Westminster council spurns property developers in battle for office space December 16, 2014 Westminster council has dealt a blow to the city's property developers eager for a slice of the expensive central London borough. It's begun a consultation on planning policies which will require developers who want to covert offices into homes to replace the lost work space. The move aims to stop a recent trend which has [...]
Business minister Matthew Hancock’s fury over Airbnb crackdown by Westminster council November 20, 2014 Business minister Matthew Hancock accused Westminster council last night of “over-zealously” clamping down on holiday rental sites, after it emerged that the Tory authority has been tracking down Airbnb users in the borough and taking enforcement action against them. The discovery comes as the government prepares plans to sweep away the legislation that bans [...]
Londoners set to benefit most from parking ticket “grace period” March 6, 2015 Driving in London is often described as something akin to a nightmare – from traffic jams, to sky-high parking prices and pushy motorists. But there's finally a bit of good news for the capital's understandably frazzled drivers. Drivers will get a ten-minute window after a council parking ticket runs out before they can be fined [...]
Why can’t you get a good burger in London any more? April 7, 2014 There’s something very destructive and subversive currently sweeping its way through London – the death of the good burger. For any true connoisseur, there is nothing like biting into a nice, juicy beef burger, but it seems restaurants are now doing their utmost to stop this. Numerous eateries across London, including Bread Street Kitchen, Brasserie [...]
These London boroughs have made the most from parking charges: Westminster, Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea December 12, 2014 London boroughs netted an astonishing £293m from parking charges last year, according to new research by transport and research policy organisation the RAC Foundation. They contributed 44 per cent to the £667m of the overall total raked in by local councils across the UK. The total figure has surged 12 per cent from last year's [...]
London should turbo-charge devolution by creating a Thames City super-region January 28, 2015 Devolution is the flavour of the month, with plans to transfer powers from Westminster to Scotland sparking widespread debate about how else we can fix Britain’s over-centralised system of government. But London will have to take a very different approach to other regions. Yes, the capital desperately needs more fiscal autonomy, but it also needs [...]
General Election 2015: How MPs stepping down at this election could make millions on their second homes March 25, 2015 Exclusive: On 30 March when parliament is dissolved, as the majority of MPs will gear up to embark on the toughest part of their election campaigns, some will bid farewell to the Commons for the last time as they step down from public life. But among the 77 MPs leaving office, many will be left [...]
How Labour will transform politics – and public services – by devolving more powers to London September 22, 2014 ANYONE who campaigned in the Scottish referendum felt the strength of anger directed towards Westminster. And it’s not confined to Scotland. The same anger is felt in London, Manchester and across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. People feel Westminster and Whitehall are completely out of touch with their lives. This is no surprise. Britain is [...]
Obama drops hint to UK about launching airstrikes against IS September 23, 2014 PRESIDENT Obama yesterday gave the strongest indication yet that he wants the UK to commit to air strikes against Islamic State (IS) in Syria, warning the responsibility for military action is not “America’s fight alone”. It is the second time the US president has used the phrase, after both David Cameron and Ed Miliband backed [...]
Forget a penal mansion tax: It’s archaic council tax that needs desperate reform October 7, 2014 WHILE the party conference headlines have focused on Ed Miliband forgetting to mention the deficit, both the Labour leader and David Cameron were also guilty of only referring to “investment” twice in their conference addresses. When that happens, you know political minds are on next May’s general election, rather than on what is best for [...]