Weekend roundup for 5 June
Includes pantographs, embracing trees and vegan sausage rolls
š On Tuesday TfL secured an extraordinary funding deal (thatās not us being hyperbolic, thatās what itās called) of Ā£1.08bn to get them through to 11 December. By our calculations that works out to about Ā£5.6m a day. As well as the extra cash thereās some āfurther measuresā attached including āaccelerating existing efficiency and cost-cutting initiatives and identifying new sources of revenueā (in short: spend less, make more). Nobody seems really happy with the deal. Sadiq has called it ānot the deal we wantedā¦ yet another sticking plaster,ā and the RMT immediately said there could be āLondon-wide industrial actionā in response to what they called a ādisgraceful stitch up of a dealā.
š¤ The biggest sticking point is the demand that TfL push ahead with introducing driverless trains. Unfortunately, although that phrase is very handy for headline writers and radio phone-in show presenters, once you crack it open it becomes very knotty very quickly. Thankfully the excellent London Reconnections is on hand to dispel the Political Myth of the Driverless Train.
š Meanwhile Crossrail have made a couple of videos to let us know how things are getting on with them. Thereās a quarterly progress update from Chief Exec, Mark āThe Case Against Nominative Determinismā Wild; and a Tottenham Court Road update that looks like it was made by someone who has watched way too many Stanley Kubrick films:
š® Channel 4 has an interview with Parm Sandhu, the former Metropolitan Police officer who fled to London after a forced marriage and eventually became Scotland Yardās most senior ethnic minority woman. In the interview she claims that institutional racism in the Met is worse now than it was after the Macpherson inquiry.
š® Meanwhile Cressida Dick has called for a law to allow the Met to apply āpositive discriminationā when recruiting, i.e. āfavouring ethnic minorities who apply over equally qualified white candidatesā. The move is designed to hit the target of having 40 per cent minority ethnic groups in the force (theyāre at 18 per cent right now). All thatās happened so far is Tory MPs have accused the Commissioner of ādiscriminating against white peopleā.
š¤ Every year LBC hosts the State of London Debate at which the mayor fields questions on a range of topics from a range of Londoners. This year itās on Thursday 24 June and itās going to be a purely virtual affair, with James OāBrien compĆØring the festivities. Thereās more details on where to watch and how to get involved here.
š¦ The debate rages on: Is the Square Mile set to become a lifeless wasteland full of tumbleweeds, or a thriving hub full of flexi-workers gripping a Pret flat white in one hand while steering an e-scooter with the other? The Economist has just weighed in on the side of ālifeless wastelandā with an article headlined The Square Mile is a ghost town. It will stay that way. The article is behind a paywall, but we can tell you that they back up their case with stats from New Zealand (where 26% of financial-service employees are not visiting their offices at all) and the US (where they estimate those paid over $150,000 will be at home around half the time).
š³ Meanwhile Wired looks at how Londonās tech firms are handling the whole back-to-the-office conundrum, with solutions including Microsoftās āhybrid meeting spacesĀ which simulate face-to-face interactions,ā as well as āinflatable wallsā and ermā¦ āoffice bushesā.
š If you know what a āpantographā is and/or you live on the 358 bus route between Crystal Palace and Orpington then you might want to have a read about the new, futuristic-looking, electric bus trials which could soon be coming to South London. Ian Visits has all the details.
š² The Guardian reports on a new study which seems to show that, in the recent elections, parties that supported pro-walking and cycling schemes received more votes, while āparties that opposed them were more likely to shed votesā.
š± Following on from last weekās Primrose Hill debate, itās London Fieldās turn to look at tackling anti-social behaviour. Following complaints of āurination, drunkenness, littering, noise and drug takingā in the park, Hackney Council is inviting residents to respond to a consultation on a āborough-wide Public Space Protection Order,ā which would include āa ban on drinking alcohol in London Fields park.ā (And then, of course, this happened in Hyde Park on Tuesday evening.)
ā° The Guardian has picked up on the plight of West Norwood cemetery, which is in āa dire state of neglectā and has suffered some terrible vandalism after security guards were removed by the council to save money. Work is about to start on the cemetery thanks to a Ā£4.6m National Lottery grant and Ā£2.1m from Lambeth council and Friends of West Norwood Cemetery, but thereās a worry it might be too little, too late.
šļø ITV has taken a good look into the mess that is Croydon Council, asking if the property development company they set up and funded to the tune of Ā£200 million was the reason the council went bankrupt last year.
Arts and culture bits
š¼ļø This weekend is the inaugural London Gallery Weekend. Which means that a whole bunch of spaces in central, south and east London will be āopening their doors to art-starved visitors for late-night events, studio visits, childrenās activities and exhibitionsā. If you donāt fancy browsing through the whole list then contemporary art magazine Ocula has picked out some highlights (including Kapwani Kiwangaās āuncanny sisal fibre hanging sculpturesā.
āļø The other big cultural event this week is the London Design Biennale at Somerset House. If youāre not familiar with the LDB that may be because this is only the third one, or it may be because they insist on describing themselves as āpromoting the global role of design with exhibitions and installations thatĀ demonstrateĀ the ambitionĀ to create universal solutions to problems which concern us all.ā Which, ironically is an explanation that helps precisely no one. A better description might be: āCool stuff from around the world, which looks a lot like art, but might be more useful than artā. You may have already seen the slightly on-the-nose but very beautiful āForest for Changeā which has taken over the courtyard, but thereās a lot more to see including Franceās metronome (ready to āplunge spectators into a meditative internal journeyā apparently), Greeceās embracing olive trees, and Finlandās empathy echo chamber.
šæ The lineup for the Sundance Film Festival: London has been revealed. As we reported a few weeks ago, Edgar Wrightās The Sparks Brothers is opening the event on 29 July, and now we know that Zola, a film based on a 148-tweet Twitter thread from 2015, will close the festival on 1 August. Other highlights include Cryptozoo with Lake Bell and Michael Cera, and CODA which won big at the other Sundance.
š The RE:EMERGE season at the Harold Pinter theatre is a series of three plays, billed as ātackling urgent issues integral to rebuilding our society.ā The first in the series, Walden starring Gemma Arterton, has been receiving pretty middling reviews; but next up is Jāouvert (set during the Notting Hill Carnival and created by the inimitable Yasmin Joseph), and then comes Anna X, a tale of NYCās fashion world starring Emma āPrincess Diā Corrin. Tickets are on sale now.
š Did you know that The City of London has an āofficial ballooning eventā (obviously, the unofficial ballooning events are the really wild affairs, but theyāre very hard to get into unless you know the right people)? The Lord Mayorās Hot Air Balloon Regatta should take to the skies tomorrow morning (weather permitting), and itās worth setting your alarm to watch 50 or so balloons flying over central London at sunrise.
š» Monday was the 120th birthday of Wigmore Hall. To celebrate, the Guardian asked its artistic director to pick 12 of the hallās greatest moments (worth reading for the Bowie astronaut ballet alone). The New York Times also got in on the act, profiling the ābeloved London concert hallā alongside some great images.
š As we mentioned in a recent roundup, the Museum of the Home (formerly known as the Geffrye Museum) has had a revamp, and while the statue of Robert Geffrye (the merchant who āgrew rich on the destroyed lives of African slavesā) remains, elsewhere thereās been some dramatic changes. Architecture mag Dezeen has had a look around.
Food and drink bits
š Thereās a vending machine on the South Bank doling out free veganĀ sausage rolls today. Itās in aid of National Sausage Roll day, apparently. Donāt ever say we donāt bring you all the important news. Click the photo for all the details:
š From this weekend, Sundays will be Caribbean barbecue day at Croydon Boxpark as Big Mikeās Calypso Lime moves in to the terrace. There will be a steel pan band, pitchers of rum punch and āeverything you could ever possibly want on a skewerā. Plus, if you go along, you could end up winning a holiday for four to Barbados. At least, thatās what it says on the website, and who are we to question Big Mike?
š½ļø Michel Roux Jrās Le Gavroche restaurant has become the the latest business to reduce its opening hours thanks to staff shortages caused by Brexit. From June 14 the two Michelin-starred restaurant will only be opening for dinner as they cope with āstaffing problems partly due to new Brexit regulations as well as there now being a major lack of well-trained hospitality professionals.ā More details on their Instagram post:
š Another ramen contender is coming to Soho. Ramo Ramen has been serving up heavenly bowls of FilipinoĀ noodles in Kentish Town for three years, and now itās extending to Brewer Street (on the spot which used to be the Thai place, Wild Rice). London Eater has all the details on why this is more than just another ramen place (e.g. āOxtail collapses into creamy peanut broth in a bowl inspired by kare kare, the Filipino stewā).
šÆ Tom Kerridgeās new ārevolutionary fast foodā restaurant Bad Vegan has an opening date. From 24 June the spot in Camdenās Buck Street Market will be serving a largely plant-based menu (crunchy potato wrapped in tortilla, cauliflower florets covered in chilli sauce, vegan milkshakes etc), but there will be a carnivoreās selection too including beef brisket and smoked bacon fries.
š· The granddaddy of Londonās natural wine bars, Terroirs, has permanently closed. In the Instagram post below they say āwe have taken the tough decision to close the doors at Terroirs Central, for good.ā Thereās no reason given, although weād assume itās the obvious. The good news is that the East Dulwich outpost will remain.
Long read of the week
Vice Magazine looks at east Londonās history as a āQueer Meccaā and asks āWhat happened?ā
