LONDON INTELLIGENCE

NHS London GPs: Doctorpreneurs transfer NHS contracts to run 49 London GP surgeries to an American corporation

2021-04-19T23:19:00.001+01:00

By Paul ColemanDoctors Usman Quraishi, Muneeb Choudhry, Tarek Radwan, Hasnain Ali Abbasi, Fiyaz Lebbe, and Mohammad Aumran Tahir set up AT Medics in 2004. The six doctorpreneurs then bid for lucrative new primary health care contracts called Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS). Set up by the New Labour government, these contracts allow GPs and their companies to run

Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre: Loss of vital shops, stalls and community asset to be delayed by court challenge

2020-11-02T13:47:00.003+00:00

Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre (© London Intelligence ®)By Paul ColemanLocal resident campaigners can now mount another legal challenge against developer Delancey's plan to demolish and redevelop the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre.Court of Appeal judges have decided longstanding local resident Jerry Flynn, supported by local campaigners Up the Elephant, can appeal against an October

Reflections on the Coronavirus pandemic: London June 2020

2020-06-23T16:31:00.000+01:00

A cat displays social distancing typical of its species. By Paul Coleman Londoners knew little about Coronavirus at the start of 2020. So what do we know now after seven months of the pandemic and three months of lockdown? Firstly, there's the death toll across the United Kingdom, estimated at over 60,000 people. We do know for sure, from official sources based on

London householders threatened by the demolition of 35,000 council homes

2020-06-22T07:53:00.000+01:00

Thousands of Londoners face the loss of their homes, writes Paul Coleman. Developers and politicians plan to demolish some 35,000 council homes on 100 London housing estates. Research published by Estate Watch, a new website, shows the Coronavirus pandemic has not halted the destruction of London's publicly owned council homes. Local authorities - many Labour-controlled

The statue hidden in plain sight that revealed the City of London's cruel history

2020-06-10T08:44:00.000+01:00

Robert Milligan was a key figure in the development of the City of London as a global financial centre. Milligan exploited African people as slaves in the eighteenth century. Londoners walked past his statue for over 200 years. But no more. Protestors have forced the removal of Milligan's statue from a Canary Wharf quayside. The statue of slave owner Robert Milligan

Pandemic London: The Unheeded Scientific Warning of 2014

2020-05-27T12:03:00.002+01:00

By Paul Coleman London Intelligence, May 2020 Rewind six years to 2014. Duncan Selbie, the chief executive of Public Health England, warns the UK government: 'The prospect of a flu pandemic is one of the highest risks faced by the UK. 'We need to be confident that our planning and responses are sufficiently flexible to deal with every eventuality,' says Selbie. '

No fire safety sprinklers - two years after Grenfell and ten since Lakanal

2019-07-03T07:39:00.000+01:00

The Hazelwood Tower in north Kensington is just one of almost 2,000 council-owned and managed residential tower blocks in England and Wales with no fitted sprinkler systems. Sprinkler systems are fitted to only 112 - around five per cent - of 2,107 council-owned housing tower blocks in England and Wales. Hazelwood Tower overlooks the nearby Grenfell Tower where a fire on 14 June 2017

Still no charges brought two years after the Grenfell Tower fire

2019-06-18T18:00:00.000+01:00

© Grenfell United June 2019 Campaigners have projected the slogan, '2 years after Grenfell this building still hasn't kept its promises', onto the Houses of Parliament. Grenfell United - campaigning on behalf of survivors, bereaved and residents - carried out the protest. Nobody has yet been arrested for the fire on the Lancaster West council estate of 14 June 2017

UN poverty expert says UK austerity and welfare cuts violate human rights

2019-05-25T15:06:00.000+01:00

UN poverty expert Philip Alston speaks with a Clacton pastor (© United Nations) United Kingdom government policies have led to the systematic immiseration of millions across Great Britain, according to the United Nations (22 May 2019). Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, calls for a new vision that embodies compassion to

Enjoying a lute lunch with the guitarist Michael Butten

2018-10-05T12:58:00.000+01:00

© London Intelligence, October 2018 I feel privileged to have lunched today (Thursday, 4 October) with the Italian guitarist Luigi Legnani (1790-1877), the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and the British lutenist John Dowland (1553-1626). Their 21stCentury central London medium today is the award-winning British guitarist Michael Butten.

Is Crossrail delayed Crossrail denied ?

2018-09-12T10:04:00.002+01:00

By Paul Coleman It’s not a delay if you stop to sharpen the scythe. Delay beats error and always trumps never. However, such clichés don’t easily hitch to Crossrail, London’s much-vaunted east-west railway. Red-faces It’s autumn 2018 and Crossrail should now be all set for a full operation of new Elizabeth Line train services, scything through London's congested

Council Cuts & Thieving Bean Counters

2018-09-12T00:54:00.004+01:00

Council Cuts & Thieving Bean Counters, the latest update from Grenfell MediaWatch. © London Intelligence, September 2018.

"We will not let you forget" - Grenfell

2018-05-31T17:43:00.000+01:00

Bereaved nephew Karim Mussilhy (Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry) Karim Mussilhy sets the tone for the Grenfell Tower public inquiry with his powerful testimony, writes Paul Coleman. At one point, an inquiry barrister seems to try to caution Mussilhy’s forthcoming remarks. But Mussilhy refuses to be “censored”. His uncle - Hesham Rahman - was killed by the Grenfell fire of 14

Grenfell Tower Fire: Flammable cladding ban, 'stay put' and more

2018-05-30T09:33:00.000+01:00

"I want you to do right by our family," says Claudia Davies, bereaved ex-partner of Steve Power, one of the 72 people killed as a result of the Grenfell Tower fire. Davies directly addresses her remarks to the Grenfell Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick after she and Power's daughter Sherry gave powerful testimony at the inquiry's victim commemoration sessions. Toyin Agbetu of

War against cash in the land of meatballs and mooseburgers

2018-05-24T19:06:00.003+01:00

By Paul Coleman © London Intelligence, May 2018 ‘Money Money Money’ chorused Abba, one of Sweden’s most successful exports. The quartet’s 1976 hit replays in my jukebox brain - especially after visiting the Abba Museum. But a war against cash seems a dim and very distant prospect in the city of meatballs and mooseburgers. People in this tranquil place seem at peace.

True forgiveness: ugly 20th Century racism rehashed - Powell, Lawrence, deportation threat

2018-04-16T07:32:00.001+01:00

The broken glass of 20th Century race and class reveals its unforgiving sharpness once more in 2018. Firstly, a clumsy BBC - often confused over how to cover race and class issues - dunks its own head in a race mire by re-hashing and re-broadcasting Enoch Powell's notorious incendiary, racist and mistaken 'rivers of blood' speech from 1968. This is where Powell predicts black immigration will

Anti-smoking agency PHE tells own smoking staff to 'have more respect'

2018-04-13T15:17:00.000+01:00

© London Intelligence 2018 © London Intelligence 2018 Public Health England says its 'single aim is to motivate millions of people to make changes that will improve their health' – and that includes persuading people to quit smoking. However, PHE, an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care, might need to persuade more of its own staff to quit too.&

After Grenfell, a Blame Game: Grenfell Fire Update

2018-04-07T11:23:00.001+01:00

Grenfell fire victims and the tower © Paul Coleman, London Intelligence 2017 Central and local government struggle to mitigate the ongoing tragedy suffered by Grenfell fire survivors, writes Paul Coleman. Anger centres on the slow rehousing of households evacuated from their Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk homes. Of 209 evacuated households, 86 remain in emergency

Land Worth More Than Londoners: Reported sale of Brixton Market

2018-02-22T21:23:00.002+00:00

Report of sale of Brixton Village and famous market. http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2018/02/brixton-village-and-market-row-sold-to-private-group-of-companies-for-37m/ ©️ London Intelligence, February 2018.

Film Review: 'Concrete Soldiers UK'

2017-12-08T23:59:00.000+00:00

Silent march for Grenfell Tower fire victims and survivors 14 December © London Intelligence 2017 Londoners who live on council estates are ‘not worth the land they live on’, says Concrete Soldiers UK (dir. Nikita Woolfe, UK 2017), an independent documentary. Nikita Woolfe’s strident 62-minute film, condemning developer-led, council-backed ‘regeneration’ of London council estates,

Level Crossing Safety update 2017: Network Rail, Tina Hughes, Elsenham

2017-12-03T12:34:00.004+00:00

Safeguarding the legacy of Liv and Charlie By Paul Coleman * The mother of one of two girls killed by a train twelve years ago believes railway level crossings still pose a serious danger to members of the public. Tina Hughes is the mother of 14-year-old Olivia 'Liv' Bazlinton, who was killed with her friend Charlotte 'Charlie' Thompson, 13, at the Elsenham level crossing on Saturday

'Never demolish' : Frédéric Druot, Tour Bois-le-Prêtre and the Art of Refurbishment

2017-05-31T17:02:00.001+01:00