HAVERING residents would be given a referendum on staying part of London, a Reform MP says reports the Local Democracy Reporter.
Andrew Rosindell, the Romford MP who defected from the Conservatives last month, said millions would be saved by exiting Greater London.
He has long campaigned to restore the easternmost borough’s Essex identity, after it became part of Greater London in 1965.
He says he backs suggestions by Reform leader Nigel Farage to form a unitary authority, replacing the London borough council, to “govern ourselves again”.
Unitary authorities are single-tier councils that oversee all local services in an area, including social care, education, housing and rubbish.
It would then “buy in” certain services from London, such as the Freedom Pass – which makes most travel free for disabled people and pensioners – and the Metropolitan Police.
“We need a different arrangement for boroughs like Havering, which are not even in London,” Rosindell said.
“We orbit London but we are not in London.”
He said the approach to Havering as a London borough did not suit its historic characteristics.
He said that “interference in planning” meant Havering Council had to approve “high-rise blocks in what is a town-and-country borough”.
The change would require legislation, which he says would be handled by Farage acting as the prime minister of a Reform government, presupposing their success in the 2029 general election.
When questioned on the feasibility of the proposals, he pointed to Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s abolition of the Greater London Council (GLC) in 1986.
Under the Local Government Act 1985, the powers of the GLC were devolved to newly created London borough councils.
“We didn’t have a GLA or a mayor in those days and we survived perfectly well,” the former Tory added.
He said the current funding system was “hammering” Havering, leading to higher council tax, coupled with the cost of being in Greater London.
“We have paid hundreds of millions into the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the Mayor of London since it was started in 2000. And we’re not getting the value for money for that.”
The GLA levies money from the 32 London borough councils by taking a cut of council tax, which often rises 2% each year in tandem with local hikes. It averages out at around £490 a year for a standard band-D property in the capital.
The precept goes pays for citywide services such as the Met, London Fire Brigade, and Transport for London.
Havering, however, has benefited from GLA schemes, including those aimed at boosting affordable housing stock.
In 2024, the council secured £24m from the authority to build 160 new homes across the borough.
Further back, in 2018, the GLA committed £12.4m to a housing project in Romford under a Tory administration.
A food bank in Rainham will also be one of 30 to receive a share of a £1.8m GLA fund, in collaboration with the National Lottery, the Mayor’s office confirmed last week.
We are no longer in Essex. Stop with this nonsense. We don’t need to be lumped in with bankrupt Essex boroughs!
Andrew, stop trying to leave your ridiculous legacy/mark, your playing with people’s lives.
We were all in Panjea once. Maybe you want us to go back to that also.