France demands re-think of Eurostar’s train order October 10, 2010 FRANCE has demanded a re-think of a £700m order for new trains from Eurostar after the Channel Tunnel train operator gave the deal to German manufacturer Siemens. The French government claimed the 10 e-320 trains that Eurostar is buying do not meet tunnel safety rules. Unlike Eurostar’s current trains, which have electric locomotives at each [...]
London braced as Liverpool fans plan High Court protest October 10, 2010 ANGRY Liverpool supporters are planning to descend on central London in their hundreds this week when the club’s ownership is decided in the High Court. Reds fans intend to travel to the capital by the coach-load in order to vent their disgust at unpopular owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett outside the Royal Courts of [...]
London Underground set to cut an extra 400 jobs October 7, 2010 LONDON Under ground (LU) is to axe up to 400 further permanent back-office staff in a bid to cut costs and improve efficiency. These cuts come on top of LU’s plans to reduce 800 ticket office jobs, which is currently at the heart of a bitter dispute with trade unions RMT and Transport Salaried Staffs’ [...]
Flats for the Eurocrat: a Brussels bargain October 7, 2010 IF YOU’RE moving to Brussels, it’s unlikely to be for the Belgian beer, the moules-frites and the chocolates. Most Britons relocate to the Belgian capital for work and join the 100,000-strong expat community of European Union workers, lobbyists and lawyers for at least a year or two. While most expats tend to rent when they [...]
Boris calls for tougher laws October 4, 2010 BORIS Johnson has called for a change to Britain’s trade union laws, in a bid to prevent a repeat of yesterday’s crippling Tube strikes. The London mayor used his speech at the Tory party conference in Birmingham to call for new legislation, which would force trade unions to win the support of 50 per cent [...]
TfL beats chaos as Tube keeps running October 4, 2010 TRANSPORT for London (TfL) operated 40 per cent of its Tube services yesterday as the second 24-hour strike launched by trade unions RMT and Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), hit the capital. The transport group said that 10 of the 11 lines that make up the Underground network ran services yesterday as the strike, which [...]
Queen of cakes gives tea a twist October 4, 2010 I ACTUALLY wanted to be a musician,” says Claire Clark. Unfortunately, her flute and violin playing wasn’t up to scratch. Happily for us, it meant she became the world’s best female patissiere, soon to open up a decadent cake shop – think champagne and chaises longues – in London. “My mother cooked everything,” says Clark, [...]
London faces Tube chaos October 3, 2010 LONDONERS are facing another gruelling day of commuting across the capital as London Underground (LU) workers launch a second 24-hour strike in as many months. The walkout, which will finish at 6:28pm tonight, will cause extreme disruption to this morning’s commute as the entire Underground network is affected by the action. At 6:29pm yesterday, over [...]
TfL: We’ll move Londoners September 30, 2010 TRANSPORT for London (TfL) has vowed to keep as many services operating on Sunday and Monday as possible as London Underground (LU) workers stage their latest strike. If the 24-hour stoppage by LU workers goes ahead on Sunday evening at 7.00pm, the TfL said it will provide one hundred extra buses, marshalled taxis and increased [...]
The man making MINI cooler – and smaller September 27, 2010 NO car captured Anglo cool like the British Motor Corporation’s Mini of the 1960s, the Mods’ car of choice. Bought by BMW in 1994 (as part of Rover), Mini became MINI in 2000, but remains irresistibly hip; the ride of choice for young British urbanites whose European equivalents would drive Fiats around Rome and Milan; [...]