Polling Station by secretlondon123, used under this Creative Commons licence
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you may have noticed there’s a general election on.
We’d like to make clear No to Silvertown Tunnel is not affiliated to any political party. We’re grateful to have had support from across the political spectrum.
Members of various parties have taken time to help our air pollution monitoring, the results of which have been made available for all to use. We’ve submitted evidence to cross-party committees of MPs. And we’ve met politicians – including some standing in this election – to explain why the Silvertown Tunnel is a bad idea.
If you hear any candidate claiming they or their party is linked to us, we’d like to make clear that is simply not true. (We’d also like to to hear about it.)
But that doesn’t mean you can’t make the tunnel an issue in this election. Wherever you live – whether it’s a safe seat or a marginal constituency – the election is a chance to have your say on the tunnel.
Everyone who raises the Silvertown Tunnel on the doorstep, on social media, by email or at a hustings is doing their bit to raise the profile of our campaign. The more it is raised, the more candidates will have to think about the issue – and the more likely they are to raise concerns.
What can you do?
1. Get in touch with your candidates. From Newham, Tower Hamlets and Hackney to Southwark, Lewisham, Greenwich, Bexley and beyond, the Silvertown Tunnel is an issue candidates should be aware of. You can find candidates’ details at Your Next MP.
2. Raise the issue on the doorstep. If you get a knock on the door in the next couple of weeks, don’t hide – raise the tunnel as an issue. Do they support the tunnel? Have they seen our campaign? Do they accept that building new roads creates more traffic? Will they raise this within their parties?
3. Ask a question at hustings. If you can spare the time, hear from your candidates at hustings events across east and south-east London. You can find details of some at Meet Your Next MP, but here are a few we’re aware of. Greenwich & Woolwich: Charlton Society hustings, Saturday 25 April, 2.30pm – Assembly Rooms, The Village SE7 8UD. Greenwich NUT hustings, Tuesday 28 April, 6.30pm – Forum at Greenwich, Trafalgar Road SE10 9EQ. Lewisham Deptford: Sunday 26 April, 7.30pm – St Catherine’s Church, Pepys Road SE14 5SG. Hackney North & Stoke Newington/ Hackney South & Shoreditch: Hackney Citizen hustings, Sunday 26 April, 2pm – Arcola Theatre, Ashwin Street E8 3DL. Bethnal Green & Bow/ Poplar & Limehouse: Tower Hamlets CND/ Friends of the Earth hustings, Wednesday 29 April, 7pm – Oxford House, Derbyshire Street, E2 6HG. Eltham: Eltham Park Baptist Church hustings, Wednesday 29 April, 7.30pm – 32a Westmount Road SE9 1AJ. Lewisham East: Mummy’s Gin Fund hustings, Thursday 30 April, 8pm – Church of The Good Shepherd, Handen Road, SE12 8NR (aimed at local women and male guests – please register here). Erith and Thamesmead: Thamesmead Link hustings, Sunday 3 May, 6pm – Belvedere Road SE2 9BS.
Finally, our friends at I Like Clean Air are holding a kids’ activism day in Shoreditch this Saturday. ITV’s Tonight programme will be filming – so if you’re a family concerned about air pollution, be at Shoreditch High Street station for 2.30pm.