Banksy's rampage
Plus: where the far right live in London, the hottest Tube lines, and the best cat in Beckenham
Morning — in a week where many feared the far right were about to smash London up, there’s been some welcome distraction courtesy of Banksy. The street artist has spent day after day unveiling new pieces across the capital, all depicting animals of some sort. The full list so far and their locations lead your round-up below.
Plus: where the far right live in London, the hottest Tube lines, and the best cat in Beckenham.
In case you missed it: our deep dive into the riots that never were, after counter-protestors defended immigration services across London that had appeared on a far right hit list. Featuring leaked WhatsApps, boarded-up high streets and an ethnic minority ‘starting XI’.
What we've spied
🐐 Street artist Banksy has been on a rampage in London this past week, with seven animal-themed pieces confirmed so far. There's been a lot of speculation about their deeper significance, but a spokesperson for the secretive artist tells the Guardian the hope is "the uplifting works cheer people up with a moment of unexpected amusement, as well as to gently underline the human capacity for creative play". By day, the pieces are:
Monday: A goat on the side of a building near Kew Bridge in south-west London.
Tuesday: Two elephants on boarded windows on a building in Chelsea.
Wednesday: Three monkeys on a rail bridge over Brick Lane in the East End.
Thursday: A howling wolf on a satellite dish in Peckham. A group of people nicked the dish shortly after it was revealed.
Friday: Pelicans above a fish and chip shop in Walthamstow.
Saturday: A black cat stretching in an empty billboard on Edgeware Road in Cricklewood. This one taken down later that day by a contracting firm over safety concerns, to boos from onlooking crowd.
Sunday: A tank of piranhas on a police box in the City of London.
And apparently it’s not quite over yet. The Banksy spokesperson also told the Guardian Londoners should keep their eyes peeled “for a few days longer”.
👨⚖️ The Met Police has charged and named 26 people in connection with the far right disorder in central London on Wednesday, July 31, two days after the Southport knife attack. Their offences at the demo, which was organised in Whitehall by leading far right figures, range from violent disorder, assault on an emergency worker, racially aggravated harassment and possession of class A drugs. "They're not patriots, they're not protesters, they're criminals," said Met commissioner Mark Rowley in a video posted by the force on X showing officers arresting some of those who attended in dawn raids. The Spy's analysis of the charge sheet shows 15 of the charged men have addresses in London — three are from Sutton, two from Greenwich and the rest are from Uxbridge, Romford, Merton, Bexley, Lewisham, Enfield and Southwark. But 11 are based outside the capital — four from Essex, two from Kent, including a 14-year-old boy from Tunbridge Wells, two from Hertfordshire, then the rest from East Sussex, Farnborough and Durham. Many of the 26 will be appearing in court this week.
🚨 More from the Met: a major breakthrough in the investigation into the drive-by shooting in Dalston, with a man now charged with four counts of attempted murder. Javon Reily, 32 and from Farnborough, appeared in court on Saturday, having been charged with the shooting that left a nine-year-old girl seriously injured. The girl had been eating dinner with her family at a restaurant on Kingsland Road when a lone motorcyclist pulled up and fired towards diners. She remains in hospital in a stable condition, but her parents said last month that she might never "speak or move properly again". Three adults were also hit in the shooting, but they were discharged from hospital a few days later. Reily was arrested on Friday after a vehicle stop in Chelsea. He remains in custody and will next appear at the Old Bailey on September 6.
💰 City Hall has announced the five London neighbourhoods that are getting cash for improving high streets, green space and walking and cycling links. Neasden, Ilford, Hoxton, Lewisham and Croydon will all receive a share of £12.4m made available by the mayor's Civic Partnership Programme, which Khan has set up to fund "open, connected and inclusive public spaces". How the cash is being splashed:
£3.1m for Neasden to make the high street safer and more accessible for pedestrians.
£3m for Ilford to better connect the town centre with Roding Valley, including a new bridge over the River Roding.
£3m for Hoxton — for the 'Connecting Hoxton' project, which aims "to significantly improve east-west connections".
£2.5m for Lewisham to support the transformation of the existing Riverdale Sculpture Park.
£814,000 for Croydon to bring empty shops back into use, plant more trees and improve lighting on the high street.
🌡️ The Victoria Line is officially the hottest on the Underground network — and it's getting hotter. Data from TfL shows that average platform temperature on the Vicky line was 28.2C in 2023, the highest of all lines. Central was second at 26.7C and Bakerloo was third at 26.0C. The Circle, Hammersmith & City, District and Metropolitan lines were the coolest at 19.3C. What's particularly significant about the Victoria line figures is that, in 2013, average temperature was recorded as 21.9C, meaning a rise of 6C in a decade. The Tube's problem with increasing heat is well documented, as the clay around the tunnels has warmed up.
🔍 And finally, we leave you with: