Great to talk to Karl Mercer at @bbclondon.bsky.social about the forthcoming London local elections. Hard to get a screenshot and not capture an unflattering facial expression.

I’m not sure retailers who’ve deliberately shifted - sometimes exclusively - to self-service tills and cut staff to the bare minimum are in much of a position to lecture about a rise in shop lifting.

Too right it needs saving. From The Peoples Assembly. I despair. Pickling Lewisham Shopping Centre in aspic is not an option

Contrast this to the Manchester Evening News which champions Manchester with a passion. I think
the Standard rarely manages to even be a critical friend of the city. If I read one more “we ditched awful London for the Cotswolds/Hastings/Suffolk etc” story in the Standard, I’ll scream.

Londonmaxxing: Why everyone is suddenly celebrating London The term Londonmaxxing has gone viral as people cotton on to what The Standard has always said: London is the greatest city in the world. From A-listers on Lime bikes to the return of Simpson’s in the...

Interesting go see the Standard finally cover the #Londonmaxxing phenomenon. A city’s newspaper ought instinctively to be a maxxer for where they’re based yet the Standard over the years repeatedly hasn’t been www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/lo...

I’ll be having dinner tonight on one of my GLC County Hall plates to mark the occasion

With the government assuming control on…. April Fool’s Day 1986. A gift to the GLC PR team.

Forty years ago today was the last day of the Greater London Council. Abolished, despite a stirring rearguard action, at midnight on 31 March 1986. Replaced by a messy combo of appointed committees, quangos & direct ministerial rule, it took a further 14 years to reverse, when the GLA was created

Kind of thing Derek Hatton would do

Brent Cross Shopping Centre opens in 1976 and as the little old lady says, it’ll save us all a trip up the West End. Can’t believe I’m a year older than BC! #London #BrentCross #1970sLondon

Classic Ads: Cheese It with Ken Livingstone YouTube video by ukclassictelly

Ken Livingstone advertising cheese (just don’t tell him Red Leicester is more Lib Dem or Aspire orange colour 😂) - the highlight of his post GLC, pre GLA career? youtu.be/48qmN4QWgQs?... @davehillonlondon.bsky.social

In which you get to see my kitchen. Good to talk to Dave as ever.

True London: Should the Met be just for London? YouTube video by Dave Hill On London

Should the Met be just for #London? Why is political accountability for policing in the capital such a mess? How should it be sorted out? And would that improve how the city is policed? My guest was former Sadiq Khan policy chief @nickbowes.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAWI... #truelondon

I do quite like this TfL tie up with Guinness at Tottenham Court Road. One of the better commercialisations there’s been on the tube.

“At least Sadiq Khan is excited by having beavers in the capital.” 🦫

Zac Goldsmith: Politics is horrible. Now I’m a sculptor Zac Goldsmith is the environmentalist and mayoral candidate who sells his own animal sculptures. He talks politics, antisemitism and his mother Annabel’s death

Yeah! Too right!! Anyone know any former Tory mayoral candidates who might have contributed to making politics so horrible? 🤔

I'm sorry, what, omg, WANT

Police accountability in London - a mess, 25 years and counting The Home Secretary's reform plans have the potential to make things better, but Whitehall's historic centralising tendencies already loom

New for OnLondon from @nickbowes.bsky.social, former Sadiq Khan policy chief, in response to Home Secretary's plans for police reorganisation. Could they produce changes the capital needs? Or will the accountability mess of the past 25 years continue? www.onlondon.co.uk/nick-bowes-p.... #london

Strap in now for a bumpy London elections ride The Conservatives and Labour have dominated London's 32 town halls ever since the current boroughs were created back in 1964. Only once in 16 elections have Labour...

With the polls the way they are, May's London local elections could see change on a scale not witnessed since 2006 - perhaps never in the 62 years the boroughs have existed. You can read my thoughts in the latest edition of The MJ on what promises to be a bumpy ride www.themj.co.uk/strap-bumpy-...

I should post on here more & it’s bad that Robert Jenrick’s defection has prompted me to do so. But crossing paths with him back in 2019 wins the “worst meeting of my professional career” award. Because of his behaviour, I took an immediate dislike to him - my opinion has only gone downhill since.

RIP Terry Farrell

Secret BBC filming exposes hidden culture of racism and misogyny inside Met Police Panorama undercover investigation captures evidence that

There’s something seriously rotten in the culture at Charing Cross police station. This isn’t the first time. It needs lancing. I’d shut it down and empty out the building. Start from scratch. Brave undercover reporting by the BBC www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

2/ Compare that to Trump - him & his followers are the ones who aspire to a theocracy, intolerant of other religious beliefs or those with no religion. Besides, when was the last time Trump saw London up close? He flew in & out of the Ambassador's resident last week by helicopter!

1/ Everyone will have views on Sadiq Khan's time as @london.gov.uk, but if there's one thing he's (successfully, in my view) tried to be is a Mayor that represents the global, diverse, liberal & tolerant city that London is

Trump attacks Khan at UN and claims London 'wants to go to Sharia law' US President reignites feud with Khan while Health Secretary Wes Streeting hits back at his claims

The ramblings of a mad fool - unfortunately for us, he's the in charge of the most powerful nation on earth www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...

Had an altercation with a stolen Lime bike. Shattered my wrist. But still managed to pen a piece for @davehillonlondon.bsky.social on what I found out about the big gaps in regulation. A public policy geek is never off duty, even when sat in A&E nursing broken bones.

Honestly, this drives me insane. I’m wired in such a way that I just can’t cycle through red lights. I just wish others were too www.thetimes.com/uk/transport...

When I'm 63 Yesterday, Keir Starmer refreshed the No 10 operation - perhaps to get it out the way before his 63rd birthday. Because, despite the spin to the contrary, yesterday demonstrated that ... When I'm 63 Yesterday, Keir Starmer refreshed the No 10 operation - perhaps to get it out the way before his 63rd birthday. Because, despite the spin to the contrary, yesterday demonstrated that not ...

Wrote something on this week’s No10 changes. Born out of my simmering anger at the continued & repeated mess at the heart of the Labour govt. It’s bad enough Labour were ill-prepared in July 2024 for govt - to continue to be so 14 months on is just negligent
www.linkedin.com/posts/dr-nic...

President Donald Trump could be given Freedom of the City of London President Donald Trump could be offered the Freedom of the City of London as part of a charm offensive to help make the case against tariffs.

Glad to see that I beat President Trump to being awarded Freedom of the City of London. Can't wait to see him shepherd his sheep over London Bridge www.cityam.com/president-do...

YouGov on it today with the big issues of our time -
DO YOU LIKE OR DISLIKE THE SMELL OF PETROL?