For nearly a quarter of a century, I have stood in the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Romford, the town where I was born, raised, educated, and have lived all my life. Yet, for as long as I can remember, my family, my neighbours, and I have always identified not as Londoners, but as proud sons and daughters of Essex.
Looking at a map, Romford at first glance is simply a town on the eastern edge of ‘Greater London’. While that’s undoubtedly true, we are an historic Essex market town, dating back to 1247. We are geographically Essex. We are historically Essex. We are culturally, commercially and socially bound to Essex. That truth is not erased by a line drawn on a map in 1965.
That year, the London Government Act consigned Romford and Hornchurch into a newly invented London borough, to be contained within a newly invented ceremonial county, against the grain of our history, our community and our local will. It was a bureaucratic imposition that had no regard for centuries of identity and affiliation. The consequences of that misstep are still felt today.
Sixty years on, the muddle remains. Are we London or Essex? To those who live in Romford, the answer is crystal clear: we are Essex, and we always have been.
Our sporting affiliations lie with Essex County Cricket Club and the Essex Football League. Our local golf, bowling and wildlife associations operate under Essex banners. Even on Essex Day, 26 October, the Mayor of Havering raises the Essex flag proudly above Romford Town Hall.
However, identity is not our only grievance. There are real and pressing consequences to being part of Greater London – consequences my constituents, and I don’t doubt all of ‘outer-London’ face every day. We pay tens of millions to the Greater London Authority through the GLA precept. In return, we are bestowed London-wide policies, which ignore local consultation, such as the ill-thought-out Ultra Low Emission Zone, or planning decisions imposed by an out-of-touch and frankly over-powered Mayor.
Our policing, too, has suffered. Nearly every police station in Havering has been shut down and our officers are seconded to inner London boroughs. Under the flawed tri-borough system with Barking & Dagenham and Redbridge, Havering is left under-resourced and overburdened. We pay for a service we barely receive.
This is not to say we don’t value our links with London. We cherish our historic connections with the East End, and the City of London remains vital for our economy, jobs, and culture. Nevertheless, our borough – our “town and country borough” – is fundamentally different from inner London. As I said on the floor of the House, we have more in common with Brentwood and Epping than Brentford and Ealing. We visit Southend, not Southall. The truth is that Greater London is an artificial construction and a better way of governing the region around our Capital is much needed and long overdue.
The time has come to look again at Havering’s place within the London region. The Government is pursuing devolution in Greater Essex, establishing a new mayoral combined authority. If ever there was a moment for Havering to re-express its identity and seek a better arrangement – this is it.
I am not calling for some grand act of secession, but I am calling for a meaningful, democratic conversation about Havering’s future. I believe that if the people of Romford, Hornchurch, Upminster and Rainham were given the chance to choose, they would overwhelmingly independence from “City Hall” and restore our Essex connections in some capacity – perhaps as a unitary authority, working with neighbouring districts.
I do not want this conversation to be dominated by nostalgia. Rather, I want central London to recognise that we know who we are and how to best govern ourselves. No one asked us in 1965. We have since been locked into a structure, that does not suit our needs. So, it is surely time the voice of the people was heard.
The boundary lines of Greater London are long past their expiry date. The region has changed beyond recognition in the last sixty years. A bold and fair government would recognise that and offer us the choice to determine our own destiny.
We are not simply the outer edge of London – we are the heart of Essex, and the time has come to restore what was taken from us: our identity, our autonomy, and our rightful place in the county we have always called home.”
“Greater London” is passed its expiry date!
