As recently as 2018, Harrods, the luxury department store in Knightsbridge, was home to one of London’s more macabre shop displays. It featured a small, pyramid-shaped cabinet, containing a lipstick-smeared wine glass and a ring. Above these relics were portraits …
The rise of the posh roadman
Friday afternoon in Clapham Junction, and two well-to-do white boys are swaggering down Falcon Road to Al’s Place Cafe. “He’s got bars, no?” says one, talking about some musician or other. “Nah g, allow. Paigon. Nehgateeve XP.” Off they shuffle …
How London killed the Cockney
Ruby Murray, one of the most popular musical artists of the Fifties, is remembered today less for her schmaltzy ballads than as Cockney rhyming slang for curry. Now, though, Ruby’s gastronomic legacy has become a battleground.
Dishoom, the restaurant chain …
The battle for Thamesmead
Maybe the best-known fact about Thamesmead is that, in 1971, it provided the setting for one of the most memorable scenes of Stanley Kubrick’s film, A Clockwork Orange. Alex DeLarge (played by Malcolm McDowell) is shown walking along Binsey Walk …
Why London is beating America’s cities
As America’s cities continue to decline, as even ardent boosters warn of “an urban doom loop”, how does London remain a global powerhouse? The straightforward answer is that it retains an old advantage: its origins as a former imperial capital.…
How the police lost control of London
Even in supposedly secular and tolerant London, the safety of Jews has recently come to seem an unnervingly fragile thing. Last week, a London police officer was filmed threatening to arrest a man for being “openly Jewish”, and there have …
Why can’t I get a drink in London?
Amy Lamé, London’s Night Czar, has always been in a difficult position. Despite being paid a six-figure salary for a part-time role, the purpose of which is to resuscitate London’s shitty nightlife, she has virtually no political power and very …
The truth about Jews for Palestine
At London’s weekly anti-Israel protests each Saturday, one can often find a small group of strictly Orthodox Jewish men — always men or boys, never women. Generally no more than a dozen, they hold signs with wording such as “Judaism: …
Will Tower Hamlets follow Rochdale?
The Palestinians flags come in clusters. They may dominate entire streets, hanging high on lampposts out of the reach of a stepladder should anyone be tempted to take them down. Or they gather outside shops, communal buildings and particularly around …
The amateur sleuths taking on the CCP
“Stop touching her! Don’t touch her!” The screams rang out across the concourse of London’s St Pancras station. “Please. Do not touch her! Please. You are not the same age. Please do not touch her. Don’t touch her. Please don’t …
Did Labour rig its selection votes?
Sir Keir Starmer may lack warmth and charisma, and he may come across as dull and serious. But at least, his supporters maintain, he has a reputation for integrity. After all, this is a man who was once the country’s …
Terry Venables: gambler of Euro 96
Perhaps it’s just the age I was, but in the summer of 1996, life in Britain seemed pretty good. I was just finishing my first year at university, a sclerotic government was evidently coming to an end, British art and …
The Met’s firearms officers are political pawns
Say what you like about Suella Braverman and her mixed reception among the general population, but she continues to enjoy the support of a key political, if not electoral, demographic: the Metropolitan Police. Following the shooting of Chris Kaba on …
The war over England’s allotments
Trouble is afoot in south-west London. Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland, wants to build six blocks of flats on his land in Isleworth. The project would supply 80 homes, 40% of them affordable, with 30 units reserved for key …
Why looting has returned to London
Lockdown reportedly returned to Bexleyheath on Saturday. As rumours about an impending wave of “TikTok-fuelled looting” circulated on social media, shopkeepers debated whether it was safe to unlock their doors. Eventually they did, but only after a dispersal order was …