Latest news with #LondonCentric
Time Out
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
A campaign has been launched to defend music festivals in Brockwell Park
The battle for the future of Brockwell Park is raging on. At the end of April a local group launched a legal battle against Lambeth Council urging a review of the festivals being held in the south London park, which include Wide Awake, Mighty Hoopla, Field Day and City Splash. The group, Protect Brockwell Park (PBP), which includes actor Mark Rylance, was complaining about several impacts of the festivals on the space, including walls being erected in the park, noise and environmental damage. But later a counter campaign appeared on social media, called SayYesLambeth. This group claimed to be a grassroots organisation fighting to keep festivals in Brockwell Park. 'Fighting for culture, joy and community in Lambeth. Say YES to homes. YES to nightlife. YES to events in our parks,' read their Instagram bio. However, some locals claimed this group was a fake, created by the local council or the festival organisers to make PBP look bad. London Centric investigated, and reported that the SayYesLambeth campaign was created by 'five gays with a laptop' – a group of friends who belong to a queer rugby team in south London. London Centric's Jim Waterson spoke with David, a member of the group who lives in Brixton. David asked Waterson not to publish his last name due to his work in the civil service. ' London Centric has yet to find anything to suggest SayYesLambeth is run by anyone other than an informal group of rugby-playing friends,' said the report. View this post on Instagram A post shared by SayYesLambeth (@sayyeslambeth) In an open letter posted on the SayYesLambeth Instagram, the group wrote: 'For too long, a small but powerful group has dominated the debate about Lambeth's future – shouting down new homes, opposing events in our parks, and trying to silence our vibrant night-time economy. Their voices are loud, organised, and well-funded. But they do not speak for all of us. 'We, the young people, the renters, the workers, the small business owners, the creatives – we are the majority. And now it's time to make ourselves heard. 'Lambeth's night-time economy isn't just about entertainment – it's about life, jobs, and opportunity. From music venues to clubs, from bars to late-night cafés, these spaces are vital for our communities. They provide work, they foster creativity, and they offer safe spaces for people from all walks of life. Without them, Lambeth risks becoming sterile, unaffordable, and soulless. 'We also need to protect events in our parks. Mighty Hoopla, Wide Awake, Lambeth Country Show and other festivals bring life, joy, and connection to Lambeth. They showcase our diversity, support local businesses, and give thousands of people access to music, culture, and community right on their doorstep. Parks are for everyone – and events are part of that shared, joyful use.' SayYesLambeth also created a petition to save the festivals, which had 512 signatures at the time of writing. Highlighting the festivals' positive impact on local businesses, Brockwell Live said in a statement: 'Brockwell Live delivers a series of free and ticketed events in Brockwell Park with more than half of attendees coming from across Greater London. 'Celebrating the city's diverse music and culture, events include the capital's largest Caribbean and African music festival, a nationally significant queer pop festival and a critically acclaimed celebration of jazz, funk and soul. 'Since 2023, we have co-produced the Lambeth Country Show, a free event run by Lambeth Council for 50 years, helping Lambeth save over £700,000 in 2024. 'Brockwell Live proudly supports many local organisations through the Brockwell Live Community Fund and has donated over £150,000 to date. 'We take our stewardship of Brockwell Park seriously. We welcome scrutiny and maintain open channels for dialogue with residents, councillors, and community groups at all times.' The forthcoming legal challenge could see Brockwell Park's festivals cancelled, and potentially change the face of day festivals in the capital forever. The hearing will take place on Wednesday, May 14.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Yahoo
How nationwide red paint attacks signal a Chinese gang feud in Britain
When Dominic Payne de Cramilly opened a guest house in Colchester 17 years ago he never expected that it would be at the centre of a nationwide crime mystery. In January, the 2-star hotel was defaced in what initially seemed to be an isolated act of vandalism. But it's now being linked to an ominous cluster of similar incidents whose origins may lie in the Far East. Police in at least five forces in the UK have been investigating what's become known as the 'red paint attacks', in which the exterior of houses, shops and other businesses have been defaced, often with the word 'brothel' sprawled across them. There's no sign of an imminent breakthrough, leaving victims unnerved and, frankly, baffled. But officers now believe the attacks could well be the work of rival Chinese crime gangs. For Payne de Cramilly, it all started with texts from local residents saying that his hotel, the Railway Sleeper Lodge, half-a-mile from Colchester train station, had been damaged by paint. The 59-year-old, who was at home at the time, jumped in his van and raced to the property. The white, pebbledash walls to the front and side were covered in red and black blotches. A garden wall, the house next door and a car were also spattered with paint, and down the side of the building the word 'brothel' had been scrawled, along with a series of numbers. 'I've been running this place since 2008 and I've never had anything remotely similar,' says Payne de Cramilly, who rents out other houses and flats in the area. 'The worst I ever had was a pot plant smashed off the wall, probably by someone who was drunk.' His first theory was that the vandals had targeted someone who'd stayed in one of the hotel's self check-in rooms. 'I thought to myself it's either a jilted partner of somebody who's been using my place to hook up with someone… or unbeknown to us, someone's been using it as a place to meet clients.' Now, however, the Essex landlord believes, as a growing number of experts do, that it's likely to have been part of an organised and, possibly, co-ordinated plot by a crime network to warn, scare off or intimidate adversaries. Over the past two years, red, and occasionally black, paint has been thrown at three buildings in Liverpool; a cafe, charity shop and two houses in the Reading area; a Thai massage parlour in Huddersfield; two apartment blocks in Bradford and a family home in Clacton-on-Sea. Source: London Centric There have been attacks across London, too, including eight in the borough of Waltham Forest. Walthamstow, an increasingly gentrified and trendy area, might be regarded as an unlikely target but has been hit several times. The local MP, Stella Creasy (Labour and Co-operative), has described the incidents as 'deeply troubling'. She wrote to the Home Office last month to express her concern and demand an investigation. Many of the properties affected have been daubed with the word 'brothel', just as in Colchester – but it's the use of red paint that has provided the biggest clue as to who the perpetrators may be. 'It's a known mark of Chinese gangs,' says former Metropolitan Police detective David McKelvey, who now runs a private investigation agency, TM Eye. 'What they historically have done is paint opponents' premises red.' McKelvey says the attacks will escalate only if the groups involved can't reach a deal to settle their differences. 'These are quite clever, organised gangs, they typically sit down and negotiate and work their way through it. It's in no one's interests to get involved in outright gang warfare,' he adds. Oliver Chan, an associate professor in criminology at the University of Birmingham, says red paint is often used by gangs in southern parts of China and Hong Kong, as well as in neighbouring countries with large Chinese communities, such as Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. 'Traditionally the use of red colour symbolises anger and impulsion,' Chan says. 'It can serve two primary purposes – to intimidate rival gangs who seem to operate in their territory or turf… and to threaten debtors who are unable to pay up.' In one of the incidents, CCTV footage obtained by the London Centric newsletter appeared to show the vandals speaking Mandarin with accents from mainland China. 'If this is related to a turf war between two Chinese gangs, it usually begins with intimidation, followed up by negotiation between the higher-ups of both gangs, and if that doesn't go well, a fight can follow,' says Chan. There's certainly nothing unusual about rivalry between Far Eastern crime groups – and it's been a feature of the underworld in the UK for over a century. In his seminal book, Gangland Britain, crime journalist Tony Thompson said the oldest, and most feared, Chinese gang, the Triads, had tentacles in almost every type of criminal activity, including prostitution, extortion, fraud, money laundering, drugs and illegal immigration (a Chinese gang sometimes linked to the Triads was behind the deaths in June 2000 of 58 people smuggled into Dover in a container lorry) . According to Thompson, the Triad crime syndicate, most of whose members came from Hong Kong, is made up of a number of smaller gangs. In Britain, in the 1980s and 90s, conflicts between them were commonplace. In one horrifying incident, three Vietnamese gangsters, who'd originally operated as Triad enforcers, kidnapped two Chinese businessmen, held them captive at a house in south London and threatened them with mutilation and death unless a ransom was paid. In another case, two men thought to be members of the 'most vicious and bloodthirsty' of Triad gangs, the Tai Heun Chai, also known as the Big Circle Gang, were murdered in east London. And in 2010, Manchester's Chinatown was the scene of a full-scale street battle between enemy gangs which left five men in hospital with serious stab wounds. Two years later, a Chinese man was shot dead at a bar in Gerard Street, in London's Chinatown, in an incident believed to have been linked to gang warfare. It's rare for there to be such violence these days, says Thompson, who now works for the fact-checking site, Full Fact. 'Triads are very good at keeping a low profile. They usually target a very specific community, who are terrified of them.' That's why he's puzzled by the red paint attacks. 'It could be a new gang feeding off those old concerns – some kind of copycat gang using the message from the old days,' he says. Source: London Centric Most of the police investigations seem to be making little progress. The West Yorkshire force said the attacks in Bradford and Huddersfield had been 'closed' because no suspect could be identified. 'There is nothing to suggest they are linked or related to OCGs (organised crime groups),' said a spokesman. Merseyside Police said the red paint incidents in Liverpool were 'isolated' and there were no lines of inquiry to help identify the perpetrators. Thames Valley Police also said there'd been no arrests. Scotland Yard, however, said it was 'working on the assumption' of a link between the various incidents across the country and was putting a team in place to oversee the investigations in London, which are currently being conducted locally. It's understood one line of the Met's inquiry is that the cases are related to Chinese organised crime but detectives are keeping an open mind. Like elsewhere, no one has been arrested. McKelvey isn't surprised. 'The Met used to have a squad that was set up purely for Chinese-based crime, but it was disbanded many moons ago and along with it went all the intelligence – there's nothing in place,' says the retired detective chief inspector. And as resources have become stretched, police have prioritised more serious types of offending. 'Most Chinese-based crime sits below the radar,' he says. 'They're not selling Class A drugs, there's not been much violence, they don't run around with guns, it's economic-based – it's tobacco smuggling, human trafficking, cannabis factories and more recently they've moved into Fentanyl [a synthetic opioid]. It's bumbled along without too much focus,' says McKelvey. Back in Colchester, Dominic Payne de Camilly is joining the dots. Six days before the Railway Sleeper Lodge was smothered in paint, he got a phone call from a stranger. 'He was speaking with a Chinese accent, saying there was 'illegal activity' in my property – it was very vague and he was tying himself in knots.' At the time the hotelier thought it was a crank call. Now, he believes it may be connected to the attack, and specifically, the graffiti which spelt out the word 'brothel'. Could it have been a warning that his £60 per night guest house was being used by prostitutes working for a Chinese organised crime gang? Payne de Camilly says he's not aware it was. He says he provided Essex Police with CCTV of two hooded suspects and details of the phone call, but so far there've been no arrests. Payne de Camilly lost bookings after guests turned up at the paint-stained hotel and decided to go elsewhere. Now, since the £3,000 damage has been cleared up, it's business as usual – but the attack has left its mark in other ways. In Colchester, and around the country, there are fears of repeat attacks and mounting concerns that whatever is driving the spate of vandalism doesn't escalate into something even more sinister yet. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The woke Overground names Sadiq Khan rejected
A lesbian bookshop that shut down in the 1990s and an obscure sub-genre of reggae were among the list of names for London Overground lines rejected by Sir Sadiq Khan. Under last year's rebrand of the Overground, the mayor also rejected a plan to name one of its six new lines after a Second World War hero who saved the lives of hundreds of Jewish refugee children. Each of the Overground's six lines was given a diversity-themed name last year by Sir Sadiq, prompting derision from Londoners who are paying an estimated £6.3 million for the production of new signs and logos. The list, which was published by the London Centric news website, had been compiled by design agency DNCO, which said that it had been 'asked to lead a citywide co-creation naming project by Transport for London '. 'Now each of the six routes will have its own name and identity, celebrating London's diversity in the public realm, a pledge from Mayor Sadiq Khan,' the agency said on its website. However, critics branded the February 2024 move 'virtue signalling', 'patronising' and a 'pointless gimmick'. Among the full list of names that Sir Sadiq was asked to pick from was that of Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved 669 Jewish children from Nazi Germany's rampage across Europe in 1939. Another suggestion put forward was Sisterwrite, an Islington bookshop known for its lesbian literary section and which closed down in 1993, as well as Lovers Rock, a reggae sub-genre that was exemplified by Janet Kay's 1979 hit single Silly Games. Other rejected names in the list that Sir Sadiq picked the new Overground names from include 19th century footballer Jack Cother, who played for Watford FC in 1897. He is thought to be the UK's first Asian footballer. Also in the list of potential new Overground line names was the so-called Battle of Cable Street, a violent clash between far-Right and far-Left protesters in the East End in 1936. It led directly to the outlawing of political uniforms in Britain, denying the British Union of Fascists' infamous Blackshirts the ability to wear Nazi-inspired regalia. TfL said that names of individuals were automatically rejected in favour of highlighting groups of people, London Centric reported. The Telegraph previously reported on demands for an Overground branch to be named to honour the Irish 'navvies' who dug the capital's canals (known in the 19th Century as 'navigations', a name that survives today on the Lee Navigation in north London) and built large portions of Britain's railways, having emigrated to the mainland following the Irish potato famine of the 1840s. Keith Prince AM, the City Hall Conservatives' transport spokesman, said: 'Improving the representation of communities in London may be well-intentioned, but this £6 million splurge does nothing to improve the service on the Overground, or the wider TfL network, and indeed takes away from the money available to support vital community policing and housing needs.
The Independent
07-03-2025
- The Independent
‘They're putting 4G on the Moon but I can't even get signal in Putney'
News this week that 4G connectivity is being brought to the Moon may be considered a giant technological leap for mankind, but for residents of one estate in west London, it represents yet another frustration in a long-running battle to get network coverage. 'There is an irony that you can get signal on the Moon but none in some parts of London,' says Fleur Anderson, the MP for Putney who has been campaigning for more phone masts to be erected in the area. She added that the lack of signal had impacted constituents during the pandemic and even affected people's abilities to apply for jobs. One of her constituents, David Henderson, knows the area's network coverage issues only too well. He's lived on the Ashburton Estate for 20 years and says the area has always been a 'dead zone' for phone reception, but as mobile phones have taken over from landlines as the primary mode of communication, it's become a much bigger problem. 'All my friends try to call me by mobile phone and they just can't get through at all,' the 61-year-old tells The Independent. 'I do tell them to phone the home number, people still forget and it just goes straight through the voicemail.' It's not just contacting friends and family that's an issue, Mr Henderson adds. Basic services, such as accessing a bank account from a phone, often require signal too. 'Two-factor verification is very well used these days, which needs a text message to be sent from the bank,' he says. 'Text messages just don't come through. It could take 10 minutes, it could take 20 minutes, it could be the next day. 'Delivery companies want a mobile number to contact you and they can't get through if there's an issue with deliveries. 'Getting an emergency number can be difficult as well because there's no signal.' Putney isn't the only area in London – let alone the rest of the UK – suffering from signal issues. An investigation from the London Centric found it was far more difficult to build new phone masts in the city than anywhere else in the country. A 2023 report from Ofcom meanwhile found that seven per cent of the country does not have any 4G coverage, while a separate study conducted by the research firm Opensignal found that UK mobile users had the worst average 5G download speeds of all G7 countries. The journey to full signal coverage across the country has been long and slow, with numerous pledges made over the years. Boris Johnson pledged in 2019 to make poor mobile phone signals a 'thing of the past' with a fast-tracked £1bn investment to eradicate not-spots in rural areas. The 'Shared Rural network' plan involved erecting new masts and existing infrastructure shared between the four mobile phone providers: O2, Three, Vodafone and EE. However, last month it emerged that the government was scaling back the number of new mobile phone masts to be built as part of the plan from 260 to just 60. For Mr Henderson, however, there is some positive news on the horizon. His revealed that Vodafone had 'stepped up' to put phone masts on rooftops in the area following consultations with a number of telecom companies. 'It's good to find out they're planning on putting a mast up now,' he said. 'It's just a matter of when.'
