The Standard

It's been a week they would rather forget for the Met. A YouGov poll found that the majority of Londoners think the force is sexist and racist. There’s been the appalling story of a 15-year-old black school girl in Hackney who was strip searched whilst on her period, without adult supervision. And all this is happening whilst the selection of a new Met commissioner is on hold until Cressida Dick’s...

Shock and disbelief as P&O Ferries sacks 800 crew members and suspends its services.  In a statement, P&O confirmed the workers would be made redundant immediately as a result of “unsustainable” financial losses. The move has been condemned by unions as “a betrayal of British workers”. The Independent’s Travel Correspondent, Simon Calder, joins us from Dover to discuss the aftermath....

The day is finally here, after six years imprisoned in Iran, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is coming home.  The mother-of-one is on a flight along with British–Iranian businessman Anoosheh Ashoori, who had also been detained since 2017. Another British national, Morad Tahbaz, has been released from prison but remains in Iran.  We hear from Eilidh Macpherson, an Amnesty International UK campa...

There’s some light at the end of the Crossrail tunnel. London’s Transport Commissioner, Andy Byford, has confirmed that the long-delayed Elizabeth Line will open before 30th June 2022. Although, he won’t give an exact date just yet. The east-west line, which will link Reading and Heathrow with Shenfield and Abbey Wood via twin tunnels between Paddington and Whitechapel, was initially meant to have...

The UK government’s ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme has officially launched. Homeowners can sponsor named individuals, or families, to stay in their home for a period of at least six months. Those who do open their doors will receive £350 a month as a thank you. Rachael Burford, the Evening Standard’s Political Reporter, explains how it all works, the criticisms and whether the UK is doing enough for U...

As part of the Evening Standard’s International Women’s Day podcast special series, we’re joined by Ann McNeill, professor of tobacco addiction at King’s College London. Professor McNeill is also vice-dean of culture, diversity and inclusion at the university’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. She discusses how family experiences inspired a focus on harm from smoking, suc...

What London’s new clean air plan means for your lungs and pocket As Mayor Sadiq Khan announces plans to expand the capital’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone by the end of the 2023, we speak to Dr Gary Fuller, an air pollution scientist at Imperial College London, who runs the pollution-mapping Londonair website . Dr Fuller looks at how the existing scheme in central London is working out, and discusses th...

The Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain’s London social centre has been transformed into an aid logistics HQ. Volunteers collate donated critical supplies for lorry dispatch to the war zone. Painkillers, tourniquets, torches, helmets and new socks are among critical items needed. We speak with AUGB members Vlodko Pawluk and Iryna Terlecky about how Russia’s brutal invasion has galvanised th...

To mark International Women’s Day 2022, the Evening Standard and the London Press Club hosted one of four panels of leading women in the UK to discuss issues surrounding female empowerment. The panel was led by former BBC Radio Four producer, Carole Stone. The London panel, themed “Women as Catalysts for Resilience, Diversity & Change”, discussed gender diversity, inclusion and open...

Debbie Wosskow OBE is a business leader on a mission to support more female entrepreneurs. The founder of Love Home Swap, which she sold for around £40 million, has been working hard on her Allbright community, providing help to women trying to get ahead in their field. In this show, she reveals the shockingly low amount of capital investment given to women, the barriers some face when trying to s...

More than 1.7 people have been displaced from their homes in Ukraine since Russia invaded - that’s the equivalent of emptying London’s five biggest boroughs. We’re joined by Dr Agnieszka Kubal, a sociology lecturer and a migration law expert at UCL’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies, whose mother is also among Polish households opening their family homes to help refugees. Dr Kubal exam...

When Des Gunewardena teamed up with Sir Terence Conran to open up a restaurant in London, people told them they were “totally, totally stupid”. What does a “finance guy and a designer” know about the hospitality trade? Today, the company that evolved from that partnership, D and D restaurants, operates more than 40 establishments in London, Paris and New York. In this episode, Des tells us they se...

Russia has taken over another nuclear facility in Ukraine, after shelling the site on Thursday night. The attack of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been condemned worldwide, with reports that the attack continued even as emergency services tried to put out the resulting fire. In response, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Authority Rafael Grossi, is planning to trave...

As Russia continues to be hit with economic sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, the world’s top tech firms are also taking action to try to end the conflict. Apple has blocked its contactless payment system in Russia, Google has disabled its map traffic data in Ukraine to protect citizens, and Facebook owner Meta has set up a special team to tackle misinformation on social media. But what impa...

As war rages on in Ukraine, the civilian death toll in the country has reportedly reached more than 2,000. On day seven of the Russian invasion, strikes on Kharkiv have killed at least four people. Russia claims it has taken control of the city of Kherson, which the UK and Ukraine have denied. We speak with Hussain, a Kherson resident who moved to the city in 2020 with his wife and young daughter....

As the fighting in Ukraine continues, the Evening Standard is launching an appeal to raise money for the thousands of men, women and children fleeing the conflict. We’ve set up a GoFundMe to support charities on the ground including the Red Cross, who are helping refugees cross the border into Ukraine’s western neighbours. Journalist Tom Mutch, who is also supporting refugees as they flee Ukraine,...

London is preparing for the first network-wide underground strike action in more than 5 years All underground stations are expected to close on Tuesday and Thursday, as members of the RMT Union strike over jobs, pensions and working conditions. It’s thought the strike action will mean a £20million loss in fare income for an already struggling Transport for London. City Hall Editor Ross Lydall disc...

How do you sell an idea that’s so innovative, a lot of people don’t understand it?   This is a bonus episode for our brand new business podcast "An Invitation to Meet…”, this week we're letting you hear our interview with Holly Tucker MBE, who founded the Not on the High Street marketplace 16 years ago.  You can hear the full episode with Holly here: https://pod.fo/e/108b77 Now running t...

Tube strikes across the entire network will go ahead next week as part of the ongoing row over Transport for London cuts.  Passengers are facing severe disruption, closed stations and little or no service, the same week the TfL fare increases come into effect. The Evening Standard’s City Hall Editor, Ross Lydall, explains everything that London commuters need to know about what’s set to be a...

“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...