No deal will impact our police

Unmesh Desai, London Assembly member, City and East writes:
On December 31, the Met will lose access to five major systems used to track down criminals across Europe and keep Londoners safe, including the European Arrest Warrant and the Schengen Information System, unless the government makes a new agreement with the EU.
Time isn’t just running out, it’s run out. The government needs to act right now, but they just don’t seem to be taking Londoners’ safety seriously.
In the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt MP said, “We have measures in place to ensure that our citizens will be safe” but this simply isn’t true.
Unless the government can urgently get a grip and reach an agreement with the EU, the Met and other forces will lose access to the tools they know and instead be forced to fall back on outdated procedures and agreements, that risk leaving Londoners’ safety in jeopardy.

Must find ways to help fund TfL
Dr Alison Moore , Londonwide Assembly member, writes:
The pandemic continues to cripple Transport for London’s main source of income, which comes from passenger fares.
Despite this, the government has so far refused to provide TfL with the sustainable and long-term funding deal it needs to keep services running smoothly and to secure the future of key infrastructure projects – which are crucial for job creation and supporting London’s economic recovery.
This has meant that City Hall and TfL have been forced to find other ways of making up the financial deficit they face in future years.
One of the fairest solutions would be for ministers to allow London to keep hold of the money it collects through Vehicle Excise Duty.
This is worth around £500million per year, and is currently spent to subsidise road maintenance in other parts of the country.
If the Department for Transport will not come to the table to discuss this, the mayor has signalled that he might need to explore the option of a new boundary charge in future years. This would mean that motorists outside of the capital, would need to pay a £3.50 charge to drive into Greater London.
The ball is now in the government’s court.

Please don’t abuse shop staff
Paddy Lillis, general secretary, Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw), writes:
The run-up to Christmas is always a really busy time for retail workers, shoppers can be stressed and things can boil over. This year is likely to be even more stressful as a result of recent lockdowns and worries around coronavirus.
I want to gently remind your readers to remember that shop workers are people as well. They will be working really hard to make your shopping experience as enjoyable as possible.
Talking to our members who work in retail, I know that verbal abuse cuts deep. Many will go home after a shift upset about an unpleasant incident that took place at work that day and worried that it will happen to them again.
During this appalling pandemic we have been shocked to find that incidents of violence, threats and abuse against shop workers have doubled. The main flashpoints are enforcing Covid rules, queueing and shortage of stock. None of these are the fault of shop workers, but too often they end up on the wrong side of customers’ frustrations.
That is why Usdaw, the shop workers’ trade union, is asking customers to ‘Keep your Cool’ at Christmas.
I would also like to ask your readers to support our members by signing the petition to protect shop workers at: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/328621

Help us to help homeless
Jon Sparkes, chief executive, Crisis and Crisis ambassadors Jo Brand, Al Doyle, Jonathan Pryce CBE, Ellie Goulding, Alistair Stewart OBE, write:
While this Christmas will be unlike any other, most can look forward to some contact with loved ones, the exchanging of gifts and a home cooked Christmas dinner.
But one in four people who are homeless will spend Christmas alone. No one should be forced to live, or spend Christmas, shivering on the streets, sofa surfing with strangers or in a hostel with nowhere to call home and no-one to be with.
That’s why, outside of our year-round services, Crisis supports thousands of people who would otherwise be homeless at one of the most challenging times of the year. Our frontline teams across the country will be working harder than ever to make sure people receive nutritious meals and festive treats, Christmas games and wellbeing packs, friendship and support from our volunteer befrienders, as well as somewhere safe to stay.
This is just the beginning. We also introduce people to our year-round training, education and support with housing, employment and wellbeing. This long-term support helps people to rebuild their lives, giving them a future away from homelessness.
But we need your help. So, whether you host a virtual karaoke night, become one of our essential volunteers or give a gift of a Crisis Christmas, you’ll be helping to ensure that this Christmas people facing homelessness aren’t alone.
To find out more or to donate to Crisis this Christmas please visit: crisis.org.uk/support