RESIGNATION FROM BBC APPEALS ADVISORY COMMITTEE OVER GAZA APPEAL

Last night I received news of a friend’s resignation from the BBC Appeals Advisory Committee after he had seen the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Gaza crisis appeal, which was rejected by…

CHA WALLA HERO IN UK FILM HIT (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE)

After hearing so much about the film from friends, l decided to go and see Slumdog Millionaire. And boy was it a treat, fully living up to its word-of-mouth reputation….

HEATHROW – DECISION TIME

In the run-up to the GLA elections last year the London Assembly and its members across all the political parties adopted a resolution against the further expansion of Heathrow –…

LONDON’S LOST RIVER SECRETS

As chair of the London Waterways Commission (LWC) l have noticed that Londoners’ interest in their waterways has been greatly enhanced in recent times. You only have to look at…

Green500 – so much hot air?

Murad Qureshi AM, Labour’s London Assembly environment spokesperson, has called on Mayor Boris Johnson to ensure that business members of the Green500 initiative back up warm words with action to…

LABOUR POLITICIANS CALL FOR ACTION OVER GAZA

Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East have sent a letter to Foreign Secretary David Miliband calling for action to stop the killing of civilians in Gaza. I am…

BNP-JAMAAT SMASHED IN BANGLADESH POLLS, AS ELECTORATE VOTES FOR SECULARISM

A source of major embarrassment for me since my election to the London Assembly in 2004 has been that the government in my ancestral home was a right-wing alliance between…

IMPROVING AIR QUALITY IN ASIA’S CITIES

Last month the Better Air Quality in Asia (BAQ) biennial conference was held in Bangkok. It highlighted one of the most pressing issues for the mega cities of Asia –…

BORIS ‘KILLJOY’ JOHNSON?

One of the first things Boris Johnson did in May, as the new mayor of London, was to ban the drinking of alcohol on public transport, particularly on the Underground….

Mayor Boris Johnson cuts half a million from environment budget

The Labour group on the London Assembly today expressed horror as the Mayor slashed almost half a million pounds from his environmental budget. The cuts come on the same day…