An urgent review of police tactics to combat London’s wave of violence was launched by politicians today as six more people were stabbed in the capital.
The London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee said it wanted answers about why the increase in violence was happening and “why policing tactics are failing and what can be done to keep Londoners safe”.
The committee said it would examine the Mayor’s knife crime strategy, including the effectiveness of social media and advertising campaigns and the knife detection wands being offered to schools in London.
Details of the review comes after a 44 per cent surge in murders in London, with the Met revealing there were at least six more stabbings last night.
Four teenage boys were among those knifed in separate attacks across the city:
Two teenagers, aged 16 and 18, were stabbed just after 3pm in the Nightingale Estate in Hackney;
Another boy, also 16, suffered stab wounds in his arm after an altercation on The Embankment in Twickenham;
At 5pm, police were called to Beresford Square in Woolwich where an 18-year-old man was stabbed in the leg in a fight. A man was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and taken to a south London police station, where he remains in custody;
A man aged 27 was stabbed outside West Croydon railway station at 6pm;
A 21-year-old man was stabbed in a doorstep burglary at his home in Greenwich at around 11.30pm;
None of those attacked are believed to be seriously injured.
Witnesses to the Hackney attack said a 16-year-old boy was dragged from a moped and set upon by up to eight youths said to be armed with machetes.
One resident said: “The boy was on a moped was going around the park and he got jumped by another group.
“They pulled him off the moped and it went from there. There were seven or eight guys around the boy on the floor. They had these long machetes.
“I came out of my flat and shouted ‘stop it’. They stood still and dropped the machetes to their sides. I think I may have saved his life.”
Police said officers found an 18-year-old man a short distance away suffering from a serious leg injury. He was also taken to hospital for treatment.
Today Tory London Assembly member Steve O’Connell, chairman of the Police and Crime Committee, said: “The Mayor and the Met need to take hold of the situation. We are determined to find out what is working and what is not.”
He added: “Enough is enough. Where is the evidence that the Mayor’s new taskforce is working? Did the Met take its eye off the ball on gun-related crime? Londoners deserve urgent answers.
“We need to unite and say this senseless killing must stop. We cannot have a summer of violence and bloodshed. The Mayor and the Met need to prove they can stop this surge.”
He questioned poster campaigns’ effectiveness, saying : “Violent criminals don’t watch adverts from the Mayor about knife crime. Many young people now live in a culture of fear and feel at risk. They want more than an ad campaign, they want to know concrete steps are being taken to protect them.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said keeping Londoners safe was his top priority but said London’s police service was “overstretched and under-resourced.”
She said : “ Violent crime has been rising across the country since 2014 and the Government is failing in their basic duty to keep people safe – imposing cuts of £1 billion on the Met Police which risk sending police numbers to historically low levels. The Home Office’s own evidence shows you cannot keep cutting without consequences, and violent crime devastates communities and ruins lives.
“The Mayor is doing all he can to compensate for the failure of ministers. City Hall is investing an extra £110 million in the Met to keep police numbers as high as possible, and has also set up a new £45 million Young Londoners Fund to help tackle the causes of violent crime and support young people to turn away from criminality.
"Sadiq refuses to accept that nothing can be done to stem the appalling tide of violent killings we are seeing on our streets and together with the police, community groups, victims and their families and Londoners, will continue to work ceaselessly to tackle violent crime.”
The biggest reunion in music has finally been confirmed.
Swedish super group ABBA have announced plans to release new music, nearly four decades after they split.
Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad confirmed the news in a statement on Instagram, saying it was an “unexpected consequence” of their decision to put on a “virtual reality tour”.
The four piece described their return to the studio to pen two new tracks as “an extremely joyful experience”.
The statement read: “The decision to go ahead with the exciting ABBA avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence. We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and that we only had been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!
“It resulted in two new songs and one of them I Still Have Faith In You will be performed by our digital selves in a new TV special produced by NBC and the BBC aimed for broadcasting in December.
“We may have come of age, but the song is new. And it feels good.”
I Still Have Faith In You will debut on the BBC in December.
Ulvaeus, 72,revealed earlier this month that virtual “Abbatars” are being created of the four singers for the upcoming digital tour, expected for 2019 or 2020.
The band will appear as they looked at their peak in 1979 using technology Ulvaeus described as “simply mind-boggling”.
The foursome, who formed in 1972, were famed for hits including Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!, SOS, Voulez-Vouz and Dancing Queen.
They hit international fame after winning the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo in 1974, before going on to sell 400 million singles and albums worldwide.
London is set to be hotter than Greece next week as temperatures soar to 25C in the capital.
Sun worshippers are set to enjoy a mini-heatwave as the mercury hits highs of 25C on Thursday, according to the Met Office.
The capital will be hotter than Athens where top temperatures will only reach 23C.
Glorious sunshine is set to make going back to work after the weekend easier as temperatures rise throughout the week.
Monday and Tuesday are set to see highs of 17C with clear skies and just the odd risk of scattered showers, forecaster Craig Snell told the Standard.
He said: “The looks set to shine as we start the working week with a pleasant day on Monday.
“Temperatures will reach 17C in London and the south east making it slightly warmer than Sunday.”
The mercury will soar to 21C on Wednesday before hitting glorious 25C temperatures on Thursday.
“It will be cooler by the Thames but inland and in particular in north west London its likely to get nice and hot.
“Anyone out and about on Thursday will need some sun cream,” Mr Snell added.
Temperatures will drop towards the weekend with highs of around 19C on Friday.
Some 40,000 runners taking part in the London marathon on Sunday are likely to see temperatures around 18C with a small risk of showers.
“It will be slightly cooler and cloudier than it earlier in the week which is good news for runners but it is slightly too early to predict whether we will have any rain,” the forecaster added.
Londoners enjoyed long-awaited spring sunshine on Saturday when temperatures hit 21C in parts of the capital.
Many hailed the “first day of spring” online with one person tweeting: “First day of Spring in #London and you want to start a new life full of sun.”
Another added: “The sun was out today and I didn’t know how to act.”
A third person said: “I always feel so emosh on the first sunny evening walk through London of the year and I'm not ashamed to shout about it.”
“The geeks shall inherit the earth” became a popular phrase 10 years ago when Amazon, Facebook and Google were fast becoming the mainstream.
This is now true in London where technology is snapping at banking’s heels to be the capital’s top industry.
Recent data shows that a high-achieving graduate can earn the same or more at a tech firm as he or she can at an investment bank.
The average starting salary at a bank is £46,000, whereas graduate coders can earn £51,000, according to research from jobs site Glassdoor.
Michael Drew, head of technology at headhunter Odgers Berndtson, says: “Both are level for compensation and are fighting for the top two per cent of talent. Tech has really shaken up the employment market in London and there are no longer just two or three paths to success.”
More than one in 10 new jobs created in London last year were technology roles, according to another recruitment firm Indeed, and banking has been shrinking ever since the financial crisis and, more recently, Brexit.
At London Business School, the percentage of those gaining an MBA who went into financial services fell to 26 per cent last year from 46 per cent in 2007 and the percentage going into technology firms more than tripled, from six per cent to 20 per cent over the same period.
Banks have responded by putting a heavier emphasis on quality of life than chunky remuneration.
The banking exodus is reflected in the London office market where Goldman, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Deutsche Bank have been shedding office space for more than a decade — at present holding 3.6 million square feet.
In contrast, Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon are on the rampage, holding 3.1 million square feet, with analysts expecting this to rise to 5 million square feet within the next five years.
Tech firms are even encroaching on the Square Mile, an area traditionally associated with big banks.
In 2016, takeaway delivery app Deliveroo moved into Cannon Bridge House — on what used to be the trading floor of the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange — and last year 5000 Amazon staff moved into Principal Place in Liverpool Street.
But some in the recruitment market are still sceptical and say that the tech industry has a long way to go before it can call itself a genuine competitor to banking.
Drew adds: “Technology is growing year by year but it is still not like the financial services hub. London needs to push forward before it can become a truly world-class hub, respected on the global stage. London is currently just a launch-pad market for US tech firms to go into the rest of Europe.”
Recruiters also say that salary data can be misleading, pointing to the fact that most people in banking receive huge bonuses which dwarf their salaries.
Despite heavy regulation, recruitment firms say top bankers can expect to earn four times their salary.
Richard Buckingham, partner at Leathwaite, says: “At a bank or a hedge fund, you’re working for your end of year bonus. Everything is bonus oriented. At tech firms, the salary and equity options are good — which when it starts vesting can result in a lot of money.”
But while the two industries slug it out for London’s top talent and office space, both face the same potential nightmare — Brexit. Banking and tech are alike in relying heavily on foreign talent and easy access to Europe’s markets, something that could be taken away by this time next year.
However, if the two industries can survive unscathed then the fierce competition between them means London could end up with two world-class industries in the near future.
Fares on Crossrail's Elizabeth Line will match Tube prices across most of London, but Heathrow passengers will be charged a premium, it was announced today.
Travelling between the airport and zone 1 in central London at peak times will cost £12.10 - £7 more than the same journey on the Piccadilly line.
Passengers travelling between zone 2 and the airport will pay a Heathrow premium of £4.50 compared with the Tube.
Crossrail journeys everywhere else within zones 1-6 will cost the same as pay-as-you-go fares on the Tube.
The Heathrow to Paddington peak Crossrail fare of £10.20 is less than half the cost of the £27 standard fare on the 15-minute Heathrow Express shuttle, though the Crossrail journey will take about 10 minutes longer.
Peak fares apply between 630am-930am and 4pm-7pm. Crossrail services between Paddington and Heathrow will replace the Heathrow Connect trains, and be 10p or 20p cheaper, depending on the time of day.
Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “I’m delighted to announce that the cost of travelling on the Elizabeth Line in zones 1-6 will be the same price as a similar journey on the Tube – fulfilling a key manifesto pledge to deliver truly world-class transport infrastructure which is also accessible and affordable for all Londoners.”
Crossrail, to be renamed the Elizabeth line when in opens under central London in December, will add 10 per cent capacity to the transport network and offer a quicker alternative to the overcrowded Central line.
Transport for London hopes it will boost revenues by more than £200 million a year but admits some Tube passengers will switch to the new line, which will eventually link Reading with Sheffield and Abbey Wood via two new tunnels under central London. There have been 44 million fewer journeys on the Tube in 2017/18, reducing TfL income £89 million below expectations.
The opening of the £14.8 billion line will mean Oyster and contactless fares will be accepted on rail services to and from Heathrow for the first time.
As with the Tube, children under 11 will travel for free. Londoners aged 60 and older will also travel free.
Daily fare capping means that someone arriving at Heathrow and using Crossrail to reach central London will pay only 40p more for the rest of their Tube and bus travel that day, as the daily Oyster or contactless charge will be limited to £12.50.
Heathrow Connect will switch to Crossrail on May 20, bringing the slightly cheaper fares and Oyster and contactless ticketing at the same time.
Transport for London commissioner Mike Brown said: “When Elizabeth line services through central London open in December, they will transform travel across London. The railway will provide many new direct journey options between Canary Wharf, central London and Heathrow Airport, and will cut journey times dramatically and ensure London remains a world-leading city.”
Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of business group London First, said: “London’s businesses have worked hard to support, and help pay for, the Elizabeth line and we’re counting the days until it opens its doors.”
Pic:Spicegirl file photo
Entertainment reporter(wp/es): Mel C has claimed that fellow Spice Girl Mel B was "joking" about the band performing at the Royal wedding.
The pop star has claimed that she is yet to receive an
invite to Meghan Markle's wedding to Prince Harry in May, amid
speculation that the band would perform at the reception.
"I’ve met Prince Charles lots of times. I’m going to ask him
where my invite is because I haven’t got mine yet, obviously Mel B said
she has hers," she told the Sun.
“I think Mel was just kind of having a bit of a joke."
It was revealed last month that the 1990s pop group were getting back together for new projects, with a world tour of their greatest hits on the cards.
But now the plans are reportedly in jeopardy as fashion designer Beckham is struggling to make it work.
Mel C said: “Victoria has been quite vocal, it’s really not something she wants to do at this time.
“It’s very early stages, we’re not talking about new music or going out on the road together at this time.
“It was just getting together to reignite all the things that we have had together and to work with Simon [Fuller]”
A warrant for the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been upheld by a judge.
In a ruling today at Westminster Magistrates' Court the judge stated it is in the public interest to pursue him for failing to surrender.
It comes after Mr Assange's legal team argued that continuing to pursue him for violating bail conditions was not proportionate.
Handing down her judgement, Senior District Judge Emma Arbuthnot said: "I find arrest is a proportionate response even though Mr Assange has restricted his own freedom for a number of years.
"Defendants on bail up and down the country, and requested persons facing extradition, come to court to face the consequences of their own choices. He should have the courage to do the same.
“It is certainly not against the public interest to proceed."
She considered evidence on Mr Assange’s health and other evidence presented at a previous hearing last week.
Judge Arbuthnot said Mr Assange “wants justice only if it goes in his favour”.
She told the court: "The impression I have, and this may well be dispelled if and when Mr Assange finally appears in court, is that he is a man who wants to impose his terms on the course of justice, whether the course of justice is in this jurisdiction or in Sweden.
"He appears to consider himself above the normal rules of law and wants justice only if it goes in his favour.
"As long as the court process is going his way, he is willing to be bailed conditionally but as soon as the Supreme Court rules against him, he no longer wants to participate on the court's terms but on his terms."
Holed up inside London's Ecuadorian Embassy now for six years, Mr Assange refuses to leave because he believes he will be extradited to the United States for questioning over WikiLeaks.
Judge Arbuthnot went on: "I accept that Mr Assange had expressed fears of being returned to the United States from a very early stage in the Swedish extradition proceedings but, absent any evidence from Mr Assange on oath, I do not find that Mr Assange's fears were reasonable.
"I do not accept that Sweden would have rendered Mr Assange to the United States.
"If that happened there would have been a diplomatic crisis between the United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States which would have affected international relationships and extradition proceedings between the states."
Upon arguing the public interest in dropping the warrant last week, Mr Assange’s lawyer Mark Summers QC said Mr Assange had reasonable grounds or justification for failing to surrender.
He said the UN has ruled that his situation is “arbitrary, unreasonable, unnecessary, and disproportionate”
