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This is the end of the gap

London Overground’s Southern extension opened to rush-hour passengers two weeks ago, creating London’s first orbital surface railway.

The new link between Clapham Junction and Surrey Quays means passengers can avoid changing in central London and commuting is now quicker, easier and cheaper too.

The extension came just one month after London Overground celebrated its fifth birthday and at least four trains an hour in each direction now link the South-West of the capital with East London.

South Londoners can also enjoy a new range of journey options both East and West with quick connections to national Rail services to Gatwick and across South-East and South-West England.

According to Mike Brown, managing director of London Underground and London Rail, the Southern extension is the last piece in the jigsaw of the outer orbital route.

“If the Circle line is the equivalent of the North and South Circular roads, this is the M25 of rail,” he said.

London Mayor Boris Johnson, before boarding the new service for the first time said: ”The Overground is hugely popular. Trains are comfortable and air-conditioned. This has helped us mount our argument to continue the integration between the Underground and the Overground”.

The new 1.3Km stretch of line cost £75 million and most of it has been funded with support from the Department for Transport, while the Mayor and Tfl contributed £15 million to it.

Around 13 million passengers a year are expected to use the new rail link while forty-eight drivers and five support staff have been hired. This is surely good news in the current economic climate.

To find out more about London Overground, go to:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/16224.aspx

In such austerity measures, it is better to stay in the middle!

Source: http://www.cartoonstock.com

Austerity is beginning to seem less like a project and more like a long-term state of affairs.

While delivering the Autumn Statement last week, Chancellor George Osborne declared that reducing the deficit would take longer than he thought initially as a drop in the public debt burden seems unlikely until 2017-18.

Along with “the legacy of a decade of debt”, he blamed the alarming figures on recession in the Eurozone, the slowing growth in China and the US fiscal cliff.

The economy has suffered a blown worse than the post-World War II and anxiety about recovery keeps businesses from investing. Even the best firms cannot be sure of getting credit, which hurts productivity.

The Chancellor of Exchequer said that the rich, professionals and people on welfare would withstand the worst of the latest changes.

The Government in fact, will take money from the better off and those on benefits, while trying to preserve the incomes of those in the middle.

The three-year welfare squeeze will hit those on income support, housing benefit, Jobseeker’s Allowance, child benefit and tax credit.

The welfare payments of working-age households will be uprated by only 1 per cent in the three years from April 2013.

Wealthy individuals will also hard-hit by a £1 billion-a-year raid on pensions.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) reckons GDP will contract by 0.1 per cent this year, compared with the 0.8 per cent increase it hoped in March and borrowing will be around £50 billion more than planned, over the next five years.

Despite declarations that there are no “miracle cures”, just hard work, Mr. Osborne found spare cash to make the life of motorists easier by abolishing the 3p fuel duty increase due next month and delayed until September a second rise due in April.

Meanwhile the economists also warned of more big cuts in public services including the police, defence, local government, environment and transport, if the Government continues to protect spending on the NHS and schools.

Same-sex wedding recognised in a historic equality reform

The Culture Secretary Maria Miller unveiled the Government’s plans to allow same-sex marriages, including ceremonies in some churches and other religious buildings.

Within two years, thousands of gay couples will be able to convert their civil partnership into a legally recognised marriage.
 
The Commons statement was made yesterday in the face of angry religious opposition and hardline Tories.
 
However, Maria Miller promised a ‘quadruple lock” written into law to ensure religious institutions and faith groups will not be forced to take part.

In fact, the Bill will state that no minister or organization can be ‘forced’ to marry same-sex couples and the Equality Act 2010 will be amended accordingly to stop discrimination claims.

 
PM David Cameron suggested that there is no reason to bar other churches from voluntarily hosting homosexual weddings, instead.
 
According to the new reform, gay marriage will be banned only in the Church of England and in the Church of Wales.
 
MPs will have a free vote on a Bill next year and more than 100 Tories along with up to 40 Labours have already indicated they will oppose a change in law. 
 
Also the Coalition for Marriage expressed disagreement by saying it was ‘disgraceful and undemocratic’ that the Government had ignored 500,000 people who signed a petition opposing gay marriage.

Meanwhile, recent polls have shown clear backing for gay wedding among voters, with only older people and church-goers strongly opposed.

Mr Cameron has gone further than ever in his modernising drive to back gay weddings in church and this is a powerful symbol that his party is at ease with diversity, despite UKIP claims that the reform will ‘rip apart’ the Conservative Party.

 

 

Same-sex couples will stay together happily ever after

Government’s plan for gay marriage is set to become law within months. 

Prime Minister David Cameron and Nick Clegg are considering fast-tracking laws to allow same-sex marriage from next year and a bill to allow a change in the law may be put to Parliament within weeks.

At least 118 out of 303 Tory MPs have expressed concerns and condemned the proposal to redefine the institution of marriage.

However, with the support of most Labour MPs, the plan should not encounter serious opposition in Parliament.

David Cameron believes that the interest of society is to get it done quickly, even though no detailed timetable has been set yet.

According to Chris Bryant, the gay Labour MP, the legislation is likely to be long and complicated. It might have to be held back for the Queen’s Speech in May.

Meanwhile the polling organization ComRes has published results from a recent survey that has found 62 per cent of voters and 68 per cent of Tory supporters considering marriage “a life-long exclusive commitment between a man and a woman”.

Also, a further 65 per cent believes that the chief aim of  legalising gay marriages  is more a way to rebrand the Tory Party as “trendy and modern” than a matter of conviction.

We believe in our right to higher education

Thousands of students took the streets of London yesterday to voice anger at the Government’s plans, following which university tuition fees tripled two years ago.

 

Students from all over the UK gathered outside the University of London student union at 11am, to defend their right to higher education.

 

Police issued warning notices to protesters that they risked arrest, if they deviated from the pre-arranged route from the University in Bloomsbury via Embankment to join the other demonstration at Westminster Bridge.

 

The march took place amid a heavy police presence and Scotland Yard obtained a section 12 order banning protesters from going past the Houses of Parliament.

 

According to the National Union of Students (NUS), the number of applicants to all British Universities dropped 7.7 per cent, with highest fall of 18 per cent in the capital, following the introduction of the £9,000-a-year-fees.

 

Figures show that the steepest decline in application was from people living in the London boroughs of Hackney North and Stoke Newington.

 

Today demonstration was the biggest since 2010, when nearly 50,000 students protested against the tuition fees increase and a group of protesters smashed their way into both the Conservative Party HQ in Millbank and several stores in central London.

 

These young people believe in their cause and want higher education to be a priority. 

 

However, students are those battered the most by the cuts. In fact, not only tuition fees tripled but also the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) was abolished last year.

 

Two children are more than enough

The Secretary of Work & Pensions Iain Duncan-Smith (IDS) wants to cap welfare benefits at just two children.

At present out-of work households get more benefits the more children they have.

At least 1.2 million out of 7.8 million families receiving child benefits have more than two children and according to the Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development, the UK spending on family benefits as a percentage of  GDP is the third highest of all major economies.

Iain Duncan-Smith has expressed his concern over the fact that many working families in the UK decide against having more children or any child at all for financial reasons, while large households on welfare do not have to confront such reality. 

Child poverty campaigners expressed disapproval over the proposal, as children will be the actual victims if the Government follows through on this plan.

 “A cultural change is required so that the welfare system is a springboard into work, rather that something which traps people into a life of dependency,” Mr Duncan-Smith answered.

It is not yet clear which child-related benefits would be covered by any cap. However, the plan will not come into effect until after the next general election in 2015.

BBC Director General resigns over a storm of allegations

New BBC Director General George Entwistle resigned last night over the Newsnight fiasco.

Mr Entwistle, in office only 54 days, said quitting was the “honourable thing” to do.

He declared: “When appointed to the role, drawing on my 23 years as producer and leader at the BBC, I was confident the trustees had chosen the best person for the post.

“However, the wholly exceptional events of the past few weeks have led me to conclude the BBC should appoint a new leader”.

Newsnight, the 22-year-old corporation’s flagship current affairs programme, is now under fire for broadcasting a report on November 2 that led to the former Tory politician Lord McAlpine being implicated in the sex scandal at the Bryn Estyn care home.

Newsnight did not name the peer directly, but allegations made by Steven Messham, who is the abuse victim, pointed to the politician.

A week after Mr Messham admitted he made a mistake, as Lord McAlpine was not involved in the case.

Mr Entwistle has been pitched into a news crisis since he began his mandate and he was doomed the moment John Humphrys, who is the Today presenter, humiliated the BBC Director General on Radio 4’s Today show.

George Entwistle admitted he had neither watched the controversial Newsnight nor seen the front-page of Friday newspaper story that raised serious concerns over the 2 November report.

As the Director General of the BBC, he is ultimately responsible for all content as the editor-in-chief and this is the reason why he decided to step down.

He was set to put in place big changes within the BBC but was overwhelmed by all the events linked to Savile sex scandal and made his dramatic resignation statement outside Broadcasting House in London. 

BBC Trust Chairman Lord Patten, who was at his side, said:”George Entwistle has very honourably offered us his resignation because of the unacceptable mistake, which has caused so much controversy. He has behaved as an editor with huge courage”.

The BBC has been one of the most respected national institutions for nearly a century.

However, the corporation is now at a crossroad as its integrity has been damaged in front of the world and the whole future depends on the public trust.

Tim Davie, the current director of audio and music, who was due to take over as chief executive of the Corporation’s commercial arm NNC Worldwide, will temporarily replace George Entwistle.

The bitter taste of the Oyster

Oyster card. Source: Wikipedia

Londoners will spend a fortune on commuting costs from next year.

The London Mayor Boris Johnson yesterday announced above inflation increases averaging 4.2 per cent for bus, tube, DLR and rail tickets from January 2013.

When the Mayor took over in 2008 a single bus fare was 90p, while now it costs £1.35 and will soon rise by 5p to £1.40. According to the new scheme a weekly travel card for zone 1-2 will cost £30.40 and a monthly one £116.80.

Mr Johnson insisted he was keeping transport fares as low as possible, while continuing with crucial investment in the network to provide faster, more reliable and frequent journeys for Londoners by the end of this year.

The second surprise news that the Boris Bike charges will double from £1 to £2 a day, with weekly access rising from £5 to £10 and yearly membership going up to £90, gives rise to further concerns among commuters.

Transport for London said the increase will be the first since the capital’s bicycle-hire scheme was introduced in July 2010 and it is required to make improvements.

Boris Johnson declared he had managed to limit the overall fares increase of the blue bikes by securing an extra £96m from the Treasury. However, there have been questions over the amount of the contribution of key sponsor Barclays.

Meanwhile all free and concessionary travel is protected and the daily ‘pay as you go’ cap will be frozen at 2012 levels.

BBC is panicking over Savile sex scandal

Jimmy Savile in the '70s.  Source:The Huffington Post

The BBC is facing its worst crisis in 50 years as it tries to deal with veteran TV presenter Jimmy Savile’s paedophilia claims.

Newsnight editor Peter Rippon has stood down from his job pending a BBC investigation of his decision to scrap the Savile story because it clashed with a commemorative tribute to former DJ and presenter that was being made at the same time last October, when he died aged 84.

The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into Savile last week and is currently looking at 460 lines of enquiry based on testimony from nearly 300 witnesses via several police forces across the UK.

A Panorama programme broadcast on BBC1 last Monday revealed bosses knew of Savile’s suspected abuse of teenage girls four decades ago. It also showed key witness Karin Ward being interviewed last November saying Savile regularly abused her aged 14 and that she saw singer Gary Glitter having sex with another under-age girl in Savile’s BBC dressing room.

In fact several other celebrities have been already accused of child abuse on BBC premises or while they were employed by the organisation.

According to Commander Peter Spindler, who is investigating one of the most prolific sexual predators ever seen in Britain, there is ‘Savile on his own’, ‘Savile with others’ and a third category which is ‘others’.

Meanwhile nine past and present BBC employees are under investigation as part of the enquiry into sexual harassment, assault and inappropriate conduct on BBC premises. They are all staff members or contributors.

Without a doubt, the new BBC’s Director-General George Entwistle has been pitched into a news crisis that threatens his position. He has faced questions about his judgement as he chose to broadcast a tribute to Jimmy Savile last year despite being warned by senior executives that it was compromised by a Newsnight investigation into the DJ’s sex abuse.

Mr Entwistle at the time was still the BBC Controller of Knowledge Commissioning.

John Simpson, the BBC foreign editor, describes the scandal engulfing the Corporation as the worst crisis that he can remember in his five-decade long career and said:”BBC will be in a very dangerous position if it loses people’s trust".

It's cold. Switch off the heating!

British Gas, the country’s biggest power suppliers is putting up its gas and electricity tariffs to record levels.

Managing director of British Gas Phil Bentley last week announced the company will increase its gas and electricity prices by six per cent.

The big supplier, which has about 16 million domestic customers, said it is forced into the move by rising wholesale energy costs. In fact, the price British Gas has had to pay for gas before the winter is about 15 per cent higher than last year.

Mr Bentley said:”For every £1 of energy we sell, only 5p of it is our profit. You name me another industry with margins that low”.

According to Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch the pressure of an extra £100 or so on energy bills will force many households to face another winter when they are scared to turn on heating for fear of the cost.

While the boss of British Gas assured that there will be a special Warm House discount for those who are really struggling, consumer groups warned that the energy giant is almost certain to be followed by its rivals, including Scottish Hydro, Swalec and Southern Electric.

Energy secretary Ed Davey declared:”The fact is that no government can control world energy prices, but we are acting to help people cut the size of the bills they actually pay.

“That’s why we encourage households to switch to better deals. It’s also why we want to help them take advantage of insulation offers, so their homes are warmer for less”.

Meanwhile Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that energy companies will be forced by law to offer customers the lowest tariff available.

London's Paralympic venues

Created at LondonTown.com

With only one week left before the opening of the Paralympic Games, tonight will see the lighting of the 2012 Paralympic flames from the tops of the nation’s four highest peaks: London, Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh.

The four flames will be lit by disabled and able-bodied scouts and won’t be taken around the country but will instead be the centerpiece of Paralympic Flame Festivals.

According to Sebastian Coe, chair of the 2012 organising group Locog, the four flames staying at the four highest peaks in the UK will ensure that the spirit of each home nation is represented in the Paralympic Flame.

The official opening of the 11 day competition will be taking place on August 29, when the cauldron will be lit in the Olympic Park.

We made London 2012

Some London Ambassadors at the BT London Live in Hyde Park

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has recently thanked each and every Ambassador by email for the absolutely outstanding contribution that they have made during the Olympic Games.

Nearly 8,000 Ambassadors who were stationed in 43 different locations across London have delivered a warm welcome to millions of visitors from around the world during the Games.

All those people from different backgrounds decided to give hours of their time for free to support this massive sport event and make London proud while the world was watching.

BT London Live in Hyde Park was one of the most popular site as apart from allowing sport fans to celebrate the Games by viewing live events and by participating in a range of sports, it also gave visitors the chance to watch live concerts.

Isha Puri, 21, is a British-Indian Physics student who commuted every day from Essex to volunteer in Hyde Park.

“I wanted to help visitors as I have known what it's like being lost in a new place, frustrated and tired and in need of a friendly face who can point you in the right direction,” she said.
“This experience also added an unexpected extra element of fun in that we got to be a part of the live action, enjoy the bands and acts, watch the Olympics on big screen alongside the visitors and take part in the free activities too,” she added.

Another proud commuter is Teresa Man, 34, a British-Chinese research Chemist from Twickenham who truly loves sport and said:

“I wanted to be a London Ambassador as I love watching sport and taking part to the activities. I feel it is a powerful way to get people together and live a healthier lifestyle. I thought this would be an amazing challenge and experience, and it was, and more.
“On top of that I worked with an amazing, diverse group of people from different walks of life. I loved it and felt it was truly an unforgettable experience”.

Long is the list of professionals who dedicated hours of their time to be London Ambassadors (LA).

Jonathan Wright, 62, is a British Londoner planning consultant from West London who defined his experience ‘really rewarding’ and said:

“Because our shift time was early and the Live Site only opened at 11 am, we had the chance to go to locations just outside like Oxford Street and Hyde Park Corner, where we were able to help a lot of people.
“It was also great meeting other London Ambassadors of all different ages, nationalities and races. We all had a common pride in London and the aim of helping all visitors”.

LA team belongs to a much bigger group of 70,000 volunteers including the Games Makers, the members of the Armed Forces and the First aiders, just to mention a few. All of them have given their contribution to make the Games happen.

Only a week ago, after 16 days of excitement and delight, ten thousand athletes have headed home and the visitor’s crowds dispersed. Also, at the end of the closing ceremony the Olympic Games were handed over to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Games and the Olympic Flame was extinguished.

However, the British capital is now getting ready to host the Paralympic Games, starting on August 29th and the ever-smiling and ever-helpful LA team will still be located in London’s main spots.

Olympic Venues in London Diagram

London - The Olympic City, from LondonTown.com

27.07.2012: The world is watching London

Tower Bridge adorned with giant Olympic rings to embrace Games spirit

Only one stop to the Olympics

Up to one million extra people are expected to cram on to the Tube every day during the Olympics, which will be officially starting tomorrow.

London is completely transformed and on the brink of hosting the biggest sport event and has spent £9.3billion preparing for the Games.

A major programme of rehearsals took place few days ago to make sure the capital’s 150-year-old network won’t buckle under the extra workload. Fake queues and diversions tested Tube’s ability to handle crowds and transport bosses declared London is set for this massive event.

However there have been several delays following signal failures on Tubes and trains during the last few weeks.

On Monday Games workers were left stranded after problems on key Tubes and rail routes to the Olympic Parks.

The central line is one of the two principal routes for the Olympics with the Jubilee, connecting London’s heart directly with the Stratford stadium.

There are also locations that will be exceptionally busy during Games times and will become exit-only during the busiest days of the Olympics.

Trains in the London Underground will run later than usual during the next three weeks to make sure spectators and members of the staff can get home.

Both the last trains westbound from the Olympic Park in Stratford and final trains from central London will leave an hour later than usual at 1.30am.

Transport for London is preparing for a huge amount of pressure on trains, buses and roads as crowds leave the opening ceremony at about midnight tomorrow. At least 80,000 people are expected to watch the ceremony live.

For further information on 'public transport hotspots' and 'driving and road changes' visit 

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/london2012/21677.aspx

Greenwich Peninsula is only five minutes away from the Royal Docks

The Emirates Air Line cable car began soaring over the River Thames last Thursday.

The new vehicle makes the one kilometre crossing between Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks while offering passengers the chance to see London from a different angle. It travels at a height of 90 metres.

London Mayor Boris Johnson, who officially unveiled the completed £45million project last week, promised Britain’s first urban cable car will become one of the great sights of London.

The five-minute ride will give visitors view of the Olympic Park, the Canary Wharf financial centre and the Thames Barrier and could be also used to ferry Olympic competitors to the O2, which is hosting gymnastic and basketball.

Up to 2,500 people an hour can be carried in each direction by this system, that has a cable span of 1,100 metres across three helix towers, with 34 cars each holding up to 10 people.

Cable cars arrive at intervals of 30 seconds and visitors climb in as it moves. The journey costs £3.20 or £1.60 for children and passengers can touch in at the gates with their Oyster card.

English kids get into Mandarin

The global supremacy of the English language could be at risk in the near future.

Education secretary Michael Gove is said to be determined to increase the number of pupils taking foreign languages at GCSE by making them mandatory for the first time at primary level.

In fact, learning a foreign language will be compulsory from the age of seven, with Mandarin Chinese, Latin and Greek being added to 2014 timetables.

The action comes just weeks after nearly 40 per cent of schools in UK have declared that the number of students taking foreign languages at GCSEs had increased this year as a direct result of the English Baccalaureate's introduction in 2010.

Mandarin Chinese as a modern foreign language option in UK has received a boost from Mr Gove to compete in a global economy and support economic growth in future. 

He is currently promoting a public debate on the plans before redrafting them for a formal consultation later in 2012.

Meanwhile related Department for Education’s figures revealed that the number of children who do not have English as their mother tongue has increased by about 200,000 since 2007. About one in six pupils from primary schools do not have English as their first language, while in secondaries one in eight students speak another language at home.