Force admits use of undercover officers was ‘indefensible’ and had ‘corrosive effect’ on public trust, inquiry hears
The Metropolitan police have issued a series of wide-ranging apologies to campaigners for the “indefensible” use of undercover officers to spy on them, a public inquiry has heard.
The Met admitted to “serious failings and wrongdoing” by some of the undercover officers, conceding there was a “general failure” by senior managers to supervise them properly.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Veteran actors fast-tracked into venerable London club in wake of men-only rule being jettisoned after 193 years
The Garrick Club has named Judi Dench and Siân Phillips as distinguished members, making them the first women to be allowed to join the club in its 193-year history.
The actors were given fast-tracked membership during the club’s annual general meeting on Monday evening. Until now, no woman had been allowed into the Garrick unless invited in and accompanied around the building by a man.
Continue reading...Annual LBGTQ+ celebration takes place with march between Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square
Crowds gathered in London on Saturday as part of the capital’s Pride celebrations, with a parade making its way from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square.
The mayor, Sadiq Khan, walked at the front of the march alongside his wife, Saadiya, as well as Andrew Boff, a Conservative London assembly member, and Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, an air quality campaigner.
Continue reading...RHS reports 35% surge in orders, while garden designers note pond trend at Hampton Court Palace flower show
A pond boom is happening in Britain’s gardens as people try to halt wildlife loss by digging water sources for amphibians and other aquatic life.
Data from the Royal Horticultural Society shows a marked increase in sales of pond greenery; their online store had a 35% increase in sales of pond plants for 2023 compared with 2022.
Continue reading...Almost 12,000 rough sleepers were seen by outreach workers in 2023-24, a 19% increase on the previous year
Rough sleeping in the capital has hit the highest level in a decade, with more than 1,100 people living on London’s streets for the first time because of evictions.
The number of new rough sleepers seen for the first time by outreach workers between April 2023 and March 2024, surged 25% to 7,974 people – the highest in at least four years. Almost one in 10 people living on the streets was aged 25 or under – including 13 children.
Continue reading...Deo Kato detained by security services for three weeks after being arrested near Juba on run from South Africa to UK
A Ugandan-born Londoner on a 9,000-mile run from South Africa to London has been released from jail in South Sudan, his partner has told the Guardian.
Deo Kato had already run more than the length of Africa – the equivalent of more than 200 marathons – when he was arrested near Juba, the capital of South Sudan, on 2 June. His partner and project manager, Alice Light, had no idea where he was, only discovering he was in prison on 17 June.
Continue reading...A lawyer’s offer, a judgment that foretold years of legal wrangling, and diplomatic pressure all played a part in the release of the WikiLeaks founder
• Julian Assange released from prison – live updates
It was, as his friends described it, the “last kick of the British establishment”. At 2am on Monday, Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, was woken in his small cell in the high-security Belmarsh prison, south-east London, and ordered to dress before being put in handcuffs.
It was the beginning of the end of Assange’s incarceration in Britain but it was going to be on his jailers’ terms.
Continue reading...Health service in England issues update saying there is ‘no evidence’ hackers published entire database
Stolen data published online has been confirmed as having come from the NHS provider Synnovis, NHS England has said.
Synnovis, which manages blood tests for NHS trusts and GP services, primarily in south-east London, was the victim of a cyber-attack – understood to have been carried out by the Russian group Qilin – on 3 June.
Continue reading...Proposed tourist attraction hopes to bring 2m visitors a year to abandoned wartime network
London Tunnels, which aims to convert an abandoned underground network into a tourist attraction, has ditched plans to float in the capital, instead opting to list in Amsterdam.
The company aims to make the Kingsway exchange tunnels, a network of 8,000 sq metres under Holborn in central London, into a new attraction that will bring in 2 million visitors a year.
Continue reading...Only ‘urgent’ tests to go ahead in short term after hospitals in south-east London hit by Russian gang’s seizure of data
Patients denied a blood test because of a Russian cyber-attack on the NHS may have to wait up to six months to have their sample taken, the Guardian has learned.
The delays are so long that some patients have decided to pay to have their blood taken and analysed by a private clinic rather than remain on the NHS waiting list.
Continue reading...After losing his empire in 2022, the lauded host is opening a ‘new world grand cafe’ in London’s Bayswater
This month, Jeremy King will open the Park, an all-day restaurant in Bayswater. It is the second of three big 2024 openings for the lauded restaurateur, who was behind the heydays of some of London’s most celebrated restaurants such as Le Caprice, the Ivy and the Wolseley.
It follows the launch of Arlington in January, King’s modern reboot of Le Caprice, once a favourite with the stars from Diana, Princess of Wales to Mick Jagger. Later in the year he’ll be reviving another stalwart, Simpson’s on the Strand.
Continue reading...Player Kings to reopen on Thursday and producers say they look forward to actor ‘returning as soon as he is ready’
Ian McKellen has said he is “looking forward to returning to work” after falling from the stage during a performance of Player Kings, adding that he was “hugely indebted” to NHS staff who treated him.
The actor, 85, was portraying the Shakespearean character John Falstaff at the Noël Coward theatre in London on Monday when he lost his footing during a fight scene involving the Prince of Wales and Henry Percy.
Continue reading...Subatomic instrument will be able to accurately pinpoint locations under ground and under water, where satellite signals are often blocked
Dr Joseph Cotter takes some unusual pieces of luggage on his trips on the London underground. They include a stainless steel vacuum chamber, a few billion atoms of rubidium and an array of lasers that are used to cool his equipment to a temperature just above absolute zero.
While not the average kit you would expect to find being dragged into carriages on the District Line, this is the gear that Cotter – who works at Imperial College London’s Centre for Cold Matter – uses on his underground travels.
Continue reading...Cameras expected to be trained on three Household Cavalry steeds that galloped through London in April
The bearskins, marching bands and palace balcony appearances that ensure trooping the colour is an annual crowd-puller will face competition when this year’s military spectacle takes place on Saturday.
King Charles and Queen Camilla will be there, though in a small concession to his cancer treatment, Charles will review the King’s Birthday Parade from an Ascot landau carriage rather than on horseback.
Continue reading...Work by 16th century master is expected to fetch between £15m and £25m when it goes on sale at Christie’s
A highly coveted painting by the Renaissance master Titian that was stolen in 1809 then again in 1995 – after which it was discovered in a plastic bag at a London bus stop – is being put up for auction in July.
The Venetian painter is believed to have created Rest on the Flight into Egypt in 1508 when he was barely 20. Painted on a 2ft wide wooden panel, the painting depicts the Virgin Mary cradling Jesus as an infant with Joseph looking on.
Continue reading...Labour is fighting its former candidate in Iain Duncan Smith’s long-held seat, but local residents don’t appear bowled over by their election options
“The Tories really don’t deserve to be in but I’ll struggle to support Labour. I will have to vote. But it will be a struggle to vote.” David Cherry is out walking his dog, Bella, in the spring sunshine in Chingford Green park.
“It’s quite a depressing state, to be honest,” Cherry continues. “Neither of them give you a clear indication. They all talk, we all know nothing’s going to happen.”
Continue reading...Eleven-year-old girl among those injured at Lambeth country show in Brockwell Park
Four people including an 11-year-old girl have been taken to hospital after a fairground ride malfunctioned at an event in London on Saturday, police said.
Emergency services were called to the scene at the Lambeth country show in Brockwell Park at about 6.20pm.
Continue reading...Forces outside the capital drawn on for Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid match and a Tommy Robinson march and counter-protest
More than 2,000 officers have been deployed across London, including more than 400 from outside the capital, to police the Champions League final, a protest by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson and a counter-demonstration.
The final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid takes place at Wembley on Saturday evening. And, earlier, a protest organised by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, more commonly known as Tommy Robinson, set off from the Victoria area on Saturday, ending in Parliament Square where speeches took place.
Continue reading...Girl remains in critical condition after being hit by bullet in suspected drive-by attack
The young girl left in a critical condition after being mistakenly shot by a suspected gangland hitman was visiting relatives in London on her half-term holiday.
The girl, from Birmingham, was still in hospital on Friday after a bullet struck her as she ate at Evin restaurant, in Hackney, north-east London, on Wednesday evening.
Continue reading...Comments at rally in east London follow Keir Starmer’s denial that the Hackney MP would be barred from standing in the election
Diane Abbott has promised to stay on as an MP for “as long as it is possible”, setting up a clash with Keir Starmer after a deal for her to retire from parliament broke down.
Abbott, the UK’s first female black MP, had been expected to make a “dignified exit” from parliament, after a near 40-year career, in an arrangement in which she was given back the Labour whip after an investigation into comments she made about racism.
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