ELN: Mayor Lutfur Rahman, Tower Hamlets Council, summed it up: “EMA enabled young people from low income families to stay on in education and training. It allowed them to raise their hopes and aspirations. Government cuts to EMA were particularly damaging because, for many of our young people, it dampened their dreams of a better future.”But Mayor Rahman didn’t just sit on his hands and give young people his sympathy. He found a way of restoring that grant to help young people in Tower Hamlets meet the costs of staying in education or training.“The Mayor’s Education Award is designed to keep those dreams alive,” he explained. “It gives students who might otherwise have been forced to abandon their studies, a second chance. It is a demonstration of my commitment to ensure that poverty will not hold back our young people’s ambitions.’The Mayor decision to make up for central government austerity – a redistribution of wealth which follows in the fine traditions of the Poplar Councillors – comes days after the Borough beat the national average GCSE results. Those young people invested hard work in getting those results. Mayor Rahman is investing further in their future – while the Tories walk away.