Former BBC Arts correspondent Rosie Millard believes an increase in integration between people of all backgrounds is key to reducing crime in Islington, having herself been victim of an attempted phone theft.
On Monday 14 October, a man tried to snatch her phone while she was walking near her £2m home. “I was so shocked,” she said. But instead of handing her phone over, she clutched onto it and screamed until the attacker ran away empty-handed.
A strong advocate of equality in Islington, Ms Millard refuses to alter her ways following the incident.
“I’m going to keep walking and keep getting involved with the community. Everyone says there is no community spirit in London, but there really is,” she said.
She blames crimes such as this on a stark contrast between rich and poor.
“Islington has been like this for a long time; you have extreme wealth and extreme poverty right next to each other.”
To help narrow the gap, Ms Millard believes parents should send their children to state school than to “bung them off to private schools in expensive cars”.
As such, she has sent all four of her children to a local state school, which she describes as being a “lovely school with a sense of inclusion and equality.”
“Many people are just too afraid to send their children to state school, which is pathetic. What are they afraid of?”
