Hello, I’m Neil. Conservative London Assembly Member for Croydon & Sutton. Geek, saxophonist, pontificator, runner, podcaster, Brompton rider.

Croydon and Sutton
Neil Garratt AM retweeted
London deserves better 👇🏽
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Neil Garratt AM retweeted
How many times can you count Lord Khan avoiding questions from @NeilGarratt and @Councillorsuzie?
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This is so reminiscent of the dysfunctional NASA exposed by the Rogers Report: engineers pushed into risky decisions by management that didn't understand the engineering. For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.
When you read an official investigation, bear in mind they are authorized on the basis of "... never open an inquiry, audit, or review without knowing what evidence it will surface..." Considering that, this about the UK electricity system over the summer is quite something:
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It took the avoidable deaths of 7 astronauts and the resulting investigation to shake NASA out of its trance. And only then because insiders were able to tip off Feynman who, being an outsider and a professional nuisance, was beyond the industry omerta's reach.
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Don't be sad for what you've lost, be glad for what you had. It's hard not to feel a bit sad though: with Marko already gone and now Floor, it's the end of a huge era for Nightwish. Sad times.
The Finnish symphonic metal giants claim it was a mutual decision loudersound.com/news/floor-j…
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Absolute legends at the top of their game. Nightwish, Storytime live 2015. I am the story that will read you real Every memory that you hold dear I am the voice of Never-Neverland The innocence, the dreams of every man Searching heavens for another Earth piped.video/ZByk7pnpBMk?si=n1oA…
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Another London bus collides with a building. "A single-decker route W19 bus smashed into a tech repair shop earlier this morning...At about 7.30am the single-decker collided with a car on Markhouse Road before smashing into the laptop repair business." mylondon.news/news/east-lond…
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What a truly awful experience. The Pedicabs (London) Act 2024 gives the London Mayor powers to regulate both the drivers and vehicles, it became law on 25th April 2024. Despite asking for these powers for years, 2 years on the Mayor still hasn't enforced them.
Yet another London failure. I am a member of a group who advises people about what to do and where to go in London. A young American woman in the group had an appalling experience at the weekend. She went to the theatre to see a musical. Her friends wanted to go out afterwards but she preferred to go back to the hotel. She could not get a black cab and did not want to risk a minicab. So she took a rickshaw. You know the type: lit up like Blackpool illuminations and blaring out music. She thought they were licensed. They are not: the mayor has been talking about that for years but it won’t be in place until 2027. Anyway, just her and one “not English” guy cycling. As they came closer to the hotel she said they ended up in a really quiet alley. He stopped and suggested taking her photo using her phone. She refused. She did not want to hand over her phone and did not feel safe. They had quite an argument about it. She said she would just pay and walk the rest of the way. Then two other men appeared. Now she really was scared and offered the £30 agreed fare cash. The driver (and the two men) insisted that she pay by credit card. They started to say that she had to pay double if she paid in cash. At that point, a couple turned the corner and instantly the two men vanished, the driver took the £30 and she was left alone. If that couple had not turned up I don’t know what would have happened. She had a photo from inside the rickshaw and is submitting it to the police today but it is not easy to identify the driver. This is not the first time I have heard of such a scam. One tourist was told the fare came to £200 because it was “a tour” and not a ride to the restaurant. Despite it being no such thing. London scammers in plain sight.
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Mandatory pedicab driver licensing akin to private hire drivers will finally come into force at the end of this month. Vehicle licensing next February. Tragically, too late to save this woman from her terrifying experience. Exactly why @twocitiesnickie campaigned for this.
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Please do read the account of what happened to that women who got into a pedicab alone. Driven into an alley way, suddenly two more men arrive, clearly accomplices of the driver. I hate to think what they were planning if the passers-by hadn't disturbed them. Sickening.
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If true, this is genuinely shocking. Any other political party would already have thrown this person out, yet I can't find any statement from the Greens about this. Surely they aren't trying to brazen it out?
EXCL: The creator of the ‘Palestine poppy’ is an Oxford-educated paediatrician who has written books for Muslim teenagers justifying stoning and warning that homosexuality is ‘a test from Allah’. The Spectator can now reveal that Abdul Qader Ismail is an active member of Greens for Palestine and co-sponsored the group’s ‘Zionism is Racism’ policy. He is also the author of a book series titled An Introduction to Challenging Topics for Muslim Teens. The books provide justifications (within specific conditions) for stoning, crucification, cutting off hands and female genital mutilation. Ismail describes same-sex attraction as a ‘test from Allah’ and says homosexual relationships are wrong. He writes: ‘Even if we have homosexual feelings, we would not be able to act upon them without displeasing Allah… Having homosexual feelings is not a sin, and if we pray to Allah to help us and we do not act upon our feelings, Allah will be pleased with us.’
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Check this out if you haven't already - if you've had a bit of a struggle session getting a London bus, you can retrace exactly what happened. Every route, every day, with each new day added around 6am the following morning.
I’ve made another cool thing - bus replay viewer. Pick a route and a day, watch every bus, see where it was and when. Large gap between services? Randomly thrown off half way? Want to see what impact congestion or a diversion is having? Wonder no more. neilgarratt.com/campaigns/bu…
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It's also just quite fascinating to see just how massive the whole network is: almost 9000 buses on 675 routes making 94,000 journeys every day, with a burst water main, a broken down car, or a blue light incident always throwing a spanner in somewhere! neilgarratt.com/campaigns/bu…
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Neil Garratt AM retweeted
One of my innovations on the Budget & Performance Ctte is to challenge the GLA groupthink by getting outside experts to come in and give their perspective. Always a good session, tune in live from 10am - 1pm tomorrow. 👇
How should the Mayor prioritise spending across policing and transport in his 2027-28 budget? Join #AssemblyBudget tomorrow to hear what external experts think. Find out more: london.gov.uk/mayors-budget-…
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Completely ridiculous nonsense. I love it!
Only in London! 😂 Hundreds of people gathered at London Fields on Saturday evening to watch two men dressed as medieval knights jousting on e-bikes. The event was organised by east London artists Jack Carden and Camtholomew the First, who reportedly advertised it as a joke before it unexpectedly took off. #London #LondonFields #EastLondon
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The political fashion victims who like to claim "ACAB" should witness the violent chaos of a world without police. Not very nice, is it? Respect to French Comic Book Guy for his courage and dignity, appropriately his name seems to be Pierre.
J’ai tellement de la peine et de la rage devant ces images terrifiantes du gérant d’un magasin Micromania à Nice complètement désemparé par le pillage de son magasin..🙄 #17Octobre
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Neil Garratt AM retweeted
How should the Mayor prioritise spending across policing and transport in his 2027-28 budget? Join #AssemblyBudget tomorrow to hear what external experts think. Find out more: london.gov.uk/mayors-budget-…
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Neil Garratt AM retweeted
Enforcement of some UK laws and rules is so bad that powers like this can be presented as ‘new’ when they’ve already been in place for years. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm89…
🚨 NEW: The Government has announced headphone dodgers on trains will face fines of up to £1,000 as a nationwide campaign launches today
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