Fire broke out on Valentine’s Day, partially destroying London venue that had been due to host Bafta party
A fire that tore through a luxury London hotel popular with celebrities was caused by wood falling from a pizza oven.
The Chiltern Firehouse, which had been due to host a post-Bafta film awards party on Sunday evening, was partially destroyed by the fire on Friday
Continue reading...Event co-founded by Jordan Peterson will bring together global rightwing figures including senior US Republicans
Influential rightwingers from around the world are to gather in London from Monday at a major conference to network and build connections with senior US Republicans linked to the Trump administration.
The UK opposition leader, the Conservatives’ Kemi Badenoch, and Nigel Farage of the Reform UK party, her hard-right anti-immigration rival, will compete to present themselves as the torchbearer of British conservatism.
Continue reading...Firefighters from across the capital sent to popular venue
The popular celebrity venue Chiltern Firehouse in London will remain closed until further notice after a fire forced about 100 people to evacuate on Friday lunchtime.
The London fire brigade (LFB) said 125 firefighters and 20 fire engines attended the blaze at the restaurant and luxury hotel on Chiltern Street in Marylebone after a 999 call was made at 2.52pm.
Continue reading...Deborah Burns says she witnessed a series of medical blunders by colleagues at William Hewes’s bedside
A consultant paediatrician has been unable to work at the hospital that failed to save her son from a sepsis infection, after “feelings of betrayal” towards her medical colleagues who ignored her warnings about errors in his treatment.
William Hewes, 22, a history and politics student, died on 21 January 2023 of meningococcal septicaemia at Homerton hospital in east London, where his mother, Dr Deborah Burns, had worked for more than 20 years.
Continue reading...Potentially life-saving drug was prescribed for William Hewes but not given quickly enough due to communication mix-up
A consultant paediatrician warned medical colleagues treating her son that they had failed to give him life-saving antibiotics hours before he died from sepsis, an inquest has heard.
William Hewes, 22, a history and politics student, died on 21 January 2023 of meningococcal septicaemia at east London’s Homerton hospital, where his mother, Dr Deborah Burns, worked.
Continue reading...Greenpeace protest draws attention to worsening typhoons and demands accountability from major polluters
For two days and two nights, Ronalyn Carbonel and her four children clung to the roof of their home as a huge storm raged around them. With the wind battering her village of Rizal, about 10 miles east of Manila in the Philippines, and water swirling through the rooms below them, they had no choice but to wait, hoping that someone would come to rescue them and hundreds of their neighbours.
“We did not have shelter, we did not have food … we just had to wait for the government for two days,” Carbonel said. “It is not easy, no electricity, no light, we just wait for the sun to rise. The children were scared, we had never experienced anything like this.”
Continue reading...Force faces having to reinstate officers and staff removed under scheme launched in wake of Sarah Everard case
The Metropolitan police have lost a high court case over whether they can oust officers and staff deemed unsuitable through enhanced vetting procedures.
Scotland Yard had used the scheme, which effectively dismisses officers by removing their vetting clearance, to get rid of scores of staff, some of whom had faced allegations of sexual assault.
Continue reading...Demonstrators at the proposed site included Hongkongers who fear it could be used to illegally detain dissenters
Large crowds gathered outside the proposed site of a new Chinese “mega-embassy” in London on Saturday, as politicians and protesters expressed concerns it could be used to “control” dissidents.
More than 1,000 people congregated outside the Royal Mint Court, the former headquarters of the UK’s coin maker, near the Tower of London. The site could soon be turned into a Chinese embassy.
Continue reading...Prosecutor argues Matildas star’s claims about what happened in taxi do not make ‘one blind bit of difference to what this case is about’
Prosecutors in the trial of Australian star Sam Kerr, who called a police officer “stupid and white”, have asked the jury to consider if it would be different had she said “stupid and black”.
The 31-year-old Matildas striker is on trial charged with causing racially aggravated harassment to PC Stephen Lovell during an incident in south-west London in the early hours of 30 January 2023. Kerr denies the charges.
Continue reading...New scheme, aimed at reducing platform dashes, will see schedules deleted from boards three minutes before departure
Rail bosses have been accused of patronising passengers by hiding trains’ departure information minutes before they are due to leave in a bid to tackle last-moment platform dashes.
Under the scheme, which is being trialled at King’s Cross, the final call for long-distance trains will be made four minutes before departure. Train details will be deleted from departure boards three minutes before they leave.
Continue reading...Grenfell United says voices of bereaved have been ignored and they fear disaster could be ‘put out of mind’
The demolition of Grenfell Tower could mean that the injustice of the fatal fire is “put out of sight and out of mind” and forgotten, some survivors have said.
The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, told a meeting on Wednesday that the 24-storey block in which 72 people were killed in June 2017 would be dismantled to ground level. The decision has prompted anger and claims that the government has failed to listen to the views of the bereaved and survivors.
Continue reading...Angela Rayner meets bereaved to tell them west London block will ‘be carefully deconstructed’
Bereaved families of the Grenfell fire are understood to have been told the tower block will be demolished.
The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, who is also housing secretary, met with relatives and survivors on Wednesday evening.
Continue reading...Data to be permanently deleted on 13 February after ‘matrix’ was found to be unlawful
Campaigners say deletion of an unlawful database known as the “matrix” will destroy vital evidence of discriminatory policing and prevent miscarriages of justice being exposed.
The gangs violence matrix (GVM) operated by the Metropolitan police, which linked individuals to alleged gang membership, is being permanently deleted on 13 February after it was found to be unlawful in 2022.
Continue reading...The chancellor is under fire after a study cited as evidence for expanding the terminal to boost the UK’s economic growth was ordered by Heathrow itself
Rachel Reeves was facing criticism on Saturday night as it was confirmed that a report she cited as evidence that a third runway at Heathrow would boost the UK economy was commissioned by the airport itself.
Experts and green groups also challenged Reeves’s view that advances in the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) had been a “gamechanger” that would substantially limit the environmental damage of flying, saying the claims were overblown and did not stand up to scrutiny.
Continue reading...General secretary highlights ‘legacy of 14 years of falling living standards under the Tories’
In an article for the Guardian, the Labour MP Clive Lewis said Rachel Reeves’ growth speech this week means the party has abandoned its pre-election green commitments.
Here is an extract.
A growing suspicion looms that our government lacks a coherent governing philosophy or ideological compass beyond the vague pursuit of “growth”. But if growth at any cost is the mantra, the costs will soon become painfully clear. Why pledge to be clean and green, only to undermine that commitment with a Heathrow expansion promise six months later? Burning the furniture to stay warm doesn’t signal confidence – it reeks of panic.
Regardless of the motivation, Labour has crossed the Rubicon. Approving Heathrow expansion is an irreversible break with our pre-election pledges. In 2021, Reeves stood in front of the Labour party conference and declared that she would be the “first-ever green chancellor”. Now, Labour is accused of obstructing the climate and nature bill and abandoning its ambitious decarbonisation plans. The rapid turnaround is striking …
I do a bit. There are nine million working age adults who are not working. And as we compete globally with countries like, you know, South Korea, China, India, you know, we need a work ethic. We need everybody to be making a contribution. … we need to lift our game and to up our game.
Chris Philp was the architect of the Liz Truss budget which crashed the economy and sent family mortgages rocketing.
After the Conservatives’ economic failure left working people worse off, it takes some real brass neck for the Tory top team to tell the public that it’s really all their fault.
I was making the case that tax cuts…need to be accompanied by spending control or spending reductions … in order to show that the books are being balanced and to avoid the market reaction that we saw …
I made that case internally … but it wasn’t unfortunately listened to. I think had my suggestions been listened to a bit earlier, then there was a there’s a much higher chance that [the mini-budget] would have worked. And it’ll be always a matter of regret that those points weren’t taken on board.
Continue reading...Steve Samson given whole-life order and Gemma Watts at least 30 years after killing and dismembering 38-year-old
A couple who killed a woman and dumped her dismembered body in different parts of south London have been jailed for murder.
Steve Samson was out of prison on a life licence for the murder of a taxi driver in 1998 when he and his partner, Gemma Watts, killed Sarah Mayhew, 38, at his flat in Sutton last spring.
Continue reading...The networking and events business struggled with ‘rising rents’ and the aftermath of the pandemic
AllBright, the women-only members’ club with a five-storey townhouse in Mayfair, London, has entered administration, the Guardian can reveal.
The networking and events business – which was co-founded by the Telegraph Media Group’s chief executive, Anna Jones, and the co-chair of the Invest in Women Taskforce, Debbie Wosskow – emailed members last week to say it was closing the doors of its building just off Regent Street.
Continue reading...Much loved for its screenings of hard-to-find films, the venue claims its landlord wants to alter lease, leaving it able to shut down the business
The Prince Charles cinema in central London, long a site of pilgrimage for those interested in cult and hard-to-find films, has launched a petition saying its existence is under threat from its property developer landlords.
In a statement on petitions website 38degrees.org.uk, the cinema says that Zedwell LSQ Ltd (who are owned by developers Criterion Capital) are demanding a “break clause” in the building’s lease, which is currently being negotiated as the current lease ends in September. The cinema says this means they would be on six months’ notice to leave if Zedwell decides to redevelop the site.
Continue reading...Chancellor expected to unveil new building projects and revise planning rules to stimulate UK economy
Rachel Reeves has given her strongest hint yet that she will back a third runway at Heathrow airport, arguing that she is willing to make difficult decisions while pursuing economic growth.
The chancellor is poised to make a significant speech this week where she will outline her plans to boost the British economy by radically altering planning rules and accelerating building projects.
Continue reading...Chancellor says runway would mean fewer planes circling London, and points to moves towards sustainable flying
Rachel Reeves has indicated her support for building a third runway at Heathrow airport, arguing that it would have environmental benefits such as fewer planes circling London.
Ahead of a major speech on economic growth this coming week, the chancellor made the case for Heathrow expansion and said there was “huge investment” in more sustainable aviation.
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