Opinion
Reflections on 2020
Tamsin Ssembajjo Quigley recounts her personal experience of events in Hackney during one of the most tumultuous years in living memory
Read MoreComic – Welcome Low Traffic Neighbourhoods
Artist Francisco de la Mora with his view on LTNs, informed by his upbringing in Mexico City
Read MoreLTNs: From horror to acceptance
Local resident Debbie Mitchener on her journey from ardent driver to resurgent cyclist
Read MoreTitbits – Pipe dreams and risky schemes
Read this month’s column that pecks at the crumbs of news in the borough
Read MoreLeader – Spirit of Christmas
‘With the season of giving upon us, consider the charities and community organisations that have struggled along during the pandemic’
Read MoreCllr Carole Williams: ‘Some residents are out of a job they’ve been doing for 20 years’
Hackney’s employment and skills boss on what is being done to help locals find work and training amid the pandemic and into the future
Read MoreHackney’s public health director: ‘Let’s make this lockdown count’
Dr Sandra Husbands on how people can help stop the spread of Covid, advances in testing, and whether or not a vaccine will end the pandemic
Read MoreLeyla Nazli: ‘We can’t wait to bring people back together, safely’
The Arcola Theatre’s deputy artistic director on a ‘devastating’ year, plans for an outdoor venue, and an upcoming festival aimed at ‘rebuilding community bonds’
Read MoreClare Borrill: ‘It’s been such a relief to have the school filled with students again’
The local headteacher on how Petchey Academy is coping with Covid, the impact of lockdown on education, and the logistical challenges of teaching during a pandemic
Read MoreDavid Osland: ‘Diana Danescu should apologise personally to local voters’
The Hackney-based journalist on the case of the Tory election agent found guilty of a fake signature scam, and what it says about the state of local politics
Read MoreTamsin Ssembajjo Quigley: ‘Modern slavery remains one of society’s most considerable challenges’
The local writer on ‘one of the most serious but often overlooked humanitarian crises’, and what is being done to tackle it
Read MoreHackney youth charity on its new flower-giving project and the impact of Black Lives Matter
Voyage Youth’s Operation Smiles aims to ‘bring joy’ to those in need, while acting as a gateway for young Black people to become more involved in green activism
Read MoreTamsin Ssembajjo Quigley: ‘It has never been more critical to fight the marketisation of green spaces’
The local writer on how lockdown has brought into focus the importance of our parks, and why we must do all we can to protect them from privatisation
Read MoreTamsin Ssembajjo Quigley: ‘The racist legacies of the past are woven into the fabric of our present’
The local writer on what is needed for meaningful change in Britain – a ‘wholesale shift in an economic system built on the enslavement and sale of human beings’
Read MoreBen Mortimer: ‘I want to preserve the block WhatsApp group and people doing things for their neighbours’
The local writer on his experience of lockdown, what it has meant to friends and neighbours, and why he’s ‘extremely glad’ for Victoria Park
Read MoreTamsin Ssembajjo Quigley: ‘Despite high-profile errors, technology has proven to be a saving grace during the pandemic’
The local writer looks into the relationship between man and machine as it ‘approaches a critical juncture’
Read MoreLetter: ‘Remove all barriers to NHS care for overseas workers and migrants’
Keep Our NHS Public, Hackney Migrant Centre, unions and others call on local politicians and health bosses to help end ‘hefty’ surcharges
Read MoreElli Free: Will we ever learn?
The director of Room to Heal, a local charity supporting refugees and asylum seekers, on Windrush, immigration detention, and opportunities for ‘fundamental change’ post-lockdown
Read MoreTravis Elborough: Maps for the mind during lockdown
The acclaimed local author on why we now need maps more than ever, ‘even if the routes and roads they contain are never taken’
Read MoreLetter: ‘We should be celebrating the private sector, not using it to score cheap political points’
Chair of Hackney Conservatives Jack Sutcliffe defends ‘dynamic private sector’ in response to our story about a delivery of the wrong coronavirus tests to a mobile centre in Dalston earlier this month
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