Category Archives: London

Vogue World to donate £2m to London-based arts organisations

Posted on by

National Theatre and Royal Ballet among 21 groups to receive grants from new fund

Vogue World will donate £2m to London-based arts organisations through a newly established fund, Condé Nast has announced.

The star-studded event at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Thursday night was masterminded by the Vogue editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, and the Bafta- and Olivier-winning director Stephen Daldry. Its aim was to celebrate London’s heritage as a cultural powerhouse and to raise money for the UK’s cash-strapped performing arts scene.

Continue reading...

Arrested at Sarah Everard’s vigil: how Patsy Stevenson’s life changed for ever

Posted on by

The 30-year-old, now awarded damages by the Met police, talks about how a photo made her a target for hate and how she hopes to move on

There is one thing that Patsy Stevenson can’t stand when people see the image of her being pinned down on the ground by police on the night of the Sarah Everard vigil: them saying that she looked good.

“Some people were like, ‘Oh, you look so great’, or ‘Your hair looks amazing in that picture’,” she says, after learning that the Metropolitan police have settled the claim that she and Dania al-Obeid, who was also at the vigil, brought against them. “But that was a really traumatic event for me and I don’t think people always take into consideration that I’m not a picture, I’m a person.”

Continue reading...

Met police pays damages to women arrested at Sarah Everard vigil

Posted on by

Apology and ‘substantial’ payouts to Patsy Stevenson and Dania al-Obeid mark major climbdown after years of legal battles

Scotland Yard has apologised and paid “substantial damages” to two women arrested during the vigil for Sarah Everard, in a major climbdown following years of legal battles over the policing of the event.

In a move that the new Metropolitan police commissioner, Mark Rowley, will hope draws a line under one of the darkest periods of the Met’s recent history, the force acknowledged that it was “understandable” that Patsy Stevenson and Dania Al-Obeid had wanted to attend a candlelit vigil at Clapham Common because they felt women had been “badly let down”.

Continue reading...

V&A to look after ancient Yemen stones found in London shop

Posted on by

Museum agrees to care for stelae dating from second half of first millennium BC until it is safe to return them

The V&A is to look after four ancient carved funerary stones that were found by police in a shop in east London in a historic agreement with Yemen.

The stelae, which date from the second half of the first millennium BC, come from necropoli that have been looted in recent years.

Continue reading...

Conservationists call for help to save London’s glowworms

Posted on by

London Wildlife Trust asks volunteers to seek out endangered beetles’ strongholds

They were celebrated as “ye country comets” by the poet Andrew Marvell but glowworms are defying light pollution to still shine their lights in the city of London.

Now volunteers and enthusiasts are being sought to count and save the much-celebrated but declining beetles, whose females emit a remarkable bright green bioluminescent beam to attract males.

Continue reading...

Police watchdog apologises to sister of black man who died in custody in 2008

Posted on by

IOPC apologises ‘unreservedly’ to Marcia Rigg, whose brother Sean died after being restrained in Brixton

The police watchdog has apologised “unreservedly” to the sister of a black man who died in police custody in London 15 years ago.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct apologised to Marcia Rigg, whose brother Sean died after losing consciousness at Brixton police station, for delays and police failings. She said she hoped that no other family would have to endure her family’s “never-ending trauma”.

Continue reading...

Man arrested in connection with homophobic attack outside London nightclub

Posted on by

The suspect, 19, has been held on suspicion of two counts of grievous bodily harm after two men were stabbed in Clapham on 13 August

A 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a homophobic attack outside a nightclub in south London in which two men were stabbed, police have said.

Two men were taken to hospital after the incident in Clapham on 13 August. They have since been discharged.

Continue reading...

Residents of south London housing estate demand urgent repairs

Posted on by

Damp and mould so bad one cancer patient had to sleep on floor after ceiling collapsed, say residents

Hundreds of residents on a south London housing estate are demanding action from their council landlord, which they claim is ignoring urgent repairs needed on their homes.

Residents of the Tulse Hill estate say they have been left dealing with widespread issues of damp and mould that are so bad that in one case a cancer patient had to sleep on the floor for months after his ceiling collapsed twice.

Continue reading...

Ex-Nationwide teller in London jailed for part in £130,000 bank fraud

Posted on by

Nathan Gilbert, of Enfield, changed the account details of customers and fraudulently issued passbooks

A former teller at a London branch of Nationwide has been jailed for more than two years for his part in a £130,000 bank fraud.

Nathan Gilbert, 26, of Enfield, north London, who was said to have abused his position of trust at the bank, pleaded guilty at Southwark crown court to committing fraud and was sentenced earlier this year.

Continue reading...

Millions of ‘missing voters’ cost Labour seats due to electoral boundaries bias

Posted on by

Analysis of official data has revealed the system for drawing constituencies is ‘warping’ democracy by omitting eligible voters

British democracy is being “warped” by an unfair system for drawing constituency boundaries that ignores millions of “missing voters” and hugely benefits the Tories, according to a new study of official data.

Analysis by the political commentator and pollster Peter Kellner shows that if constituencies were determined according to the size of their populations rather than the number of registered voters – as happens in most other advanced democracies – then the number of extra Labour seats created would cut the Tories’ Commons majority by 22.

Continue reading...

Magic day out as Harry Potter fans gather at King’s Cross for return to Hogwarts

Posted on by

Fans in costumes gathered at the London station to watch a train for ‘Hogsmeade’ on platform 9¾ appear on the departure board

Thousands of Harry Potter fans braved the rail strikes on Friday to gather at King’s Cross station in London for “back to Hogwarts day”.

Many wearing wizard robes and carrying wands, fans of the franchise travelled to the station to hear the magical loudspeaker call for the Hogwarts Express at 11am, inviting witches and wizards to board the train to Hogsmeade on platform 9¾.

Continue reading...

Murder inquiry launched after man stabbed to death in north London

Posted on by

The 23-year-old was stabbed in broad daylight in Islington on Wednesday morning

A murder inquiry has been launched after a 23-year-old man was stabbed to death in broad daylight in north London.

Officers and London ambulance service were called to reports of a stabbing on a street in Islington on Wednesday morning and found a man with knife injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Continue reading...

Pret a Manger fined £800,000 after employee trapped in freezer

Posted on by

Employee, who was stuck in walk-in freezer for more than two hours, was treated in hospital for hypothermia

Pret a Manger has been fined £800,000 after an employee was trapped in one of its freezers for more than two hours, where she tried to use croissant boxes to stave off hypothermia.

The employee was wearing jeans and T-shirt when she was stuck in a walk-in freezer, which typically had its temperature set at -18C, in July 2021, Westminster magistrates court was told.

Continue reading...

Tories accused of hypocrisy in Ulez row after call to extend congestion charge

Posted on by

Ministers have claimed Ulez is cash-raising ploy – but letter reveals Grant Shapps backed a separate charge for same reason

Ministers have been accused of hypocrisy in claiming Sadiq Khan expanded London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to raise revenue after it emerged the Department for Transport urged the mayor to extend the city’s congestion charge for the same reason.

On the first day of Ulez covering every London borough there was renewed bickering between the Labour mayor and the government, with Khan castigating Mark Harper, the transport secretary, for what he called factual mistakes after the pair crossed paths at a TV studio.

Continue reading...

Clean air ‘a right not a privilege’, says London mayor as Ulez is expanded

Posted on by

Sadiq Khan defends expansion of ultra-low emission zone as government continues to criticise it

Clean air is “a right not a privilege”, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has said as the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) was expanded to include the outer boroughs of London.

People who drive in the zone in a vehicle that does not meet minimum emissions standards are required to pay a £12.50 daily fee or risk a £180 fine, reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days.

Continue reading...

Government to use Ulez expansion to attack Labour over ‘war on motorists’

Posted on by

Ministers hope anti-green message will impress voters, as London mayor says he is ‘a doer, not a delayer’

The government is to use the expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to go on the attack over what it has called “Labour’s war on motorists”, part of a wider battle against green policies it hopes could prove popular with voters.

With the extension of the clean air scheme to every London borough beginning at midnight on Monday, Sadiq Khan, the capital’s Labour mayor, said that while the decision was difficult, the devastating health effects of toxic exhausts trumped other considerations.

Continue reading...

London theatregoers escorted from Grease the Musical by police

Posted on by

Rest of audience applauds after people causing ‘disturbance’ removed from Dominion theatre on Saturday

Theatregoers were escorted from a London performance of Grease the Musical by police on Saturday night, to cheers of approval from the rest of the audience.

Footage posted online shows eight police officers and staff from the Dominion theatre lining the stairway in the balcony as audience members chant “out, out, out!”.

Continue reading...

Police renew calls for help to identify body found in Thames in 2013

Posted on by

Body of black man aged between 40 and 50 with beard and moustache was recovered near Bankside Pier

Police have renewed calls for information on a body found 10 years ago that is yet to be formally identified.

Metropolitan police were called to Bankside Pier in Southwark on 26 August 2013 after reports a member of the public had seen a man’s body in the River Thames.

Continue reading...

Drivers warned of copycat websites overcharging for Ulez fee

Posted on by

Which? advises drivers paying London ultra-low emission zone fee to make sure they’re using official TfL website

Drivers are being ripped off by copycat websites that add extra fees to the ultra low emissions zone charges in London, consumer champion Which? has warned.

As Ulez expands across all boroughs in the capital from Tuesday, Which? has found a series of identical, unofficial websites targeting people trying to pay the charge. This has led to drivers paying more than the £12.50 daily fee.

Continue reading...