The Mirror Crack'd

Rishi Sunak is ordering a government review into LTNs, the contoversial low traffic neighbourhoods schemes that have been introduced by local councils in many towns and cities throughout the UK in an attempt to curb motor traffic in residential areas. Sunak has obviously been emboldened by how well the Labour Mayor of London's extension of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to include all of Greater London played out for the Conservatives in the recent by-election in Boris Johnson's old parliamentary seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Labour was tipped to win but lost to the Tories by 495 votes due, in large part, to the unpopularity of the scheme in this outer-London borough, where car and van ownership is high and public transport infrastructure woefully inadequate. The Labour leadership, understandably shocked and upset by this near-miss in so uniquely high-profile and winnable a seat, has turned its ire on its own Mayor, Sadiq Khan, blaming his policy for the loss. Quick t

Writing in Time Out today India Lawrence fulminates against intrusive TikTok use on London's public transport network. Good for her. Just last week I found myself in a nightmarish scenario on a virtually empty Overground train. The initial calm was rudely shattered by a man playing videos loudly on his smartphone without earphones. This was promptly added to by a middle-aged woman (certainly old enough to know better) proceeding to do the same, but even louder. The man was Asian and the woman white so there was clearly another agenda at play.  Her action was a classic demonstration of passive-aggressive behaviour with racist or xenophobic undertones. When another passenger (braver than me) remonstrated with the woman her excuse was that she was trying to drown out the other man. The complainer pointed out that she, or her male companion, might do better to speak to the perpetrator rather than adding to his racket and disturbing the entire train (with the new Overground walk-throu

Yesterday's by-election result in Boris Johnson's former parliamentary seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip should give Labour pause for thought.  Their candidate, Danny Beale, just missed victory by 495 votes. Although this is quite impressive considering Boris Johnson held the seat for the Conservatives with a 7,210  majority, given the unpopularity of the Tory government and the disappointment of the local electorate with Johnson as their absentee MP,  Beale had a realistic hope of defeating Tory candidate, Steve Tuckwell, and taking the seat for Labour, if only narrowly. So what went wrong? The issue that swung it was undoubtedly the unpopularity of Labour London Mayor, Sadiq Khan's controversial plan to extend the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) scheme from central areas of the capital throughout all of Greater London. The irony of this is that ULEZ was originally introduced by none other than former Conservative London Mayor, one Boris Johnson. The irony was, however, en