Category Archives: London

Met police investigate possible vetting errors over 300 recruits

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Exclusive: Force examining whether hundreds of recruits had substandard or no checks before being allowed to join

Scotland Yard is urgently making checks on whether it bungled the vetting of hundreds of officers after concerns they may have used inadequate measures when hiring them to see if they posed a criminal risk.

About 300 new recruits may have had substandard or no vetting to see if they had criminal convictions, cautions or criminal associations and whether their integrity was at risk because of debt.

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UK to explore extraditing Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brückner

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Met chief Mark Rowley says many questions remain and detectives are liaising with German and Portuguese police

Mark Rowley has said the British police investigation into Madeleine McCann will explore extraditing the German national Christian Brückner to the UK to stand trial over the three-year-old’s disappearance.

Brückner was released from a German prison on Wednesday after serving a seven-year jail term for the rape of an elderly woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2005, two years before Madeleine disappeared while on holiday with her family in the same town.

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Police search for 11 violent disorder suspects after ‘unite the kingdom’ march

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Met ask public for help identifying those who aimed ‘kicks and punches’ at officers among other offences

Police are looking for 11 people suspected to have committed violent disorder offences after the large far-right-led march through London on Saturday, and said they had already charged eight people with offences.

The “unite the kingdom” march was led by the far-right activist known as Tommy Robinson and attracted more than 110,000 people, police said, in excess of what they or the organisers expected.

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New legal challenge to plan for Spurs football academy in London park

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Campaigners crowdfund £26,000 to seek judicial review of move to construct pitches in wildlife-rich area

Campaigners are mounting another legal challenge to the building of a women’s football academy by Tottenham Hotspur on wildlife-rich parkland in north London.

The Guardians of Whitewebbs group has successfully crowdfunded £26,000 to seek a judicial review of Enfield council’s granting of planning permission for the Spurs academy, which will include all-weather pitches, floodlights and a turf academy built on 53 hectares (130 acres) of Whitewebbs Park. Enfield council’s planning committee approved the proposals in February, despite local protests, on greenbelt parkland rich in bats, newts and mature trees.

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James’s Tim Booth criticises Tommy Robinson for ‘cynical’ use of song

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Sit Down was played at ‘unite the kingdom’ rally in London but singer says band is ‘antithesis’ of far-right movement

The lead singer of the band James has criticised Tommy Robinson for the “cynical” use of the group’s hit song in a protest video.

Tim Booth said he was “disgusted” that the alternative rock band’s single Sit Down had been played without their permission, as he believed the song was “the antithesis” of the far-right activist’s movement.

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Starmer’s team has ‘gone into the bunker’ since cabinet reshuffle, says Labour MP – UK politics live

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After Angela Rayner resigned and Peter Mandelson was sacked, Labour MPs have begun to ask whether Starmer could be challenged as PM

It is the work shortcut that dare not speak its name. A third of people do not tell their bosses about their use of AI tools amid fears their ability will be questioned if they do.

Research for the Guardian has revealed that only 13% of UK adults openly discuss their use of AI with senior staff at work and close to half think of it as a tool to help people who are not very good at their jobs to get by.

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Nine Met police suspended amid inquiry into claims of excessive force

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Watchdog says there are also allegations of discriminatory and misogynistic comments, centring on Charing Cross police station

Nine Scotland Yard officers have been suspended after an investigation was launched into claims of excessive use of force and the making of discriminatory and misogynistic comments.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the allegations centre on Charing Cross police station in central London, the source of a previous scandal for the Metropolitan police.

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Suspended London Pride boss ordered to relinquish control of company bank account

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Christoper Joell-Deshields to hand over Pride for London’s banking passwords, social media and email accounts

The head of London’s Pride parade, who is fighting claims that he used its funds for his personal benefit, has been ordered by the high court to relinquish control of the organising body’s bank account.

Christoper Joell-Deshields, who was suspended as chief executive last month, consented to an order on Friday to hand over Pride for London’s banking passwords, social media and email accounts.

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London tube strike shuts down services, causing congestion on roads

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Downing Street says ‘Londoners rightly fed up’ as commuters forced to find other routes to work on first of four days of RMT action

Downing Street said Londoners would be “rightly fed up” as commuters turned to the other trains, buses and bikes – or just stayed at home – as strikes by the RMT union closed the underground on Monday.

The numbers attempting to use any public transport were down by about a fifth, according to Transport for London (TfL) data, but that still left many crowding on to bus and overground services or congested roads at the start of four days of commuter misery.

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Court staff cover up Banksy image of judge beating a protester

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Artist’s latest work at Royal Courts of Justice in London is thought to refer to pro-Palestine demonstrations

A painting by Banksy of a judge using a gavel to beat a helpless protester appeared on the walls of the Royal Courts of Justice in London before quickly being covered up by guards.

Banksy confirmed the artwork was his by posting a picture of it on Instagram on Monday morning.

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Protests expected as 51 Israeli arms makers among exhibitors at London trade fair

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Campaign Against Arms Trade says UK government has hit ‘peak complicity in genocide’ in allowing the firms to exhibit

Fifty-one Israeli arms makers and the US defence giant behind the F-35 fighters used to bomb Gaza are among the 1,600 exhibitors at the biennial DSEI trade show that begins in London’s Docklands on Tuesday.

Their presence will be the focus for hundreds planning to demonstrate outside the four-day arms fair, at which the defence secretary, John Healey, is expected to speak alongside senior British military officials.

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Londoners buying lowest share of property outside capital since 2013

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Stalling house prices and shift back to office working are affecting people’s ability to move out of city, say experts

Londoners are buying the lowest share of houses outside the capital in more than a decade as their moving plans are curtailed by a stalling local market and the shift back to office working.

They were behind just 5.3% of house purchases elsewhere in the country in the first seven months of this year, the lowest proportion since 2013, research has found.

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Palestine Action: five arrested in England before protest against group’s ban

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Defend Our Juries confirms event will go ahead as 1,000 people pledge to take part in defiance of counter-terrorism laws

More than 1,000 people have pledged to risk arrest this Saturday at a fresh protest against a ban on the group Palestine Action, as police detained five spokespeople for the event’s organisers.

Tim Crosland, a former government lawyer who is one of the co-founders of the Defend Our Juries group, was among those arrested hours before he was due to address a press conference on Tuesday.

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Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performance in London interrupted by pro-Palestine protestors

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Jewish Artists for Palestine interrupted a BBC Proms performance at Royal Albert Hall on Friday, claiming the MSO ‘silenced artists’ and ‘silenced protest’

Pro-Palestine protesters have interrupted a performance by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) at the BBC Proms in London, accusing the organisation’s management of silencing artists who have criticised Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

The Jewish Artists for Palestine group interrupted the performance for more than 10 minutes on Friday night, with some members shouting from the upper stalls of Royal Albert Hall, including claims the MSO “silenced artists” and “silenced protest”.

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Man who hid cameras in London home pleads guilty to string of sexual offences

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Chao Xu, of Greenwich, admits 24 offences against six women and police say there could be many more victims

A businessman who concealed cameras in his home and drugged women has pleaded guilty to a string of sexual offences, and police fear the full scale of his crimes may be “vast”.

Chao Xu, 33, pleaded guilty at a pre-trial hearing on Friday to 24 offences against six young women in London over three years, including rape, digital penetration, sexual assault, administering a substance with intent and voyeurism.

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Tommy Robinson will not be charged over alleged St Pancras assault, police say

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British Transport Police say alleged victim ‘did not wish to provide a statement to the investigation’

The far-right activist Tommy Robinson will not face charges over allegations he punched a man to the ground at a London train station, police and prosecutors have announced.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm after the incident on 28 July at St Pancras train station.

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Notting Hill carnival came ‘very close’ to not happening, says chair in funding appeal

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Ian Comfort calls for government to recognise cultural importance of event and guarantee its sustainable future

About 2 million people are expected to take to the streets this weekend at the annual Notting Hill carnival for its mix of music, food and Caribbean culture, but for the man who runs it, there is a sense of relief to see it taking place at all.

The chair of Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, Ian Comfort, told the Guardian that the event needed to secure a sustainable future after a year of funding rows, public disagreements with the Met police, and negative press after violence last year.

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AI tool that speeds up patient discharges trialled by NHS

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Pilot at London trust aims to reduce paperwork and free up doctors, as UK brings AI to public services

An artificial intelligence tool designed to speed up the discharge of patients is being trialled at a hospital trust in London.

The platform completes documents needed to send fit patients home, potentially saving hours of delays and freeing up beds.

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Next UK protest over Palestine Action ban aims to sign up 1,000 people

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Defend Our Juries believes London protest in September could lead to ban being lifted, after 532 arrests on Saturday

The next mass protest in support of the banned group Palestine Action will aim to be twice the size of the last, organisers have said, as they increase pressure on the government to lift its proscription.

Last Saturday’s protest in Parliament Square was predicated on 500 people signing up but the next one, announced on Wednesday for 6 September in London, is conditional on 1,000 people agreeing to take part.

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Canadian who could not renew visa due to mental health crisis faces UK ban

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Academic Heather Scott has been told by Home Office that being ‘acutely ill’ is not an exceptional circumstance

The Home Office is threatening to ban a Canadian academic from the UK after she was unable to renew her visa in time during a mental health crisis.

Dr Heather Scott has lived in Britain since she came in 2011 on a study visa. The renowned academic, whose area of research relates to Victorian cemeteries including Highgate, Brompton and Abney Park, is required to be based in London.

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