Two private schools in south London will close after 75 years due to declining pupil numbers and Labour’s introduction ofVAT on school fees. Inspired Learning Group (ILG), which runs Park Hill Preparatory School and Nursery, in Kingston, and Bishop Challoner School in Bromley, will close at the end of the academic year. Three High Courtjudges […]
Category: News
Train company fixes contactless undercharging error Текст: A train company has apologised after some customers who made contactless payments were undercharged for up to four months. London Northwestern Railway passengers were left confused after noticing the cost of their daily commute suddenly increased by as much as £13.50. A technical issue meant some customers using contactless cards had been undercharged for some journeys since February 2025 but since Sunday they had been paying the correct fares. A London Northwestern Railway spokesperson said: We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused. Public relations worker Harriet, who did not want her surname revealed, told the BBC her £22.50 commute to the capital from Berkhamsted was now £36. Im massively worried about it… it really adds up, the 29-year-old said. Other concerned commuters took to social media to question why their fares had increased. London Northwestern Railway said the issue could have affected journeys withinits contactless zone, which included stations between London Euston and Bletchley, and its branch line to St Albans Abbey. Passengers could check the price of a contactless pay-as-you-go journey using theTransport for London website, it added. Regulated rail fares in England and Walesrose by 4.6%in March.
A train company has apologised after some customers who made contactless payments were undercharged for up to four months. London Northwestern Railway passengers were left confused after noticing the cost of their daily commute suddenly increased by as much as £13.50. A technical issue meant some customers using contactless cards had been undercharged for some […]
Air India victims were foundation of our family Текст: A couple who were killed in the Air India crash were the foundation of our family, their granddaughters have said. All but one of the 242 people on board the London Gatwick-bound aircraft died when it crashed into a residential area in Ahmedabad, western India, shortly after take-off on Thursday. After attending a wedding, 72-year-old Adam Taju and his wife Hasina, 70, were flying back to the UK with their 51-year-old son-in-law Altafhusen Patel, who also lived in London with his wife Shamim. Their granddaughter, Ammaarah Taju, from Blackburn, Lancashire, said to lose them so suddenly, without a goodbye, without one last embrace, is a pain too deep for words. There were 53 Britons on board the aircraft, along with 169 Indian nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian. Flight AI171 struggled to gain altitude after taking off and crashed after 30 seconds. A mayday call was transmitted to air traffic control, said Indias aviation regulator. A senior health official in Ahmedabad has told the BBC that at least eight people who were not board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner also died in the crash. Paying tribute with her three sisters, Ammaarah Taju, 28, said: The thought of never hearing your voices again feels unreal. We are the end of your legacy, the branches of the tree you nurtured, and now we have to carry forward everything you taught us. Dada and Dadi, you were the foundation of our family, the love that kept us close and the wisdom that guided us. The sisters said their legacy was woven into every part of us and your lessons, your love, your unwavering support will live on. We wish we had the chance to tell you one last time just how much we love you, to thank you for everything you did for us, they added. The reality of losing you both like this is impossible to comprehend, and the pain runs deeper than words can express. Life is fleeting, and we never imagined we would lose you together, in such a tragic way.
A couple who were killed in the Air India crash were the “foundation of our family”, their granddaughters have said. All but one of the 242 people on board the London Gatwick-bound aircraft died when it crashed into a residential area in Ahmedabad, western India, shortly after take-off on Thursday. After attending a wedding, 72-year-old […]
More flats have fire safety defects, brigade warns Текст: Hundreds of blocks of flats in London still have serious fire safety defects, according to new figures from the London Fire Brigade (LFB). More than 1,400 buildings have simultaneous evacuation plans should a fire break out in the block, indicating that they are unsafe for residents to stay put. Stay put – which was theinitial advice for Grenfell towerand which remains the fire policy in most high-rise buildings – relies on a building being properly constructed. Regulations should prevent fire spreading from one flat to another for at least 60 minutes. Edward Daffarn, of Grenfell United, said the latest figures showed that Londoners were still going to sleep in buildings that arent safe. Seventy-two people died in the Grenfell fire in north Kensington on 14 June 2017. Since then, the safety of high-rise homes across the capital has been brought into focus, with the LFB checking cladding, fire doors, windows and the compartmentation of flats. The LFB said the number of buildings with simultaneous evacuation guidance in place had risen following its most recent count to 1,448. There are 883 buildings more than 26ft (18m) tall on the evacuation list, and 565 buildings under 26ft (18m) on the list. Mr Daffarn escaped from the 16th floor of Grenfell. He said: Eight years ago, standing underneath the burning wreckage of Grenfell Tower, I was convinced it would be the catalyst for societal change; that something so awful, which resulted in the horrific loss of 72 lives, could not happen without things changing. And yet we sit here eight years later and people are still going to sleep in buildings that arent safe. We need to create a legacy for Grenfell that means that people that live in social housing, people that live in high-rise blocks, are treated with respect and live in safe buildings. Sharing his own opinion, and acknowledging the difficulty others feel in seeing the tower regularly, Mr Daffarn added: I think the anniversary is made all the more poignant by the fact that this is the last time that we will meet with the tower in situ. We havent got justice yet. It feels wrong to bepulling the tower downwhile so much remains unresolved. Mr Daffarn is hopeful a new documentary about the fire, due to air on Netflix next week, will spur government efforts to take action. He said: It needs to put pressure on the government to ensure that the companies involved are not able to access public funding, and Im hoping that this documentary will accelerate that process. The Cabinet Office confirmed in February seven companies were facing possible bans – cladding firm Arconic, insulation firm Kingspan, former Celotex owners Saint-Gobain, fire inspectors Exova, design and build contractor Rydon, architect Studio E and subcontractor Harley Facades. It is understood investigations were launched into all of them in March, looking into whether any engaged in professional misconduct for the purposes of the Procurement Act 2023, potentially leading them to be debarred from public contracts. No timeline has been given for how long it might be before the outcomes are known. Bereaved and survivors have long campaigned for criminal charges to be brought over the disaster. Police and prosecutors have previously said investigators would need until the end of 2025 to complete their inquiry, with final decisions on potential criminal charges by the end of 2026. The near 10-year wait for justice has beendescribed by families as unbearable. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: [We] have been clear that the pace of remediation has been too slow for too long. Thats why we are taking decisive action through our Remediation Acceleration Plan to fix unsafe buildings by 2029 faster, while we continue to support residents and identify buildings at risk. Additional reporting by PA Media
Hundreds of blocks of flats in London still have serious fire safety defects, according to new figures from the London Fire Brigade (LFB). More than 1,400 buildings have simultaneous evacuation plans should a fire break out in the block, indicating that they are unsafe for residents to “stay put”. Stay put – which was theinitial […]
New Hope: Parents of Children with Rare Genetic Disorder Rally Community to Raise £70k for Critical Research
The parents of two children afflicted with an untreatable genetic disorder have successfully raised £70,000 by embarking on a nine-hour walk through London. In 2020, Mel Dixon, 46, and her husband Charlie, 47, residents of East Sheen in south-west London, received the devastating diagnosis that two of their three children—Tom, aged 15, and Rosie, aged […]
Headline: Disturbing Testimony Unveiled in Misconduct Hearing for Police Officers in Controversial Strip-Search of Black Schoolgirl
A schoolgirl of African descent who was subjected to a strip search by officers from the Metropolitan Police was warned that she “might face arrest” if she did not cooperate, according to a misconduct hearing. The individual, referred to as Child Q, underwent a strip search at her Hackney school in east London on December […]
Organised Immigration Crime Crackdown: Five Men Charged After Raids Across Manchester and London
In connection with a significant initiative against organized immigration offenses, five individuals have been charged after a series of operations conducted throughout Greater Manchester and London. The charges stemmed from an operation on Tuesday, involving four men from Greater Manchester, aged between 19 and 47, and a 19-year-old from London. According to Greater Manchester Police, […]
Three Teenage Girls Plead Guilty in Shocking Manslaughter Case of 75-Year-Old Filmed Attack
At the Old Bailey, three adolescent girls have admitted to the manslaughter of a 75-year-old man who passed away following a street assault that was captured on a mobile device. Fredi Rivero was attacked in Islington, north London, on February 27, and succumbed to his injuries in the hospital the following day. Mr. Rivero, a […]
Headline: Empowering Young Women: New Initiative Aims to Boost Tennis Participation Across London
A new partnership will span three years with the goal of increasing tennis accessibility for a larger audience in London. Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has teamed up with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) for a collaborative initiative dubbed Rally Together London, which involves a £500,000 investment. This program aims to train 250 individuals from marginalized […]
Police Officer Concedes Errors in Controversial Strip-Search of 15-Year-Old Girl, Calls for Better Training
A police officer has acknowledged her failure in duties after being accused of conducting an unjustified strip-search on a 15-year-old Black girl at a school in East London. She admitted that the incident should never have occurred. The girl, referred to as Child Q, was incorrectly suspected of having cannabis and was compelled to reveal […]