Kensington MP Lady Victoria Borwick has told the Mayor of London that the Notting Hill Carnival is placing the public at risk.
She has written a letter to Sadiq Khan calling for him to hold a “formal and strategic review of the Notting Hill Carnival” following “year on year increase in violence and physical harm to our police officers and members of the public”. Her comments come after Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe revealed a 15-year-old was disembowelled at this year’s carnival, and after some residents expressed a desire for Europe’s largest street party to relocate to Hyde Park.
An annual review of the event is currently being held with stakeholders contributing. This will be completed by January 2017.
Lady Borwick says significant changes must be made, and hints at moving the annual event, which drew in a million people this year.
She writes: “This is not about minor changes to the route, changes to the floats or the number of loos. We need to all work together to take forward plans for a safe carnival – a carnival that you can bring your children and grandchildren to.”
