Jim Waterson
@jim.londoncentric.media
Journalist. Editor of @londoncentric.media, a modern news outlet covering London in the old-fashioned way: www.londoncentric.media jim@londoncentric.media
Reposted by Jim Waterson
NEW: Who was John Pond?
This August 2009 email exchange which was forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein included Mandelson, the PM's PPS Jeremy Heywood, the minister/adviser Shriti Vadera and... John Pond.
Two sources have told the BBC that John Pond was in fact Gordon Brown, then the PM
This August 2009 email exchange which was forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein included Mandelson, the PM's PPS Jeremy Heywood, the minister/adviser Shriti Vadera and... John Pond.
Two sources have told the BBC that John Pond was in fact Gordon Brown, then the PM
February 2, 2026 at 2:36 PM
NEW: Who was John Pond?
This August 2009 email exchange which was forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein included Mandelson, the PM's PPS Jeremy Heywood, the minister/adviser Shriti Vadera and... John Pond.
Two sources have told the BBC that John Pond was in fact Gordon Brown, then the PM
This August 2009 email exchange which was forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein included Mandelson, the PM's PPS Jeremy Heywood, the minister/adviser Shriti Vadera and... John Pond.
Two sources have told the BBC that John Pond was in fact Gordon Brown, then the PM
for connoisseurs of local journalism traffic farming, this is the latest frontier – you reprint ancient facts from Wikipedia and present them as news, in order to create curiosity gap headlines that appear in Google Discover / Apple News
February 2, 2026 at 2:12 PM
for connoisseurs of local journalism traffic farming, this is the latest frontier – you reprint ancient facts from Wikipedia and present them as news, in order to create curiosity gap headlines that appear in Google Discover / Apple News
Damn that person close to Mandelson must feel stupid now the email has been released.
January 30, 2026 at 4:38 PM
Damn that person close to Mandelson must feel stupid now the email has been released.
Unfortunately it appears the fire that has blocked trains out of Euston today is in a building that houses a hot yoga studio that promises "controlled heat". www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Chalk Farm fire disrupts Euston station services
There is major disruption on all rail services between Euston station and Watford Junction.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 30, 2026 at 11:59 AM
Unfortunately it appears the fire that has blocked trains out of Euston today is in a building that houses a hot yoga studio that promises "controlled heat". www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
My social video feeds are full of videos *describing* an interview between Tom Hardy and Keir Starmer that… didn’t happen. Everyone loves that Tom stuck it to him!
All that stuff about deepfakes being super realistic and it’s just an AI voice saying “Hardy delivered truth bombed”.
All that stuff about deepfakes being super realistic and it’s just an AI voice saying “Hardy delivered truth bombed”.
January 29, 2026 at 6:31 PM
My social video feeds are full of videos *describing* an interview between Tom Hardy and Keir Starmer that… didn’t happen. Everyone loves that Tom stuck it to him!
All that stuff about deepfakes being super realistic and it’s just an AI voice saying “Hardy delivered truth bombed”.
All that stuff about deepfakes being super realistic and it’s just an AI voice saying “Hardy delivered truth bombed”.
Labour government scraps long-planned upgrade of busiest interchange in UK without lifts, because London. Local Labour goes "guys what the hell, PS the Greens". A few million found pre-election for a quick bodge job.
(Declaration of interest: my back is broken from carrying prams up those stairs.)
(Declaration of interest: my back is broken from carrying prams up those stairs.)
January 29, 2026 at 12:37 PM
Labour government scraps long-planned upgrade of busiest interchange in UK without lifts, because London. Local Labour goes "guys what the hell, PS the Greens". A few million found pre-election for a quick bodge job.
(Declaration of interest: my back is broken from carrying prams up those stairs.)
(Declaration of interest: my back is broken from carrying prams up those stairs.)
Reposted by Jim Waterson
Nice work if you can get it.
PwC are paid £4.1m by the UK Government for a set of bookmarks you could vibe code in a few hours.
Public procurement is a racket.
mahadk.com/posts/ai-ski...
PwC are paid £4.1m by the UK Government for a set of bookmarks you could vibe code in a few hours.
Public procurement is a racket.
mahadk.com/posts/ai-ski...
The UK paid £4.1 million for a bookmarks site
Or, as they like to call it, the 'AI Skills Hub'. Which was built by PwC because of course it was
mahadk.com
January 28, 2026 at 11:57 PM
Nice work if you can get it.
PwC are paid £4.1m by the UK Government for a set of bookmarks you could vibe code in a few hours.
Public procurement is a racket.
mahadk.com/posts/ai-ski...
PwC are paid £4.1m by the UK Government for a set of bookmarks you could vibe code in a few hours.
Public procurement is a racket.
mahadk.com/posts/ai-ski...
ONS has worked out how to cope with Tesco Clubcard discounts, inflation's over lads, economy's booming. www.ft.com/content/8cf0...
ONS revamps UK inflation measure with supermarket scanner data
Statistics agency will use more than a billion supermarket checkout and online sales data to replace manual price collection
www.ft.com
January 28, 2026 at 3:38 PM
ONS has worked out how to cope with Tesco Clubcard discounts, inflation's over lads, economy's booming. www.ft.com/content/8cf0...
been trying to track down Waymo's self-driving hq in London, just going to be endlessly intriguing to see how the capital copes! Could be totally second nature normal to get a robotaxi to the pub by the start of next year. www.londoncentric.media/i/185941171/...
January 28, 2026 at 2:05 PM
been trying to track down Waymo's self-driving hq in London, just going to be endlessly intriguing to see how the capital copes! Could be totally second nature normal to get a robotaxi to the pub by the start of next year. www.londoncentric.media/i/185941171/...
I love a news story which is so obviously not the full story but you can basically fill in the gaps for your own amusement.
A pub landlord seems to be paying 10% commission on credit cards - which is vastly higher than any credit card processor charges, which is very odd.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Herefordshire pub landlord offers discount for cash payments as card charges soar
Alan Davies says he loses about £5 in transaction charges for every £50 made.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 28, 2026 at 1:20 PM
I love a news story which is so obviously not the full story but you can basically fill in the gaps for your own amusement.
Reposted by Jim Waterson
NEW: Former academic Matt Goodwin has been announced as Reform UK's candidate for the Gorton & Denton byelection.
January 27, 2026 at 2:09 PM
NEW: Former academic Matt Goodwin has been announced as Reform UK's candidate for the Gorton & Denton byelection.
Talking about this on LBC in 10 minutes with @mrjamesob.bsky.social (and there’s much more to come on this story in the coming days and weeks)
This is one of the strangest and most screwed-up stories I’ve worked on. www.londoncentric.media/p/tiktok-lon...
Who's secretly filming fake TikToks inside Londoners' homes?
We tracked down the viral video account invading people's houses to spread false claims about immigrants.
www.londoncentric.media
January 26, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Talking about this on LBC in 10 minutes with @mrjamesob.bsky.social (and there’s much more to come on this story in the coming days and weeks)
Anyone on London Bluesky happen to work in Park Royal, where I am about to die by becoming the first person to cycle it? Or alternatively, have spotted self-driving Waymos out and about?
January 26, 2026 at 10:46 AM
Anyone on London Bluesky happen to work in Park Royal, where I am about to die by becoming the first person to cycle it? Or alternatively, have spotted self-driving Waymos out and about?
Reposted by Jim Waterson
I am disappointed by today’s NEC decision and concerned about its potential impact on the important elections ahead of us.
To whoever becomes Labour’s candidate and to our members in Manchester and Tameside: you will have my full support in this fight and I will be there whenever you need me.
1/2
To whoever becomes Labour’s candidate and to our members in Manchester and Tameside: you will have my full support in this fight and I will be there whenever you need me.
1/2
January 25, 2026 at 5:47 PM
I am disappointed by today’s NEC decision and concerned about its potential impact on the important elections ahead of us.
To whoever becomes Labour’s candidate and to our members in Manchester and Tameside: you will have my full support in this fight and I will be there whenever you need me.
1/2
To whoever becomes Labour’s candidate and to our members in Manchester and Tameside: you will have my full support in this fight and I will be there whenever you need me.
1/2
Thinking of the hundreds of London lobbyists, architects, PR advisers, engineers, etc who managed to buy a house in Clapham after a few years work on whatever this was.
Saudi Arabia to scale back Neom megaproject ft.trib.al/fdrazIJ
Saudi Arabia to scale back Neom megaproject
Review expected to propose a significant redesign after years of delays and overruns
ft.trib.al
January 25, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Thinking of the hundreds of London lobbyists, architects, PR advisers, engineers, etc who managed to buy a house in Clapham after a few years work on whatever this was.
Reposted by Jim Waterson
The investigation was also peak Britishness.
"First, we identified the design of the rubbish bins visible in some of the TikToks, which confirmed which council area the video had been filmed in."
"First, we identified the design of the rubbish bins visible in some of the TikToks, which confirmed which council area the video had been filmed in."
This is one of the strangest and most screwed-up stories I’ve worked on. www.londoncentric.media/p/tiktok-lon...
Who's secretly filming fake TikToks inside Londoners' homes?
We tracked down the viral video account invading people's houses to spread false claims about immigrants.
www.londoncentric.media
January 24, 2026 at 11:28 AM
The investigation was also peak Britishness.
"First, we identified the design of the rubbish bins visible in some of the TikToks, which confirmed which council area the video had been filmed in."
"First, we identified the design of the rubbish bins visible in some of the TikToks, which confirmed which council area the video had been filmed in."
This is one of the strangest and most screwed-up stories I’ve worked on. www.londoncentric.media/p/tiktok-lon...
Who's secretly filming fake TikToks inside Londoners' homes?
We tracked down the viral video account invading people's houses to spread false claims about immigrants.
www.londoncentric.media
January 24, 2026 at 6:55 AM
This is one of the strangest and most screwed-up stories I’ve worked on. www.londoncentric.media/p/tiktok-lon...
My kid is well into the Great Fire of London so I’m just checking out some facts… and if you ever suffer from imposter syndrome or a fear of screwing up at work, check out the confidence of this guy.
January 23, 2026 at 3:17 PM
My kid is well into the Great Fire of London so I’m just checking out some facts… and if you ever suffer from imposter syndrome or a fear of screwing up at work, check out the confidence of this guy.
This piece is good on how the people running the US are pure posters. They're obsessed with posting on Twitter, finding something new to post on there, and running the FBI is just a great source of new #content. Cool vision of the 'everyone is just a content creator' future we're almost already at.
the most extraordinary piece of reporting: a year inside the FBI (and yes there are implications here for British security- the Five Eyes bit is bonkers) www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Kash Patel’s FBI Is Making America Less Safe, Current and Former Employees Say
Forty-five current and former employees on the changes they say are undermining the agency and making America less safe.
www.nytimes.com
January 23, 2026 at 7:02 AM
This piece is good on how the people running the US are pure posters. They're obsessed with posting on Twitter, finding something new to post on there, and running the FBI is just a great source of new #content. Cool vision of the 'everyone is just a content creator' future we're almost already at.
Public inquiry into how every Traitors task is mysteriously completed exactly 25 seconds before the end.
January 22, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Public inquiry into how every Traitors task is mysteriously completed exactly 25 seconds before the end.
Pitch: deep dive into why Tony’s chocolate is suddenly heavily discounted at corner shops and what’s going on there.
January 22, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Pitch: deep dive into why Tony’s chocolate is suddenly heavily discounted at corner shops and what’s going on there.
To break up the doom and chaos, here's an interview with the woman who designed London's newest public space about how it came together, the difficulties of reclaiming three acres from the Thames, and what to look out for on the Bazalgette Embankment. www.londoncentric.media/i/185186036/...
London's newest public space
Plus: Will someone rid London of these troublesome trees, London Standard to merge with the Independent, Lime bikes could have legally-mandated minimum safety and maintenance standards.
www.londoncentric.media
January 21, 2026 at 2:41 PM
To break up the doom and chaos, here's an interview with the woman who designed London's newest public space about how it came together, the difficulties of reclaiming three acres from the Thames, and what to look out for on the Bazalgette Embankment. www.londoncentric.media/i/185186036/...
Fire on London's Loughborough Estate this morning. Seemingly now under control per @pollysmythe.bsky.social who is there on the ground, but will focus attention on an estate we've investigated wild claims of corruption and illegal chemical storage: www.londoncentric.media/p/the-london...
January 21, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Fire on London's Loughborough Estate this morning. Seemingly now under control per @pollysmythe.bsky.social who is there on the ground, but will focus attention on an estate we've investigated wild claims of corruption and illegal chemical storage: www.londoncentric.media/p/the-london...
INFLATION RISES AGAIN, GO THE PUSH ALERTS TO TENS OF MILLIONS OF PHONES
*Possibly to an oddity with the specific pre-Christmas day when airfares were checked on Kayak by ONS staff, something I only know because I was reading Alphaville the other day. www.ft.com/content/fdad...
*Possibly to an oddity with the specific pre-Christmas day when airfares were checked on Kayak by ONS staff, something I only know because I was reading Alphaville the other day. www.ft.com/content/fdad...
Will it be another plane weird UK inflation print?
Blame on current air fares
www.ft.com
January 21, 2026 at 7:04 AM
INFLATION RISES AGAIN, GO THE PUSH ALERTS TO TENS OF MILLIONS OF PHONES
*Possibly to an oddity with the specific pre-Christmas day when airfares were checked on Kayak by ONS staff, something I only know because I was reading Alphaville the other day. www.ft.com/content/fdad...
*Possibly to an oddity with the specific pre-Christmas day when airfares were checked on Kayak by ONS staff, something I only know because I was reading Alphaville the other day. www.ft.com/content/fdad...
Lord Lebedev's Standard to be merged into the slightly-less-Lebedev-controlled Independent business. More job cuts on the way, less than 18 months after Standard's big relaunch. Story implies annual loss of c£10m. Solidarity to the people at the Standard facing redundancy. www.ft.com/content/e809...
Independent to take over operations of London’s Standard newspaper
Media group co-owned by Evgeny Lebedev plans to retain print product and ‘future-proof’ the business
www.ft.com
January 20, 2026 at 11:03 AM
Lord Lebedev's Standard to be merged into the slightly-less-Lebedev-controlled Independent business. More job cuts on the way, less than 18 months after Standard's big relaunch. Story implies annual loss of c£10m. Solidarity to the people at the Standard facing redundancy. www.ft.com/content/e809...