Society
At least £64bn of property in England and Wales is hidden behind opaque trusts
May 19, 2025The owners of nearly a quarter of a million properties in England and Wales worth a combined £64bn are hidden behind opaque trusts, according to research that prompts concern that such structures are the “go-to vehicle for kleptocrats” stashing money in Britain. The government introduced a register of property held through offshore vehicles in August […]
Read More
Campaigner wins court case over festivals in south London park
May 16, 2025A campaigner who argued that music festivals held in a south London park unfairly cut off large sections of the space and made it a “mud bath” has won a court case that could result in events being banned there this summer. The Protect Brockwell Park (PBP) group, which includes the actor Mark Rylance, complained […]
Read More
London dominates England’s social mobility league with top 20 places
May 14, 2025The top 20 constituencies with the best social mobility in England are all in London, according to research from a leading education charity that underscores the stark regional divide in children’s life chances. In a report published on Thursday, the Sutton Trust has put together an “opportunity index” by analysing six measures of mobility. These […]
Read More
Sadiq Khan to announce plans to build houses on London green belt
May 9, 2025Sadiq Khan is announcing plans to build on parts of London’s green belt, in a dramatic shift in housing policy aimed at tackling “the most profound housing crisis in the capital’s history”. In a major speech on Friday, the mayor of London is expected to say the scale of the challenge, which could need about […]
Read More
Police officers who fail background checks to be automatically sacked
April 22, 2025Police officers in England and Wales who fail background checks will be automatically sacked under rules coming into force to improve confidence in policing. Measures will be introduced to parliament on Wednesday that will make it a legal requirement for serving officers to pass vetting procedures. It will also mean police chiefs will be able […]
Read More
‘One hell of a turnout’: trans activists rally in London against gender ruling
April 19, 2025After last week’s supreme court decision, activists had been worried that trans people might become fearful of going out in public in case they were abused. They weren’t afraid in London on Saturday. Thousands of trans and non-binary people thronged Parliament Square, alongside families and supporters waving baby blue, white and pink flags to demonstrate […]
Read More
Residents of London apartment block left without running water for 12 days
April 18, 2025Residents of an apartment block owned by London’s largest housing association have spoken of their despair after being left for 12 days without running water during repairs to a leaking supply pipe. Social housing tenants and leaseholders in the block of 12 flats in Sidcup, south-east London, said they were unable to shower or clean […]
Read More
Doctors in end-of-life cases of two UK children can be named, court rules
April 16, 2025Doctors in two end-of-life cases can be named, the UK supreme court has ruled, after the parents of two children said they wanted to “tell their story”. Isaiah Haastrup, aged 12 months, and Zainab Abbasi, six, were at the centre of life-support treatment disputes at the high court in London before their deaths in 2018 […]
Read More
About 1,200 jobs to go at Cabinet Office in civil service efficiency drive
April 10, 2025The Cabinet Office will shrink in size by about a third, with about 1,200 jobs to go and another 900 transferred to other departments. Staff in the department were told on Thursday that it would be reduced. The 1,200 job losses will involve voluntary redundancies and roles not being filled when people leave. The cuts […]
Read More
Is the Silvertown tunnel a bridge to the future or a step backwards?
April 4, 2025From high above the Thames, the distinctive portals of the new Silvertown tunnel are clearly visible: a black arch on the North Greenwich peninsula, a green conical building a mile across the water in Newham. On Monday, tens of thousands of cars and lorries will start passing between them, almost directly below the cable car […]
Read More