London politics

London politics

Opponents of a huge new Chinese embassy next to the Tower of London say they will soon begin legal action in an attempt to block the scheme. On Tuesday, the government approved China's proposal to redevelop the former Royal Mint site into a vast 215,300 sq ft (20,000 sq m) UK headquarters, despite opposition from politicians and campaigners. About 200 people live in Royal Mint Court, a complex of flats on the site,

Mark Nygate, the treasurer of the local Royal Mint Court Residents' Association, said people living near the proposed development had concerns about government interference in what is supposed to be an independent process. The group has raised nearly 37,000 out of the 145,000 required to instruct lawyers to seek a judicial review if the decision goes against them. Others, Nygate added, had promised to make further donations if it came to it.

a unique health offer, with nothing similar in London, the UK or Europe

And 29% of carers in the capital were in poverty in 2021-22, according to Carers UK - a higher proportion than 21% of Londoners in poverty. Some of this is due to unpaid carers not being aware of benefits they are entitled to, including the Carer's Allowance (CA), which can provide up to 83.30 a week, with others not considering themselves as carers at all.

I would look to ban face coverings, if I could, but I would like to make it a reason for stop and search. I don't think in an open society you need to cover your face. I've prosecuted a woman in a burka. It has to be assumed that if you're hiding your face, you're hiding it for a criminal reason.

Dent Coad said the plans "will not tackle severe housing deprivation in our poorest wards."

Despite its height, planning officers say the tower will be in-keeping with the area, pointing to the proximity of the 16-storey Juniper House, the 14-storey Travelodge hotel, and the twelve-storey Gateway Apartments building. It will be part of an existing cluster of tall buildings, the planning team told councillors, and would only lead to a minor loss of open skyline. Though councillors ultimately agreed the public benefits outweighed any harm to the town centre, six formal objections were received ahead of the meeting.

An east London authority is set to spend almost 6m fixing fire safety faults at two recently completed council-backed housing and commercial developments. The issues include missing back-up power supplies at a block of 156 affordable homes, and sprinkler system problems at an industrial scheme that have left many business units unlettable. London Borough of Barking and Dagenham documents show the problems have delayed occupation, limited rental income and forced costly retrofits funded by taxpayers.

I love this city with all my heart, but unlike some in this room, I'm not blind to what it's become. London, one of the greatest cities on Earth, is no longer safe, and that doesn't happen by accident. When I was growing up, London was the place to live, the place to work, the place to build a life. People envied us that live here. Now, they pity us. They say: 'London's a bit too dangerous for me.'

After facing a major legal challenge over last summer's Brockwell Park festivals, like Mighty Hoopla, Cross The Tracks, Wide Awake and Field Day, organisers Summer Events Ltd (which runs the Brockwell Live series) could be in for another fight this year. Campaign group Protect Brockwell Park took Lambeth Council to court over the fact that the events hadn't gone through proper planning permission and won the ruling, meaning that all major events held in the park have to go through a full planning process.

Across the country, highways authorities are responsible for nine out of every 10 miles of road - approximately 225,000 miles throughout the UK. They grit on average 40% of roads - a total of around 80,000 miles. In London, local councils and Transport for London (TfL) grit major roads. Gritter lorry on A9, south of Inverness. Amber weather warnings have been expanded after coming into force in parts of Scotland, as forecasters warn of heavy snow that could bring blizzard conditions and travel disruption. Picture date: Friday January 2, 2026.

There's going to be around 18 months of work on the northern end of the Jubilee line, where it runs high up on raised embankments. A letter sent to local residents and shared by the local Councillor, Jayanti Patel, informs them that the works will start in a couple of weeks time, on 16th January 2026 and last for around 18 months, completing in summer 2027. The affected area is the raised embankment around Queensbury tube station, a couple of stop short of the line's terminus at Stanmore.

According to data, around three out of ten women in the Greater London area have had to choose between buying enough food or hygiene products amid the cost-of-living crisis, while a third have had to choose between purchasing products for themselves or their children; 29 per cent also say they have either missed a job interview or had to take a day off work because they are not able to afford basic products.

At the centre of the dispute is the tour operators' margin scheme, which allows eligible businesses to pay VAT only on their profit margin rather than the full value of a service. Originally designed for holiday and coach tour companies, the scheme has also been used by ride-hailing platforms. According to the Treasury, this reduced the effective VAT rate paid by some operators to as little as 4%, compared with the standard 20% rate.

Electric cars are now eligible for a 25% discount if registered for Auto Pay, reducing the fee to 13.50 a day. There is a 50% discount for electric vans, HGVs, light quadricycles and heavy quadricycles registered for Auto Pay. Transport for London had previously proposed to scrap the electric vehicle exemption entirely. It said without changes, about 2,200 more vehicles would use the congestion charging zone on an average weekday in 2026, increasing congestion and undermining the current scheme.

I want to reassure residents that we are doing everything possible to respond effectively to the cyber security incident and to keep delivering our services. Our priority is to support and protect the most vulnerable in our community, despite the disruption that is being caused. We acted quickly to secure our systems, and we are working towards restoring council services as safely and swiftly as possible, but this will take time. We remain committed to transparency and will continue to provide updates as our recovery progresses.

Ms Cox told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the initial contractor was dismissed by the council after installing windows over 3cm too small, and their successors had repeatedly made the problem worse. This included "deliberately knocking out bricks" from the wall to force in an oversized window, taking incorrect measurement errors and "botched" temporary fixes that have left the home colder than before.

Shauni-Leigh Tyson, her four children and her partner Adam face being evicted from their home in Plaistow on 23 January, despite having a repayment plan in place with Newham council. Ms Tyson said the damp had affected the family's health, impacting Adam's ability to work and leaving one of her children requiring steroids, antihistamines and a pump, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The Freemasons filed papers in London on Christmas Eve and claim the Met's policy amounts to religious discrimination against Freemasons who are also police officers. They say the Met commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, is making up the law on the hoof and accused his force of whipping up conspiracy theories about the influence of Freemasons. The Met has vowed to fight back as it sees the policy as part of its fight to restore trust and credibility, and a case currently under investigation involves claims of masonic influence and alleged wrongdoing.

On the morning when I went with them, we walked just a few yards out of the police station to set up a morning check in the City. There were cyclists ignoring pedestrian crossings and red lights, and moving dangerously through pedestrians, despite the fact that they were outside a police station and there were six or seven uniformed officers on cycles, on the road and on the pavement.

An intervention by the mayor of London is needed to safeguard the future of car clubs in the capital, environmental groups have said. Sir Sadiq Khan was told "urgent questions" had been raised about how "policy conditions in our city are harmful to car sharing services", after the car-sharing firm Zipcar announced it would stop operating in the city from 31 December.

"taking the issues raised seriously"