The London Minute ⏰ Tuesday 24 June 2025
Hounslow murder, Trafalgar Square arrests, St James's Park revamp + Cinderella fairytale ending to phone snatcher hunt
🌤️ Good morning London. This newsletter only exists thanks to paying subscribers. So big thanks to the kind folks out there chipping in. Here’s Tuesday’s London Minute.
🚔 A murder investigation has been launched after a 22-year-old man was stabbed in Hounslow on Sunday. - Met Police.
⮑ Local council leader Shantanu Rajawat said: “I am deeply shocked and saddened to hear about the horrendous murder of one of our residents in Hounslow over the weekend.While the incident happened outside the Hounslow Muslim Centre, at this time, there is nothing to suggest a link to the venue.”
⮑ The young man was ‘trying to be a “mediator” in a fight’, report Jacob Phillips & Robert White in The Standard.
🇵🇸 Palestine Action supporters at yesterday’s demonstration in Trafalgar Square reacted to the news they faces being proscribed as a ‘terror group’. - Jason Farrell, Sky News.
⮑ "If they brand Palestine Action a terrorist group then - oh my goodness - I'm one of them too," said Eleanor, a mother from Rotherhithe.
⮑ Some protesters shouted slogans to voice support for the group, including: “We are all Palestine Action.” - Middle East Monitor.
⮑ 13 people were arrested, report Bill Bowkett & Charlotte Ambrose in The Standard.
🏥 Three pro-Palestinian NHS workers have launched legal action against Barts Health NHS Trust after it banned ‘visible symbols of support’ including badges and lanyards. - Josh Bolton, East London Advertiser.
🪧 Hackney parents are protesting against their local council’s plan to hike nursery fees and axe some of its childcare subsidies. - Josef Steen, Local Democracy Reporter, in the Hackney Citizen.
👑 A section of St James's Park will be re-landscaped after the winning design for the national memorial for Queen Elizabeth II was announced. The statue will also feature her husband Prince Philip. Lord Norman Foster's design team won the competition. - Sean Coughlan, BBC London News.
⮑ You can see visuals of the winning design here.
⮑ Lord Foster is a former critic of of King Charles, reports Bill Bowkett in The Standard.
⮑ The park revamp will include a new translucent glass bridge, said to be ‘inspired by Elizabeth’s wedding tiara’. - Caroline Davis, The Guardian.
🚦 Mayor Sadiq Khan appears to be on course to take control of Oxford Steet, but arguments about who should control ‘the nation’s high street’ are continuing. - Dave Hill of On London looks at the surrounding area’s other influential voices.
🚝 New details about the planned Docklands Light Railway extension to Thamesmead have been released by Transport for London – days after the government suggested it may be willing to fund the rail link. - Darryl Chamberlain, The Greenwich Wire.
🏢 A Clerkenwell couple who have lived on the Peabody Estate for 32 years say their home is now overlooked by workers in a new office block opposite. - Samantha Lutes, EC1 Echo.
🏠 Roehampton residents will be balloted by Wandsworth Council on new regeneration plans for the Alton Estate. - Charlotte Lillywhite, Local Democracy Reporter, BBC London News.
🐑 Mudchute Park and Farm, one of Europe's largest city farms, faces an uncertain future due to stalled lease negotiations with Tower Hamlets Council. - Ines Santos, MyLondon.
✌️ Better news
This section aims to include better news from all over London. It’s a wide range of things, and as always you’re welcome to submit yours here. My hope is that it inspires more civic pride and community spirit, new plans in your calendar and a few smiles or laughs along the way.
👠 Police said their investigation into a London phone snatcher had a ‘Cinderella fairytale ending’ after forensic investigators matched his DNA to a shoe he left behind. - More details in this press release from the City of London.
🎭 Shakespeare’s comedy battle of wits, wills and wild romance –The Taming of the Shrew — will be performed in Fitzroy Square Garden next week. - The Fitzrovia News has more details.
🏀 A Walthamstow school headteacher has been selected to represent the Team GB over-50s basketball team. Kelmscott School head Sam Jones will be heading to the FIMBA Basketball Championships in Switzerland this summer. - He speaks to Sophie Mitchell in the Waltham Forest Echo.
🚇 In E17, the escalators have finally reopened at Blackhorse Road Station after being closed for a months-long refurbishment. - The joy is real in the comments section of this post by Big Penny Social.
📌 The London Minute Community Noticeboard returns tomorrow. Send in your news or events here.
📈 The most-viewed links from the last newsletter:
The future of The London Minute ⏰
🌤️ Good afternoon, good people of London. I’m close to stopping this newsletter. I’ve sent it to thousands of you for free every day for over a year on a ‘pay if you want’ basis. While a handful of absolute heroes do pay (thank you, sincerely), there aren’t enough to keep it afloat, sadly.
⏰ The Minute is written between 5am and 7am every day. Thank you for reading daily edition number 231. This newsletter remains independent, ad-free and free to 5,800 subscribers, sending 100,000+ visits to other local news sources since launch last year. Word-of-mouth is how it’s growing. The Minute is free but it takes work so please consider supporting it.