Category Archives: London

Police to get new powers to crack down on repeated protests, says Home Office

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Move follows arrest of almost 500 people at latest pro-Palestinian demonstration in London on Saturday

Ministers are to give police new powers to target repeated protests, aimed particularly at cracking down on demonstrations connected to Gaza, the Home Office has said.

The announcement, made the morning after almost 500 people were arrested in London for expressing support for Palestine Action, a proscribed organisation, could allow police to order regular protests to take place at a different site.

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Metropolitan police officer arrested after undercover BBC investigation

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Sergeant arrested on suspicion of perverting course of justice after colleagues filmed making racist and sexist remarks

A serving Metropolitan police officer has been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice, after undercover footage showed colleagues at Charing Cross police station making racist and sexist comments.

The footage, gathered for a BBC Panorama documentary, appears to show officers at a central London station calling for immigrants to be shot and boasting about using violence against suspects.

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Met plunged into crisis amid fresh claims of misogyny and racism

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Commissioner Mark Rowley says prejudice has ‘put down deep roots’ within force after BBC Panorama investigation

​Metropolitan police officers have been recorded calling for immigrants to be shot, bragging about excessive force, being dismissive about a rape complaint and making anti-Muslim and anti-women comments.

The BBC Panorama programme followed seven months of undercover filming at Charing Cross police station.

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Low birthrates in England could lead to ‘closure of 800 primary schools by 2029’

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Primary pupil numbers could fall by 4% over next five years leading to reduction of 162,000 pupils, study finds

Declining numbers of children across England could lead to the equivalent of 800 primary schools falling empty or being closed by the end of the decade, according to research by a thinktank.

The national decline in pupils at state primary schools is mainly driven by low birthrates but is magnified in London by increasing numbers of people moving out of the capital or leaving the state system to move abroad or send their children to private schools, according to the Education Policy Institute.

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Sadiq Khan hits back at ‘racist, sexist, misogynistic and Islamophobic’ Trump

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Khan’s comments come after US president used speech at UN to call London mayor ‘terrible’

Sadiq Khan has hit back at Donald Trump, accusing the US president of being “racist, sexist, misogynistic and Islamophobic” after he used a speech at the UN to call the London mayor “terrible” and claim the city was being steered toward “sharia law”.

Trump’s remarks on Tuesday night provoked anger among Labour figures, with the health secretary, Wes Streeting, praising Khan as someone who “stands up for difference of background and opinion”.

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Andy Burnham says Britain needs ‘wholesale change’ as Labour MPs prepare for conference – UK politics live

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Manchester mayor urges Keir Starmer to reveal plans to deliver reform but denies he is plotting to replace PM

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has described Nigel Farage over his comment implying Donald Trump might be right about paracetamol posing a risk to pregnant women. (See 10.23am.)

Dangerous and irresponsible.

This man is a snake oil salesman and it’s time people stopped buying.

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London homes 500 metres from station ‘command £42,700 premium over those 1,500 metres away’

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Nationwide survey in London, Manchester and Glasgow shows pandemic trends may be reversing as more people return to office

People buying homes in London 500 metres from a tube or railway station pay £42,700 more than buyers of similar properties 1,500 metres away from transport hubs, according to new data.

The figures indicate that despite the reshaping of the housing market sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and dramatic changes to working patterns, the traditional estate agent mantra of “good transport links” continues to wield its power over buyers.

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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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