CAMPAIGNERS from West London have received a commitment from the Mayor of London candidates, Shaun Bailey and Sadiq Khan, to create green jobs for those worst affected by the pandemic.

Both Mayoral candidates gave their commitment to over 5,000 viewers at the London Citizens Mayoral Accountability Assembly last week, to work with London Citizens during their terms in office, should they win.

One of the key campaigners in West London is an Acton resident, Aisha Hussain, who is the Associate Organiser for Citizens UK and has fought for the communities that have been directly impacted by job losses, particularly those at Heathrow Airport.

Londoners around the Heathrow area have been dramatically affected by job losses from the airport's reduced capacity over lockdown.

Some companies have made over 450 employees redundant, and with the end of the furlough scheme in sight many West Londoners are fearful of what the future holds for them.

An attendee, Vincentinha, from Southall said: "Both my husband and I worked at Heathrow for many years.

"But since the pandemic many of us have lost our jobs.

"I am on the furlough scheme.

"While this has created some safety, we don't know what will happen when it ends.

"How will we feed our family and put a roof over our heads?"

People like Vincentinha who have lived experience of unemployment gave a testimony to the candidates and called on them to create high-quality jobs by introducing a new scheme to improve the energy efficiency of homes, therefore also tackling unemployment, housing issues and the climate emergency.

In response to the testimony, Sadiq Khan said: "We've got to plan to get to zero carbon by 2030.

"We have a Green New Deal worth £50 million over the next two years.

"We can either be the last generation not to get it, or the first generation to get it and make these changes."

Shaun Bailey said: "I remember living on my estate and the amount of damp lead to poor health outcomes.

"We have to be careful we don't pass on the costs to the poorest Londoners."

Claudia Lopez, one of the co-chairs of the online event, commented on how powerful it is for civil society to interact with people in power in this way.

"Democracy was never meant to be a one-off thing we do every couple of years.

"No, democracy is a Greek word which literally means 'power of