London Spy 🕵️‍♂️

We recently spoke at @hackneycouncil.bsky.social Scrutiny Commission about the school closure proposals, how we got here, and impacts of the previous closures. Watch it at buff.ly/4i7NiLQ

Many thanks to @londonspy.bsky.social for their useful report: buff.ly/4igZ8DC

A detailed map of bike theft in London Explore hotspots in your local borough

Amazing map work by @londonspy.bsky.social on bike theft in London: biketheft.thelondonspy.co.uk
Can show by total bike theft volumes or as rate compared to cycling in census. Latter is particularly fascinating IMO - as it shows 'risk' of your bike being stolen by area. @londoncycling.bsky.social

The little London newsletters like @londoncentric.bsky.social @londonspy.bsky.social and a wonderful app called opencouncil.network @opencouncil.bsky.social

My favorite thing in the world is historical records of ancient people being incredibly petty or complaining a lot

I live in the people's republic of Camden. You get one small general waste bin allocated at birth. I'm going to have give up a kidney for a replacement

‘Spoons staff accused me of taking cocaine - but I was just blowing my nose!’ A “shocked” customer was mistakenly accused by Wetherspoon staff of sniffing lines of cocaine after getting a bit of tissue stuck under his nose.

Don’t you just hate it when that happens?

www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/n...

Exciting news: We’re taking another step to making Bluesky an open network for public conversations.

Around the end of this month, we’ll release a public web interface. With this, you’ll be able to view posts on Bluesky without being logged in on an account.

Susan Hall shrugs off liking Enoch Powell tweet saying offence ‘wasn’t intended’ The Tory London mayoral candidate said she ‘can’t remember’ supporting a tweet with Islamophobic undertones about rival Sadiq Khan.

I wonder if she'll ever get bluesky... 🥴

yep — and to be fair it’s notable he’s already polling 14%, despite no active campaign. wonder how much higher he could go in the polls…

Sadiq Khan to beat Susan Hall even if Jeremy Corbyn stands in London mayoral race If Mr Corbyn does not stand Mr Khan appears on for an easy win for a third term in City Hall

just dropped — believe this is the first London mayoral poll to include Corbyn:

🔴 Khan: 39%
🔵 Hall: 24%
🟣 Corbyn: 14%
🟠 LD: 7%
🟢 Green: 6%

www.standard.co.uk/news/politic...

Yay it’s MySociety’s 20th birthday!!!

Absolutely trilled to be here

We're hiring freelancers! Plus a design sneak peek Spread the word — a paid version of the Spy is coming

tonight we starting replying to all of the recent FREELANCE PITCHES that have been arriving in the Spy inbox — so exciting!

if you’re interested in contributing to a new local mag for London too, more deets here 👇

shoutout to the Colouring London project, which launched officially recently

it’s a huge open data project on building information — land use, construction date, architectural style

also, it looks beautiful — worth your time!

colouringlondon.org

still thinking about this kitten saved in Woolwich recently — was stuck in a cars innards and those passing by heard its mews

x.com/thegwn_/stat...

Wimbledon expansion plan dealt blow as planners advise rejecting it Wandsworth council officers snub scheme to build 8,000-seat stadium show court and 38 grass courts

big news for Wimbledon locals fighting the new tennis courts

a Wandsworth planning officer has recommended councillors vote *against* the expansion plans at their meeting next Tuesday

it's already over?

these charts showing rapid increase in cycling in Paris over the past year are crazy

will dig out the same stats for London at some point...

This pigeon was wandering around the tube looking for bits of food off the ground. As soon as the train started slowing down, it made it's way to the door to... SMARTEST PIGEON uses the underground in London !!!

love videos like these of pigeons correctly using the doors when the tube stops

Hounslow fire: House being made safe ahead of investigation The adults who lived at the property are named locally as Aroen Kishen and his wife Seema.

Hounslow fire: House being made safe ahead of investigation

air fryer mag market is booming in sainsburys

actually crazy how much harder it is to buy in London now, even with the recent fall in prices

extra £1,000 a *month* in mortgage payments to buy the average London home in nov 2023

interest rate rises have been brutal…

Nazi thug causing trouble at Waterloo

This is how you hit back at these Nazis. Well done Arsenal.
"Following yesterday's horrifying footage, we will be reviewing our own CCTV tapes to identify this individual and ensure he will never again enter the Emirates stadium.
Kick racism out of football.”

Probs the weirdest link we included in yesterday’s issue of the Spy: someone was caught ‘watching porn and masturbating’ while driving through central London 👀

The latest unhinged stuff from across the capital here 👉 www.thelondonspy.co.uk/p/your-ultim...

You can't just bring back David Cameron he was killed off in season 3 you'd have to pretend Boris Johnson era was a different branch of the multiverse and erase Greensill. Jesus some spad has taken that Vanity Fair deep dive on Marvel very much to heart

Chris Mason's BBC News report, which says: "Here are two words that have been used to me about today's reshuffle, from different folk, this morning. "Massive" and "seismic" Let's see - and language at Westminster is easily inflated - but the early indications suggest these words might be entirely reasonable. The home secretary is out. The foreign secretary is in Downing Street. And a former prime minister has turned up. That is big bananas in reshuffle terms already. Plus more junior ministers are indicating they are leaving - which points to this shake-up having depth as well as breadth. It's going to be quite a day."

Hats off to Chris Mason for using the phrase "big bananas" in his story.

Screenshot showing network-wide stats from https://bsky.jazco.dev/stats. It shows >2 Million Users, ~1.14 million posters, a mean post count of 74.86, and a total post count of ~85 million

Bluesky has just hit the 2 Million User Mark!!!!

It's been just about 2 months since we hit 1M users

Daily stat changes from 1M -> 2M Users:
Posts per Day: ~500k -> ~800k
Likes per Day: ~2M -> ~3M
Daily Active Posters: ~100k -> ~160k
Daily Active Likers: ~140k -> ~240k

would be interested in users by country — wondering how many others from UK are on here !

Suella Braverman updates: Home secretary sacked as home secretary - BBC News Suella Braverman has been sacked from her role as home secretary, following days of speculation

#CruellaBraverman has been sacked according to the BBC. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk...

Oregon's exploding whale turns 50: Here are 10 ways to mark the milestone Between the viral video, the song and the incredible stories, there are plenty of ways to mark the milestone this year.

Happy Exploding Whale Day to those who observe