The 24-hour strike kicks off on budget day in dispute over pensions and working arrangements
London Underground drivers are to strike on 15 March – budget day – in a dispute over pensions and working arrangements.
The Aslef union announced on Wednesday that members would strike for 24 hours, in a row over changes to working arrangements and pensions.
Continue reading...Body of missing 22-year-old campaigner who also took part in Just Stop oil protests found in London park
A young activist who campaigned with THE climate groups Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil has been found dead after going missing almost a week ago.
Xavier Gonzalez-Trimmer, 22, was found in Richmond Park on Monday after searches by friends and relatives in the area.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.
Continue reading...Met police say investigation under way after fatal accident in Greenwich on Sunday evening
A man has died after being hit by a motorcycle in south-east London, the Metropolitan police said.
An investigation is under way after a fatal collision in Plumstead Road, Greenwich on Sunday evening.
Continue reading...Joseph Watts also given four-year football ban after admitting to assault at end of north London derby
A 35-year-old man has been ordered to pay compensation to the Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale after assaulting him at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the end of the north London derby.
Ramsdale, 24, was kicked in the back shortly after Arsenal beat Tottenham 2-0 in a Premier League match on 15 January.
Continue reading...Joseph Corré speaks out as family and friends pay tribute to designer at memorial service in London
Dame Vivienne Westwood’s son has called for his mother’s “dear friend” Julian Assange to be freed during an address at the late designer’s memorial.
In a tribute delivered from the pulpit at Southwark Cathedral, the activist Joseph Corré praised his mother’s clothes, their relationship and her legacy. “To Vivienne, punk was a political idea not a social one,” he said, before criticising the “trumped up accusations from a corrupt establishment” that had meant that, despite the family’s best efforts, Assange was not present at the service.
Continue reading...More than 5.4m passengers travelled through airport in January, double the 2.6m from 2022
Heathrow airport had its busiest start to the year since before the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns in 2020 as travel restrictions continued to ease, according to data published on Monday.
More than 5.4 million passengers travelled through the UK’s and Europe’s busiest airport in January, double the 2.6 million from 2022, Heathrow said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.
Continue reading...Thousands are following and supporting Emily Turner’s epic journey on Twitter
A British woman undertaking an epic three-day expedition from London to Scotland using only local buses has expressed her surprise at the level of support from thousands of people following the chronicles of her journey on Twitter.
Writer and podcast host Emily Turner, from London, began her nearly 400-mile journey in the early hours of Friday, announcing on Twitter: “I’ve been wanting to do this for YEARS!!”, explaining that she “loves buses” and promising to share photos and observations along the way.
Continue reading...Determination to get donations to stricken areas is galvanising people haunted by fears for family and friends
Dozens of volunteers are packing boxes piled high on a north London industrial estate, filling them with vital donations to be sent to Gaziantep, the south-eastern province in Turkey devastated by the earthquake that hit in the early hours on Monday.
Huseyin Goran, 36, has been helping for three days straight. “The first two days I didn’t sleep and did as much as I could. I took a three-hour rest and carried on.”
Continue reading...Exclusive: Estranged parent, 67, suggests account of neglect, drinking and abuse by stepfather probably aimed at reducing rape sentence
The mother of the rapist Metropolitan police officer David Carrick has said it is possible he overplayed his childhood trauma to reduce his sentence.
Carrick, 48, pleaded guilty to 85 serious offences including 48 rapes against 12 women. He was given 36 life sentences at Southwark crown court on Tuesday and will spend at least the next 30 years in prison for his 17-year crime spree.
Continue reading...FBU raised concerns at meeting discussing review that found service to be institutionally misogynist
London fire brigade is reviewing its relationship with the Freemasons after concerns were raised by the Fire Brigades Union, the Guardian has learned.
The concerns were raised at a recent London assembly meeting to discuss a damning independent review that found LFB to be institutionally racist and misogynist.
Continue reading...Carrick, 48, admitted 85 serious offences during 17-year campaign of terror and attacks against women
David Carrick, who believed his position as a Metropolitan police officer made him “untouchable” as he waged a 17-year campaign of terror and attacks against women, has been jailed for life.
The 48-year-old must serve a minimum term of 32 years minus the time he has spent in custody before he can even be considered for release.
Continue reading...Woman in life-threatening condition but baby unharmed, say police, after driver fails to stop in Southall
A woman is in a life-threatening condition after being knocked down by a hit-and-run driver while pushing a pram.
Metropolitan police officers said they were called to the junction of North Hyde Lane and Raleigh Road in Southall, west London, at about 12.30pm on Friday to reports of a collision involving a car and pedestrian.
Continue reading...Mayor says officers with misconduct proven against them during career should not return to force
The Metropolitan police are under pressure to stop inviting back retired officers whoduring their career had action taken against them for misconduct.
Under a scheme to rehire recently retired officers to help plug gaps in the ranks of Britain’s largest force, 253 people who had action taken against them after misconduct proceedings have been asked to rejoin, along with 99 who retired while under investigation.
Continue reading...A government agreement with developers was meant to solve the fire safety crisis in affected buildings – but the wrangling goes on
In June 2021, Charlotte Meehan received a safety inspection report for her block of flats as part of the nationwide checks after the Grenfell Tower fire. It made for grim reading, warning that the block had been built with combustible cladding and insulation.
Last April, the government announced a “wide-ranging” agreement with developers to fix the crisis of unsafe tall buildings, but Meehan, 34, and her fellow residents in the four-storey block in east London, are among tens of thousands still waiting for their homes to be made safe.
Continue reading...Piece acquired by English painter in antiques shop in 1960s has been confirmed as lost work by Italian sculptor
Sometimes a hunch pays off, and when the English painter John Craxton recognised a work of genius for sale in a London antiques shop, he made very much the right call.
Craxton parted with £250 for an unusual chandelier he suspected was by the great sculptor Alberto Giacometti. Now that chandelier, made in the late 1940s, may sell at Christie’s in a few weeks’ time for as much as £7m. Pieces by the revered Swiss artist are the most expensive sculptures to buy at auction, and his work regularly breaks saleroom records.
Continue reading...New government register shows how offshore jurisdictions used for ownership of nearly 200 properties including hotels and country estates
The royal families of Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar own more than £1bn of UK property via offshore jurisdictions, such as Jersey and the British Virgin Islands, the Guardian can reveal.
Nearly 200 properties, including hotels, London mansions and country estates, belong to a few small but super-rich dynasties, according to analysis of a new government register that reveals who is behind offshore companies that own UK property.
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Rishi Sunak has welcomed Germany’s decision to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
There is more coverage of the German decision on our Ukraine live blog.
Continue reading...Constance Marten and Mark Gordon last seen on 7 January in east London after buying tent and bedding
Police are growing increasingly concerned for the welfare of a newborn baby whose parents officers believe are sleeping rough in freezing temperatures.
The missing aristocrat Constance Marten and her boyfriend, Mark Gordon, a convicted sex offender, were last seen more than a fortnight ago in east London after buying a tent and bedding. Detectives fear their baby has been exposed to the sub-zero temperatures and has received no medical attention since birth in early January.
Continue reading...After a fatal crowd crush at the London venue in December, the BBC has spoken to a guard who says hundreds were let in for cash
A security guard at London’s O2 Academy Brixton, which has been closed since a fatal crowd crush occurred at the venue in mid-December, has alleged in a BBC report that other guards regularly took bribes to let people in without tickets.
Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, and security guard Gaby Hutchinson, 23, both died after a show by Afrobeats star Asake on 15 December, with several more injured.
Continue reading...Nicola Sturgeon says her government will be ‘vigorously defending’ democracy as well as the bill passed in Scotland
I am sorry the comments are closed at the moment. There has been an update this morning that has created a glitch with the system, but the developers are trying to fix it as quickly as possible.
Labour has been anxious to avoid taking sides on the Scottish gender recognition reform bill. Although Keir Starmer has criticised aspects of the bill, and argued it might have an impact on UK equality laws, he has accused both the UK and Scottish governments of politicising the issues and implied that Labour would adopt a more consensual approach.
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