Category Archives: London

Forced home moves cost renters over half a billion pounds a year

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There were 830,000 unwanted moves in England over the past 12 months, meaning 40% have been forced to relocate

Unwanted home moves cost renters more than half a billion pounds a year, with tenants coughing up an average of £669 every time they are forced by landlords to leave their home, a survey has revealed.

Analysis by the homelessness charity Shelter estimated that there had been 830,000 unwanted moves in England over the past 12 months, meaning 40% of renters who move house are doing so because they have been compelled to look for other accommodation.

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‘Really upsetting’: Grenfell Tower edited out of TV advert

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Exclusive: Man whose uncle died in 2017 disaster describes ad for pain relief gel Voltarol as ‘insulting’

Grenfell Tower has been edited out of a TV advert in a move described as “insulting” by a family bereaved by the June 2017 disaster.

Karim Mussilhy, whose uncle Hesham Rahman was among 72 people who died as a result of the fire, noticed the edit while watching the Channel 4 streaming service on Monday when an advert for the pain relief gel Voltarol showed people playing football on the Westway football pitches close to the council block.

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High court upholds top London school’s ban on prayer rituals

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Muslim pupil loses case against Michaela community school, run by former government social mobility tsar Katharine Birbalsingh

A ban on prayer rituals at one of the highest-performing state schools in England, famous for its strict discipline and high-profile headteacher, has been upheld by a high court judge.

The case against Michaela community school in Brent, north-west London, was brought by a Muslim pupil, known only as TTT in court proceedings, who claimed the ban was discriminatory and breached her right to religious freedom.

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Squatters take over Gordon Ramsay hotel and pub in London

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At least six people lock themselves in Grade II-listed York and Albany next to Regent’s Park and post notice

Squatters have taken over a pub in London leased by Gordon Ramsay that is up for sale with a guide price of £13m.

A group of at least six people locked themselves inside the Grade II-listed York and Albany hotel and gastropub, next to Regent’s Park, boarding up the windows and putting up a “legal warning” defending their takeover, the Sun reported.

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Two Come Dine With Me winners convicted for importing cannabis

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Nicholas Panayiotou and Eleanar Attard among gang who planned to smuggle 58kg of the drug into the UK

Members of a gang, including two former winners of a Channel 4 cooking programme, have been convicted after their plan to import large amounts of cannabis was uncovered.

Nicholas Panayiotou, Eleanar Attard, Constantinos Zavros, Luke Wileman and Koby Haik planned to smuggle 58kg of cannabis into the UK from the US, but were foiled after a theft at a London airport, the Metropolitan police said.

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Tory candidate for London mayor has Trumpian attitude to climate, says Khan

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London mayor expected to criticise Susan Hall in speech launching panels on school roofs

Sadiq Khan will accuse his Conservative rival in the race to be London’s next mayor of being “Trumpian” over the climate crisis, as he announces plans for solar panels on schools.

Khan is expected to acknowledge resistance to his expansion of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) in a speech on Friday but insist that he still intends to “go further”.

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Heathrow urges government to scrap £10 fee for transit passengers

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London hub says charge for overseas travellers using UK airports puts country at competitive disadvantage

Heathrow has called on the government to scrap a new £10 charge for overseas travellers using UK airports to connect to other flights, warning that it puts UK airports at a competitive disadvantage compared with other European rivals.

The government introduced the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) in November for non-UK residents travelling to the UK from Qatar, with a wider rollout for other countries throughout 2024.

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Murder investigation launched after woman found dead in her London home

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Police keeping open mind over motive after victim was discovered with multiple stab injuries in Bayswater property

A murder investigation is under way after a woman was found dead with a number of stab wounds in her home in west London, the Metropolitan police has said.

Officers were contacted on Sunday by friends of the woman, who were concerned about her welfare.

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‘Show must go on’: Iranian journalist stabbed in London returns to work

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Pouria Zeraati said he is back on the airwaves with Iran International, a dissident broadcaster based in the UK

An Iranian journalist who was stabbed outside his London home last week has returned to work, saying the “show must go on”.

Pouria Zeraati was knifed in the leg by a group of three unknown assailants as he approached his car in Wimbledon on 29 March.

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Garrick edges closer to admitting female members after 193 years of exclusion

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Move comes after Guardian revealed names of powerful men among club’s exclusive membership

The men-only Garrick Club has edged closer to admitting female members, after an emergency committee meeting acknowledged that there was nothing in the club rules to prevent them from joining.

The late-night vote on Thursday means that women could finally become members of the club within months, 193 years after the Garrick was founded and following decades of controversy over its discriminatory rules, sources said.

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Elite cyclist to lead London race while living in asylum hotel

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Trhas Tesfay, who fled war in Ethiopia, says she suffers hunger headaches as she cannot eat Home Office hotel meals

One of Ethiopia’s elite female cyclists will be pedalling at the front of one of London’s biggest bike races next month while living in an asylum seeker hotel on less than £10 a week.

Trhas Teklehaimanot Tesfay, 22, rode a bicycle for the first time when she was 13 years old. She has achieved success in a range of competitions such as the African Continental Championships and the national championships of Ethiopia.

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Sadiq Khan aiming to create 150,000 ‘high-quality, well-paid jobs’ by 2028

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Exclusive: London mayor to launch plan on Wednesday alongside Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor

Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, is to launch a plan to create 150,000 “high-quality, well-paid jobs” by 2028.

The plan will be unveiled by Khan on Wednesday alongside the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, who will declare that a Labour administration will “reset” the relationship between national government and London.

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Cleaners, builders, Primark shoppers: ads for London mayor hopeful Susan Hall reveal Tories’ targets

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Analysis shows content is aimed at working-class over-50s, and plays on fears of crime, stirs anger and pushes conspiracy theories

Are you a cleaner or builder who likes Primark, the pub or reality TV – but doesn’t care about the environment? If yes, the Conservative party wants your vote.

These are some of the interest categories used by the campaign team for the Tories’ candidate for London mayor, Susan Hall, to target audiences on social media.

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Iran International targeted by Tehran, says channel after London stabbing

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Spokesperson tells Today programme that UK-based broadcaster has been under ‘heavy threat for last 18 months’

Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards have been targeting the broadcaster Iran International, a spokesperson for the channel said after a leading journalist was stabbed in London.

The Persian-language news television channel that employed Pouria Zeraati, who was attacked outside his London home, had received an increased level of threats beforehand, Adam Baillie told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Saturday.

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Sadiq Khan pledges new Erasmus-style overseas study scheme for London youngsters

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City’s mayor outlines ‘internationalist’ vision in manifesto as he bids for third term in May

London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan is to offer young people studying in the capital a new version of the EU’s Erasmus scheme of student exchanges as part of his bid for a third term.

He will unveil plans under which students would receive grants and other help to study and undertake work experience, not just in the EU but other major world cities, with reciprocal arrangements for students from overseas to do the same in London.

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Vintage fans in London gear up to recreate 60s mood at festival of mod

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Tailor-made suits, live music and – of course – a scooter run are expected at this weekend’s celebration

Hundreds of vintage fanatics, dressed in tailor-made suits and berets, are expected to descend on London this weekend for a three-day event celebrating mod subculture.

Modstock, launched 30 years ago by a British vintage fanatic, Rob Bailey, and his organisation New Untouchables, returns for its fourth edition.

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Garrick Club asked to consider membership for seven leading women

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A group of men at the club who hope the male-only rule will change have nominated a set of possible new members

Seven women with leading positions in the British establishment have been nominated as prospective female members of the Garrick in the event that the club agrees to change its rules so that women are able to join.

The classicist Mary Beard, the former home secretary Amber Rudd, Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman and the new Labour peer Ayesha Hazarika are among the first names to have been put forward to the club as possible future members.

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‘Know your audience’: BBC 5 Live chief on the station’s staying power

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On 5 Live’s 30th birthday, Heidi Dawson says more of the BBC should be based outside London to reflect the national conversation

More of the BBC needs to be based outside London to reflect the “conversation of the nation” and secure its future, according to the controller of BBC Radio 5 Live.

As the station celebrates its 30th birthday on Thursday, with a series of shows and tributes, Heidi Dawson says 5 Live is well placed to see off the multiple headwinds buffeting its HQ in London, including a further £200m in annual cuts announced by the BBC’s director general this week.

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Tories delete Sadiq Khan attack ad showing New York instead of London

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Footage of people panicking, designed to attack the London mayor’s record on crime, was filmed in a New York subway station

The Conservatives have deleted an online video that used scenes of a panicked crowd at a New York subway station to criticise Sadiq Khan’s record on crime in London.

The attack ad, posted on X in support of Susan Hall – Khan’s rival for the London mayoralty, showed people panicking and rushing through New York’s Penn station after false reports of gunfire in 2017.

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