Category Archives: London

Families lay wreaths to mark 25 years since Ladbroke Grove rail crash

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Collision of two trains in west London killed 31 people and was one of worst rail disasters in recent UK history

Families bereaved by the Ladbroke Grove rail disaster have laid flowers to remember those killed, and to recognise those who came to their aid, 25 years since the crash that killed 31 people.

The disaster, one of the most catastrophic rail incidents in recent UK history, also left more than 220 injured. A rush-hour train collided almost head-on with a high-speed train about 2 miles from Paddington station in west London, shortly after 8am on 5 October 1999.

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Ian Hislop laughs off taxi ‘shooting’ incident on Have I Got News For You

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Private Eye host says police asked if anyone ‘might have a grudge’ against him after window shattered on London cab

The Private Eye editor, Ian Hislop, has laughed off an incident in which the window of a taxi he was travelling in was shattered by what was initially believed to be a gunshot.

Hislop, 64, offered a lighthearted response to the incident on Friday’s edition of Have I Got News For You on the BBC.

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Private London college taught students by showing videos, investigation reveals

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Business students at £9,250-a-year Regent College London raised series of complaints with Office for Students

Students at a private higher education college charging £9,250 a year were taught by staff reading out bullet points and showing videos, according to an investigation that found one tutor held an online class while appearing to be on public transport.

The students attending Regent College London told investigators from England’s higher education regulator that teaching staff changed frequently, including one cover tutor who “arrived almost half an hour late” to host an online class and “was clearly travelling or in a public place”.

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Dressing for the dancefloor: creative explosion behind 80s’ most colourful club

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Fashion Museum exhibition charts how shortlived Taboo and its founder, Leigh Bowery, inspired decade’s fashion

With ITV’s drama Joan on our screens and the bubble skirt back on the catwalks, the 80s are once again having a moment. An exhibition at London’s Fashion Museum, Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London, takes a different look – by going deep into the creative explosion on the dancefloors of the decade.

It focuses on Taboo, a London club that lasted barely a year but was pivotal in the careers of people including the singer Boy George, the designers John Galliano and Katharine Hamnett, the choreographer Michael Clark and the performance artist Leigh Bowery, who started the club in 1985.

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Thames mudlarking permits to be issued again but capped to protect site

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Port of London authority to reopen scheme with waiting list, after surge in popularity of exploring riverbank for treasure

Whether fuelled by social media or prompted by the Covid lockdowns, the years between 2019 and 2022 saw a huge surge in interest in mudlarking on the foreshore of the River Thames in London.

The practice of exploring the riverbank for archaeology is permitted only with a permit from the Port of London authority (PLA), which owns much of the shoreline. But so dramatic was the growth in demand for permits – from 200 applications in 2018-19 to more than 5,000 three years later – that the port suspended the scheme in 2022 to “protect the integrity and archaeology of the foreshore”.

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Girl, 14, sustains potentially life-changing injuries in ‘acid’ attack at London school

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Substance, believed to be acidic, was thrown at pupils and staff at a west London school, say police

A teenage girl has been left with potentially life-changing injuries after a substance, believed to be acidic, was thrown at pupils and staff at a west London school, according to police.

Officers on patrol were flagged down at 4.42pm on Monday by staff at Westminster academy in Alfred Road after the substance was allegedly thrown.

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Sadiq Khan fears rise in UK hate crime linked to Middle East violence

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Exclusive: London mayor boosts counter-hate funding as British Jewish group warns of danger of ‘reprisal’ attacks

Sadiq Khan has warned of a potential increase in hate crime in Britain triggered by the rise in Middle East violence, as a leading British Jewish group warned of the danger of “reprisal” attacks here.

The London mayor’s warning comes after a series of Israeli airstrikes against targets in Lebanon, which have killed Hezbollah’s top leaders as well as its followers, and it is feared, scores of civilians. Khan is pumping extra emergency funding into groups in London countering hate.

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Met police officer sacked for allegedly spanking 12-year-old girl’s bare bottom

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PC Ross Benson accused of smacking the girl, who was known to him, multiple times in 2018

A Metropolitan police officer has been sacked and banned from policing after allegedly spanking a 12-year-old girl’s bare bottom.

PC Ross Benson, of the North West Basic Command Unit, was accused of smacking the girl several times between April and August 2018 when she was aged 12 to 13, and there was an alleged sexual element to his behaviour.

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Met officers who restrained boy, 14, on ground committed misconduct

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Police watchdog finds boy restrained for longer than necessary by officers involved in stop and search in London

Officers who handcuffed and restrained a 14-year-old black schoolboy on the ground during a stop and search in London committed misconduct, the police watchdog has said.

PC McCorley Clewes and former PC Benjamin Morgan were among four Metropolitan police officers involved in the stop in Blackhorse Lane, Croydon, on 23 June 2022 at about 5.30pm after reports of a stolen mobile phone.

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Brontë sisters finally get their dots as names corrected at Westminster Abbey

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Amended memorial to the writers unveiled at Poets’ Corner 85 years after misspelled plaque first installed

An 85-year injustice has been rectified at Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey with the corrected spelling of one of the greatest of all literary names. Reader, it is finally Brontë, not Bronte.

An amended memorial to Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë was unveiled on Thursday with added diaereses (two dots) that ensure people pronounce it with two syllables. As if it rhymed with Monty, not font.

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Harrods chief apologises for failing colleagues over Fayed allegations

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Michael Ward says former Harrods owner ‘presided over a toxic culture’, describing it as ‘shameful period’

The managing director of Harrods has apologised and said the business “failed our colleagues” following sexual misconduct allegations against the department store’s former owner, Mohamed Al Fayed.

In a statement, Michael Ward said it is clear Fayed “presided over a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct”.

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Hospital where baby died from infected feed had ‘entirely unsafe system’

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Admission by doctor at Guy’s and St Thomas’ made during inquest into deaths of three babies infected

An NHS trust that gave four newborn babies contaminated feed has admitted that it was operating “an entirely unsafe system” at the time they became infected.

The admission came during evidence by a senior doctor at Guy’s and St Thomas’ trust (GSTT), who led its investigation into the outbreak, during an inquest into how one of the very premature babies died.

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Nearly half of prisoners at HMP Brixton tell watchdog it is easy to obtain drugs

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Report finds prison is failing to prepare inmates for release and hundreds of prisoners have substance abuse problems

HMP Brixton, the most overcrowded prison in the country for moderate-risk inmates, is failing to prepare prisoners for release, with nearly half saying it is easy to buy drugs, a watchdog has found.

Inspectors found that many of the 740 men held there had turned to drugs because they had nothing constructive to do. Two-thirds of the men were sharing cells designed for one person.

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Necklace worn at Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation could fetch £2m at auction

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Some jewellery historians believe it features diamonds from infamous piece at centre of Marie Antoinette scandal

An antique diamond necklace worn at Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation and may be linked to a French scandal involving Marie Antoinette could fetch as much as £2m at auction.

The necklace, made of 300 carats, was also worn to King George VI’s coronation by members of the Marquess of Anglesey family, who owned the diamonds until the 1960s when they sold them.

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Harrods investigating if any current staff were involved in Fayed’s alleged abuse

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Exclusive: store issues new statement as lawyers describe redress scheme it has set up as attempted ‘whitewash’

Harrods is investigating whether any of its current staff were “directly or indirectly involved” in the alleged sexual abuse of women by its former owner Mohamed Al Fayed.

With more than 100 women having come forward to allege being raped or assaulted by the Egyptian tycoon, the luxury store said it had launched a review and was in direct contact with Scotland Yard.

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Lack of City of London oversight hurting efforts to halt dirty money, FCA warns

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Bodies responsible for monitoring accounting and legal sectors not doing enough to stop money laundering, watchdog says

A lack of proper oversight across the City of London’s network of lawyers, bookkeepers and accountants is hampering efforts to crack down on dirty money being funnelled through the UK, the City watchdog has warned.

The latest report by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) flagged concerns over the work of the UK’s 25 professional bodies – which oversee the accounting and legal sectors – and found that some were spending as little as £73 a year on anti-money laundering supervision or were outsourcing it entirely to third parties.

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Show shines light on overlooked artist who made UK’s first Holocaust memorial

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Work of German-Jewish sculptor Fred Kormis, who fled Nazis in 1930s, is subject of exhibition in London

The work of an overlooked German-Jewish artist who created the UK’s first memorial to victims of Nazi persecution is to be the focus of an exhibition that shines light on the unreported aspects of his life.

Fred Kormis, who fled Germany in the 1930s and later became a British citizen, was described by the Wiener Holocaust Library in London as a forgotten émigré artist who played a unique role in Weimar culture and 20th-century British art.

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Met police chief hails race action plan as ‘a step in the right direction’

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Mark Rowley launches initiative that includes reset of stop and search, but acknowledges ‘there is still a lot to do’

Scotland Yard has launched its latest steps to try to rebuild trust with London’s black community, which the Met police commissioner acknowledged had been let down for many years.

Mark Rowley said “there remains a long way to go and there is a lot more work to do”, but that the force’s race action plan was a step in the right direction.

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Worboys lawyer joins team working for alleged Fayed victims

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Phillippa Kaufmann KC, who helped black cab rapist’s victims sue the Metropolitan police, is helping examine whether the force should have done more to bring Harrods boss to justice

The lawyer who helped victims sue the Metropolitan Police for failing to investigate John Worboys, the black cab rapist, is working with women allegedly attacked by Mohamed Al Fayed.

Phillippa Kaufmann KC has joined the legal team examining whether police had a duty to do more to bring Fayed to justice when allegations were made against him.

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‘Absolutely hideous’: new London sculpture of Oscar Wilde condemned by his grandson

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Gloomy segmented head of famed playwright fails to convey his wit and brilliance, says Merlin Holland

A huge sculpture of Oscar Wilde’s head lying on its side, his face sliced into segments, has been condemned as “absolutely hideous” by the playwright’s grandson.

Merlin Holland, an expert on Wilde’s life and works, has ­criticised a 2ft-high black bronze sculpture by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi that is to be unveiled in a public garden in Chelsea, south-west London, near Wilde’s former home.

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