The Hounslow-Richmond Bicycle Checkpoint (2025)

It shouldn’t take a visit to an asylum hotel by me as Shadow Home Secretary to shame the Government into action. Illegal working by asylum seekers - most of whom also entered the country illegally - is happening from the very hotels Yvette Cooper is using our money to run. The Government could easily stop it. I saw Deliveroo and other bikes parked in the hotel’s own compound - yet all the security guard cared about was me filming. The delivery company’s claims to be policing this are laughable. They are making money from illegal immigrants working on their platforms and are taking no meaningful steps to stop it. The Government should fine and prosecute them. This is a very serious issue because illegal working is a pull factor for illegal immigration into the UK - people smugglers actually advertise it. And it endangers women and girls as deliveries are made to their homes by unidentified recent illegal immigrants, often from nationalities we know have very high rates of sex offending.

The @MayorofLondon says that those bus stops that comply with @TfL guidance are usable by blind people. This one here in the heart of the City of London does comply, but is clearly unusable for blind people. Retweet to support blind people’s. Access needs:

The London Forum Bluesky account at bsky.app/profile/londonforum… replaces our postings to X/Twitter.

. . . and scrapped ID card proposals even though most of the countries represented at Sir Keir Starmer's migration summit in London use them.

Cyclists in Chiswick High Road, with its 'floating' bus stops, seem to behave in the same way. Let's continue these discussions on Bluesky if Vincent and others want to transfer.

London Forum of Amenity and Civic Societies of which I am Vice President has decided to move its Twitter account to Bluesky with the account londonforum.org.uk If any of my 799 followers transfer also to Bluesky, we may be able to continue useful discussion. Peter Eversden

Unlike schemes in narrow roads like Chiswick where cycle lanes result in a single traffic lane there is space in Streatham Hill for vehicles to pass stationary buses. However, it will still be dangerous for disabled people and those with limited sight to cross the cycle lanes.

Barbican Art Centre gets £191 million to fund essential upgrades ianvisits.co.uk/articles/bar… A substantial upgrade of the Barbican Art Centre is to go ahead after the City of London approved £191 million of funding for the arts centre.

.@BellRibeiroAddy @helenhayes_ @FloEshalomi set up a meeeting with delegates from @Fight4Heat_LBL and listen to those suffering on the ground in Lambeth and how @lambeth_council treats them with little more than contempt.

Dear councils Rather than spending millions of vanity schemes …. Clean the things ……

Highrise development may focus on the number of floors, but the real litmus test for success is at street level. How do we prevent developments giving way to empty shop frontage in new highrises, asks @NeilGarratt:

There are more than 1,000 long-term empty council homes in the borough and he is banging on about the shortage of council housing! What planet is he on?

An excellent piece on the need for public toilets in @EGPropertyNews by the society's friend and collaborator Rose Marshall of @INGmedia. @leannetritton @ClareDelmar @Rob_Fiehn egi.co.uk/news/why-its-time-…

Dockless e-bike operators that allow their bikes to be parked outside of designated places may have action taken against them.

‘Most people in Southwark can’t afford these homes’: Protestors unite against Berkeley Homes’ ‘unfit’ plans for Peckham – Southwark News southwarknews.co.uk/area/pec…

£3 billion housebuilding schemes to unlock homes and boost growth gov.uk/government/news/3-bil…

It’s an incredible honour to have been asked to take on this role. @LouHaigh was formidable. I will do all I can to ensure we have a transport system that drives economic growth, connects our communities and protects the environment. A mammoth task ahead.

It’s great to see innovation in public transport, but the most sustainable bus service is one that’s attractive to passengers by providing quick reliable journeys. London’s bus passengers are getting a dire service in this respect. London needs a sustainable transport Czar.