Category Archives: London

‘Sack sexist and racist officers’ Met police report rules

Posted on by

Exclusive: Louise Casey’s long-awaited review will say the force has allowed ‘abhorrent’ officers to stay in its ranks

The Metropolitan police must take a “zero-tolerance” approach to misogyny and racism and enable offending officers to be sacked more easily, a report into culture and standards at Britain’s biggest police force will say on Monday.

The long-awaited report by Louise Casey into how Scotland Yard deals with officers accused of sexual misconduct and domestic abuse has uncovered systemic failings that have allowed too many “abhorrent” individuals to remain on the frontline.

Continue reading...

Man admits sexual assault of woman in queue for Queen’s lying in state

Posted on by

Adeshina Adio, 20, from south-east London, was arrested after jumping into Thames to evade police

A 20-year-old man has admitted sexually assaulting a young woman by exposing himself and pushing into her from behind as she waited in the queue to attend the Queen’s lying in state.

Adeshina Adio, from south-east London, jumped into the River Thames to escape arrest after assaulting the woman at Victoria Tower Gardens as she waited in the queue to pay her respects to the late monarch. He was detained by officers when he came out of the water.

Continue reading...

Battersea power station: timeline of a modern classic

Posted on by

Begun in 1929, the building was a collaboration between architects Theo Halliday and Sir Giles Gilbert Scott

Battersea power station was built in two phases, as a collaboration between the architects Theo Halliday and Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

Halliday was responsible for the overall shape and the interior.

Continue reading...

Just Stop Oil activists blockade four London bridges

Posted on by

Climate and cost of living campaigners converged in London protests

Thousands of supporters of Just Stop Oil have blocked four bridges across the Thames.

Protesters blocked Waterloo Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Lambeth Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge with sit-down protests after marching from 25 points around the centre of London.

Continue reading...

Lucian Freud’s etching of Wolseley restaurant creator to be sold

Posted on by

Artist dined at Mayfair restaurant almost every night in later years, and would sometimes share a table with co-founder Jeremy King

A portrait by Lucian Freud of the restaurateur behind the Wolseley, the Mayfair establishment where the artist dined nearly every evening in the last few years of his life, is to be sold next month.

Freud was completing the etching of Jeremy King when he died in 2011. The two had become friends over a period of about 30 years after Freud began dining at Le Caprice, another King establishment (and a favourite of Diana, Princess of Wales’s), and at the Wolseley when it opened in 2003.

Continue reading...

New Met commissioner declines to say whether force is institutionally racist

Posted on by

Sir Mark Rowley says he is not interested in ‘labels’, while vowing to root out racism in the force

The new commissioner of the Metropolitan police declined to say whether his force was institutionally racist or not, saying he was not interested in “labels”, while vowing to root out racism in the force.

Sir Mark Rowley’s comments, as he carried out a round of media interviews were criticised by black officers and the surviving brother of Stephen Lawrence, whose murder by a racist gang was botched by the Met and which led to the Macpherson inquiry in 1999 finding the Met was institutionally racist.

Continue reading...

Ethics rules for London mayor must be strengthened, review finds

Posted on by

Boris Johnson may have failed to meet standard of public life when mayor over links to Jennifer Arcuri, GLA finds

Ethics rules for the London mayor must be strengthened as Boris Johnson may have failed to meet the standard expected of public figures over his failure to declare personal links to the US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri, an inquiry into the affair has found.

An investigation by the Greater London Authority’s oversight committee said Johnson had opened himself up to “a perception of lack of due process and favouritism” over Arcuri’s inclusion on trade missions in an unofficial capacity.

Continue reading...

London council could seize oligarchs’ homes for affordable housing

Posted on by

Exclusive: Westminster looking at compulsory purchase orders to tackle laundering of ‘dirty money’

Homes acquired with “dirty money” in the richest parts of London could be seized and turned into affordable housing under plans to crack down on oligarchs using Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Mayfair “to rinse their money”.

Labour-controlled Westminster city council is examining the use of compulsory purchase orders in extreme cases where it finds properties are not being used for their stated purpose, as part of a push to “combat the capital’s reputation as the European centre for money laundering”.

Continue reading...

Met handcuff peaceful anti-Bolsonaro protester to delight of Brazil’s far right

Posted on by

Police accused of unnecessary force as president’s son shares video of detention to show Britons ‘don’t like communists either’

The Metropolitan police have been accused of using unnecessary force and handing a propaganda coup to Brazil’s far right after a peaceful demonstrator was detained and handcuffed during a protest outside the Brazilian ambassador’s London residence.

Ali Rocha, a 50-year-old Brazilian and British citizen, and her flatmate were intercepted by officers on Sunday lunchtime as they joined a protest against Brazil’s radical rightwing president, Jair Bolsonaro, who was in the UK for the Queen’s funeral.

Continue reading...

‘Now we have her no longer’: the crowds on the Queen’s final journey

Posted on by

As the coffin made the short trip to Westminster Abbey before heading on to the palace then Windsor, many were determined to pay their respects

As the Queen’s coffin emerged from Westminster Hall just before eleven o’clock for the short, slow journey to her funeral service at Westminster Abbey, the thousands who had gathered at Parliament Square, on Whitehall, and along the Mall, gradually fell into silence. The companionable chatter stilled, some climbed to their feet from folded chairs. Some bowed their heads.

Many, even among those who had been there all night, were dressed in black, others wore a chestful of medals or a union jack waistcoat, or wrapped themselves in a flag. There were woolly beanies and black fascinators, selfie sticks and a few stepladders.

Continue reading...

Queen’s funeral: Elizabeth II laid to rest alongside husband, royal family announces – latest updates

Posted on by

The official website of the royal family said a private burial took place in the King George VI Memorial Chapel

Food confiscated from people waiting in the queue for the Queen’s lying in state is being donated to charity, reports PA Media:

People are not allowed to take food or drink inside the Palace of Westminster and any such items will be confiscated.

Charity the Felix Project said it expects to collect over 2 tonnes of food, mostly snacks including crisps, chocolate and biscuits, and is also accepting unwanted blankets.

With people waiting up to 24 hours to complete the five-mile walk from Southwark Park to Westminster Hall to pay their respects to the Queen, they are coming with plenty of food to keep them going.

When they get to Victoria Tower Gardens the food is confiscated before entry to the parliamentary estate is allowed and instead of being thrown away, all non-perishable and unopened packages are saved.

The Felix Project will distribute the items to the thousands of community groups it works with across the capital.

Charity chief executive Charlotte Hill said: “We are honoured to be here to play a small part in this hugely poignant event and to know that an extra layer of good is being done here.

It’s hard to say exactly how many additional people [will travel], but we’re preparing for potentially a million people just within the footprint of the royal palaces and Hyde Park …

Continue reading...

‘It felt important to keep going’: grief hands London fashion week a dilemma

Posted on by

Whether to pay homage to the Queen amid the party dresses has divided participants

There was only one show in town in London this weekend, and that was the Queue. But the catwalks of London fashion week soldiered on.

“It felt important to keep going, because this is a time when London needs to stick together, and right now some of this city’s young designers are at risk of losing their businesses,” said the designer Jonathan Anderson after his JW Anderson show.

Continue reading...

Chris Kaba’s cousin says police watchdog response lacks urgency

Posted on by

Jefferson Bosela, family spokesperson, says IOPC’s timeline for homicide investigation too long

“He was the life of the party, you know, everywhere he went, he didn’t shy away from showing the people he cared for that he cared for them,” says Jefferson Bosela, describing his cousin Chris Kaba. “He was a big brother, he was a fiance, he was a dad-to-be, so he had so much going for him, which makes this tragedy all the worse.”

On 5 September, Kaba was driving through Streatham, south London, when the vehicle was flagged by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) before being pursued and intercepted by two Metropolitan police cars.

Continue reading...

‘It’s special to be here’: David Beckham joins queue to pay tribute to Queen

Posted on by

Ex-England captain recalls receiving his OBE as he waits with thousands of mourners in central London

The former England football captain David Beckham joined the queue for the Queen’s lying-in-state on Friday, saying it was “special to be here”.

He joined other high-profile figures to have been seen waiting to pay tribute this week, including the former prime minister Theresa May, This Morning presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield and the Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid.

Continue reading...

Police to deploy 10,000 officers for Queen’s funeral in biggest ever operation

Posted on by

Officers drafted in from across country as hundreds of thousands of people expected in London and Windsor

Police chiefs say their operation for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral will be the biggest ever, with more than 10,000 officers on duty determined to thwart any attempt to disrupt or exploit the event.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to line the funeral route through central London, and then in Windsor, Berkshire, where the late Queen will be buried, and the route in between.

Continue reading...

Teachers at ex-Tory minister’s academy chain set to strike

Posted on by

Staff at Future Academies claim they are being overworked and children have been left demoralised

Teachers at an academy chain founded by the former Conservative schools minister John Nash and his wife are preparing to go on strike, claiming the trust is “blighting the life chances of the children”.

The curriculum used by Future Academies, developed by Caroline Nash, a stockbroker, is said in a letter to governors of one the chain’s schools to be among the most narrow in the country.

Continue reading...

Long journeys and winding queues as mourners pay last respects to the Queen

Posted on by

People travel from across the country to see procession from Buckingham Palace and attend lying-in-state at Westminster Hall

Joyce Dawson, 54, from Middlesbrough, was watching the news on Tuesday night when she decided to make her first ever visit to London to see the Queen lying in state.

“I texted my daughter and said: ‘We have to go to London tonight,’” she said. “It was a spur of the moment thing.”

Continue reading...

Chris Kaba’s family to be shown police video of events that led to his killing

Posted on by

IOPC watchdog insists review of evidence led it to investigate firearms officer for homicide

The family of Chris Kaba will be allowed to watch police video of the incident that led to his killing, the Guardian has learned, as the police watchdog insisted evidence and not public pressure led it to investigate an officer for homicide offences.

Kaba, 24, who was unarmed, was shot once by an officer from the Metropolitan police on 5 September. The bullet struck him in the head as he sat in the driver’s seat of a car which had come under suspicion in Lambeth, south London. He died just over two hours later.

Continue reading...

Extra trains planned as people head to London to mourn Queen

Posted on by

South Western, Southeastern and Greater Anglia among operators expected to run more late services

Extra late-night trains will run from the capital from Wednesday to help people pay their respects to the Queen, as Transport for London predicted that the late monarch’s funeral would be a bigger logistical challenge for public transport than the 2012 Olympics.

TfL has set up a dedicated command centre and enlisted a large number of volunteers from its ranks as it anticipates handling more than 1 million people travelling to attend the lying in state of the Queen in Westminster Hall and her funeral.

Continue reading...

Chris Kaba’s family demands suspension of Met officer involved in shooting

Posted on by

Hundreds of protesters march through Whitehall demanding justice as police watchdog launches homicide investigation

The family of Chris Kaba has called for the immediate suspension of the Metropolitan police officer involved in his fatal shooting.

The 24-year-old, who was due to become a father for the first time, was shot dead by a firearms officer in Streatham, south London, on Monday night.

Continue reading...