The Standard

“Vladimir Putin has launched a war in Ukraine, shattering peace on the European continent”, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Russian President had “chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction” and the UK and its allies would respond “decisively”. But what exactly is Putin’s strategy and can he be stopped?  The Evening Standard’s Defence Ed...

Dr Tim Stevens, cyber security expert from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, tells us about how Russia could strike online. GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre is urging UK organisations to 'bolster their online defences', warning of a 'historical pattern of cyber-attacks on Ukraine with international consequences'. The US has also warned of threats to banks, power plants -...

The UK has warned that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has already started. It comes after Vladimir Putin recognised two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine as independent states and ordered in what he claimed were Russian “peacekeeping” troops.  Boris Johnson has announced sanctions against five Russian banks and three “very high net wealth” individuals under his “first barrage” of measures...

The Prime Minister is unveiling his plans to scrap all remaining covid legal restrictions in England as part of his ‘Living with Covid’ plans.  Is this the return of normality at last? Well, it’s certainly not smooth sailing for Mr Johnson. Experts have been urging the government to be cautious and Labour has questioned the plans to reduce testing. There’s also some criticism about the timing...

It’s been a wild, windy Friday after a weather Red alert was issued by the Met Office - warning of risk to life - and 70mph gusts were recorded in the capital, with Londoners urged to stay indoors. London Ambulance Service reported two people injured, one by falling debris and another by a tree. Trees have been brought down, buildings damaged - including the O2 - and there’s been widespread flight...

The capital’s bracing itself on Friday for what is expected to be the worst storm in over 30 years. The Met Office issued a rare Amber warning on Thursday - later upgraded to the highest level Red warning - for extreme weather hitting London. It says blasts of severely high winds are expected to be so powerful that Storm Eunice poses a “danger to life” from flying debris, with roofs blown off, dow...

If you’re working in the City, data released on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics, shows you’re probably doing very well indeed with a nice pay rise. But bankers' pay is now growing three times faster than the wages of NHS nurses and teachers, showing how unequal the Covid economic recovery really is. To unpick the ONS data, we’re joined by Luke Hildyard, director of the High Pay Cen...

Insulate Britain are warning they will bring the UK to a 'standstill' when they resume their protest action this Spring. The environmental campaign group announced on Tuesday that they are collaborating with Just Stop Oil, another eco campaign group, who are calling for the government to stop all licences for fossil fuel production. The group has threatened to ‘intervene’ if the government doesn’t...

The working week started with another blow for Londoners struggling with the cost-of living-crisis - the worst Tube and bus ticket increases for 10 years. Passengers must soon pay between 10 to 30 pence more per journey - an average of almost five per cent - as Transport for London tries to claw back a huge deficit after its finances were “decimated” by Covid. So how can TfL and Mayor Sadiq Khan j...

What happens when you find yourself in a position of influence perhaps unimaginable from when you were young? This is an invitation to meet Peter Flavel, the CEO of Coutts – the Queen’s bank. We’re going to talk about how a kid who grew up in Adelaide became the boss of one of the UK’s largest private banks, with an office looking down the Mall to Buckingham Palace. Since taking the helm six years...

Tensions have grown between the London Mayor and the Home Secretary, after Met Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick resigned from her role. She announced her resignation on Thursday night, after being given an ultimatum by Sadiq Khan to fix problems in the Met Police, and restore public trust. The Evening Standard understands Home Secretary Priti Patel is angry after being blindsided by the mayo...

New property data suggests London flats are back in fashion again, after demand for apartments in the city dropped during the pandemic. According to one survey flat prices are now outpacing the overall property market in five London boroughs; including Barking & Dagenham, Greenwich and Hackney. Meanwhile, Rightmove says it’s seen a complete reversal in demand from bigger houses to flats since...

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned Met Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick she has just “days and weeks” to save her job. She’s been tasked with rooting out racist and sexist officers and restoring public trust in the force. It follows the outcry over the racist, misogynistic and other abusive misconduct by officers at Charing Cross police station, which was exposed last week by the IOPC. The E...

Several MPs are calling on the Prime Minister to apologise for comments he made about Sir Keir Starmer in the commons, after the Labour Leader was mobbed outside Westminster. Last week the PM made a discredited claim that Sir Keir ‘failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile’ when he was director of public prosecutions; a comment repeated by a group of protestors who surrounded the Labour leader yesterday. T...

As the documentary about the Tinder Swindler reaches number 1 on the Netflix viewing charts, we talk with Cecilie Fjellhoy - one of the main victims of Isreali fraudster Shimon Hayut. What started with a date in a posh London hotel led to Cecilie being conned out of hundreds of thousands of pounds by a man she thought was her lover. Now, Cecilie has vowed to support future fraud victims and has se...

The Queen is about to make history as she marks 70 years on the throne. Elizabeth II is the first ever British monarch to celebrate a platinum jubilee and although most festivities are planned for the summer, the actual anniversary is this Sunday 6th February. Seven decades in any job is no easy feat, nevermind it being a period of time that has seen 14 Prime Ministers, numerous wars, we’ve joined...

The day that millions of households have been dreading has arrived, Ofgem has confirmed there will be a £693 rise to the energy price cap, taking the new threshold to £1,971, meaning an increase of 54 per cent.  The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has outlined support measures of a £200 discount on all electricity bills from October - which will later be repaid - and a £150 council tax rebate for th...

The latest plans to ‘level up’ the country have just been announced by the Government.  The white paper largely addresses inequality between major cities… but what about people in the capital who are struggling? One in four Londoners live in poverty and the unemployment rate is higher than average… it doesn’t seem that ‘level’ here either. Paul Swinney, Director of Policy and Research at the...

A senior Tory MP's warned Boris Johnson his future is "on hold" while Scotland Yard completes its investigation into ‘partygate’ … does that mean Boris can breathe easy for now? Former chief whip Mark Harper laid out the stark reality for Mr Johnson ahead of the Prime Minister jetting out to Ukraine for diplomatic talks. The Evening Standard’s Political Reporter, Rachael Burford, shares her i...

A new Francis Bacon exhibition at the Royal Academy in London is considered so extreme it’s been given a ‘trigger warning’.  ‘Francis Bacon: Man and Beast’ explores the artist’s fascination with animals, their traits, instincts as well as human animalistic behaviours. It’s definitely not one for the faint of heart.  We hear from Michael Peppiatt, writer, art historian and curator of the...

As another January comes to a close, we're looking back at one of the month's fastest growing trends: Veganuary. Since it started in 2014, when around 3-thousand people signed up to do it, more than 2 million people have taken part in total. It appears to be having an impact on what we see on supermarket shelves and in cafes and restaurants - as Veganuary promotions have boomed in recent years. No...

London’s big return to the workplace and public transport is continuing apace after Covid restrictions were lifted. How are you feeling about the prospect of the sardine tin commute? We speak to Thalia Eley, Professor of Developmental Behavioural Genetics at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. Professor Eley is an authority on environmental factors affec...

It’s London’s biggest rail project in a long time, eclipsing the Overground upgrade and Jubilee Line extension. We’re promised Crossrail will be up and running in the not-too-distant future this year...and although the powers-that-be are staying schtum over exactly when, there’s suggestion that May’s the month. The central part of the new purple £19 billion Elizabeth Line is now being tested to ev...

We’re collectively gritting our teeth with April approaching, preparing for energy bills soaring in a crisis fuelled by surging demand in Asia, Russia-Ukraine tensions and a spike in natural gas prices. But after years of Conservative austerity policies and a drop in life expectancy caused by Covid, the UK’s top health inequalities expert is warning London’s poorest families are going to be hit ha...

It’s the hottest new driving manoeuvre you’ve probably only just heard about. But what is the ‘Dutch reach’ and can it help keep the roads safer? The technique is part of new safety rules in the updated Highway Code to help better protect cyclists and pedestrians, although the AA says a third of motorists don’t even know it’s been revamped. It follows many years of safety campaigning by Cycling UK...