Free Republic

London's Southwark Cathedral hosted its second annual "Grand Iftar Service" on Sunday evening, marking the anniversary of the London Bridge terror attack last year. In addition to the 11 a.m. Eucharist service, the church also held a 3 p.m. Service of Commemoration for the attack, and an 8 p.m. service to celebrate the Muslim service. The Iftar service stood out, however, as it marked the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It has not yet been reported whether or not the prayers associated with Ramadan were performed inside the cathedral, which would be a serious violation of Christian holy space. Hosting...

The cameras, which combine number plate reading technology with a global positioning satellite receiver, are similar to those used in roadworks. The AA said it believed the new system could cover a network of streets as opposed to a straight line, and was “probably geared up to zones in residential areas.” The Home Office is testing the cameras at two sites, one in Southwark, London, and the other A374 between Antony and Torpoint in Cornwall. The `SpeedSpike’ system, which calculates average speed between any two points in the network, has been developed by PIPS Technology Ltd, an American-owned company with...

It is a question which might baffle the greatest minds in detective fiction: what happened to the Bishop of Southwark last Tuesday night? Was he mugged on the way home to Tooting from a pre-Christmas party at the Irish embassy? The Rt Rev Tom Butler, 66, one of the Church of England's most senior bishops and a pillar of Thought for the Day on the BBC Today programme, says he has no idea. Others say he was seen sitting in the back of a Mercedes chucking children's toys out of the window and announcing: "I'm the Bishop of Southwark. It's...

Michael Collins' chronicle of South-East London looks for the roots of today's chav-bashing. The Likes of Us: A Biography of the White Working ClassMichael Collins Granta Books, 2004.South-East London has never enjoyed a good press. Guidebooks treat it as an afterthought, an appendix to the real business elsewhere in the capital. Historical Greenwich is mentioned, of course, and a handful of other tourist-friendly sights, but that's your lot. The days when the South Bank theatres were surrounded by syphilitic brothels and murderous backstreets are long gone, yet the stigma persists. This corner of the capital remains a world apart. In...