Yahoo News The East London constituency where Palestine response will 'hugely impact' how people vote
Bethnal Green voters want housing security, the NHS protected and for their bills to go down ahead of Thursday's General Election. These issues, constantly highlighted by people who live or work in this busy part of East London, were not the only concerns raised as resident Mahfuz Abdullah explains.
"Crime is a big issue, day-by-day we don't see any changes," he said. " Police stations are closing and people are afraid of going out. Even me, in the night, I feel like I could be the next victim so it's a big issue." Recent research from the Evening Standard found that in 2008, London had 160 open police station counters but in 2024, this number has dwindled down to 36.
Tower Hamlets has just one police station that is still open to the public, which is in Bethnal Green and was just yards away from where Mr Abdullah was being interviewed. Mr Abdullah explained that in order to feel safe he tends to avoid certain areas at night, such as walking through his local park.
Mr Shah, who did not want to give his first name, is a market trader by day and has a second job as a food delivery driver. He said he no longer delivers at night because of escalating crime in the area. "I do food deliveries, everywhere I go a bike gets stolen," he claimed. "I call the police but the police are not coming, one bike is [worth] £1,500. I do deliveries for one and it [costs] £3. If I lose money it's £1,500."
He added: "Another thing is everywhere there is knife [crime], at night-time [there] is an attack. When I do deliveries people will attack, stab and take the bike, there's a lot of crime now." The Met Police said it could not comment on a story about the election. According to the Met's crime statistics for Bethnal Green East, there were 265 crimes reported to the police in April 2024.
Of these, there were 21 reports of "other theft", 21 reports of theft from the person, 11 reports of vehicle theft and nine reports of bicycle theft. The top two crimes reported in the same month were anti-social behaviour with 73 reports and 69 reports of violent and sexual offences.
Mr Shah said: "There needs to be a change because for a long time the Conservatives have been around. We need to change government, we need to look out for people’s safety, people are not safe." It wasn't just concerns about crime, policing and public safety that was on a lot of Bethnal Green voters' minds, as Jakaria Ahmed, who helps run a family business in the area told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
Speaking from his family's cake shop, Mr Ahmed said: "For us in Britain, we're not getting much support. People living in other countries are getting a lot more support. Even with the housing market, they could put a stop to it and say, 'no you can't put the prices up', because how are people meant to afford it?"
Mr Ahmed and his wife were previously renting a one-bed flat on Bow Road which cost them £1,300 per month in rent, without bills or living expenses added on. Since buying their first home outside of London, the couple are now living in a four-bedroom home on a mortgage that costs them less than their previous rent at £1,130 per month.
Mr Ahmed says he feels better knowing "our house is ours" and his money is not going into the pocket of a landlord, however he does worry about his mortgage going up once his fixed-rate ends. He said: "It's crazy if after five years later, the prices shoot up again, even now I'm just under 5per cent, but we're lucky because we fixed it for five years so we still have three years.
"Once something goes up and down, it doesn't go back to where it was, it will still be 4per cent, those sort of things need to be changed." Despite his views on wanting better housing security for both renters and those with a mortgage, Mr Ahmed is doubtful anything will change after the election.
"Every man is in it for himself, they will do everything beforehand but after that there's no changes, they just want your vote," he said. "I don't think many people are going to vote this year I’ll be honest with you. I don't think things are going to change, it's going to get worse."
The LDRS also spoke with former NHS worker Clare Phillips, who has lived in the area for over 40 years. She said: "The NHS is absolutely my top priority, I used to work for the NHS and I still know people who work for the NHS and it's such a vital part of our country... it has to be looked after.
"There was a time when things were really good, obviously things were better economically then but now, no. It's not in a good state and obviously Covid didn't help." Ms Phillips also believes politicians need to stop blaming "everything" on immigration.
She said: "Scrap [the Conservative] Rwanda [policy], the focus needs to shift basically away from immigration. Everything gets blamed on immigration and it just needs to not be an issue." Mr Starmer's recent comments on illegal migrants and Bangladesh were also met with anger last week and saw local councillor, Sabina Akhtar resign from the Labour Party and become Independent.
On Monday (July 1), Areeq Chowdhury, a councillor in the neighbouring borough of Newham also quit Labour and has joined the Greens for the same reasons, as well as the party's stance on Palestine. Cllr Chowdhury is not the only Newham councillor who recently quit Labour in anger over its response to the Israel-Hamas war.
In November of last year, Cllr Zuber Gulamussen left the party to join the Newham Independents, stating Labour had "irreparably damaged" its relationship with Muslim communities. Rushanara Ali, who served as Bethnal Green and Bow's Labour MP from 2010 until May 2024, is standing again for the newly formed seat of Bethnal Green and Stepney.
Though polls have predicted Labour will win Bethnal Green and Stepney, Ms Ali's decision to abstain from a vote on a ceasefire in Gaza angered some people in Tower Hamlets, which has one of the largest Muslim populations in the country.
Ms Ali, who was shadow minister for investment and small business, said at the time she had "long supported a ceasefire", but did not back the amendment from the Scottish National Party (SNP). Before the vote in November 2023, Mr Starmer had signalled shadow ministers would be sacked from their roles if they backed the SNP vote.
In the days that followed a large crowd of protesters gathered outside Ms Ali's constituency office chanting, "Labour Party shame on you" and hundreds of local students walked out of school and marched through Tower Hamlets demanding there be a ceasefire.
Mr Abdullah believes how political parties and their candidates have responded to Palestine will have a huge impact on which way local voters will vote on Thursday.
He explained: "Global politics is another issue and Israel and Palestine will have a big impact for the candidates because Muslim voters have demotion on what the politician is doing to stop the war in Gaza and if they are taking necessary steps to not fund, as already, it's being called [a] genocide. So yes, what are they doing?"
Who is running for Bethnal Green and Stepney?
Here are the 11 candidates hoping to become the next MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney:
Reggie Adams - Independent
MD Somon Ahmed - Independent
Rushanara Ali - Labour Party
Pheobe Gill - Green Party
Vanessa Hudson - Animal Welfare Party
Rabina Khan - Liberal Democrat
Jon Mabbutt - Social Democratic Party
Ajmal Masroor - Independent
Oscar Reaney - Conservative
Peter Sceats - Reform UK
Sham Uddin - Independent
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