Last Wednesday at the Council meeting Damien Egan refused to give any details as to why he got rid of Lewisham's new chief executive, Ian Thomas. You can see in the video how angry people got with the failure to give proper answers to the questions on not only Ian's dismissal but also on the use of violent security to evict housing campaigners at Tidemill Wildlife Garden and on the mayor's continued partnership with developers like Peabody instead of building the council housing we need.

In order to put further pressure on the mayor we are joining with other campaigners for a demonstration outside the Civic Suite in Catford, opposite Laurence House, from 4pm on Thursday next week, 13th December.  Please bring home made placards calling on the mayor to reinstate Ian Thomas. We will be trying to encourage town hall staff to blow the whistle on what really happened and providing a confidential phone number for them to call or text, anonymously if they prefer, to get to the truth of this matter. Please write to your councillor asking them to find out why Ian was pushed out, just when he was starting to have a positive impact.

Meanwhile the campaign to abolish the mayoral system is continuing to gather signatures to trigger a referendum. Please email help@BringBackDemocracy.org.uk if you can help.