The Festival of Words: From Gyles Brandreth to Anthony Scaramucci – all you need to know about the Fleet Street Quarter festival
‘National scandal’: Record-high shoplifting driven by repeat offenders April 26, 2026 Shoplifting has been branded a “national scandal” as incidents reach a record high, fuelled by a growing number of repeat offenders. More than 500,000 shoplifting offenses were recorded last year, according to official figures released in response to a parliamentary question by former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith. Fears around the worsening state of [...]
Lord Khan of Tooting? Sounds like a great idea to me! April 23, 2026 It is time that our failing Mayor moved on to challenges new, argues James Ford Our illustrious Prime Minister is rumoured to be considering raising the Mayor of London to the House of Lords, possibly as soon as next month. There may even be a seat around the Cabinet Table in the offing too. I, [...]
Hows Trump’s war in Iran is hitting hospitality April 22, 2026 The hospitality sector has already been hammered by taxes, regulation and minimum wage hikes. Now Trump’s war in Iran is hitting everyone’s discretionary spending, says Sacha Lord I’ve written so much about how Hospitality, not just in London, but across the whole of the UK is suffering right now. I’ve been scathing towards the Chancellor, [...]
Drivers are greedy and lazy, but Sadiq Khan is also to blame for Tube strikes April 21, 2026 Who can blame Tube drivers for demanding more money for less work when Sadiq Khan has proved he’ll always cave to their demands, says Alys Denby If you’re reading this on an agonising commute, perhaps having queued for hours to cram yourself between strangers’ armpits, you don’t need to be told how disruptive Tube strikes [...]
London set for £12m boost as host of Tour de France Femmes team time trial April 20, 2026 London is set for a £12m boost when the Tour de France Femmes heads to the capital for the grand tour’s first ever team time trial in 2027. Both the men’s and women’s Grands Depart will take place in the UK in July and August next year, but only the women’s peloton will ride around [...]
‘Disgraceful’: Khan and RMT in tube strike deadlock ahead of disruption April 20, 2026 Sadiq Khan and Transport for London are at loggerheads with a major transport union, with tube strikes all but confirmed to take place between Tuesday and Friday this week. Talks between representatives ahead of strikes beginning at 12pm on Tuesday 21 April are at an impasse, with union leaders blaming TfL bosses for failing to [...]
Tube strikes: Londoners braced for RMT walkouts from next week April 16, 2026 A series of six Tube strikes will start from next week, which have been described by Transport for London (TfL) as “completely unnecessary”. In a fresh blow to London businesses, the entire London Underground network will be disrupted for two 24-hour chunks – from midday Tuesday to Wednesday – and then the same time period [...]
AI security officials test Anthropic cyber threat as Bank of England to convene chiefs April 11, 2026 AI minister Kanishka Narayan has said that Anthropic’s new cyber model was the most powerful seen yet as finance chiefs from the Bank of England and Treasury are set to meet next week to discuss the threats posed to the financial sector. Narayan revealed that Claude Mythos, a new model that was held back from [...]
Iceland boss offers job to Waitrose worker who tackled shoplifter April 7, 2026 The boss of Iceland has offered a job to a man who was sacked by Waitrose after he prevented a shoplifter from attempting to steal luxury Easter eggs. Richard Walker, boss of the budget supermarket chain, posted on LinkedIn telling Walker Smith, the shop assistant sacked by Waitrose: “You’re welcome to a job with us. [...]
Tories urge Waitrose to re-hire worker who tackled shoplifter – and give him a bonus April 6, 2026 Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has urged the boss of Waitrose to re-hire Walker Smith, who tackled a shoplifter in south London attempting to steal luxury Easter eggs. Waitrose shop assistant Walker Smith was sacked by the supermarket after tackling a shoplifter, whom Smith recognised as a repeat offender. Philp wrote to Denyard, the managing [...]