We will be culturally and economically poorer if we don’t protect small businesses

When Hackney Carnival was cancelled, just 48 hours before it was due to take place, Hackney Greens joined the calls from community groups and local buseinesses to reverse the cancellation. Along with my fellow Green Councillor, Alastair Binnie-Lubbock, we challenged this decision, but the Council considered it inappropriate to continue with the event during a period of national mourning.

The Council later stated that contracts would be honoured (predominantly private companies), those with pitches for the day would be reimbursed and offered alternative pitches at local markets, with unused food distributed via a charity. But this didn’t go even part of the way to making good really large losses.

Alongside the artists that weren’t able to perform, the biggest losers were local businesses like pubs and cafes on the carnival route, some of which had been preparing for the event for months with stocks of food and drink, well over their usual quota for the weekend.

Local businesses told me how hard things have been during Covid and how optimistic they were that this weekend would finally deliver a decent opportunity.

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