London business chief defends Osborne in row over editor job

Pic:George Osborne addresses Evening Standard staff
Staff reporter(wp/es):
The chief executive of business group London First today stepped into the row over George Osborne’s appointment as Evening Standard editor, saying the former chancellor could champion both the capital and the North.

Jasmine Whitbread spoke out after Labour and SNP MPs said it was impossible to be both an editor for London and MP for Tatton in Cheshire.

She said: “Critics have asked how George, known for his support of the Northern Powerhouse, can possibly champion London. But I completely disagree — this is a false dichotomy, one business simply doesn’t recognise. 

“Business has a shared agenda across the UK: to get our capital and our country Brexit-ready, and, as we prepare for 2019, the Standard will continue to be a strong and influential voice.”

Labour raised the issue in the Commons yesterday, with shadow minister Andrew Gwynne arguing it was “a matter of great concern” and risked diminishing Parliament in voters’ eyes.

Mr Osborne responded: “In my view, this Parliament is enhanced when we have people of different experience take part in our robust debate and when people who have held senior ministerial office continue to contribute to the decisions we have to make.”

Heathrow Airport baggage handlers charged over 'cocaine plot'

Staff reporter(wp/es):

Two baggage handlers at Heathrow Airport have been charged with conspiring to import cocaine into the UK after a series of raids across London and the south east.

Mohammad Ali, 40, from Slough and Girmit Singh, 55, from Hayes were arrested during an operation by the National Crime Agency in December last year.

Singh has also been charged with conspiring to import cannabis.

Both men are due to appear at Wimbledon magistrates court on Friday.

Eleven other people, including another Heathrow baggage handler, have already been charged in connection with the alleged cocaine smuggling plot.

They are due to appear before Kingston Crown Court next month.

Boy, 15, knifed in street after 'fight' nearby

Crime reporter(wp/es):

A teenager was today in hospital after being stabbed in a north London street.

The 15-year-old boy was found by paramedics and police in Lordship Road, Stoke Newington, shortly before 10.20pm on Monday.

He was rushed to an east London hospital but his injuries are not life threatening or life changing.

Lordship Road and nearby Lordship Park were both closed last night following the incident.

It came after two cars, a blue Renault hatchback and a silver hatchback, collided on Lordship Park before reports of a “fight”. Police believe the two incidents are linked.

A Scotland Yard spokesman today said they were called by the London Ambulance Service to the incident. No arrests have been made and enquiries continue.

It came after a weekend of violence in London. On Saturday night a one-year-old boy died after an alleged attack in a Finsbury Park flat which also left his twin sister critically injured. Bidhya Sagar Das, 33, of Wilberforce Road, Finsbury Park, has been charged with murder and attempted murder.

In separate incidents an 18-year-old man died after being shot in the head in Barking, east London, in a suspected gang-related attack on Sunday while hours earlier a murder probe was launched after a man in his 20s was found dead in a flat in Hoxton.