Going down to New Maldon to meet Siobhan Benita a few days ago was an interesting experience. I don’t go out that way very often so was keen to look round. Get this. When I was crossing the main road the cars slowed down and stopped to let me, a […]
‘Harry Redknapp believed he was the subject of innuendo and continued investigation into his financial affairs because he spoke with a cockney accent and was called “Harry”, Southwark crown court has been told.’ Harry Redknapp is often portrayed by the national press as a ‘wide boy’, a ‘wheeler and dealer’, […]
On Thursday the first meaningful salvo of the 2012 Assembly elections took place as the parties put forward their proposals for the Mayor’s budget. The Conservatives had already announced that they were proposing a tax cut (£3.10/year) and there were no significant surprises there. What the budget showed is that […]
Over the last couple of days we’ve had a wide range of responses to the video of the new Walker House CCTV camera that barks orders at you in an American accent. Many have been aghast and I’ve read the words “dystopian” and “1984” more times over the weekend than […]
Just getting home from a photo-taking expedition in the snow and my neighbour points the camera out to me. Now, the flash camera has been there for a while, we’ve complained about it before and we’ve been told the objective is to move people on. Seeing as this is our […]
It was only last week that Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson was telling fellow Tory Andrew Boff AM that whilst he was in charge of a “thrifty regime” he wasn’t going to be able to see his way to “cutting the precept” (the portion of our council tax that goes to […]
Having attended last night’s excellent Bikes Alive event at King’s Cross we put this video together putting some of the case for tackling road safety in London. This is a contribution to our #LondonManifesto where we hope to get ideas from across a range of Londoners on how to make […]
Big Smoke was lucky to catch the fantastic comedian and feminist Kate Smurthwaite earlier. We battled the rain and traffic noise to speak to her about Nadine Dorries’ ill fated ‘Sex Education Bill’. This is what she had to say;
In the last of this week’s series on the political landscape for the London Assembly elections we come to the difficulties the Greens will have to overcome to do well in May. Feel free to read the equivalent pieces on the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats. The Green Party: […]
Over the next few months, as you’d expect, Big Smoke will be taking an in-depth look at the candidates, their parties and what they offer Londoners. We thought it would be useful to begin by looking at the weak points of the four parties currently elected to the Assembly. A […]
Never noticed this before. As strolling past Trafalgar Square I saw the statue of Charles the first....
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