Mayoral candidates given a grilling

It was a pin drop moment in a boisterous meeting.

The mayoral candidates sat transfixed as a mother from Finsbury Park told how her 14-year-old son, Martin, was chased and stabbed to death by a gang just yards from a police station.

“But as a family, as a church, as a community we have refused to let the story end with tragedy. This is a story of triumph – triumph that overcomes violence,” said Martin’s mum, making an almighty effort not to cry.

The triumph is that she got a simple idea called CitySafe Havens – a network of shops and public buildings where youngsters can take cover – on to the political agenda.

And tonight all four candidates pledged to develop the scheme if they are elected.

Ken, Boris, Jenny and Brian were attending London Citizens’ fourth mayoral accountability assembly since London first elected a mayor in 2000.

London Citizens, part of Citizens UK, is a coalition of 243 schools, colleges, churches, temples, mosques, synagogues, trade unions and community groups representing around 500,000 active “organised citizens”.

Last night 2,500 of those citizens packed into Methodist Central Hall in Westminster to question them about our agenda.

And it really is our agenda.

Four key policy areas have been drawn up following a year of listening:

:: A better-housed London – including defining an “affordable rent” and using the new Mayoral Development Corporation to create a network of community land trusts like the one in Bow with Maccreanor Lavington;

:: A brighter future for young Londoners – including securing more paid internships and work placements;

:: A safer London – promoting the CitySafe scheme; and

:: A living wage for Londoners – currently £8.60 an hour and one of the group’s biggest successes.

It’s not often politicians are forced to follow someone else’s agenda, but they were given four minutes each and were warned sternly not to deviate from our concerns or waste time attacking each other.

And as Boris – the only one to get a ticking off, for bragging about his ability to wrestle money from Whitehall – said: “This is a formidable audience.”

He meant it, too. I’ve never seen such a poor Boris performance. He seemed truly fazed by such a diverse audience.

The others aquitted themselves slightly better but it was the testimonies of the citizens that really shone tonight.

Barbara, a chambermaid and mother, broke down as she told us she survives on £7.14 a day, after bills and travel, because Hilton Hotels won’t pay the living wage.

No, the luxury chain thinks it’s acceptable to pay cleaners £3 a room and charge guests £150 a night.

Same room. A blunt profit margin of 98%. Shame on you, Hilton.

More cheerfully, a man from Shoreditch said he and his neighbours were fed up with their damp flats which give their children asthma so they asked the head of Hackney Homes to come and talk to them. She refused.

“So 100 parents set up a citizens’ inquiry desk outside her office and we got a meeting immediately,” he grinned.

“She came to visit our homes and listened to our stories and she agreed to spend £400,000 fixing not just our homes but four blocks in the area.

“Individually we couldn’t change anything but together we are powerful,” he added to loud applause.

Whatever your political allegiance, there are challenges here for us all.

Are you paying at least the London Living Wage? Could you offer more internships and work experience? Could your office be a SafeHaven? And could you offer to help with a community land trust bid in your neighbourhood?