London

    London Borough of Tower Hamlets Speaker Cllr Khales Uddin Ahmed has been suspended from the Labour Party. ELNunderstands that this follows allegations made by a number of his Labour Councillor colleagues. Cllr Khales has been serving as the Speaker of the Council, where Labour has a majority. The position makes him Tower Hamlets’ “First Citizen”, who officiates at a number of formal events. A Labour insider revealed that the allegations concerned the councillor’s behaviour towards his women colleagues. However, the allegations come from councillors who support John Biggs, whereas Cllr Khales is thought to be less favourably disposed to Labour’s current mayor. The Labour Party is currently in the process of selecting a candidate to fight the next Tower Hamlets mayoral elect...

    A businessman in London ended up with a £750 bill over a £1.50 bus fare row. Robert Rowland, 50, told how he had forgotten his wallet one morning and offered to pay in cash for the Routemaster trip in Hammersmith, but the bus driver said not to worry, and that he could travel for free. But as he was about get off the bus at Green Park, a ticket inspector accused him of beinga fare-dodger. He was forced to give the inspector is name and address, and then received a summons in the post and an order to pay a fine of £225. Despite saying he reached levels of "stratospheric apoplexia", Mr Rowland decided to plead guilty to "make it go away", whilst also explaining what had happened in two pages of mitigation. However, he then received a letter from Lavender Hill Magistrates' Co...

    A majority of voters now want the UK to remain in the EU, a poll has suggested. Remaining is now backed by an extremely slim majority of 51 per cent, versus 49 per cent who wish to leave the EU. This suggests a small number of voters have changed their views since the UK voted to leave the EU by a margin of 52-48 on 23 June. The research, conducted by BMG Research, found the main swell of support came from people who did not vote in the referendum over the summer. Of those who didn't vote in June, 46 per cent said they now would in order to back EU membership, while 27 per cent said they would in order to vote to leave. Following the referendum result, reports emerged of people who claimed to regret casting their ballot for Brexit, who came to be known as 'Bregret' voters....

    A minister has insisted that Heathrow’s third runway can be built without air quality getting worse in the capital. Environment Minister Therese Coffey made the claim to MPs who lined up in the Commons to protest against London’s toxic air. Twickenham Tory MP Tania Mathias said Heathrow expansion should be abandoned following the Government’s defeat in a court ruling this week, when judges ruled that current air quality improvement plans were not good enough. How can the Government support more pollution that would come from a third runway at Heathrow? she demanded. Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton & Wallington called for action now to improve the appalling air quality around Heathrow and said the third runway should be halted unless air pollution can ...

    Police are hunting a train pervert who sexually assaulted a teenage girl on a journey through east London. The 15-year-old was on an Overground train from Dalston Kingsland and when she was attacked, police say. A man approached her and then started to touch the teenager through her clothing. She protested and ran off the train when it reached Hackney Wick. British Transport Police now want to speak to anyone who may have seen the October 13 attack, which took place at around 6pm. They also want to speak to people who may have seen the man acting suspiciously before the sex assault.

    Prince Harry’s new girlfriend Meghan Markle was still dating a Canadian chef when she reportedly met the Prince for the first time, it has emerged. American actress Miss Markle, 35, had been in a relationship with Cory Vitiello for two years when they broke up in May, the month the Prince is understood to have asked for her phone number after meeting her at a function. Asked whether the Prince was a factor in Miss Markle’s break-up with her boyfriend, a source close to Mr Vitiello said: I can’t comment on that. Prince Harry, 32, is said to be smitten with divorcee Miss Markle, who plays the role of Rachel Zane in the US legal drama Suits . He was in Canada in May to promote the Invictus Games for wounded service personnel, which will be held in Toronto in 2017. He then tra...

    Shocking footage has emerged which appears to show a traffic warden lashing out at motorist after he started filming him in east London. The row erupted after the warden reportedly threatened to post the driver a parking ticket as he dropped a relative off at Homerton Hospital on Thursday afternoon. The man claimed he had seen the warden near his car so jumped in and drove off but the inspector was not deterred, MailOnline reported. The man said he had questioned why he would receive a ticket if he had already driven off but was offered no explaination. A 20-second video clip showed the motorist drive slowly alongside the man, saying: “I’m recording a video, please can you answer me?” He is ingnored initially before the warden appears to storm towards the car and lashes ou...

    A man and child were rushed to hospital after they were hit by a police motorcyclist in Earls Court this morning. The accident happened on Old Brompton Road shortly after 10 am. Police say their injuries are not life threatening. The police motorcyclist, who was also taken to hospital, was one of two Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection officers on a routine patrol. Emergency services, including the London Air Ambulance, arrived at the scene at around 10:15 am. Paramedics treated the patients before taking them to hospital as a priority. The fire brigade cleared a fuel spillage from the accident. The Old Brompton Road is closed with delays in both directions between Finborough Road junction and Eardley Crescent.

    Theresa May faced anger from Nicola Sturgeon and ridicule from some Tory MPs as she refused repeatedly to give more details of what Brexit would look like. Scotland’s First Minister came out of Downing Street talks to declare that the Prime Minister’s stance had been deeply frustrating. After two hours of talks, an exasperated Sturgeon told reporters: I don’t know any more now about the UK Government’s approach to the EU negotiations than I did before I went in to the meeting. Andrew Tyrie, the Tory chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, later warned May that her policy of “saying as little as possible” would damage the UK’s economy as firms quit for more stability overseas. And as No.10 revealed that there would be a Commons debate on Brexit “before Christmas”, former...