Category Archives: London

London casino let rich patrons racially abuse staff, tribunal hears

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Ex-employee is suing Aspinalls in Mayfair for discrimination, alleging a ‘hostile and demeaning environment’

An exclusive London casino allowed wealthy patrons to racially abuse staff with impunity and “segregated” black employees from gamblers who insisted on white dealers, a tribunal has heard.

Semhar Tesfagiorgis, 41, is suing Crown London Aspinalls, in Mayfair, for race and sex discrimination, alleging there was a “hostile and demeaning environment” when she worked there.

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London and southern England hit by torrential rains and floods

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Met Office says thundery downpours also caused floods in parts of London, where fire brigade received over 150 calls

Southern England was hit by torrential downpours that resulted in significant flooding on Monday night.

The Met Office said the heavy and slow-moving thundery showers caused floods in parts of London. The London fire brigade said its 999 control officers received over 150 calls to flooding incidents in the capital.

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Migrant rough sleeper facing eviction from London accommodation

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Man faces eviction from emergency hotel accommodation because he refuses to return to his home country

A migrant rough sleeper is facing eviction from emergency hotel accommodation by a London council because he refuses to return to his home country.

A letter from Westminster council to the individual states that following assessments by the homeless charity the Connection at St Martin’s, the council was unable “to identify a service offer that will resolve your rough sleeping in the UK”.

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Biafra separatist leader abducted by Nigeria from Kenya, say family

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Relatives of British-Nigerian citizen Nnamdi Kanu accuse Nigeria of extraordinary rendition, aided by Kenyan authorities

A Biafra separatist leader and UK national was arrested by Nigerian authorities in Kenya and taken to Nigeria in an act of extraordinary rendition, his family and lawyers have claimed.

Nnamdi Kanu, a British-Nigerian citizen, fled Nigeria in 2017 while on bail facing charges of terrorism and incitement. He was arrested last week and brought to Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

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Man who tackled Fishmongers’ Hall attacker to be released from prison

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Steven Gallant was one of three men who restrained convicted terrorist Usman Khan until armed police arrived at scene

An unarmed inmate who tackled the Fishmongers’ Hall attacker to the ground has been directed for release from prison.

Steven Gallant was one of three men who restrained convicted terrorist Usman Khan until armed police arrived at the scene in November 2019.

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TfL hit by £100m fall in ad revenue across tube, rail and bus network

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Exclusive: record low level of London journeys during Covid crisis drives down commercial income

Transport for London (TfL) has recorded a £100m plunge in advertising revenue across its network of tube stations, trains and buses after Covid-19 pandemic restrictions kept commuters away from travelling to work.

TfL’s advertising estate – which comprises more than 100,000 billboards, posters and panels throughout the capital’s tube and rail network, in trains and on buses and shelters – is one of the largest and most valuable in the world.

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Star soprano Danielle de Niese sang through pain of miscarriage

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Exclusive: De Niese reveals she was in hospital hours before acclaimed performance in La Bohème at Royal Opera House

The soprano Danielle de Niese’s opening performance in Puccini’s La Bohème at the Royal Opera House last Saturday was acclaimed as “standout”, “show-stealing” and “big-hearted” as she “startle[d] with her energy and physicality, fusing acting and song in a way no one else approaches”.

What neither the critics, the audience nor most of her colleagues knew was that 18 hours earlier she was doubled up in hospital in searing pain from a miscarriage, and the cramps continued for days afterwards.

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‘Excited delirium’: term linked to police restraint in UK medical guide condemned

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Public health bodies and families say term carries racial bias and is used to justify lethal use of force by police

Public health bodies, charities and the families of men who died after being restrained by police have condemned the inclusion of a controversial medical term in one of the UK’s leading medical handbooks.

Acute behavioural disturbance (ABD), more commonly known as “excited delirium”, a contentious expression used in fatal cases of police violence, has recently been added to the Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines (MPG).

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Man filmed accosting Chris Whitty loses job as estate agent

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Lewis Hughes, 24, apologises for ‘any upset caused’ after video of incident in London went viral

A man who was called a “thug” by Boris Johnson after being filmed accosting Prof Chris Whitty has apologised for “any upset I caused”.

Lewis Hughes, 24, said if he made England’s chief medical officer feel “uncomfortable”, then “I am sorry to him for that”. He said he had lost his job as a result of the video.

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UN calls for end of ‘impunity’ for police violence against black people

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Report launched in aftermath of George Floyd murder cites example of 2018 death of Kevin Clarke in UK

A UN report that analysed racial justice in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd has called on member states including the UK to end the “impunity” enjoyed by police officers who violate the human rights of black people.

The UN human rights office analysis of 190 deaths across the world led to the report’s damning conclusion that law enforcement officers are rarely held accountable for killing black people due in part to deficient investigations and an unwillingness to acknowledge the impact of structural racism.

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Met police brace for ‘busy weekend’ of major London protests

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Dance music acts along with anti-lockdown, anti-austerity and climate activists will all converge on capital

Some of the UK’s leading dance music acts are expected to join a protest march in London calling for the government to scrap Covid restrictions on nightclubs, as the capital gears up for a weekend of mass demonstrations.

Anti-lockdown protesters, anti-austerity campaigners and environmentalists will also stage protests in London on Saturday and Sunday, and the Metropolitan police said they were preparing for “a busy weekend”.

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Former Grenfell management chief ‘kept board in dark’ over safety issues

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Public inquiry into June 2017 disaster hears that Robert Black failed to mention numerous risks and problems following review

The former boss of Grenfell Tower’s management body repeatedly failed to alert residents and councillors overseeing its work to serious fire safety issues and has admitted to “keeping the board in the dark”.

Robert Black, who was chief executive of the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) at the time of the fire, did not tell boards at the council and the arm’s-length management body about problems with smoke extractors at Grenfell, a deficiency notice issued by London fire brigade on the tower, or problems with fire doors at another block that suffered a fire.

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London stadiums host ‘super Saturday’ of mass rapid Covid vaccinations

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Tens of thousands turn up to grounds of West Ham, Spurs and others, as young people are urged to get jabs

Londoners received tens of thousands of Covid jabs in just a few hours on Saturday as football grounds in the capital were transformed into mass vaccination centres.

Huge jab clinics have been set up at the London Stadium, Stamford Bridge, the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, the Valley, home of Charlton Athletic, and Selhurst Park.

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Police interviewed Prince Charles over ‘plot to kill Diana’

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Former Met chief reveals he questioned prince as a witness in 2005 about note written by princess

The former Metropolitan police chief John Stevens has disclosed that he questioned Prince Charles over allegations that he had plotted to kill Diana, Princess of Wales.

Charles was interviewed as a witness in 2005, during a three-year investigation into Diana’s death in a Paris car crash in 1997, the Daily Mail reported.

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Police arrest 18 in London after England v Scotland Euro 2020 match

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Arrests made as police dealt with football crowds in Leicester Square and around Wembley after scoreless draw on Friday night

More than a dozen people have been arrested as police dealt with football fans when England took on Scotland in a much-anticipated Euros match.

Crowds thronged into Leicester Square in central London after the scoreless draw at Wembley on Friday night.

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Nora Quoirin: Malaysia court overturns inquest’s misadventure verdict

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High court ruling leaves open possibility of criminal involvement, in victory for family

A Malaysian court has overturned the findings of an inquest into the death of the French-Irish teenager Nora Anne Quoirin, stating that the coroner was wrong to conclude she died as a result of misadventure.

The high court judge Azizul Azmi Adnan instead issued an open verdict, which does not rule out the possibility of criminal involvement and could pave the way for further investigations into her disappearance.

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London boat dwellers protest against plans they say could leave them homeless

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Boaters fear that the Canal and River Trust’s plans to trial ‘water safety zones’ will lead to a big reduction in mooring spaces

The sun shone, the water sparkled and the trumpets blared as a flotilla of boat dwellers staged a protest in east London on Sunday about proposals they say will drive them out of their homes.

Dozens of boats, bearing banners with slogans such as “Boats are homes” and “Stop the boat cull”, contributed to a carnival atmosphere as they made their way along the River Lea in Hackney.

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‘Shocking’: the London cemetery with listed monuments and a protruding limb

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Campaigners want urgent action to save neglected and vandalised graves in West Norwood Cemetery

Its beautiful Grade II* listed monuments were erected in memory of leading members of the Greek community in 19th-century London, but the graves in West Norwood cemetery are now in a dire state of neglect – with one decaying casket recently photographed covered in a thick layer of pigeon droppings, with a limb protruding.

Lambeth council, which compulsorily purchased the cemetery more than 50 years ago, recently withdrew security to save money and campaigners are calling for urgent action to protect listed monuments from ruin.

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Anti-vaccine protesters temporarily close Westfield shopping centre in London – video

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Anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown protesters were forced back by police officers as they stormed Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush, west London. The incident occurred after a mass march snaking about 12 miles through London, starting in Parliament Square and reaching as far west as Hammersmith. The Metropolitan Police temporarily closed the Westfield shopping centre as a result of the protest. 

'The 3rd demo is now at Westfield and is causing significant disruption to the local community and businesses,' The Metropolitan police event twitter account posted. 'The MPS strongly urge those who are taking part in this demo to go home. Failure to do so may result in enforcement action being taken'

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Grenfell: councillor was told about cheaper cladding plan before fire

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Rock Feilding-Mellen said he was emailed about potential cladding change but didn’t understand significance

Rock Feilding-Mellen, the Tory councillor in charge of the Grenfell Tower refurbishment, was informed of plans to save money by swapping zinc cladding for aluminium in 2014 but initially told police he only knew about it after the June 2017 fire, a statement released to the public inquiry show.

The switch led to the use of combustible cladding that became the main cause of the fire’s spread. Feilding-Mellen, the cabinet member for housing at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, said he had no idea about the different properties of the two materials.

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