King pledges to support Black boys & tackle gang culture

King - supporting Black boys

Labour Mayoral candidate Oona King has pledged to support plans and schemes to help young Black boys should she be successful in her bid to become labour’s candidate for the 2012 Mayoral election and become London’s first female and Black Mayor.

Speaking at a recent event King, 42, spoke of her desire to re-engage young Black boys in politics and the need for improved youth provision for young people in London.

Speaking at the Methodist Hall in Westminster alongside Polly Toynbee King spoke of introducing events that would re-engage young people in the political process.

King former MP for Bethnal Green and Bow said she “Would encourage young people to join politics by holding specific events like a London Mayor Youth Fair. She further added that she “Plans to create ten new skills academies to give young people new qualifications with skills London’s businesses need”

The Labour Mayoral hopeful also spoke of her desire to tackle the culture of youth crime and gang culture, and the effects of unemployment on young people. She commented;

“We need to improve outcomes from the education system. We need to reduce the number of exclusions from schools particularly from amongst Black boys. We need to reduce the level of graduate unemployment. We need to look at the inconsistence of mental health issues in ethnic minorities, and fundamentally we need to ensure that ethnic minorities get the same life chances in life as any other group in London.”

Talking specifically about gang culture and crime she stated that she would use;

“More preventative work when dealing with much younger children, and would also ensure we have detached youth workers that can actually relate to young people who are getting sucked into gang culture.”

The Labour Party will announce their candidate the end of the conference.

By Richard Sudan