Outsiders lead far right disorder in London
Plus: London's best new buildings, the return of the burning dump, and breastfeeding on the Tube
Morning — chaotic scenes in central London on Wednesday, as disorder linked to the knife attack in Southport spread across the UK. But notably, the ringleaders all seem to be based outside London. Who exactly is importing hate into the capital leads your Sunday round-up below.
Plus: London’s best new buildings, the return of the burning dump, and breastfeeding on the Tube.
In case you missed it: “Thames Water is going to collapse in the next 12 months, one way or another; the aim of this movement is to accelerate that collapse”. So says one organiser for Take Back Water, a campaign that we profiled earlier in the week that believes a bill boycott could topple London’s private water company. Could it work? And what are the risks? Tom Duggins has the story.
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What we’ve spied
🤬 111 people were arrested at a far right demonstration in central London on Wednesday, sparked by the knife attack in Southport — but the ringleaders aren’t Londoners. Several prominent far right figures were identified at the demo by the anti-fascist group Hope not Hate, and the Spy’s digging suggests they’re all based outside of the capital and likely had to hop on a train to bring disorder to London’s streets. That includes Danny Tommo, a bodyguard of Tommy Robinson previously convicted of kidnapping whose video advertising the demo outside Downing Street got more than a million views. He lists Portsmouth as his location on his X profile. There was also Steve Laws, a so-called “migrant hunter” based in Kent who spends his free time filming asylum seekers in temporary accommodation to generate outrage and revenue on social media. And then there was Julian Leppert, a district councillor for Waltham Abbey who’s on record saying he wants to make his town ‘whites only’. Leppert does have a previous London connection to be fair — he ran for mayor in 2004 as the BNP’s candidate, getting a whopping 3.1% of the vote. However, there’s still much we don’t know about those arrested at Wednesday’s disorder, which saw bottles, flares and other objects thrown at riot police, because the Met has yet to publicly announce charges for any of those arrested. Most were handcuffed for failing to comply with restrictions on the protest, like keeping to the designated route or going home at the end time. But 16 were arrested for violent disorder, two for assault on an emergency worker, two for racially/religiously aggravated threats, one for possessing class A drugs and one for possessing offensive weapons, including nunchucks. A source tells the Spy charges are on the way, but there’s a lot of paperwork to get through. And with charges will come names and addresses. More when we have it.
🏘️ Angela Rayner's major housing announcement fell a bit flat in London, when she revealed the government was cutting the capital's annual target for building homes by 20,000. The housing secretary unveiled a major overhaul of the UK's planning system on Wednesday, including the return of mandatory housing targets for local areas. But while overall targets have been upped, London's has been reduced from 100,000 to 80,000 a year. It was disappointing for some, who point out just how acute the capital's housing crisis has become and how other cities like Tokyo or Austin manage to build 100,000. But Rayner defended the decision by calling the previous target "absolute nonsense" because the capital had never been on track to hit it. The numbers don't disagree — over the past few years, London has seen roughly 35,000 new homes built annually. Another explanation comes via the Financial Times — the paper reports Labour is keen to encourage more development in areas where the party gained seats in the general election, like the Midlands and the north.
📐 London buildings dominate this year's shortlist for the Stirling Prize, British architecture's top award. Of the six projects shortlisted, four are in the capital:
Chowdhury Walk, a development of 11 "new generation" council homes in Homerton by Hackney Council
The Elizabeth Line, which was praised for the "clear visual language", "consistent material palette" and "approach to detailing" across its stations
The redevelopment of King's Cross, which judges say has stitched "a previously cut-off part of the city back into the wider urban fabric"
The refurbished National Portrait Gallery, which re-opened last summer with a new public entrance and forecourt
The winner will be announced at a ceremony this October. Elsewhere in architecture: hate for the City skyscraper "that could look like a toilet seat in the sky".
🔥 It's another grim summer in outer east London, as the illegal landfill on Launders Lane once again spontaneously combusts. For the full story there's our feature published in February, but in short, a mountain of waste illegally dumped at a site in Rainham has spent the past few summers catching fire and throwing up black smoke, which locals say is causing nose bleeds, chest infections and maybe more. This year has been no exception — a fire was burning at the site for at least five days straight this week amid the heatwave in London, and earlier this month there was a blaze so big that 70 firefighters were called out. Locals on the dedicated support group on Facebook are understandably fuming, as they still await a decisive solution from Havering council or the landowner. Since we published our feature, Havering has now issued enforcement notices against owners DMC Essex, who have replied by launching a court appeal. No sign of any actual clean-up operation though, nor of a promised health assessment using data from local GP practices to get to the bottom of what the black smoke is doing to locals’ bodies. In the meantime, Launders Lane burns.
👨⚖️ The Wandsworth prison officer filmed having sex with an inmate in a cell pleaded guilty to misconduct on Monday. Prosecutors told the judge at Isleworth Crown Court that Linda De Sousa Abreu's encounter with the inmate on June 27 — footage of which went viral on social media — was a “shocking breach of the public’s trust”. She will next appear at a sentencing hearing in November. The case comes amid wider concerns about the state of HMP Wandsworth — in May the prison watchdog recommended the south London prison should be put under emergency measures due to recent prisoner escapes, drugs, violence and overcrowding. Elsewhere from London's courts: a man who pushed another man onto the tracks at Oxford Circus station has been found guilty of attempted murder. Meanwhile, a man has been found guilty of kidnapping, torturing and killing a Turkish radio DJ near Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
🚨 The body of Stephen Lawrence, the 18-year-old murdered in a racist attack in south east London in 1993, is being returned to the UK from Jamaica. The news followed images shared on social media of Lawrence's grave after his body had been exhumed. Lady Doreen Lawrence, his mother, said in a statement: “My family and I have been made aware of the recent images of my son’s grave that have been circulated on social media. Following Stephen’s passing, we made the decision to have him laid to rest in Jamaica, as we felt he would not be at peace in this country. After 31 years, we have decided as a family that we would like to bring Stephen home to be closer to us.” Elsewhere in the painfully unresolved Lawrence case: major revelations from the BBC's Daniel De Simone last week, including that the Met Police failed to act on an admission from one of the murder suspects that he had a "girlfriend" who was a child. Also: the livestream of the official inquiry into undercover policing was abruptly cut off on Thursday when an officer who'd infiltrated the Lawrence justice campaign said "smearing people" is a "security service job".
🚧 Old Street roundabout is finally finished — kind of. TfL’s £132m upgrade of the deathtrap for cyclists was meant to take two years when work began in 2018, but even as we entered 2024 it was still a never-ending building site. But in the past few weeks, photos and videos have been circulating of the new station entrance, free of any signs of construction, raising hopes the project is finally done. We double-checked with TfL's press office about whether construction is really complete — 'basically', was the answer. "Upgrades to roads in the area, including new cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings, were completed in the winter. Further works to the roundabout, the new public spaces and the station have allowed us to remove most of the remaining hoardings, though some minor works remain," said Helen Cansick, TfL's head of healthy street investment. Some aren't impressed with the final result. Another TfL project update: after positive feedback from its public consultation on extending the DLR to Thamesmead, the transport body says it's pressing ahead with the plans and will now be developing the business case. Still no word on funding though. One more thing: this week TfL has earmarked cash that could be used to create 30 new low traffic neighbourhoods across London.
🏳️🌈 Last-ditch efforts to save a queer club in east London might have paid off, as the owners have now sat down at the negotiating table. This week has seen a frenzied campaign to stop the closure of Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, an LGBTQ+ performance space famed for cabaret and drag queens that seemed doomed when owners announced they were selling the premises. But a rally outside the venue, a petition garnering 12,000 signatures in a week and coverage in mags like Dazed might have turned the tide. BGWMC's owners have said they are now in talks with arts union Equity to preserve the building as a performance space. There's a troubling wider context here — figures published by the Greater London Authority in February showed 60% of London's LGBTQ+ venues have closed since 2006.
🗺️ FROM THE BOROUGHS 🗺️ Two London councils are now planning crackdowns using public space protection orders (PSPO), powers given to UK local authorities under anti-social behaviour legislation. First, Tower Hamlets council's plans for 'ASBOs for dogs'. Last week the council unveiled tougher rules for dog-owners in the borough, citing a recent rise in dog attacks. The rules being considered include a ban of dogs off leads in all public spaces — like Mile End Park and Victoria Park — and limits to the number of dogs one person can walk at a time. Opposition is already mounting, with a petition against the plans gaining 2,100 signatures as of writing. Haringey council has also proposed a new PSPO — for humans — but it's been met with opposition from homelessness and civil liberty charities. The PSPO prohibits behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, "harassment, alarm and distress" in the borough’s public spaces, which has been criticised by some as too vague in scope. The Museum of Homelessness, Liberty and Release issued a joint statement saying its impact will fall "most heavily on marginalised communities", but the council says it’s necessary to "protect our community". A public consultation on Haringey's PSPO ended on Friday. Those breaking either Tower Hamlets' or Haringey's PSPOs could be fined between £100 and £1,000.
Elsewhere: Lewisham council is being investigated by the housing ombudsman for "repeated failings" with its social housing services, particularly over leaks, damp and mould issues. Southwark council has told residents of the Ledbury Estate they must move out as soon as possible, after a recent fire safety check found that existing risks had 'worsened'. And in Lambeth, the council's former chief executive has pleaded guilty to drink-driving.
📣 A win for pro-Palestine student activists at King's College London, which has agreed to revise its investment policy into "controversial" arms companies. The university's student union reached an initial agreement with finance executives on Monday, which will be formalised in October. Hassan Ali, the student union's vice-chair, said in a statement posted to Instagram: “The university will no longer invest in companies engaged in the production or distribution of controversial weapons". It follows a campaign of walkouts, sit-in protests and encampments at the central London university’s campus. By our count it's the second London university to meet the demands of students protesting the Israel-Gaza war, the first being Goldsmiths in May. Meanwhile, uni administrators at the London School of Economics, Queen Mary University of London and University College London have been seeking court orders to evict campus encampments.
🔍 And finally, we leave you with:
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