Stephen Cowan 🇬🇧🇺🇦

Third lowest council tax in the country | Civic Campus hosts first public meeting | Hammersmith Society award for rain gardens | Safer streets | Measles warning | New homes unveiled in SW6 | Looking a... Weekly Briefing from Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham

@hflabour.bsky.social building a stronger, safer, kinder Hammersmith & Fulham

Our solidarity with the Ukrainian people Weekly briefing from Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham.

Four years ago today Putin invaded Ukraine. I wrote this then and stand by every word now. Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦🇬🇧🇺🇦🇪🇺🇺🇦

Every young person in London deserves a pathway to a brighter future Most of the business community thinks that AI will displace a large number of existing jobs

Can government democratise the new opportunities being generated in high growth future industries? Local government can. Starting with our young people, @hflabour.bsky.social developed and launched the H&F Pathway Bond. Here’s my article in the London Evening Standard. #TomorrowMadeHere

YouTube video by Hammersmith & Fulham Council H&F Leader Stephen Cowan introduces the Upstream Pathway Bond at Fulham Cross Girls School

Finding a pathway to a brilliant future is the goal of every young person. @hflabour.bsky.social run @hfcouncil.bsky.social have pioneered the unique Pathway Bond which offers the experiences and networks that are crucial to success. More here:

It is and has always been incumbent on all free people to stand with those protesting for freedom #IranProtests2026

Anne Frank stepsister and Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss dies aged 96 The king, who danced with Anne Frank’s stepsister in 2022, said he and Queen Camilla ‘admired her deeply’

So sorry to learn of the death of Eva Schloss whom I met 20 years ago when I helped organise performances of Then They Came For Me for H&F school children. Eva bravely answered questions about antisemitism and the Holocaust. Her message that we must be responsible for the society we form lives on.

Today, as the Jewish community begins to celebrate Chanukah, the thoughts and prayers of everyone in Hammersmith & Fulham is with the victims and loved ones of the antisemitic terrorist attack in Sydney, Australia.

www.lbhf.gov.uk/news/2025/12...

£12.40 an Hour For a Shower: The Story of Disabled People’s Struggle to Abolish Home Care Charging in Hammersmith & Fulham Note: this version of the film features British Sign Language, subtitles, and audio descriptions. --- New Film documents Historic Disability Rights Victory: "£12.40…

Eleven years ago, @hflabour.bsky.social made Hammersmith & Fulham England’s only council to abolish adult social care charges. Here on the #InternationalDayOfPersonsWithDisabilities is this documentary film made by the Disabled people who campaigned for that to happen.

🎙️The Story of EdCity is a story of @hflabour.bsky.social council and @arkschools.bsky.social transforming lives 🚀
Thank you @theimpactequation.bsky.social for sharing our story

Listen here:
🎙️On Apple | podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
🎙️On Spotify | open.spotify.com/episode/0kh0...

YouTube video by Hammersmith & Fulham Council H&F Pathway Bond | Lily's journey from Hammersmith Academy to L'Oreal UK and Ireland

Our unique H&F Pathway Bond is a new @hflabour.bsky.social innovation giving thousands of our young people clear pathways to the brightest possible futures

Thank you to all our amazing local businesses for signing up #ItTakesAVillageToRaiseAChild #PathwayBond

My thoughts are with those who lost their lives, those who were injured and with their loved ones following the vile terror attack at the Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester today - on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

We stand in solidarity with Britain’s Jewish community.

Palestinian Embassy opens | Fred remembered by W12 neighbours | Best primary schools | Nomad Books birthday offer | Fulham pop-up art gallery | O2 Empire gets sound upgrade | Flu vaccines | Sloppy Che... Weekly Briefing from Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham

Britain’s newest embassy in Hammersmith

Defending our freedoms | Homes for Ukraine | Prince Harry visits White City | ALDI opens in Fulham | Open House Festival | Great River Race | People's Question Time | WIN free Lyric tickets Weekly Briefing from Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham

With Putin’s war still raging in Ukraine and Russian incursions into NATO airspace, our armed forces remind us that our free and democratic way of life has always been contested and will always need to be defended share.google/YPpVMSpzOC79...

So Inspirational

Council that hands out free homecare and breakfasts hailed for its finances Hammersmith and Fulham Council was praised for its financial leadership at a time when a number of councils are on the brink of declaring bankruptcy

The headline says it all.

Thank you to @local.gov.uk for their work independently assessing @hflabour.bsky.social run @hfcouncil.bsky.social’s finances

Great work @rowanree.bsky.social and the team www.mylondon.news/news/west-lo...

Octopus founder Greg Jackson joins board of growth advisory body Body brings together academia, business and local government to work on plans to deliver that all important growth in H&F

Grateful to have such an amazing Upstream London Advisory Board which met today. Since launching our industrial strategy in 2017, Hammersmith & Fulham has:

🚀 Won £6billion of growth investment

🚀 Curated over 13,000 STEM³ jobs

🚀 Produced more spin-out start-ups than anywhere else in the UK.

Pope Francis dies at 88, the Vatican says The pontiff had recently had a lengthy stay in a Rome hospital suffering from double pneumonia. #EuropeNews

Very sad to learn of the death of Pope Francis. I admired him greatly. His emphasis on care for the marginalised and compassion for all defined his leadership.
www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

Sadiq Khan: Here’s one thing to get us closer to Europe – and a post-Trump bump A new youth mobility scheme will bring the UK and the EU some much needed connection – and a shot in the arm for business, too, writes London Mayor Sadiq Khan

A new youth mobility scheme with the EU would boost economic growth and provide exciting opportunities for young people.

At a time of so much global uncertainty deepening our partnership with EU partners is a win-win for our growth and prosperity.

www.independent.co.uk/voices/trump...

New research shows that Islamophobic and racist abuse has surged online.

Here's just a snapshot my team has put together of the kinds of messages I receive on a daily basis.

I highlight this because I'm worried about the impact on young people. A thread 🧵

One of the biggest corporate donors to the populist Reform U.K. party has sold almost $2 million worth of transmitters, cockpit equipment, antennas and other sensitive technology to a major supplier of Moscow’s blacklisted state weapons agency, documents show. From 2023 to 2024, the company, part of the British aerospace manufacturer H.R. Smith Group, shipped the equipment to an Indian firm that is the biggest trading partner of the Russian arms agency, Rosoboronexport. H.R. Smith Group donated 100,000 pounds (just under $130,000) to Reform U.K. last year, two days after Nigel Farage was announced as the party’s leader. The company is run by Richard Smith, a businessman who owns 55 Tufton Street, a Westminster townhouse that is home to some of Britain’s most influential right-wing lobbying and research groups.

Blimey. One of Nigel Farage's biggest donors, and the owner of 55 Tufton Street, is helping the Russian military effort www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/w...

Cllr Stephen Cowan: Hammersmith and Fulham’s Industrial Strategy Podcast Episode · Better Places · 26/03/2025 · 48m

Here’s the Better Places podcast interviewing, er, me.

It was a pleasure to chat with Nick Dines about how H&F Labour has worked with our partners to transform our borough into an inclusive global economic hotspot in the new industries that are quickly reshaping the modern world.

Islamophobic posts about Sadiq Khan more than double in a year, analysis shows Most Islamophobic content referring to London mayor, a prominent voice against online abuse, was on X

The Islamophobic abuse that our Mayor @SadiqKhan faces simply because of his faith and identity will never be tolerated.

Upset to learn that this has doubled in the last year. Urgent action is needed to target and stop such unacceptable behaviour.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

London expands CCTV network in ‘tech race against crime’ Councils rush to tool up with AI cameras as police grapple with surge in street crime

Here, the @financialtimes.com considers how H&F Labour is leading one of the first councils in Britain to deploy sophisticated AI technologies to crack down on crime. www.ft.com/content/29af...

@jimrobbins.bsky.social hit the ground running when he was elected to lead Swindon’s renaissance in 2023.

Testament to that is this amazing Parliamentary event launching Heart of Swindon. More on that inspirational vision here: www.swindon.gov.uk/download/dow...

GDP: ‘The PM’s tech-led growth plan is vital. But councils can innovate too’ – LabourList The front row of tech titans at the Trump inauguration was, among many other things, a sign of US technological supremacy - one of the…

Here’s an article on how the combination of ‘entrepreneurial municipal government’ and world-leading academia offers opportunities for placed-based tech-led economic growth across the UK.

labourlist.org/2025/02/grow...

‘Is that thing legal?’: trialling the Yo-Go on Britain’s most dangerous roundabout A London council is introducing electric buggies to cut emissions on its roads, but are they a practical solution?

Trailing green transport initiatives

“The Labour-led, green-focused council has been key in getting it off the ground.”

This is my three-point plan for standing up to the far right and the billionaire bullies | Sadiq Khan Putting pressure on social media companies to tackle hate and misinformation is a start, but there’s more that the centre left can do, writes Sadiq Khan

The far-right are sowing fear and division across the globe.

Progressives must act by tackling online hate, challenging extremist rhetoric, and proving democracy can deliver for all.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

White City: Billions of pounds invested into Upstream project How a pub chat led to an area in west London being transformed into a technology and business quarter.

Thank you BBC for this fine article about the £6billion inclusive economic growth curated by H&F Labour’s Upstream London, industrial strategy www.bbc.com/news/article...

YouTube video by Hammersmith & Fulham Council Abolition of home care charges

It’s over 10 years since this happened youtu.be/xlZjvLf2HX4?...

Is this the way to fix social care in England? As yet another review is launched, a single council is offering an alternative to rationing support for the most needy

Personal care is free in Scotland but all of England is means-tested. All of England? Not quite. One London borough also does it and they’re just completed their 10 year anniversary. So how is it going? www.theguardian.com/society/2025...