On London Extra: Forces of darkness

The exploitation of immigration, threats to politicians and a death close to home. Plus some happy stuff about pigeons, drains and plants

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Every morning of late I awake with see-sawing feelings of optimism and foreboding. I remain relieved and grateful following Labour's  general election win, but I am already fretting about what might come next if Keir Starmer's government struggles to reward the electorate's faith. 

For someone who writes about London, I've begun spend too much of my time seething about the new MP for Clacton and scouring US media for encouraging signs that Kamala Harris will defeat Donald Trump. And then, returning to the capital, there is my recently heightened awareness of London street environment decay, incivility and crime.

In this week's Extra I will try to get some sort of grip and perspective on all this angst. But don't worry - there is some cheerful stuff too.
 

HOW NIGEL FARAGE SPREADS HIS POISON

The Reform UK leader is a parasite, a troublemaker and a fraud. One of his devious tactics is to make misleading allegations about emotive subjects, which are then taken up and spread by his herd of media lickspittles.

A good example is his claim on Wednesday that the Starmer government has invented a new term for illegal migration as a way of sidelining an issue he and Reform UK reckon to be loudly and clearly speaking the truth about.