Havering Borough and Essex Devolution

Caroline Nokes Excerpts

Wednesday 7th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Rosindell]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point about the flying of historic county flags. Middlesex Heritage, an organisation established by Russell Grant which has promoted the importance of the heritage of the ancient county of Middlesex, actually purchased two Middlesex flags. They gave them to the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and one of them was proudly flown from No. 10 Downing Street, London being part of the county of Middlesex. That tradition continued under the next Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

Order. I think the hon. Gentleman means the right hon. Member for Richmond and Northallerton.

[Andrew Rosindell]

Indeed, Madam Deputy Speaker.

Let me say this to my hon. Friend. I do hope that the current Prime Minister will uphold that proud tradition and, later this month, fly the Middlesex flag. I think it would please a lot of people in the historic county were he to do so.

The historic counties remain today, and are proudly celebrated by local people throughout those counties and throughout England. Mr Speaker is demonstrating that by flying the historic county flags here in the House of Commons on all the historic county days. What happened six decades ago was only a change in local government structures, but sadly ceremonial arrangements were also changed, which was completely unnecessary and has added to the confusion, removing Romford from our rightful place under the Lord Lieutenancy of Essex. It seems that changes like this happen every few decades when new Governments take office, and we are seeing that again today. I say to the Minister, “Let us do this properly and get things right.”

In Havering, we have much in common with Brentwood, our neighbouring town, but not really with Brentford in west London. Epping is on our doorstep, but Ealing is a long way from our neck of the woods. We visit Southend but never go to Southall. What works for Hampstead is not always what is required in Havering, and it is unlikely that my constituents could tell you where Colliers Wood is, but Collier Row is a cherished part of Romford, Essex, and has many rural parts that feel like one is deep in the English countryside.

I am not suggesting that the people of Havering do not value the important connections that we enjoy with the City of London and what is known as the east end of London, because we do. So many families, including mine, have moved from the east side of London to Essex over the past century, and our links to London are vital to us for business, work, travel, tourism and, of course, family connections—not to mention going to the theatre in the west end. Coming from a borough that orbits the capital, I can tell the Minister that the people of Havering are not opposed to co-operating with boroughs, towns and communities to the east when it makes sense to do so, but Greater London, as a region with an overarching Mayor, is too big and too remote to meet the needs of a borough such as Havering, which considers itself to be part of Essex.

It is also very costly for us to be part of Greater London, as we pay tens of millions of pounds per year to the Greater London Authority. That equates to a vast sum for the GLA precept per household—an exorbitant amount of money that my constituents simply cannot afford. London-wide policies are imposed on us, such as planning decisions and, of course, the ultra low emission zone, but we do not get the services that we are meant to receive. They are completely inadequate, with policing being the worst example.