Rachel Rees
@rachel-rees.bsky.social
📤 1428
📥 113
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Journalist at the Financial Times. Not the chancellor. Email me on
[email protected]
pinned post!
I’m delighted to have been nominated for New Journalist of the Year at the British Journalism Awards, for my work with
@jim.londoncentric.media
at London Centric (who also got 3 noms!), and alongside multiple of my new colleagues at the
@financialtimes.com
I’m v grateful to Jim for all his help!
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British Journalism Awards 2025: Finalists revealed
Press Gazette is proud to reveal the shortlist for the British Journalism Awards 2025, with links to all of the winning work.
https://pressgazette.co.uk/press-gazette-events/british-journalism-awards-shortlist-2025/
2 months ago
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Katie Martin
about 17 hours ago
Re-tweet? Rees-tweet? Reeves-tweeves?
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Rees writing on Reeves? Reeves writing on Rees! read my
@financialtimes.com
story on FTSE 100 hitting 10k here - or via the chancellor's X account if that's your preferred medium (analysts disagree with the whole 'vote of confidence in uk economy' thing, but anyway...)
as.ft.com/r/aa19ad04-c...
about 17 hours ago
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This amazing animation by
@raydouglas.bsky.social
shows just how many $tns in value US big tech companies gained this year - and how Nvidia doubled its market cap April-Oct to leapfrog to the top More
@financialtimes.com
2025 markets charts to go with your mince pies here
as.ft.com/r/d8b0748f-6...
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8 days ago
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2025's big winners and losers in the stock market -- and not a US tech company among them chips! metals! guns! banks! robinhood! ads! yoga pants! from me and a collection of the
@financialtimes.com
's finest, with lovely data viz by
@jonathanvincent.bsky.social
as.ft.com/r/441bc00c-0...
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The stock market winners and losers of 2025
[FREE TO READ] Chips, gold and guns have triumphed while ad companies and private equity struggled
https://as.ft.com/r/441bc00c-059a-47f1-808b-11ccaa9ce7cf
12 days ago
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Financial Times
12 days ago
Asian chipmakers and European defence companies are among the biggest winners on stock markets in 2025 while US consumer stocks have suffered, as the artificial intelligence boom and Donald Trump’s trade war became major dividing lines for global equities.
ft.trib.al/nTKDvuD
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Janine Gibson
17 days ago
The FT's favourite non-FT articles of 2025
www.ft.com/content/72d0...
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FT journalists pick their favourite non-FT articles of the year
Everything you should read that we didn’t write
https://www.ft.com/content/72d0c559-3d04-44b9-8acc-86d858aab4c6
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Ian Smith
18 days ago
Pulling out all the stops... asset managers' cash holdings fall to a record low, report
@rachel-rees.bsky.social
+
@emilydherbert.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/3502...
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Bullish investors pile into stocks as cash levels sink to record low
Fund managers most optimistic since 2021 despite worries over tech valuations, Bank of America survey shows
https://www.ft.com/content/35023562-9273-46b1-b63e-39e7426c10ed
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How is untreated sewage from this upmarket Crouch End street polluting a Tottenham park -- and threading its way via the Walthamstow Wetlands & Hackney Marshes to the Thames? In today's London Centric, my deep dive into a small cog in one of the capital’s worst sewage scandals: misconnections.
21 days ago
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big banks say big US stocks will get bigger! despite recent AI jitters Binky Chadha, chief US equity strategist at Deutsche Bank, told me yday: “Everyone characterises my forecast as bullish — I’m concerned it’s not bullish enough” With great data vis by
@jonathanvincent.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
29 days ago
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Financial Times
about 1 month ago
Sterling jumps as business survey triggers unwinding of negative bets
on.ft.com/3Y5qjbr
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Sterling jumps as business survey triggers unwinding of negative bets
Better than expected activity adds to dollar weakness to send currency to highest level since October
https://on.ft.com/3Y5qjbr
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Ian Smith
about 1 month ago
Traders gobble up sterling puts as they position for a Budget that will add to downward pressure on the pound. By
@rachel-rees.bsky.social
+ me
www.ft.com/content/fefd...
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Currency traders bet against sterling ahead of Budget
Investors buy option protection on fears Rachel Reeves’ tax-raising measures could hurt growth
https://www.ft.com/content/fefddcaa-72ec-40a6-bfc3-2d84e2a4efe5
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Robin Wigglesworth
about 2 months ago
The tax-efficient wheels of British government
on.ft.com/49kjud8
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vital public interest stuff from me &
@ramshodgson.bsky.social
a gov figure told FT that the Cycle to Work scheme was "tax breaks to high earners buying £4,000 e-bikes for weekend rides in the Surrey Hills" so for fun here's some charts on the £120 to £2,996 bikes being bought by gov employees
add a skeleton here at some point
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Alison Killing
about 2 months ago
NEW: The End of the Line: the centrepiece of Saudi Arabia’s Neom gigaproject - a 500m tall, 170km long wall-like building intended ultimately to house 9 million people - can’t get out of the ground, say more than 20 former Neom architects, engineers and senior executives.
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
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End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled
Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance
https://ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-line/
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I’m delighted to have been nominated for New Journalist of the Year at the British Journalism Awards, for my work with
@jim.londoncentric.media
at London Centric (who also got 3 noms!), and alongside multiple of my new colleagues at the
@financialtimes.com
I’m v grateful to Jim for all his help!
loading . . .
British Journalism Awards 2025: Finalists revealed
Press Gazette is proud to reveal the shortlist for the British Journalism Awards 2025, with links to all of the winning work.
https://pressgazette.co.uk/press-gazette-events/british-journalism-awards-shortlist-2025/
2 months ago
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Jim Waterson
3 months ago
I think this is the weirdest story I've ever reported.
www.londoncentric.media/p/terry-ball...
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The snail farmer of London, his mafia friends, and a £20m vendetta against the taxman
Terry Ball runs elaborate mollusc-based tax avoidance schemes that are costing London councils millions of pounds. Yet when London Centric tracks him down, an even stranger story emerges.
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/terry-ball-the-snail-farmer-his-mafia
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These chocolate bars have had an unfortunate character arc
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
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3 months ago
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The UK's lossmaking money-maker, "collector fatigue", and real life monopoly money
on.ft.com/4nwi8j3
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Royal Mint losses widen as collectors cool on commemorative coins
[FREE TO READ] The UK government-owned company made a pre-tax loss of £36.3mn in the year to March
https://on.ft.com/4nwi8j3
4 months ago
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HMRC lost hundreds of millions of pounds more than previously estimated to phoenixing, an insolvency practice open to abuse by tax evaders Sound familiar?
@jim.londoncentric.media
on Piccadilly Circus' phoenixing gift shops (and Asif Aziz)
www.londoncentric.media/p/asf-aziz-l...
on.ft.com/4nzqlmU
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HMRC raises small business ‘phoenixing’ tax loss to £836mn
[FREE TO READ] Higher than previously estimated figure underlines challenge faced by UK agency in curbing losses
https://on.ft.com/4nzqlmU
4 months ago
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It's been really exciting to see where London Centric is going from the inside. I've had a lot of fun and I'm hugely grateful to Jim for all his guidance and ideas. If you're not already a subscriber and you care about London, do check it out!
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4 months ago
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A final little bit from me in today's edition: the south London flagger who told the BBC he was one of many “hardworking business people” hanging British flags -- and his £98,000 false injury claim When I called him, he gave this gem of a quote
4 months ago
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Jim Waterson
4 months ago
Here's something a bit different. We've been reporting from Edinburgh to try to get to the bottom of a mystery in London. Princes Street is the Scottish capital's most famous shopping street — and it's gaining the *exact same* tatty gift shops as London.
www.londoncentric.media/p/edinburgh-...
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The Edinburgh connection to London's tax-evading gift shops
Plus: A chat with the Transport for London boss running the tube strike negotiations — and how the "hardworking businessman" putting up flags in south London tried to scam an insurer.
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/edinburgh-princes-street-gift-shops-asif-aziz
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Moments before the dog was handed over, captured in grainy iPhone SE glory. The pet does seem to be a crucial part of the protest. The man’s banner says “Dictators Fear Freedom, Even For Animals” with an icon of a dog. Earlier this year, Iran banned dog-walking in cities including Tehran.
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4 months ago
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THE DOG IS DOWN Latest update from an anti-Iran protest at King’s Cross, where a man with a Pomeranian scaled the 34m clocktower at 8. He just handed over the dog to firefighters on a cherry-picker, to scattered cheers from onlookers. The man remains at the top and seems to be arguing with LFB.
4 months ago
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One of the capital's worst high-rise fires since Grenfell was just over a year ago; residents still have almost no answers. London Centric's investigation into the devastating fire, from May:
londoncentric.media/p/spectrum-h...
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4 months ago
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Jim Waterson
4 months ago
Nitrous oxide driving, with drivers using balloons behind the wheel, feels like it’s on the rise in London - backed up by what medical experts told us about referrals. But the scale of the issue is obscured because of how crashes are recorded in police stats.
www.londoncentric.media/p/nitrous-ox...
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Nitrous oxide drivers are causing chaos on London's roads
Plus: Did Reform nominate a dead woman for mayor, which big TV series is pretending to be called "Dark Train", and will the Central Line ever get the upgrades it deserves?
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/nitrous-oxide-drivers-london-tower-hamlets
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Today: wildfire risk in central London's parks/palaces also - 1 in 8 Notting Hill carnival arrests based on facial recognition tech - Soho pedicab crash - airport security vs wet-wipes - headphones on the tube - the cricket team and the zoo
www.londoncentric.media/p/will-wildf...
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Why wildfires could come to inner London
Plus: Facial recognition arrests at Notting Hill Carnival, TfL tries to convince people to use headphones, and the London cricket team bought by a family with 900 crocodiles.
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/will-wildfires-come-to-central-london
4 months ago
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Another fun part of this edition is the Qatari-royal-owned, mould-infested, ceiling-falling-down, £7.95m Mayfair townhouse that reminded me (already resigned to not owning in London for about 11 decades) just how outrageous London’s property market is.
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5 months ago
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Spoiler: like all good things it’s tax related
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5 months ago
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Jim Waterson
5 months ago
Asif Aziz almost forced out London’s Prince Charles Cinema earlier this year. Is he trying the same again with Picturehouse Central - and is another major central London cinema under threat from the same landlord?
www.londoncentric.media/p/picturehou...
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Asif Aziz almost forced out one West End cinema. Is he doing it again?
To undermine one central London cinema may be regarded as a misfortune; to do it twice two looks like carelessness.
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/picturehouse-central-cinema-london-asif-aziz-restrictions
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Jay Rayner
5 months ago
Ever wondered what the deal is with the InsideSuccess kids outside London stations who tell you they are raising money to stop knife crime? I have. Well
@jim.londoncentric.media
of London Centric has done the leg work, as ever.
substack.com/inbox/post/1...
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Why can't anyone stop the fundraisers outside London stations?
Inside Success and WeRBlighty have broken the law with their fundraising activities. So why are they are allowed to continue operating outside the capital's busiest railway stations?
https://substack.com/inbox/post/168467673
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Today's story: how a Wimbledon LTN led a man down a online rabbit hole, via a 6 hour lamppost sit-in. also featuring anti-ULEZ bladerunners, a hardline vicar, flat-earthers, and conspiracy theorists quoting the Magna Carta
www.londoncentric.media/p/anti-ltn-p...
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The anti-LTN protestor who sat on top of a lamppost for six hours
Plus: A £700,000 home in a converted garage in Hackney, how to quickly stop illegal fundraisers in London, steak price increases, and more shenanigans in London Labour.
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/anti-ltn-protest-wimbledon-thomas-bedford-ltn
5 months ago
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Jim Waterson
5 months ago
He's one of Britain's richest men. So why does Asif Aziz's property company keep leasing London gift shops to overseas students based in abandoned offices or flytipped car parks — before vanishing without paying millions of pounds in taxes?
www.londoncentric.media/p/asf-aziz-l...
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The billionaire and the tax evading gift shops
Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital manages a row of high-profile shops at Piccadilly Circus. So why does his team keeping renting them to students who vanish without paying millions of pounds in taxes?
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/asf-aziz-london-candy-shops-gift-shop-unpaid-tax
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Today on London Centric: those blue jacket knife-crime fundraisers (Inside Success) and why no one seems to be able to get rid of them
www.londoncentric.media/p/inside-suc...
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Why can't anyone stop the fundraisers outside London stations?
Inside Success and WeRBlighty have broken the law with their fundraising activities. So why are they are allowed to continue operating outside the capital's busiest railway stations?
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/inside-success-fundraisers-chuggers-london-railway-stations
6 months ago
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Fun fact: this is the *second Lego-linked debacle* for the London Tories this decade. At a Partygate lockdown party in 2020, assembly member Lord Bailey — then running for mayor — reportedly received a Trafalgar sq Lego set from billionaire property developer (& now Reform treasurer) Nick Candy.
add a skeleton here at some point
6 months ago
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Real screenshot (of non-real tweet) from the real Conservative video.
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6 months ago
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In honour of Silverstone, I wrote about F1 sponsorship for the FT — from Lego racecars to the brands choosing to sponsor a fictional team over a real one
on.ft.com/46qWXtw
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Making sponsorship count in the crowded field of F1
Circuits, cars and drivers are emblazoned with multiple brands. Is there still room for new entrants?
https://on.ft.com/46qWXtw
6 months ago
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disgusting anti-Irish behaviour on the streets of Soho today: I just watched a man at the Devonshire pour a full pint of Guinness into an empty Harrogate water bottle
6 months ago
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For those Londoners who (like me) have melted in the week since I wrote this, this City Hall survey is asking the public for their thoughts on a heat plan to make the city cope better with heatwaves:
www.london.gov.uk/talk-london/...
add a skeleton here at some point
6 months ago
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Jim Waterson
6 months ago
I’m hiring a reporter for London Centric, looking for someone smart who can use a phone, knock on doors and wants to cause trouble. Don’t care if you’ve got qualifications, just want evidence of caring about news. Initial six month contract, pay above national rates.
www.londoncentric.media/p/jobs
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Rachel Rees
Jim Waterson
6 months ago
TfL just announced pedicabs should be regulated in London by early 2026. The challenge is how to come up with a system that doesn't just replace the current free-for-all with a tiny cartel of corporate pedicab operators. Our investigation into the industry:
www.londoncentric.media/p/londons-pe...
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London’s Pedicabs: Sex, loathing, and highway robbery
The inside story of how the capital's most chaotic and least understood form of transport actually works.
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/londons-pedicabs-how-they-work-who-makes-money-regulated
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Rachel Rees
Climate Centre
6 months ago
We haven't designed or built London for coping with heat, so we experience the capital in a very different way to cities in hotter climates, Chair of the London Climate Resilience Review Emma Howard Boyd speaks to
@rachel-rees.bsky.social
.
www.londoncentric.media/p/london-hea...
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Does London heat really feel different?
Plus: Labour politicians defect to the Greens, a big legal bill for defending festivals in parks, and does the Standard actually like London?
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/london-heat-feel-different-to-other-hot-countries
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Dominic Cummings and LFG (*those* tube graffiti cleaners) hard-launched in the telegraph over the weekend with this vaguely terrifying photo angle
6 months ago
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Much-requested follow-up to Saturday's story: what's the cause of the tube graffiti? featuring a very helpful and chatty tube depot worker
www.londoncentric.media/i/166139652/...
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7 months ago
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Plus: the Kemi-branded chocolate handed out at the Tories' summer party. Nothing like "I would die to protect free speech" with your morning coffee.
www.londoncentric.media/i/165872932/...
7 months ago
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Today's main story: the Dominic Cummings-backed group and GB News presenter behind some viral tube-graffiti-cleaning
www.londoncentric.media/p/looking-fo...
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Who's behind London's vigilante tube cleaners?
Plus: More foxes, more red paint, and a pivot into confectionery by Kemi Badenoch.
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/looking-for-growth-bakerloo-line-graffiti-dominic-cummings
7 months ago
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reposted by
Rachel Rees
Jim Waterson
7 months ago
Google ACCEPTS there has been an urban fox INVASION* at its giant new £1bn London HQ following CAMPAIGNING journalism by London Centric. *subs please check, size is disputed (This statement took a week of stonewalling, I cannot imagine how many revisions it went through to get the tone right.)
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imo worth reading purely for the Battle of Broccoli Park, a veg-based re-enactment of a festival legal saga we're definitely not all sick of. Also: potato pope and a 'cornclave'.
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7 months ago
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Lessons from SXSW London, where people were not too happy at paying up to £1,300 to wait around all the time: - successfully so British that queues almost became the main event - if everyone has fast-track tickets, no one really has fast-track tickets
www.londoncentric.media/i/165346629/...
7 months ago
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Accidental drug-themed issue today, from Lime bike pills to weed: Lord Falconer says weed possession should be decriminalised, in part because of how the Met uses it as an excuse to disproportionately stop and search black men. (Spoiler: Home Office says no.)
add a skeleton here at some point
7 months ago
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