Living and working in Newham for over 53 years as well as being an elected Councillor for over 27 of those years, you hear all sorts of opinions about Newham that are good, bad and indifferent.

Personally I believe there is much good in Newham and I am proud to tell everyone that Newham is my borough and there is much good here however, I hope I remain streetwise and honest enough to recognise there are problems and issues that need to be addressed if Newham is to become an even better place to live, work and stay in the future but much more importantly I hope that I remain prepared to confront, challenge and work to challenge and overcome these issues.

Sadly, I feel that too often people with concerns are keen to blame someone else, often the Council, not recognising that we all have responsibilities to fulfil.

For example the Council spend millions of pounds each year keeping the borough clean yet in main it is the people who live here who are making it dirty albeit a minority.

If everyone recognised and fulfilled their responsibility to help keep our environment clean, much needed funds could be released to improve other services we all want in the future.

Soon every resident will have an opportunity to decide who runs our borough for the next four years. It’s a chance for everyone who either blames the council or loves the current Council, to make your views known through the ballot box.

I firmly believe that everyone who has the right to vote should use their vote – indeed November is the time of year when we remember those citizens who over the years have made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can continue to be a free country where every citizen has a vote.

I fear once again that the vast majority of Newham people will not exercise their right to vote, indeed my personal experience would suggest that normally those who complain the most are the ones who do not vote.

I would urge everyone to recognise their responsibility and use your vote in 2014 even if you think it won’t make a difference. If everyone who thought their vote would not make a difference voted, you may well be surprised at the difference you do make.