London
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Competitiveness in journalism
It’s a pub in Whitehall, on Parliament Street, actually. It sits on a corner and is usually busy. A summer a while ago, two people met to discuss things.
The convener of the meeting had been making a request. A snippet of the exchange goes something like this:
“Competitors?”
“Yes, competitors. I need you to make them look tired, worried, and anxious. Can you do it?”
“Yes, I can do it”.
It’s not often spies meet together in such a clandestine way, but it’s not unusual for journalists to try it.
Indeed, one of them was in fact a French journalist, but the other involved in a different line of work.
Her intended targets were “people of significance”, and she got the confirmation she wanted. Her contact said he’d try his best.
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Onsite: Shaftesbury Avenue at night
In walking in London at night, the usual places are lit up, but there are others much more so. It soon becomes apparent there’s a lot to do, and along Shaftesbury Avenue it has a lot to do with enjoying a night out on the town, but also as an extension of China Town just behind, finding a bit more to enjoy that’s culturally relatable.
The accessibility of Chinese culture, predominantly, is clear as it is among the food halls and takeaway shops that line most high streets today. It’s a much stronger feeling, though, because it’s a conurbation of traditional and contemporary served up by people who know how. There’s not an amateur in sight because of its insistence on authenticity for the average patron.
The atmosphere is the same as any other busy street, but it’s busier here because of its location and due to attractions such as theatres, cinemas, and pubs, all in spitting distance. The traffic is heavy, but there’s ample opportunity to disappear into a further street, leading off into other worlds entirely.
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Pervert spotted
A pervert was captured in London this morning as part of ongoing surveillance of the city.
It’s important due to the distress caused. He’s been suspected for years and is thought to be active in the local and wider area.
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Exclusive: Activist located
A high-profile activist who is part of a group called “Looking For Trouble” has been spotted in Scotland.
The suspect has previously been accused of seeking to wiretap politicians and steal MP’s phones to collect data.
The timeframes of such allegations and attempts cannot be made clearer right now. This is because they’re also closely monitored by security experts.
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Soho living
A walk through Soho is an interesting experience. It exceeds its name for the diverse array of adult shops and nightlife that is able to be experienced here. It has and is a brand in itself.
‘Jack Solomons’ 
Inside ‘Jack Solomons’ The locals in London know it for all of the above and also a place to meet to eat and drink. There’s a Starbucks as well as individual cafe’s and restaurants that sell their own signature dishes.
‘El Camion’ 
Inside ‘El Camion’ It’s up to you to choose what you want but most visitors are enamoured by the adult store fronts and the openly free and ‘liberating’ atmosphere that meets most serious visitors.
It’s a great corner of London for a bit of something different.
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Onsite: Winston Churchill statue, London (UK)
The statue stands on a corner that is frequently busy with tourists and traffic.
It’s a tall structure and the large figure of Churchill rears up and stands resolute above those looking underneath. It has a stone base that is a block of strength or support for the entire construct.
Picture #1 
Picture #2 
Picture #3 
Picture #4 It’s a nice statue that evokes the strength and resilience of both military and political might. The Second World War was fought with hard graft and the grittiness of its appearance is a genuine appeal that sits well in the minds of those who understand this. The times of war and espionage are not easy to deal with or considered ‘light’ work at all.
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Royal palaces on show
The luscious architecture of English royal houses is on display for all to see.
A visit to Kensington Palace, for example, is a display of this fine elegance on show.
A birthplace of Queen Victoria, and home to modern royals, it also sports exhibitions, eating places, and grounds to explore.
A Side View 
A Small Portico This isn’t its only lustre, however.
It’s also a place to meet, and it continues to be a prime spot in London to get together.
I can imagine the conversations that people have in The Orangery, or on a tour of its lawns or fountains.
London is a great place to sit outdoors, if the sun is out, of course.
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Khan is on a high, but what is the way forward?
The election of a new mayor in London has concluded, and Sadiq Khan has secured an “historic” third term, according to news outlets here in the UK.
His win is secured on the back of surging prices of accommodation, outdated modes of policing that have led to surging knife crime and anti-social behaviour, and an uncertainty over the future of London itself.
It’s not clear yet what Khan will do with an “historic” third term. His legal background has so far stood him in good stead, allowing him the necessary skills to argue his way off difficult questions, and an opposition keen to take pot shots at his record in office.
A Tony Blair-style run is obviously impressive, but it doesn’t mean the problems have or will go away.
He needs to work hard on his legacy, because so far there is little to show for his social improvements in a city still struggling with homelessness; uncertainty over affordable accommodation; and student discontent that has spilled over into anarchy over Gaza, and many other issues.
The most telling characteristic is silence, a sense of a need to speak about matters in a civil and more public way.
The main characteristic of a Londoner (in my view) is what they have to say.
Yes, it’s a painful way of rebuke, but it’s a better way to address issues than just speaking through a representative.
Our way of democracy is by representation, but I fear this has superseded ordinary engagement that supports chambers that host debate.
I’ve no doubt others may see this too, but a question is if the Mayor will use his latest term to make way for a more public voice to rise above the noise of the traffic.
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Empty shops, empty hearts?
I took an underground train to West Brompton station in London, yesterday, and photographed and videoed as I walked through.
It’s an interesting part of London; a small neighbourhood, and a tranquil place to walk and pace yourself on an afternoon out.
I say ‘tranquil’, because there’s also a surprising lack of activity. I say that, also, in view that many of its shop fronts have now been transformed, and look like houses, and not commercial spaces.
These are examples of what is happening – and seen – across the country, and all across our towns and cities.
I do not bemoan the arrival or emergence of phone or vape shops, for example, as these exhibit simplicity that we need. I like them because they are what I can head for in a straightforward way and makes my shopping experience easier, at least.
It’s simple to find a phone shop these days, and to find what you want. It should be the case everywhere, and with everything.
In times past, we have prospered over the simple things in life that brought us income and wealth. It wasn’t someone’s idea that we could ‘sell’ to the world, but staples that we brought in and sent out (sometimes in a stylised way).
It’s our ideas that keep us here, but our trade that gets us places, and this is the truth with footfall. If there is sufficient here to engage the mind, and to open the wallet, it’s sufficient to get us out and about again.
I don’t know if West Brompton or beyond seeks an answer as to its streets lined with houses in former shop units, as it may want that, but I doubt it’s nice to live around if what someone wants is a coffee, or a grocery shop to visit, or even an arcade, or something, to browse around.
We are people who ‘look’, and it beats television, sometimes.
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The ins and outs of public transport
These days, travel is an extremely hot topic.
I was travelling in on a train today, and I questioned if a construction site I saw was anything to do with HS2, perhaps Britain’s most feted construction project to date.
It wasn’t clear if it was, but anyhow, it made me question it, and I guess that means HS2 is indeed a major topic, and it’s worth questioning it myself, in light of larger concerns about transport across the UK.
It’s something I use, after all.
It’s important to me because I use it so often, and for so many different reasons, that it’s also important to me that it’s there, and keeps running well, on time, and when I need it (that’s the purpose of public transport, after all).
It isn’t clear, though, that everyone has these thoughts in mind.
It seems like travel isn’t seen as so important as it is, to all of us, such as the annual ‘horror’ over passport delays, flight cancellations, and resultant ruined holidays.
It’s just a mess, if you ask me, but not if you use it. In my view, public transport works well, if you’re headed in the right direction.
It’s what public transport is for, also, in so much as getting us to the right places in a convenient, and acceptable, way.
Those places are the places that require us, need investment, and make this country tick, such as London, for example – our capital.
It’s the heart and soul of the nation, and it’s a centre of most of what keeps us here.
The transport links are good – even excellent – but the complaints center around the experience while you’re here.
Take for example the controversy over Ulez, a new system for penalising drivers because of ‘climate change’.
It hasn’t gone down well, at all, which is a reason why so many have taken to the streets – and YouTube – to spread their complaints over the mayoralty of Sadiq Khan, and his program of reform of London’s roads.
It isn’t a bad thing to tackle climate change, or air pollution for that matter, but it’s another pain in the bum for people who just want to get on, or just get to work, or whatever.
It isn’t necessary to get another bill, surely?
The complaints don’t stop there, but they extend to buses, underground services, and even taxi’s (which Khan seems to have a problem with, anyway).
This is all a bit of a mess, but then that’s public transport for you.