- Transport for London tells visitors to find somewhere else as they announce flotilla viewing platforms are FULL
- Travel chaos as trains and tubes fill up and operators are criticised for services
- 6,000 police officers on the street mean only three minor arrests are made
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The threat of rain didn't dampen the Jubilee celebrations on the banks of the Thames today, as one million people turned out on the streets of London to enjoy the 1,000-boat Royal flotilla.
Pageant organisers said despite the weather, the huge crowds they had prepared for had turned up to revel in proceedings.
However, the enormous numbers of visitors created chaos on tubes and trains, with packed carriages meaning passengers were unable to board.
Transport for London warned people not to try and watch the flotilla from the already packed viewing platforms. 'The Diamond Jubilee Pageant viewing areas are now full; please avoid and find an alternative location from which to view the event,' TfL said.
Scroll down for video highlights
Millions on the street: Crowds turned out in full force today despite the weather to watch the Queen pass on the Royal barge on the Thames today
Rain or shine: Grey skies over St Paul's Cathedral and the Thames couldn't dampen the party spirit for Kate Thorton, 25, of Kentish Town, London
What a view: Every available space available was used to catch a glimpse of the pageant. Transport for London said all viewing areas were full
Her Majesty waves to adoring crowds as she sets sail from Chelsea Harbour with Prince Philip onboard the Spirit Of Chartwell
TfL said that they were 'coping' with the hundreds of thousands using transport links close to the river, and that they were running extra trains to cope with demand, but that they had had to divert several bus routes due to the pageant.
Overground train operators also came under fire for apparently failing to lay on extra trains.
Travellers took to Twitter to express their frustration at the services, some saying that travel operators appeared to be laying on a regular Sunday service.
One user, Emma Bradley tweeted: 'SW Trains really should have thought this through. Children literally crying cos can't get on the train at Norbiton, New Malden etc.'
Jeremy Bellamy, a Conservative councillor from Canterbury, wrote: 'Amazed that South Eastern trains seem to have been taken by surprise by the Jubilee weekend.'
But despite frustration for some revellers, most remained upbeat and determined to catch a glimpse of the spectacle on the Thames.
Among them were friends Sarankumar Chandrasekar, 22, and Suhail Vilangil, 25, who said they were proud to see London's 'greatest moment' after moving to the UK from India two years ago.
Mr Chandrasekar, who now lives in Stratford, east London, said: 'This is the greatest moment for London so it's not something you can miss.
'It's a proud moment for us to be here and see the Queen from only 50 metres away.'
Mr Vilangil added: 'We wouldn't let a small thing like rain put us off. There are so many people here who have been so friendly.'
Semera Khan, from Sutton, south west London, said it was clear which member of the Royal Family received the best reception from the crowd.
Britannia's shield: Two women on the Embankment take cover behind a huge, flag-patterned umbrella. Right, Will Marcombe and Abi Murray arrive from Bristol in full patriotic get-up this morning after queueing for several hours
Revelry: The banks of the Thames were completely packed and resulted in travel chaos at Tube stations near to the river
Don't you have a boat to catch? Two friends on the riverbanks dressed up as the Queen (complete with toy corgi) and a particularly inventive take on 'coronation chicken'
Crowds fill up on the south bank of the Thames at the National Theatre to prepare for Her Majesty's arrival
Location: Revellers crowd into flats on the south of the river, decked out in Union flags and releasing red, white and blue balloons as they enjoy the Jubilee celebrations
Ms Khan said: 'The Queen got the biggest cheer. It was brilliant to be here with such an excellent view. It's not going to happen again in my lifetime so I didn't want to miss out.'
By the time the last boats passed under Tower Bridge, only a handful of people remained to watch.
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They included Jenny Houghton, who works for the City of London Corporation and husband Neil, as well as her mother June Cornish.
'I just think it's a brilliant opportunity to come and see it, and even though it's pouring with rain, it's something you'll never see again,' Mrs Houghton said.
'We came down here to see the pageant so we wanted to see all of it.
'Besides, we're the great British public and that's what we do!'
Up to 6,000 officers from the Metropolitan Police were overseeing proceedings, and the events proceeded with little trouble. Only three minor arrests have been made, according to a Metropolitan Police spokesman.
It wasn't just in London that the celebrations took place. Residents at the UK's longest Jubilee street party - which straddled two counties - carried on despite the rain, on the border of Oxfordshire and Berkshire.
The kilometre-long party saw more than 3,700 guests and 465 trestle tables span the two towns' high streets and the bridge crossing the Thames.
Red, white and blue ponchos were the order of the day, with the streets transformed into a sea of umbrellas as the heavens opened just as the party got under way.
Sigyta Hart, 60, an acupuncturist who has lived in Goring for 23 years, said: 'It's been astonishing. Everyone's ignored the rain, even though it's on our plates and in our Champagne.'
Elegant: Her Majesty, accompanied by Duchess of Cornwall Camilla, waves to crowds on the packed banks of the river from the Royal barge
Bow-wow tie: Left, a dog in central London dresses for the occasion and, right, a girl is lifted high above the crowds gathered by the Thames
Crowds gather on Westminster and Lambeth bridges and on the balconies behind for a glimpse of the Queen aboard the Royal barge
Crowds by Waterloo Bridge create a sea of waving flags under trees and lampposts strung with bunting
Boys in red, white and blue: Five friends in full union jack fancy dress get ready for the spectacle on the Thames
What would Camilla say? A partygoer seems to have worked his charms with a Prince Charles cardboard mask
Bunting and nautical flags criss-cross the frame as Londoners look out to the Thames near Tower Bridge
Raindrops glisten on a man's union flag hat as he looks towards St Paul's Cathedral, while Katie Hayes from Guildford shows off the design on her sequined dress
Homemade banners add a personal touch from these Londoners, with the inclusion of Prince Philip's initials showing he wasn't forgotten on the Queen's special day
Irrepressible: Three-year-old Leilah Palmer doesn't let the bad weather spoil her fun at the Jubilee Family Festival in Hyde Park, London, while on the banks of the Thames (right) the ubiquitous red, white and blue make up the layers of a woman's wig
Balconies covered in flags were a prime viewing platform for the event. TfL warned visitors that they should stay away from the official viewing platforms
A rooftop in Battersea gave these spectators the perfect vantage point from which to watch the pageant
Balconies at Butlers Wharf, near Tower Bridge, provided an unbeatable view of the pageant
Draped in bunting, this woman near Tower Bridge wears a T-shirt with a tongue-in-cheek message for the Queen. And, right, seating space was in short supply near Blackfriars Bridge, forcing this pair to perch on a roadside railing as they huddle under an umbrella
Thousands could not see the Thames or The Queen and instead had to rely on giant TV monitors near Tower Bridge
David Cameron looks like he's struggling to get a word in as he hosts scouts for a Jubilee tea party at 10 Downing Street
The red, white and blue even helped these two keep their feet dry near Tower Bridge
It's been a long day by the Thames for this yawning youngster (left). Right, a knitted Union Jack hoodie adds to the endless varieties of flag-themed clothing on show
Delighted Daily Mail competition winners take part in the Royal Pageant on board the Yarmouth Belle
Twins Becky (right) and Sam Perry were among the Daily Mail competition winners cruising down the river on the Yarmouth Belle
A reveller on the riverbank wears the nation's colours on her face, while in Marple Bridge, Greater Manchester, it wouldn't be a Jubilee party without a glass of bubbly
Three corgis wearing rosettes line up in front of a brass band at The Savoy's grand Jubilee party
Plastic ponchos keep the rain off and spirits stay high as these three enjoy a picnic on Millbank, London
Three young revellers on the banks of the Thames brace themselves against the dismal weather with hot drinks and waterproofs
Going to great lengths for a peek over the hoarding as the Royal Pageant passes Blackfriars Bridge
A homeless person lies on a bed of cardboard decorated with union flags in central London
It wasn't just in London that people took part in celebrations. The residents of Streatley and Goring in Oxfordshire sat down to the UK's longest street party - almost a kilometre long - in the rain earlier today
A line of tables stretched for 3,218ft between the two villages over River Thames on the Goring and Streatley Bridge, where an estimated 3,640 people sat down to lunch
Covering up: Residents of Alcester in Warwickshire kick off a two-day Jubilee extravaganza, including a parade and live music
Jubilee spirit spreads to Ightham, Kent, where Morris dancers perform at the village's medieval Coxcombe Fair
Neighbours cheer and raise their glasses at a street party in Murrayfield Avenue, Edinburgh
Royal supporters of all ages get together for a street party in Rochester Road, in Portsmouth, Hampshire
One-year-old Max Stapleton-Burns (left) and Heidi Franklin, five, enjoy their first Jubilee celebration at the street party in Portsmouth
Jubilee spirit reaches Afghanistan as Trooper Lewis McCormick 19, from Oldham, (left) and L/Cpl Thomas Constant, 24, from Bournemouth, of the King's Royal Hussars enjoy an impromptu tea party in Helmand Province
Home from home: They may be thousands of miles from the festivities on the Thames, but these children of British expatriates marked the occasion with an elephant ride at the British High Commission in New Delhi, India
Face painting and candy floss make for a great day out for these children at the British High Commission in New Delhi
A young boy plays with a flag in the garden of the British Embassy during a Jubilee celebration for Britons in Paris
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Exhibition of large photographs of athletes and key London 2012 figures on view in Edinburgh - Art Daily
Commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, London, working in partnership with London 2012 partner BT, Road to 2012 opened at The Mound, Edinburgh on Friday 1 June 2012.
Having won gold, with Anna Watkins, this weekend in the double sculls at the 2012 World Cup in Lucerne, Glasgow-born Katherine Grainger is Britain’s most successful oarswoman. She took up rowing at Edinburgh University in 1993 and competed internationally for the first time in 1997. In 2009 Grainger won silver in the women’s single sculls at the World Rowing Championships. At the finals of the first Rowing World Cup in 2010 she won gold in the double sculls with Watkins, and an hour later won a second gold in the quadruple sculls. Grainger is also working towards a doctorate studying homicide. With six world championship titles and three Olympic silver medals she is aiming for gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Glasgow-born Emily Maguire and Laura Bartlett are shown in a photograph by Anderson & Low of the GB women’s hockey team, currently ranked fourth in the world. Coming together solely to compete at the Olympic Games, London 2012’s women’s hockey squad brings together 29 players from England, Scotland and Wales, all of whom compete under their own flags in the intervening three years. Both Katherine Grainger and the Team GB women’s hockey players are photographed at National Sports Centre, Bisham Abbey.
Also included in the exhibition is a selection of work by Scottish-born photographer Finlay MacKay (b.1972) including dramatic photograph of double gold medallist at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, Eleanor Simmonds with her trainer Billy Pye, on the starting block at the Wales National Pool in Swansea, Phillips Idowu with his coach Aston Moore at Birmingham High Performance Centre, and the Taekwondo champion Aaron Cook and his family photographed in action practising outside his Manchester home. Among his other portraits on display are Olympian gymnast Louis Smith, wheelchair racer David Weir, top triathlete brothers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee and Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby players Mandip Sehmi and Andy Barrow.
Finlay MacKay (b.1972) was born in Scotland and studied fine art photography at Glasgow School of Art (1992–96) working with the inspirational American photographer and teacher, Thomas Joshua Cooper. After graduating, MacKay moved to London to work as a photographer’s assistant, spending three formative years with Elaine Constantine. MacKay’s portfolio includes sport and portraits as well as complex advertising productions that draw on graphic novels and the work of contemporary artists, such as the Scottish painter Peter Howson.
As well as photographs first seen at the National Portrait Gallery in exhibitions held there over the previous two summers, Road to 2012: Setting Out (2010) and Road to 2012: Changing Pace (2011), the touring exhibition also includes exciting new portraits by the photographers currently working on commissions for this summer’s final London exhibition Road to 2012: Aiming High. The open-air exhibition continues its British tour to Birmingham on 13 July 2012.
These include Anderson & Low’s portrait of gymnast Beth Tweddle with team colleagues and Jillian Edelstein’s photograph of Jan Matthews, who as Head of Catering, Cleaning and Waste for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is responsible for the world’s largest peacetime catering operation.
The final Road to 2012: Aiming High exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, opening 19 July, is part of the London 2012 festival, the spectacular 12-week celebration running from 21 June until 9 September 2012 bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK.
All three tour venues (it has also been displayed at Cardiff) have connections with sitters and photographers on show. Brian Griffin’s portraits include former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and London 2012 Ambassadors Denise Lewis and Jonathan Edwards. Photographer Bettina von Zwehl’s work for the tour includes Olympian diver Tom Daley, heptathlete Jessica Ennis and Olympian cyclist Victoria Pendleton.
Sitters for photographer Emma Hardy include LOCOG chair Seb Coe, Olympic Games Opening Ceremony Artistic Director Danny Boyle and his team, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison and world renowned author and former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo.
Source: artdaily.org
London Olympics: James Bond star Daniel Craig to abseil into stadium as part of opening ceremony - Daily Record
Source: www.dailyrecord.co.uk
Why are the French getting an 'MP for London'? - BBC News
French citizens in the UK will for the first time be able to vote for an MP, with the creation of a Northern Europe constituency in the French parliament. What role will London play?
London is home to the majority of the vibrant UK French population for whom the capital is not just a city of transit.
They will soon be represented by a new French MP for the recently established Northern Europe constituency comprising the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and the Baltic states.
It is difficult to measure the exact number of French people living in the British capital. Over 120,000 are officially registered at the French consulates in London and Edinburgh, but not everybody decides to register and other London estimates put the French population at anywhere between 300,000 and 400,000 citizens.
London could hold the key to victory for any candidate as it has the largest concentration of French people across the whole constituency.
"All of the main parties have chosen candidates based in London," says Philippe Marliere, professor of French and European politics at University College London.
"It's going to be a London contest."
Of the 20 official candidates for the seat, nine are based in London, and a further three live in other regions of the UK.
'Key issue'Although the French have long had a tradition of MPs from their overseas territories, this is the first time France will allow elected MPs for its expat population to have a seat in parliament.
The decision to create new constituencies for the French abroad was taken by former president Nicolas Sarkozy, whose government passed legislation in 2008 to give them the right to elect their own MPs.
Prof Marliere argues this can be seen a political move by the right to boost votes. Traditionally, the French abroad are less likely to support the left, even if the gap is narrowing in the UK.
Statistics from the French Ministry of the Interior show that the majority (53.05%) of overseas French citizens voted for right-wing candidate Mr Sarkozy in the 2012 presidential election.
But French people in the UK bucked this trend for the first time by voting for Socialist candidate Francois Hollande - though Mr Sarkozy won almost 52% of the second round vote in London.
Party politics aside, Prof Marliere says there are more and more French people living abroad. They can encounter problems with the education, pension, tax, social welfare and health systems in their host country, issues that an expat MP could help them with.
Candidates for Northern Europe constituency
- Axelle Lemaire, Socialist Party (London)
- Emmanuelle Savarit, UMP party (London)
- Yannick Naud, Democratic Movement (London)
- Will Mael Nyamat, independent (London)
- Olivier Bertin, Green Party (London)
- Olivier Cadic, Centrist Alliance (London)
- Denys Dhiver, supported by the Christian Democratic Party and France Ecologie (Leicester, UK)
- Gaspard Koenig, Liberal Democratic (London)
- Guy Le Guezennec, National Front (Kent, UK)
- Jerome de Lavenere Lussan, independent (London)
- Marie-Claire Sparrow, Gathering of French residents overseas (Essex, UK)
- Bertrand Larmoyer, independent liberal (London)
- Aberzack Boulariah, independent (Ireland)
- Olivier de Chazeaux, supported by the Radical Party, New Centre, and Republican, Ecologist and Social Alliance (Paris)
- Lucile Jamet, Left Front
- Patrick Kaboza, independent candidate (Riga, Latvia)
- Ezella Sahraoui, Radical Party of the Left (Lille, France)
- Christophe Schermesser, European Federalist Party (Finland)
- Edith Tixier, Solidarity and Progress party
- Anne-Marie Wolfson, independent (Paris)
This is reflected in the official manifestos of the candidates, which also mention the challenges faced by French people abroad in business.
But Prof Marliere says that the "key issue" for the UK-based candidates is education, as French families are keen to send their children to French schools.
Providing a French education for their children can be costly for parents and French-speaking schools are oversubscribed.
Because of this, the French embassy, teachers and parents have been working to deal with the shortage of places, opening a new school in Kentish Town, London, last September, says Frederique Brisset, headmistress of L'Ecole des Petits and L'Ecole de Battersea.
"The choice of French schools is limited and there are fundamental differences between the French curriculum and the British curriculum."
"French schools are not free," says Prof Marliere. "Although the French state subsidises education by sending French teachers, the rest is not paid for by the state."
This issue is not going away as within the UK, the make-up of the French community is changing. It is getting younger, and therefore more likely to have children.
In addition to those working in the financial sector and employed by international companies, the UK's French population now includes "students, people in the service industries, public servants and young families", says Prof Marliere.
French LondonersClelia-Elsa Froguel, a 26-year-old consultant born in France, is part of this younger generation.
She says the creation of an expat MP enables the voices of French emigrants to be heard in the French parliament.
"We are French Londoners, not expats," she says. "The election of an MP for us is extremely important."
While she can vote in the French presidential elections, up until now she did not vote in the French parliamentary elections because she felt she was "not represented."
And David Medioni, a political journalist based in Paris, points out that French people in France view it as "normal" that expats should have some political say.
'More and more British'But others are less than enthusiastic about the idea, arguing that the MP will have little impact as the French abroad are not the government's priority.
Prof Marliere says it is difficult to see how the French abroad can place demands on the government, as many do not pay taxes in France.
He asks: "Why would the government in France supplement our life choices?"
And Muriel Demarcus, a 39-year-old business owner, says the introduction of an expat French MP is unlikely to change anything.
"After four or five years you turn a corner and you become more and more British. I don't think we are French any more."
The successful candidate will sit in the French National Assembly in Paris and will have the same duties as any other French MP, representing a vast constituency stretching across 1.5m sq miles (4m sq km).
Prof Marliere expects that the elected representative will divide their time between the French capital and their home country, making frequent trips to other regions.
Although the figures are disputed, the London population has grown so big that it is sometimes referred to as France's sixth city. Because of this, French people in other European countries, such as 22-year-old Maite Delvarre from Stockholm, say that the views of non-UK based constituents won't be heard.
"The culture in the UK and the Nordic countries is not the same. That's why we need somebody else here."
Even for experts like Prof Marliere, the outcome of the election is difficult to predict.
"It's totally new. Nobody knows what is going to happen."
Registered French citizens in the Northern Europe constituency |
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|---|---|---|
| Country | French Consulate* | Electoral List** |
|
*As of 31 December 2011, **As of 29 Feb 2012 |
||
|
Denmark |
5,214 |
3,450 |
|
Estonia |
182 |
126 |
|
Finland |
2,569 |
1,596 |
|
Ireland |
8,881 |
5,799 |
|
Iceland |
341 |
244 |
|
Latvia |
193 |
123 |
|
Lithuania |
379 |
215 |
|
Norway |
5,034 |
3,337 |
|
UK |
123,306 |
80,750 |
|
Sweden |
6,329 |
4,312 |
|
The actual number of French people living in these countries is estimated to be significantly higher. |
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Source: www.bbc.co.uk
London 2012: Rebecca Adlington receives abusive message on Twitter - The Guardian
Rebecca Adlington has been receiving abusive messages on Twitter after revealing "nasty comments" meant the double Olympic champion would be using it sparingly during London 2012.
The 23-year-old was catapulted into the public eye after her triumphs in the 400 metres and 800m freestyle in Beijing, with the Mansfield-born swimmer feted on her return to Great Britain.
However, not everybody was so pleased – something she discovered the painful way. Now she does not read on-line interviews she has given and neither will she be using Twitter as much during the London Olympic Games.
On Sunday Adlington pasted a message that has been sent to her on Twitter, prefacing it with: "I had a perfect example of what has been said in the papers this week tweeted to me this morning. I apologise for the swearing when I RT it!"
She then posted: "How lovely is this person…" before retweeting a message to her which read: "@BeckAdlington you shark fin nosed d*******, you belong in that pool you f****** whale."
Adlington quickly received support from many of her Great Britain team‑mates. The former world 100m freestyle silver medallist Fran Halsall tweeted: "what a small insignificant life that person must lead", echoed by the former double Commonwealth champion Caitlin McClatchey, who wrote: "his parents must be so proud to have raised such a pathetic idiot! Well done for ur amazing 800 hun BOOM! Good luck today xx"
The Olympic open water bronze medallist Cassie Patten addressed the perpetrator directly, saying: "It must be hard for you, you obviously have achieved nothing in your life, as you feel the need to Insult @BeckAdlington."
It all follows the revelation by Adlington to a number of reporters that she has been subject to abuse on Twitter as well as negative comments online. She had said: "I love the block button on Twitter. I don't know how people expect to send a nasty comment and not get blocked.
"With Twitter I think it's one of those things if you like it like Liam [Tancock] who is on it every two minutes – 'just having my lunch, just doing this' – he loves it, he is like that in real life. Whereas I am on Twitter every now and again, I tweet here and there but not every day all the time.
"I think I will be going on every now and again but I won't be checking it.
"I want to stay focused – obviously the messages of support are absolutely amazing and I love reading all of those but you have got the chance of somebody saying something just to annoy you and you don't want that added stress. For myself, I think I'll tweet once it's over."
She added: "I used to [read articles] when it first happened but I am one of those people who then scroll down to the bottom and read the comments and I learned very quickly not to do that. Because it is awful and I get angry: even if there are 10 nice comments you always get one idiot.
"It makes you angry and frustrated. I've now given up because it upsets me or makes me angry."
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
I wish we could have some of that moral in the USA....
- Jae V, Virginia USA, 04/6/2012 02:23
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