Category Archives: London

Met officer who held Taser to black boy’s neck found guilty of gross misconduct

Posted on by

Jamar Powell says PC Connor Jones should be sacked rather than receiving written warning over traumatising action

A Metropolitan police officer who put a Taser to the neck of an innocent black child after he had been forced to kneel in the street has been found guilty of gross misconduct but allowed to keep his job.

Jamar Powell told the Guardian he had feared he might die during the incident in September 2020, was left traumatised and would struggle to ever trust the police again, having been stopped and searched more than 30 times with nothing ever being found.

Continue reading...

London’s fourth plinth artwork aims to ‘unite trans community around the world’

Posted on by

Trafalgar Square piece by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles is made of masks depicting faces of transgender and non-binary people

A towering cuboid made of more than 300 masks depicting the faces of transgender and non-binary people, this year’s fourth plinth artwork, has been described as a piece designed to “unite the trans community around the world”.

The Mexican artist Teresa Margolles was flanked by members of her country’s trans community as Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant) was unwrapped in Trafalgar Square on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

Traffic to be banned from London’s Oxford Street under Sadiq Khan plan

Posted on by

Mayor to be given power to overrule Westminster council, which blocked previous plan amid concerns over rerouting buses

Traffic will be banned from London’s Oxford Street under plans announced by the mayor, Sadiq Khan, using new powers from Labour to push through long-thwarted pedestrianisation of the capital’s famous shopping strip.

Khan said urgent action was needed so that the mile-long street could “once again become the leading retail destination in the world.”

Continue reading...

Solved: the mystery of how Victorians built Crystal Palace in just 190 days

Posted on by

Rapid assembly of structure for 1851 Great Exhibition in London was possible thanks to nut-and-bolt revolution

It was built at unprecedented speed to exhibit the British empire’s greatest treasures and manufacturing achievements to the world. Now, the mystery of how the Victorians managed to erect the Crystal Palace so quickly in 1851 has finally been solved.

Experts have discovered that the answer to this 173-year-old riddle lies in the first known use of standardised nuts and bolts in construction – a humble engineering innovation that would power the British empire and revolutionise the industrial world.

Continue reading...

‘There’s something in the air’: UK airport expansion gears up for takeoff

Posted on by

Lobbyists are increasingly confident about expansion plans as concerns for the economy start to deepen

The younger, tormented minister mulling his position before the Labour government granted Heathrow’s third runway in 2009 might have been greatly relieved to know that, 15 years later, not a shovel would have touched the ground.

But now, returning to power with a revamped energy and climate brief, Ed Miliband again finds himself in a cabinet which, many in aviation hope, may usher in bigger airports and more flights – as well as enough CO2 emissions to outweigh any new solar farms.

Continue reading...

TfL to refund drivers wrongly issued with Ulez fines after cameras vandalised

Posted on by

Two cameras in Chingford were twisted around to face roads outside the low-emission zone boundary

Transport for London (TfL) has said it will refund drivers wrongly issued with ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) charges because of vandalised enforcement cameras.

The transport body confirmed two cameras in Chingford, north-east London, “became misaligned” for a short period and many fines were issued incorrectly. It is understood the cameras were twisted the wrong way so that they were facing roads outside the Ulez boundary.

Continue reading...

Pro-Palestine protester cleared of racial offence over ‘coconut’ placard

Posted on by

Marieha Hussain had denied her placard depicting Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman was racially abusive

A teacher who held a placard depicting Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman as coconuts has been found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence.

Marieha Hussain, 37, had denied the prosecution’s allegation that the placard she held at a pro-Palestine protest was “racially abusive”.

Continue reading...

Pro-Palestine protester stands trial for racial offence over ‘coconut’ placard

Posted on by

Marieha Hussain attended a London march against the war in Gaza carrying a sign depicting Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman as coconuts

A woman who held a poster depicting Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman as coconuts during a London protest against Israel’s war in Gaza has gone on trial accused of a racially aggravated offence.

Marieha Hussain, 37, pleaded not guilty as her trial began at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday morning. Prosecutor Jonathan Bryan said the term “coconut” was a “well-known racial slur which has a very clear meaning”.

Continue reading...

IDF investigates claim Jewish Chronicle published stories based on ‘fabricated intelligence’

Posted on by

Israeli military launches inquiry into claims that stories may have been planted as part of disinformation campaign

The Israel Defense Forces have launched an investigation into claims in the Israeli media that the London-based Jewish Chronicle published stories based on “fabricated intelligence” relating to Hamas, amid claims that they may have been planted as part of a disinformation campaign.

Among the most controversial claims published by the Jewish Chronicle, the world’s oldest Jewish newspaper, was the suggestion last week that the Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, might be preparing to flee to Iran with Israeli hostages, a suggestion that has also been made by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Continue reading...

V&A celebrates a century of national theatre archive with tribute to avid collector

Posted on by

New exhibition, named after ‘theatrical encyclopedia’ Gabrielle Enthoven, showcases British stage history from the Restoration to Fleabag

She was an avid collector of playbills, programmes and props who kickstarted the largest theatrical archive of the nation, now housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Without Gabrielle Enthoven, we would not have theatre studies as a discipline today, according to Simon Sladen, the museum’s senior curator of modern and contemporary theatre and performance.

Yet many will never have heard of Enthoven. That is about to change as the V&A has named a new exhibition in her honour, celebrating a century of the national archive, which is now protected by law.

Continue reading...

Great Ormond Street apologises after children suffered ‘severe harm’ under surgeon

Posted on by

NHS hospital reviews care of 700 patients after inquiry found orthopaedic doctor caused lifelong damage to some, one of whom underwent an ‘avoidable limb amputation’

A leading NHS children’s hospital is reviewing the care 721 patients received after an investigation found that children treated by one of its surgeons came to “severe harm” during limb reconstruction operations.

Great Ormond Street hospital (Gosh) in London has offered its “sincere apologies” to children who have suffered what the Sunday Times reported was in some cases lifelong damage.

Continue reading...

Sixth-generation wire-maker blames Brexit for shredding its business

Posted on by

Owner of Ormiston Wire in London urges Keir Starmer not to forget small manufacturers in his dealings with EU

The head of a family-owned company that has made specialist wires and cables for six generations for clients ranging from naval vessels to film sets has blamed Brexit for shredding its business.

Mark Ormiston, the owner of Ormiston Wire, said small businesses such as his had been flushed “down the toilet” by the masterminds of Brexit who gave little thought to the real-life consequences for UK manufacturing.

Continue reading...

Justice for Grenfell deaths may not come this decade, warns former chief prosecutor

Posted on by

Lord Macdonald warns of likely delays in criminal justice system as survivors denounce ‘arrogant’ building firms

Justice for those responsible for the 72 deaths in the Grenfell Tower fire may not come until the end of this decade, a former chief prosecutor has warned, as survivors voiced growing fury over building firms’ “arrogant” refusal to admit wrongdoing.

The public inquiry findings of “systematic dishonesty” by multimillion-dollar building companies involved in the tower’s disastrous refurbishment prompted a clamour for accelerated criminal charges this week, seven years on from the blaze.

Continue reading...

The final Grenfell inquiry report and what it means for families – Politics Weekly UK

Posted on by

The 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London was the result of ‘decades of failure’ by central government, the public inquiry into the catastrophe has found. The Guardian’s John Harris looks at the findings of the report with the social affairs leader writer Susanna Rustin. And, as Labour continues to warn ‘things will get worse before they get better’, we are joined by the economists James Meadway and Ann Pettifor to discuss whether a painful period of austerity-lite is the only way through the storm

Continue reading...

London workers slower to return to office than New York or Paris, study says

Posted on by

Office attendance in UK capital similar to levels in Toronto and Sydney, thinktank finds

Workers in London have been slower to return to the office than those in other global cities such as Paris and New York, a report has found.

London was near the bottom of the pack, with office attendance similar to levels in Toronto and Sydney, according to research by the Centre for Cities thinktank, which surveyed employees and employers in six big cities.

Continue reading...

Seven years after Grenfell disaster, thousands live in fear of cladding fire

Posted on by

As the final report on the fatal London blaze looms, many developers have not begun safety work

• Rowan Moore: The Grenfell inquiry is exposing a culture of contempt that has run deep in Britain

Grenfell was an avoidable tragedy, the inquiry’s counsel said on the final day of hearings. Yet with the report into the blaze that claimed 72 lives due this week, residents of other tower blocks fear that not enough has been done to prevent another catastrophe.

One of them is Gemma Lindfield. The 45-year-old barrister is still waiting for flammable cladding to be removed from her eight-storey apartment block in east London. It took three years before anyone even realised there was a problem. The following four years have been mired in indecision and wrangling about exactly who will pay to fix it.

Continue reading...

Labour MP accused of renting out ant-infested flats with black mould

Posted on by

Jas Athwal, the Ilford South MP, ‘shocked’ by allegations and ‘profoundly sorry’ for condition of his properties

A newly elected Labour MP has been accused of renting out flats with black mould and ant infestations.

Jas Athwal, the MP for Ilford South, owns 15 rental flats, according to a report by the BBC.

Continue reading...

Suspect arrested in Sweden after Britons found dead in burnt-out car

Posted on by

Person held on suspicion of aiding and abetting murder of Londoners Farooq Abdulrazak and Juan Cifuentes

Swedish authorities have arrested and held a person on suspicion of aiding and abetting the murder of two British citizens who were found dead in a burnt-out car in Malmö.

The two victims, whose identities have been confirmed by the prosecutor as Farooq Abdulrazak, 37, and Juan Cifuentes, 33, were discovered on 14 July.

Continue reading...

Removal of unsafe cladding from buildings ‘too slow’, says Angela Rayner

Posted on by

Deputy PM visited Dagenham, east London, after fire tore through block of flats undergoing remedial works

Angela Rayner has called efforts to remove unsafe cladding from thousands of at-risk buildings “too slow” and said it was her job to ensure remaining works finished as quickly as possible.

The deputy prime minister made the comments during a visit to Dagenham, east London, on Tuesday afternoon, the day after a dramatic fire tore through a block of flats that was undergoing remedial works to remove “non-compliant” cladding.

Continue reading...

Tens of thousands fill streets on final day of Notting Hill carnival

Posted on by

Largely peaceful festival marred by fresh stabbing on Monday after three people were hurt on Sunday

Tens of thousands of revellers have turned out to enjoy the final day of this year’s Notting Hill carnival, flooding the streets of west London with colour, dancing and music.

Dancers showed off their flamboyant costumes while floats blasted music for the spectators on the streets of W11. Vendors cooked up a mix of food on open barbecues, as sound systems played everything from rare groove to house, samba, reggae and ska.

Continue reading...