A building on Edinburgh’s most prominent street that housed a series of tax-evading gift shops (London Centric came across it while investigating a connected network of gift shops in London’s Trocadero building) suffered a severe fire last night.

"Former Bulk Distributor assistant editor Andy Burnham is set to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, marking an extraordinary journey from the pages of the tank container industry press to the steps of Downing Street." bulk-distributor.com/2026/07/form...

My kid’s sports day cancelled, I can’t think, absolutely hate this new normal.

Leading indicator of public opinion*, the Crewkerne Gazette, is mocking Farage as running scared of a bin, it’s over. *I think I’m serious with this, subs please check

If you’d been weird enough to back Binface at these odds then you’d now be able to lock in a 100% profit. £20k staked on Binface since yesterday evening and odds cut to 6.4.

Astonishing story and typically great reporting.

The teenage millionaire hacker from Tower Hamlets who took down TfL from his family’s flat - then was undone when he got hungry and bought a takeaway gift card. www.londoncentric.media/p/thalha-jub...

£1300 placed on Count Binface to beat Farage on Betfair in the last hour. Could be sign of real momentum. But remember… it also could be deep-pocketed ideologically-motivated dodgy offshore gamblers trying to intervene in British politics by boosting Binface’s national standing.

Prince Harry, Doreen Lawrence, et al lose their case alleging the Daily Mail engaged in unlawful information gathering. Big vindication for Paul Dacre and the Daily Mail. Lots of criticism of the claimants. Looks like legal team overreached having successfully brought cases against the Mirror/Sun.

Judgment in Harry v Daily Mail case, the final one of the big three* "phone hacking" cases, is due at 2pm. I covered early stages of it and have a feeling you might see a very smug Paul Dacre but who knows. *Mirror lost badly, Sun settled at great expense, Mail faced very different accusations...

Thursday is looking the hottest day this week we could squeeze 36C in London, very hot. Humidity will be low but there will be no breeze making it feel stifling. A welcome breeze today but it will die away on Wednesday. (1/2)

In his book 'How to Launder Money', Posh George, the Farage aide at the heart of Reform's latest controversy, has a chapter on 'The Art of the Bribe' He and his co-author recommend small gifts (explainable as “a mistake of overexuberance in friendship”) and "Paying some of the target’s expenses”

My worst new habit is trying to see if I can get likes beneath the AI boomer video slop that has absolutely flooded Facebook in recent months.

In the same way newsagents now advertise “legal fags” to show they’re a rare place not selling random knock-off cigarettes, it’s time for pubs to have a “we’re plugged into broadcast tv* not just iPlayer” sign. *Possibly being switched off in 2034, so two more world cups of national synchronicity.

Norway’s a fun opponent isn’t it. Lots of potential for lowkey build-up stuff. Open a few Wikipedia pages about men called Harald. Visit some villages ending in —by. Viking Museums block booked by TV crews. A light hearted feature on the Lloyds Bank Coprolite. Some people arguing North Sea Oil.

Just finished watching the England match as-live, not knowing the result, with two small kids, the BBC played a blinder, no hints as to the score, nothing on the iPlayer homescreen… could go to extra time… and then you press play and the TV says it’s a 2hr14min video. This stuff is sooo hard!

Trump called Infantino on Wednesday to get Balogun's red card lifted. Nice to ride alon with Tyler Pager on what will be seen (and is) in many parts as one of the biggest scandals in World Cup history. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/05/u...

This is basically every story that I write about London now, you don't have to want to live with Germany bureaucracy to want someone to do very basic checks. And the 'ease of setting up a business' is great (I've done it myself! It was so easy!) but unfortunately it's created scam central nation.

god this is such a bleak pattern (and the right decision by Londoncentric)

Want to run a fake London estate agency and repeatedly scam people out of thousands of pounds through rental scams? The good news is that for £250 you can join all the official renters' protection schemes and do it with a UK government badge of approval! www.londoncentric.media/p/london-ren...

Ok I’m here for ALL your Mexico England rescheduling conspiracy theories, what’s the best.

REUTERS: SUNDAY'S MEXICO-ENGLAND GAME MOVED TO NOON LOCAL TIME - LOCAL MEDIA

Been sent this by a London primary school parent. Come onnnnnnnnnn.

Attn 38 year old Bsky users in London, does anyone want 2xRobyn tickets at the O2 tonight for free.

Don't ban it because it's Russian propaganda! Ban it as part of a national blockade on that weird style of kids animation making its way from YouTube to every bloody streaming service! www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

York City have been put in the southern regional section of the League Cup which is just an excellent contribution to the world’s longest discourse.

The thing is… if a future DCMS secretary does choose to re-engage, it’s a now a bit of a statement in the other direction isn’t it.

*sits filing receipts for the ltd company* *realises I genuinely could submit a doodle to HMRC, hope I'm not one of the 330, and hire three extra reporters with the extra money* *goes back to writing about all the small businesses just submitting doodles and opting out of tax*

News of England taking the lead against Congo has reached the House of Lords, and the steel bill

Did the BBC actually broadcast that QR code??????????

Dodgy shops on your local high street? They're still paying rent. And what if they're actually *pricing out* the legitimate cafes, restaurants, thanks to the option of "simply not paying your taxes" and therefore having more budget to pay landlords. www.londoncentric.media/p/who-wants-...

I also learnt here that Hammersmith & Fulham have given up on reopening Hammersmith Bridge to motor vehicles.

Who wants to be Green mayor of London? Plus: Scam shops in parliament • Palantir sues the mayor • Pret cornichon shortage latest • Google's foxy HQ finally opens www.londoncentric.media/p/who-wants-...

One of the most intriguing and complicated people I'll ever meet. Even the manner of the verification in this story is very on brand. www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/2624097...

Treasury select committee is holding an evidence session on dodgy high streets, snail farms, and phoenixing gift shops. (With some nods to our reporting.) Some very very quotable bits for any reporter wanting high street stories: www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...

this new prime minister guy and his speeches are causing absolute havoc with my outlet's Google Alerts

Texted one of my oldest friends this weekend to ask how life was. Turns out he just got got crucified. Man gives good quotes: www.yorkmix.com/watch-the-my...

Ofcom maximum adverts per hour on ITV appreciation break.

It’s weird how paying people to make this sort of content didn’t turn out to be a sustainable business model for BuzzFeed.

Many people are saying that! Exclusive stories on why the Thames is full of sewage despite a new sewer, Deliveroo paying bonuses to hydrate riders/get people out doing deliveries, and other topics. The pics are the best bit though: www.londoncentric.media/p/london-hea...

If you (or someone you know), left Gary Bonsor's ashes in a burger van at Newbury Racecourse in July 2024, the local church would like to hear from you. www.ecclesiasticallawassociation.org.uk/judgments/gr...

Ohhhhhhhhhhh Scotland.

Oh nooooo Scotland.

tfw you become the case study you were searching for Going to give a quote to myself about the impact on business of school closure, for a newsletter I will not be able to type because a child has run off with my laptop

Is he quite sure he should've given his full name and location for that quote

If you’re in London tonight and are interested in journalism/tech, this is taking place *in an air conditioned room*: luma.com/09ugslis

From a media perspective… Andy Burnham’s new chief of staff James Purnell was previously hired by the BBC to renegotiate over the licence fee with an Ed Miliband government. And now he’s… going to be negotiating it on the other side. (He’s also responsible for BBC Sounds.)

I’m obsessed with this, back in 2015 a junior person could reliably get a story in front of a genuinely mass audience very quickly. (Brexit negotiations were massively shaped by the existence of linear Twitter, in a very bad way.) Now audiences might just encounter it as “news” a month later.

Well that identified the neighbours watching on iPlayer.