Life As We Live It

Posted on Lord Mayor Of London #695 2023-2024, Life As We Live It, The City of London & Broad Street Ward

40 Remarkable Individuals Awarded Freedom Of The City Of London In Group Ceremony – Number 1

For the first time since 1899, dozens of people have been awarded the Freedom of the City of London today. The ceremony saw 40 recipients from a broad spectrum of sectors honoured at the Mansion House for their outstanding contributions in their respective fields.

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Posted on Lord Mayor Of London #695 2023-2024, Life As We Live It, The City of London & Broad Street Ward

Cycling – Less Manic, Less Panic

Sadly, as a cyclist myself, the anti-social behaviour of many London cyclists is becoming socialised. Thus we had an enforcement morning today from 08:00 to 10:00 at Bank with the following resources:

  • City of London Police Cycle Team (1 sergeant & 7 constables)
  • Neighbourhood Policing officers (NHP) and crime prevention stand
  • Road Policing officers (with vehicle and solo motorcycle)
  • Lorry/HGV for an Exchanging Places experience (sitting in a real state-of-the-art lorry cab to see what can’t be seen of the cyclists when driving)
  • Cycle mechanic to carry out basic bicycle maintenance for commuters for free. 
  • London Fire Brigade – to explain dangers around e-bike battery storage.
  • Corporation Road Safety Team
  • Bike-register – security cycle marking for free (usually £20)
  • Student officers positioned at junctions to pass on safety message to cyclists and explain why the roadshow is here and the benefits of attending

It was impressive to see squads of police trying to stop errant cyclists. My personal estimate is that far more than half ‘got away’, sometimes nonchalantly cycling round 50 or so cyclists and hi-vis officers at the King William Street lights, running those red lights, going up on pavements, cycling the wrong way down the street, and then evading waving police officers. There really is a problem.

Results? 129 cyclists were stopped and offered a ticket or attending a ‘road show’.

  • 120 sent over and attended the road show – this was the main aim, so they were given option of ticket or attend road show
  • 8 tickets (not bad considering all the police there and they had option of going to road show)
  • 1 arrest (s24 PACE 19834 – as they refused to give details after contravening a red light)
  • 7 e-bikes/e-scooters seized for destruction
  • 44 bicycles security marked
  • 200 plus key messages around cycle safety and crime prevention

Sadly, during the morning, just outside Bank, a woman was run over by an unregulated scooter and put into intensive care.

All partners that attended were pleased with the event, getting their own key messages out and thanked us for arranging the event. My sincere thanks to Deputy James Thomson (Chairman of the Police Committee), Commander Khan, and the entire Corporation and Police teams.

Media coverage:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/cyclists-fined-city-police-london-bank-junction-b1152140.html

Nearly one thousand cyclists given fixed penalty notices in crackdown by City of London Police

https://road.cc/content/news/almost-1000-cyclists-fined-jumping-red-lights-307887

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/are-cyclists-who-jump-red-lights-really-the-problem

Posted on Lord Mayor Of London #695 2023-2024, Life As We Live It

Amariconi Shuttlecoqs Are The Solution

Chemists claim that alcohol really isn’t a problem, it’s a solution. Here are two to try that the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress composed for the Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch. And try out the Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Masala too …

LORD MAYOR’S COCKTAIL

THE
AMARICONI

A subtle re-styling of the infamous Negroni.
The Amariconi draws on the Lord Mayor’s
multinational heritage and his love of
inventing Italian bitters cocktails.

Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whiskey, Campari,
Cranberry Juice

Stirred through ice, garnished with dry
orange & a cinnamon stick and served
in an Old-Fashioned glass.

THE LADY MAYORESS’S
COCKTAIL

THE
SHUTTLECOQ

With the famous digestif from the Lady
Mayoress’s country of birth as its base,
the Shuttlecoq is a reference to one of
her favourite cocktails and her love of
badminton.

Jägermeister, Kahlua, Double Cream

Shaken & double strained, garnished with
fresh mint & coffee beans and served in a
Martini glass.

Posted on Life As We Live It

A Witter Shade Of Ale

Having teased Elisabeth these many years about her hair slowly becoming a ‘whiter shade of blonde’, we had to placate her with a wheat beer this year. Not a lot of brewing time given all the Mayoralty commitments, but off we went. We laid it down on 6 January with an OG of 1049 and sampled today at FG 1000 for an implied 6.43% ABV. There was a touch of added cardamom, but otherwise just the usual dosing with odds and sods.

Result? Not our finest, but our competitive brewing neighbour kindly said it was OK. However, well drunk with some great music!

from left to right - Dan Robertson, Mahari Hay, the Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli
Posted on Lord Mayor Of London #695 2023-2024, Life As We Live It

Power Of Inclusion – Accent Bias

Sadly, I sound the same in any language as I did when I was about seven, so I truly sympathise with people who are pigeonholed by their accent – https://www.cityam.com/50-city-businesses-gather-to-discuss-breaking-down-bias-in-the-workplace/. [In the photo above, Dan Robertson, Mahari Hay, and I struggle towards mutual comprehension (!)]

Remarks to: Power Of Inclusion Breakfast, 14 March 2024, at Howden.

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Posted on Lord Mayor Of London #695 2023-2024, Life As We Live It, Long Finance, Technology, The City of London & Broad Street Ward, Gresham College & Other Education Interests

What Happens If We Burn All The Carbon?

I am delighted that Dr Kevin Parker’s and my paper has come out, “What happens if we ‘burn all the carbon’? carbon reserves, carbon budgets, and policy options for governments“, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry in Environmental Science: Atmospheres.