wales to put this at the top of the agenda. We have to take bold action, but while we’re all doing what we can, we need government support to do even more. Banning the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030, providing support to deliver Clean Air Zones in cities and introducing a national vehicle renewal scheme will dramatically improve our air quality and our health. Michael Gove has made a good start as Environment Secretary but we need the government to match our ambition and help us urgently drive forward these improvements. We simply cannot afford to delay.”

The leaders – including Mayors and city leaders from Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Greater Manchester, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Newcastle, Oxford, Sheffield, Southampton and the West Midlands –  say that they want to play their part in an ambitious national plan for clean air that prioritises action to reduce road transport emissions, provides new powers to tackle other sources of pollution and creates a framework to support partnerships between local, regional and national Government and its agencies, including Highways England and businesses.

Mounting anger at huge rise in fire deaths

THE FIRE Brigades Union (FBU) last week reported that its London members are deeply upset and angry to learn that the number of people killed in fires has risen sharply in the capital, according to the latest figures released by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) this week.  

In 2016, the latest year for which figures have been made available, there were 46 deaths in London caused by fire, up from 33 the previous year – a 40 per cent increase. The figures, published in the LFB’s Fire Facts briefing, do not include the 71 victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Paul Embery, FBU executive council member for London, said: “We are deeply concerned at the correlation between the rise in deaths following the deepest cuts to the brigade in its history, which were pushed through by the former mayor [Boris Johnson].

“This disturbing increase has happened at a time when over 1,000 frontline firefighter posts have been ditched, 10 fire stations closed, and specialist rescue equipment and fire engines have been removed from service.

“In recent years firefighters have had to work with one hand tied behind their backs. Station closures and fewer fire engines mean it is taking longer for fire crews to make it to the incident scene. This means they arrive after the fire has become more intense, when the possibility of rescuing victims becomes fainter and the work far more dangerous.

“Critically, overworked firefighters are now struggling to provide the preventative fire safety work which has historically driven down the number of fatal fires.

“Firefighters welcome mayor Sadiq Khan’s commitment not to make any further frontline cuts to the brigade. However, we need to look at adopting a strategy that gives the brigade the funding it desperately needs in order to drive down fatal fires.”

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack also raised serious concern over a multi-million-pound donation to the LFB by the London Freemasons.

The Masons will gift LFB £2.5 million for the purchase of two extended height aerial vehicles. London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton had asked for the specialist equipment as part of a review into the brigade’s resources that she was asked to undertake by London Mayor Sadiq Khan in July.

But now the vehicles will be provided for on a charitable basis. The FBU says it is extremely concerned that a life-saving public service is now relying on handouts rather than adequate funding from the Government.

Matt Wrack said: “Whilst we appreciate the charity of anyone who wishes to support our firefighters, the idea that a professional, life-saving public service has to go around with a begging bowl to organisations with deep pockets is deeply alarming.

“If the equipment is needed to save lives, then the funding for it should be provided by Government. This deal sets a pretty awful precedent that could allow the Government to discharge its responsibilities in the future.

“We also have grave concerns that the donation in question has come from an organisation that disbars women from joining – a deeply offensive practice that needs to come to an end.”