Latest news with #TransportforLondon
BBC News
10 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
London Underground drug use falls for first time in three years
The number of incidents of drug use on London Underground has fallen for the first time in three years, figures British Transport Police (BTP) recorded 470 incidents in 2024-25, down from 589 the previous year. The data, released by Transport for London (TfL) in response to a Freedom of Information request, recorded 63 instances of white powder or substance in its drug log and 56 reports of said it was "committed to reducing crime across our network" and was working with its policing partners to keep customers and colleagues safe as they travel and work. Hammersmith station had the most incidents recorded, at seven, followed by Oxford Circus, with number of drug use incidents recorded in 2020-21 was 526. In 2021-22, there were 390 drug use incidents, rising to 506 in added: "We have a large team of police officers and police community support officers as well as our own enforcement staff patrolling the network at all times to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour, alongside operations to target offenders and hotspot locations."The BTP said while the statistics were pleasing there was more work to be done, adding it "routinely conducted operations at transport hubs and hotspots, guided by intelligence, to disrupt county lines, seize drugs, and arrest offenders who make a living exploiting the vulnerable".
South Wales Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- South Wales Guardian
Fare evasion costs Transport for London £130m a year
Transport for London (TfL) said 3.5% of passengers across its network evade fares, costing it £130 million annually. The figure has fallen from 3.8% in the 2023/24 financial year. In April, TfL announced new measures aimed at slashing the figure to 1.5% by the end of the decade. These include targeting the most prolific fare evaders and using advanced technology. Sadiq Khan is driving a proud city into the ground. Lawbreaking is out of control. He's not acting. So, I did.👇 — Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) May 29, 2025 Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick posted a video on social media on Thursday in which he confronted people who forced their way through the ticket barriers at Stratford station in east London. He asked one person 'do you think it's all right not to pay' and challenged another to 'go back through the barrier and pay'. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live on Thursday, Mr Jenrick said staff 'weren't doing anything' to tackle evasion when he was at Stratford to film the video. 'They weren't either trained or didn't have the self-confidence to take action, and I think that's the issue sometimes,' he said. London Underground and Overground services operate from Stratford, as well as mainline rail services, the Elizabeth line and the DLR. Interventions with fare dodgers are involved in around half of reported incidents of violence and aggression towards frontline staff, according to TfL. Trade union the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) appeared to accuse Mr Jenrick of 'trying to score points' with the clip. It said in a statement: 'This incident was not only inappropriate but also potentially dangerous for passengers, staff and the individual involved. 'Fare evasion is a serious issue, but it must be tackled with professional, trained enforcement, not MPs trying to score points or social media clout on their daily commute.' Siwan Hayward, TfL's director of security, policing and enforcement, said the 'overwhelming majority' of passengers pay the correct fare, but there is 'a minority who do attempt to travel without a valid ticket, which is a criminal offence'. She went on: 'Fare evasion is unacceptable. That is why we are strengthening our capability to deter and detect fare evaders, including expanding our team of professional investigators to target the most prolific fare evaders across the network. 'This builds on the work of our team of more than 500 uniformed officers already deployed across the network to deal with fare evasion and other anti-social behaviour, keeping staff and customers safe. 'Fare evasion is not a victimless crime. It robs Londoners of vital investment in a safe, frequent and reliable transport network and we are committed to reducing the current rate of fare evasion to 1.5% by 2030.'
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
TfL blocks ads calling on people to lobby MPs to decriminalise abortion
Transport for London has blocked adverts that urge people to lobby their MPs to vote to decriminalise abortion from running on its network because it claims they could bring the police and City Hall into disrepute. Parliament is expected to vote on whether to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in the coming weeks, with amendments tabled to the criminal justice bill seeking to change the law. The adverts from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas) charity, which have been approved by the Advertising Standards Authority, have appeared on display boards across England and Wales. They feature anonymised case studies of women who have been investigated by police, and in some cases prosecuted, after terminations or pregnancy loss. 'The language is not inflammatory, derogatory or hateful,' Bpas said in a letter to TfL, seen by the Guardian. 'It is an accurate representation of real women's experiences. It is intentionally simple, to the point, with a clear democratic call to action.' In 2024, campaign material from Dignity in Dying was displayed on the TfL network, including in Westminster tube station. In the same year, it allowed pro-choice campaign material on buses across London, sponsored by Doctors for Choice and Abortion Talk, which featured the slogan 'abortion is healthcare, not a crime'. At the time, a TfL spokesperson said: 'We reviewed this advertising campaign against both our advertising policy and the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) code, and it was found to be compliant.' Bpas said it had requested 'an immediate in-depth explanation of the decision to reject our material' from the transport body. In a response from TfL, also seen by the Guardian, Chris Reader, the organisation's head of commercial media, told the charity: 'The reason for the rejection is that the proposed advertisement makes serious allegations about the police. 'The Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (Mopac) is a member of the GLA group and one of its functions is to hold the Metropolitan police service (MPS) commissioner to account for the police service in London.' He added that 'because Mopac's functions in respect of the MPS are to some extent regulatory', the 'nature of the copy could bring Mopac into disrepute, given its responsibilities in relation to the MPS'. Bpas's chief executive, Heidi Stewart, said the charity intended to appeal against the decision by the transport body. 'At a pivotal moment for abortion law reform in this country, TfL regulations have silenced the voices of women who have been left utterly traumatised by our archaic legislation and by those enforcing it,' Stewart said. 'This cannot be allowed to happen again. Women deserve to have their stories told – and the public has a right to hear them. We will be challenging this decision at the highest levels.' Tonia Antoniazzi, one of the Labour MPs putting forward an amendment aiming to change the law, said she was 'stunned' by the decision to ban the adverts from the network, adding it was an attempt to 'silence desperate women's voices and dodge accountability'. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion She added: 'In the last month, we've heard how police forced through the prosecution of a woman for abortion offences, have issued guidance telling police to search the homes of women who've had stillbirths, and that decisions about enforcement on abortion are made at the highest levels of the Met. 'It's not hard to see why they wouldn't want the public to know. It's not these women's stories that bring the police into disrepute – it's their own actions.' Antoniazzi's amendment, which would remove women from the criminal law related to abortion in England and Wales, is backed by charities, trade unions, and medical colleges, including the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists as well as Bpas. 'The police cannot be trusted with abortion law – nor can the CPS or the wider criminal justice system,' she said. 'My amendment NC1 to the crime and policing bill will give us the urgent change we need to protect women.' A separate amendment, put forward by another Labour backbencher, Stella Creasy, seeks to decriminalise abortion, as well as write into law a human right to access abortion. A TfL spokesperson said: 'The proposed advertisement did not comply with TfL advertising policy because it made negative references about the police.'
The Sun
4 days ago
- General
- The Sun
Robert Jenrick says he chose to ‘get his hands dirty' and collar fare-dodgers after watching so many get away with it
ROBERT Jenrick collared fare-dodgers after watching so many get away with it, he says. The Shadow Justice Secretary tackled cheats at an East London Tube station, telling The Sun: 'Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty.' 2 Mr Jenrick said he saw 'dozens of freeloaders' slip through at Stratford in an hour. He is told to 'f*** off' as he pursues them in footage seen more than 12 million times. He blasts station staff for failing to intervene, and asks: 'What is the point of them if they don't bother doing their job? 'It shouldn't be left to the public to enforce the law.' In one case, he says to a basketball-hat wearing yob: 'You what?You're carrying a knife?' Mr Jenrick, MP for Newark, Notts, was criticised by some critics for not getting Transport for London permission to film in the station. He lost out to Kemi Badenoch in last year's Tory leadership race but is tipped to succeed her should she be forced out. He is understood to be planning more videos. I'll take Nigel Farage DOWN, blasts Robert Jenrick - he's about to get the oxygen sucked out of him 2
Powys County Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Powys County Times
Fact check: Video has been online for months before Robert Jenrick ‘expose'
A widely shared social media post claimed Transport for London (TfL) is 'suddenly enforcing the barriers after @RobertJenrick's expose'. It was posted alongside a video showing a man and police by a set of ticket barriers. Evaluation The video in question has been online for several months so is unrelated to a widely shared video which was released by Conservative MP Robert Jenrick earlier this week. The facts The video with the caption claiming it was linked to Mr Jenrick's expose was posted on May 30. The mention of an expose is most likely a reference to a video released by Mr Jenrick on May 29 in which he confronts alleged fare evaders on the London transport system. However the video which supposedly shows a reaction to Mr Jenrick's 'expose' has been online for some time before the MP released his video. A reverse image search shows that it was uploaded by one social media user on December 19 2024, and could be even older than that. Links
