VICE UKRSS feed for https://www.vice.com/enhttps://www.vice.com/en%3Flocale%3Den_ukenThu, 22 Feb 2024 11:54:33 GMT<![CDATA[Landlords Are Enforcing No-Sex Tenancy Clauses Now]]>https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/n7ema8/no-sex-tenancy-clauses-landlordsThu, 22 Feb 2024 11:54:33 GMTPicture this: You’ve just moved to London and finally got your own place. It’s the first time you’re living without your parents, you’ve found a cute room in a central location and your flatmates don’t even seem like freaks. There’s just one problem: Your landlord won’t let you have sex. Yes, really.

This is what happened to Lucy, 23, who, like everyone else in this piece, is using a pseudonym for privacy reasons. After moving into a shared house with three other girls, she started to notice signs in the communal areas banning “music after 11PM”, “house parties” and, crucially, “loud sex”.

Brits are no strangers to outrageous landlords, but even this takes the piss. We’ve watched as landlords have passed off single rooms as entire flats, become influencers who vlog their evictions, and even charged their tenants for having friends over. Just when you thought they couldn’t sink any lower, they’ve come up with a new way to ruin your life: no-sex tenancy clauses.

Lucy says she found it funny at first. “I thought how are they even going to police that?’ But the landlord does inspections himself and he actually mentions it when he visits,” she tells VICE. “We’re all girls and he starts lecturing us about ‘youths of today’ being hyper sexual, and telling us to save ourselves for marriage.”

Obviously, Lucy’s sex life, or that of her flatmates, is “literally none of his business” as she says, but there’s not much she can do about it. “This room was a steal and it's so hard to find a place these days. It’s creepy but it’s just something I’m going to have to put up with.”

Disturbingly, some tenants have found no-sex clauses actually written into their tenancy agreements. Sometimes it’s expressed overtly, at other times disguised as a ban on overnight guests.

Chris, 24, rents an attic room in London and shares a communal space with two other flatmates, siblings, who are also his live-in landlords. “Their parents frequently visit,” he says, “and about four months into living here, their mum overheard me having sex with my girlfriend and complained about it to them.” His flatmates later slipped a note under his bedroom door, asking him to not have sex in the house, or host any overnight guests in general. “I confronted them in our shared kitchen and they kind of went ape shit, telling me it’s ‘wrong’ to have sex because it’s ‘their house’, which I think says everything. Landlords don’t look at tenants or lodgers like they actually deserve to be there.”

Chris looked up his tenancy agreement straight away, assuming he’d be able to argue his way out of it, but it turned out it was in there all along. “They’d actually banned overnight guests,” he says. “They didn’t seem to have a problem with my girlfriend staying over until it was about sex, though.” Chris is now adhering to these bizarre anti-sex rules as he doesn’t have anywhere else to live.

The question is: How can this happen? The laws surrounding no-sex tenancy clauses are basically non-existent in the UK. After all, tenancy laws already struggle to cover basics like protection from unjust evictions or rent increases. According to Qarrar Somji, director of Witan Solicitors (who specialise in resolving residential landlord and tenant disputes), tenants with live-in landlords, like Chris, don’t have a lot of rights. There’s actually nothing stopping live-in landlords from banning overnight guests.

Those with live-out landlords, like Lucy, have tenancy agreements which afford more protections. But, Somji explains, these are “essentially just contracts, meaning landlords and tenants have the right to agree to whatever terms they wish, unless it’s illegal.” It turns out sex-bans are legally sound, somehow. “The law does provide some protection to the tenant, because the landlord needs a court order to evict [them for this],” Somji says, meaning a judge would need to agree with the landlord that a tenant having sex in his own house is a problem.

The problem is, landlords don’t even need to resort to this. As Nick Ballard, head organiser at ACORN, tells VICE: Thanks to no-fault evictions – the ones the UK government has repeatedly promised and failed to ban – “landlords can’t say they’re evicting you for having sex, but they can boot you out regardless”. Without any requirement for a reason, landlords don’t need to admit they’re making a tenant homeless because they’re a top shagger.

This is something brand manager Cai, 33, has feared greatly in the past – he’s had two different landlords try to ban or restrict sex in the property he privately rented. “One landlord made a comment about the ‘queues of men’ always outside the house. It’s safe to say I did not make people queue to fuck me, and the comment felt homophobic,” Cai tells VICE. “They also suggested that having an active sex life puts people and property at risk, so I moved out.”

The interrogation didn’t stop there, though. “They then tried to tell me there were ‘silicone lube marks’ on the floor, which I’ve never spilled on the floor in my life,” says Cai. “I contested, letting them know that silicone lube would actually turn a wooden floor into an ice rink, and they let it go.” In another property, his landlord asked him how many men were staying at the house and for how long, due to the tenancy being for only one person. “I ended up leaving because of the weird fixation on my lifestyle,” he adds.

Ballard says tenants have a legal right to the “quiet enjoyment” of their home, meaning landlords can’t interfere with their tenants’ daily life. Sex isn’t written into that right, specifically – perhaps, because no one ever expected landlords to be so bothered about everyone’s sex habits – but most of us would file sex under “enjoyment”, so it could be a breach. In fact, even the World Health Organization considers sex to be part of our overall quality of life; as important as social activity, sleep quality, and, ironically, our home environment.

But Ballard adds that, ultimately, as long as no-fault evictions exist, landlords will have the power to evict tenants if they don’t approve of their sex lives, regardless.

The control landlords are wielding over the sex lives of their tenants speaks to how little protections renters have in the current market. Rising anti-sex sentiment and a lack of housing protection are both products of a failing capitalist system, and now they’re working hand-in-hand to harangue people. What’s next? Sex applications? Fees per one night stand? Actually, let’s not give them ideas.

We can’t believe we’re actually having to say this, but if you want to bang in your own bed without your landlord getting involved, you should be allowed to. Whether it's with your partner or an orgy with strangers, your sex life is simply none of your landlord's business and we should work towards rent reforms where they can’t kick us out for it. Maybe we need enact a ‘Right to Shag’ bill, along with our ever growing list of rent reform needs?

@bethmayashley

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n7ema8Beth AshleyBecky BurgumhousingSexlandlordsrentingprivacyEvictionshousing priceshousing policyLondon
<![CDATA[Life as Big Keith from ‘The Office’: Ewen MacIntosh Reflects On His Defining Role]]>https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/4avq49/life-as-big-keith-from-the-office-ewen-macintosh-reflects-on-his-defining-roleWed, 21 Feb 2024 10:15:00 GMTEwen MacIntosh passed away on February 21st, 2024 at the age of 50. In light of his passing, VICE are republishing this interview from 2021 with the man that The Office creator Ricky Gervais praised as “an absolute original”.

Actors pride themselves on being versatile, moving seamlessly from one role to the next. But some inadvertently become typecast or pigeonholed, one performance enduring in the public consciousness for years to come. It’s possible for a single character to eclipse the rest and define your career, as Ewen MacIntosh knows all too well.

Twenty years ago, he played the laconic Keith Bishop in The Office, a mockumentary that defied expectations to become a classic, living on through parody, knowing references and meme culture. (It’s also number 11 on VICE’s Best British TV Shows of the Century.) There were only 14 episodes in total, ending with the Christmas specials broadcast in December of 2003, but they changed Ewen’s life. He was working in market research while hoping to break into the entertainment business full-time, and Keith made that possible

Ewen wasn’t one of the big stars of The Office. Far from it. However, while his screen time was limited, Keith certainly made his presence felt. With his slow-paced speech and varied interests (Peak Practice, wet T-shirt competitions and Scotch eggs), he became a fan favourite. More than just an eczema-afflicted accounts expert, he was a superstar DJ and pitch-perfect Ali G impersonator.

An astute cultural commentator (“Fanny means your arse over there, not your minge”) and a generous lover (“I very tenderly explain to them that I will guarantee them at least one orgasm”), Keith would share his wisdom on any topic. Two decades on, how does Ewen feel about still being associated with him and enjoying a curious kind of fame as result?

VICE: Hi Ewen. I had to remind myself not to call you Keith then, because that’s what I instinctively think of you as. Is that a common problem? Ewen MacIntosh: I wouldn’t say it’s common, but it’s recurring. It’s even happened on sets, which is the last place you’d expect. They feel awful about it as well, which is amusing, because I’m not really that bothered. It’s a little bit unprofessional, but it’s not something I’m particularly arsed about. If you were working with Ian McKellen, and you called him Gandalf, you’d probably be out of a job pretty quick.

**Is there any overlap between you and Keith?
**Well, we look identical and have a similar voice, so I’d say there’s quite a lot of overlap. Maybe not personality-wise.

**How did you get the role of Keith?
**There was no specific role when I started. With the original script, a lot of the lines just said “office worker”. Ricky [Gervais] and Steve [Merchant] wanted the office workers to be actors, rather than extras, because they didn’t know where the camera might be, or where someone might be sat, at any point, so you might have to suddenly do a line.

**How did your role develop?
**We filmed the first series in order, roughly, in terms of the interior stuff. The first morning it was Ricky introducing the new guy to everyone. He did a little bit of improv with me, where he went, “Oh, here they are, the number bods. They’re mental.” I just sort of stared at him and he started laughing. Then we did it again and he pointed at me and went, “Especially that one.” He just liked my take on it, I guess. He gave me more of the office worker lines and it grew from there.

**There was famously a lot of corpsing on set. Were there any scenes that were particularly difficult to film?
**My first scene with Martin [Freeman], where I eat the Scotch egg – we had trouble doing that for some reason. It took ages to get that done. I got through a lot of Scotch eggs.

**I’ve always wondered about the Scotch eggs. Why was it decided that they would be Keith’s signature food?
**I don’t know if anyone can remember, but I wasn’t told about it. The props guy nipped out and bought them last minute.

**Has your willingness to buy them been compromised by playing Keith?
**I kind of feel the same about them as I do about sausage rolls or pork pies. If they’re in a buffet, I might partake, but I don’t have any in my fridge, most of the time. You don’t come across them that often really.

**Did Ricky and Steve give you much instruction on how to play Keith? Or did that come from you?
**I knew it was a mock documentary, and I was a big fan of Spinal Tap. I always remember Christopher Guest, playing Nigel Tufnel, would just chew gum and look vacant. I thought, ‘I’ll try that and see what happens.’ It worked out. If I ever meet Christopher Guest, I’ll definitely remember to thank him for my career.

When The Office first aired, what do you remember about the response to the show in general, and your character in particular?It was a very slow burn. It wasn’t until the first series was repeated that it started to get a bit of heat. The second series was when it really took off. Even then, it was a good couple of years before I was getting recognised a lot. It died down and then it came back again. I was in a couple of episodes of Little Britain, and there were three or four years in the mid-2000s when I was getting recognised on the street much more for that. Nowadays, that’s gone. It’s all The Office again. There’s something weird in the zeitgeist where shows float away and then float back again. It definitely wasn’t one straight line on a graph.

**How do you feel about being recognised as Keith? How often does that happen?
**A lot less since masks came in. Before this all kicked off, I’d get recognised quite a lot. I’m used to it, because it’s been so many years now. But I’m lucky in that at least I didn’t play a villain in a soap or a paedophile in a big cop show. No one’s spitting at me. Everyone’s always really nice and friendly.

**When people recognise you, what kind of things do they say?
**The two questions I used to get asked the most, when civilisation was still a thing and you interacted with people, were probably, “What’s Ricky Gervais really like?” and, “Do you actually like Scotch eggs?”

**What is Ricky Gervais really like?
**He’s pretty normal, really. He’s like David Brent without any of David Brent’s opinions. If David Brent was quite a liberal, animal-loving vegan, and wasn’t sexist or racist, then that would be what Ricky’s like.

**Is it weird to see how famous he’s become?
**Not so much Ricky, because he basically still does the same thing he was doing on The Office, which is writing and directing himself in comedies, whereas Martin Freeman now does Hollywood blockbusters, playing a hobbit, which is a bit weirder. Martin was the star of the highest-grossing film of all time. That’s a bit weird, because back then he was a known actor, but he wasn’t really a star. Then he went on to become amazingly high-profile.

**How does it feel to be remembered for a role you first played 20 years ago?
**It’s made me money, so I can’t really complain. I’m very proud I was in it. I think it holds up well, and long may it continue. I do these video messages [on Cameo] now, which are great fun. People always want a message from Keith, never from me. He’s still getting me work, which is quite amazing when you think about it. When the lockdowns started, I was doing about 30 a week. Now it’s down to maybe ten or 20.

**If you had to pick one line that defines Keith, what would it be?
**For someone who just can’t handle a social situation, or is always putting his foot in his mouth, it’s one of his lesser-known ones. They’re having a meeting and Gareth’s asking for suggestions for the Christmas party, and Keith says, “Invite girls. Not the girls that work here. Other girls. Pretty girls.” He says it in front of three of the girls who work there! It’s typical Keith, wading straight in without thinking.

**I suppose Keith sees himself as a bit of a ladies’ man. Did you ever feel awkward delivering his lines about sex?
**At the time I didn’t. We knew we were satirising what happened in workplaces, because that sort of language and behaviour did happen. Now, you’d be sacked. Some of the stuff that Gareth and Keith say, you’d be out the door. I didn’t feel bad, because I knew we were taking the piss out of that sort of culture.

How did your career develop after The Office**?
**Immediately after The Office, I focused more on writing for a while, which, in retrospect, was probably a bad idea. But at the time, me and the guys I was writing with had a lot of irons in the fire. It didn’t go the way we wanted it to, and I got a little bit tired of that part of the industry, which I think is an incestuous and not very nice place to work. If I’d focused more on my acting career straight after The Office, I might have got better roles, but it has definitely helped get me work, because a lot of writers and directors coming through were fans of it.

**As a relatively minor character, why has Keith stayed with fans of the show?
**I never really thought about it, but then someone mentioned to me that him, Brent, Gareth – and maybe Finchy – are the only characters who get laughs. So even though Tim, Dawn and the bosses are bigger characters, they’re playing it straight.

**Is it strange to think that, in some sense, you will always be Keith to so many people?
**I’m very much at peace with it. I always remember the fact that Leonard Nimoy wrote two autobiographies. The first one, quite early on in his life, was I Am Not Spock. Then the one he wrote years later was I Am Spock. I feel you come to terms with it, and you accept it. You can actually be quite happy and proud that you’re associated with something that’s made a lot of people happy. There’s maybe the odd day here and there where you want to get away from it, but that’s easy because you just stay in and read a book or something.

Why do you think The Office has endured quite so well?I think because of its quality, really. It just got to people. It got under their skin. I don’t think it’s dated. I think it still looks quite relevant. I think it works really well in memes, which is quite important. I think a lot of people take pride in introducing their children to it, or their younger siblings or whatever, when they hit a certain age. I just found out a few weeks ago that my niece, who’s 16, has watched it. I was absolutely mortified.

**Why were you mortified about her watching it?
**It’s looking at Keith now, out of context, and thinking he’s a monster. For a 16-year-old girl, looking at that and not understanding that that’s how people used to behave, it must look a bit odd! The last time we were all there, my brother took me to one side and told me she’d watched The Office. I was like, ‘Oh no.’ But she said she enjoyed it. If she wants to discuss it, she can, but I don’t want to open up any talks at the moment.

@seanccole

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4avq49Sean ColeEmma GarlandTVThe OfficeTelevisionACTINGMy Life as...
<![CDATA[Russian Pilot Who Stole Helicopter to Defect Found Shot to Death in Spain]]>https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/dy3jnz/maxim-kuzminov-russian-pilot-defected-ukraine-shot-spainTue, 20 Feb 2024 15:09:31 GMTSpanish police Tuesday confirmed that Maxim Kuzminov, a Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with a helicopter last year, was found dead riddled with bullets in the car park of his home in Spain.

Kuzminov, 28, commanded a Russian Mi-8 helicopter until August 2023, when he landed inside Ukrainian lines as part of an agreement with Ukrainian military intelligence to deliver the helicopter in exchange for $500,000 and a new identity. Two crew members, unaware of the plot, were killed by Ukrainian forces after trying to escape capture.

On Monday, Ukrainian intelligence and Russian state media outlets said that Kuzminov had been murdered near Alicante, a resort city on Spain’s south east coast on February 13th, but because of the false identity provided by Ukraine, Spanish police could not confirm Kuzminov was the victim until conducting a fingerprint check.

Spanish investigators have determined Kuzminov’s body was found by a neighbor at around 6.30pm in the parking garage of his residential building in a village outside Alicante. Forensic investigations determined that Kuzminov had been shot six times before the assassins ran over his body as they escaped the scene by car. A burned vehicle believed to be used in the attack was found several miles away by police, according to both Spanish police officials and local media reports.

“The initial suspicion was an organized crime incident in an area with a large Russian and Ukrainian community,” said a Spanish police official. Alicante and other southern Spanish cities such as Marbella have large expatriate communities of Russians along with significant money laundering, arms dealing and cocaine smuggling operations.

“The mafia’s of the world are well represented in southern Spain but when we could not properly identify the victim we turned to Ukraine, who confirmed his name based on fingerprints,” said the official to VICE News.

Kuzminov had decided to take the money and new identity to Spain, rather than staying in Ukraine where the security services could better protect him from Russian retribution for treason, according to a Ukrainian official.

The official told the Ukrainian outlet Ukrayinska Pravda: "We confirm the fact of his death… He decided to move to Spain rather than remain here. What we know is that he invited his ex-spouse to join him and then he was found shot to death."

Kuzminov’s shocking operation last August came after six months of recruitment by Ukrainian military intelligence to incite a defection after he contacted the Ukrainians for help escaping his army service. After his family quietly left Russia with Ukraine’s help, Kuzminov was flying a routine supply mission between Russian bases in Ukraine – delivering spare parts for a number of jet aircraft used by both sides in the two year old war – when he crossed into Ukrainian controlled territory without alerting two fellow crew members. Upon realising the plot, Kuzminov’s crew resisted capture and attempted to flee back to Russian lines when they were killed.

Spanish investigators said that Kuzminov appeared to have difficulty adjusting to life in Spain and was heavily abusing drugs and alcohol before his death.

“There had been some loud incidents, drunken confrontations but nothing was reported to the police at the time,” said the Spanish police official. “He did not keep a low profile, neighbors reported he’d spoken of his military service on several occasions. And we are investigating his recent contacts with an ex-wife or lover.”

Russian officials did not confirm they conducted the assassination but were not shy about the desire to see him killed for the betrayal and deaths of his crew.

“This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse at the very moment when he planned his dirty and terrible crime,” Sergei Naryshkin, the director of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, told Russian media when asked about the pilot.

During an inquest after his defection, Russian officials called for Kuzminov’s death.

“If Maxim really did what he did, I hope they find him and kill him,” said the wife of one of the helicopter navigators, quoted by Russian television during the hearing.

Russian intelligence has regularly targeted defectors from its military and intelligence services under President Vladimir Putin, including the 2006 radiation poisoning of former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer Alexander Litvinenko in London. Litvinenko died weeks later in agony at a London hospital.

 In 2015, two suspected agents from Russian military intelligence were accused of using Novichok, a nerve agent, to target defected intelligence agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, UK. Along with a police officer who investigated the scene, both were hospitalised and eventually recovered. A woman who mistook the abandoned spray bottle used to deliver the poison for perfume later died.

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dy3jnzMitchell ProtheroMax DalyNewsrussiaUkrainedefectorSpainOrganized Crime
<![CDATA[Where's Navalny's Body?]]>https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/4a38zb/alexei-navalny-body-putinMon, 19 Feb 2024 14:04:14 GMTRussian authorities on Monday announced an “indefinite” investigation into the death of opposition politician Alexei Navalny in an Arctic Circle prison and refused to allow his family access to his body for an independent investigation and funeral. 

Navalny’s mother was refused access to her son’s body at a morgue in northern Russia four days after his death was announced on Friday, raising further suspicions the country’s top political dissident had been murdered after surviving nearly three years in brutal prison conditions - and a 2020 poisoning attributed to Russian security services .

Kira Yarmysh, a spokesperson for Navalny’s family, said on X that Navalny’s mother had not been allowed to enter the morgue in Salekhard, near the prison where Navalny had been held since December. 

“Alexey’s mother and his lawyers arrived at the morgue early in the morning. They were not allowed to go in. One of the lawyers was literally pushed out. When the staff was asked if Alexey’s body was there, they did not answer,” she wrote. 

Russian media reports claimed that officials described Navalny’s body as “bruised,” but did not provide photos or other evidence. Russian authorities claim Navalny collapsed and died after a morning walk, citing cardiac arrest due to “sudden death syndrome”.

Russian courts had convicted Navalny, 47, on a slew of charges from corruption to fostering an extremist organization in a series of trials widely denounced by Navalny supporters and Western governments as politically motivated. His organization’s opposition to the three decade rule of Putin, and his investigations into state corruption, made him the most effective Russian dissident but also drew the vehement ire of the authorities.

Lyudmila Navalnaya, Alexey’s mother, and lawyers for the family traveled to the “Polar Wolf” IK-3 prison about 1,200 km northeast of Moscow over the weekend to collect his body. They remain in the area pending additional information, said Navalny’s legal team. 

At least 366 people have been arrested in Russia since Friday as thousands tried to pay their respects to the dead politician -described in Russian media as a “blogger” - despite aggressive crackdowns on demonstrations by security forces and freezing conditions.

Navalny rose to prominence over the last decade as the only sustained domestic critic of Putin’s ironfisted rule over Russia and its economy, which Navalny repeatedly accused Putin and his allies of looting for personal gain. 

Indicted on a series of vague charges after attempting to run for the mayor of Moscow in 2012, Navalny was frequently harassed and his brother imprisoned, until August 2020, when he collapsed during an internal Russian flight from poisoning by a notorious Russian made nerve agent. His recovery from the poisoning and the subsequent investigation into the incident - Navalny tricked a Russian security official into admitting it was an assassination attempt – was the subject of a 2022 Oscar winning documentary.

After receiving emergency treatment in Russia, Navalny was taken to Berlin for medical care, emerging from a two week medically induced coma to recover and eventually return to Russia in early 2021, where he was immediately arrested on arrival in Moscow. Throughout his imprisonment, Navalny lost weight and suffered from significant health problems and frequently complained prison officials denied him medical treatment. 

NATO officials were aghast at the news of his death, which was announced on the first day of the annual Munich security conference attended by western and NATO security officials.

“Putin clearly murdered him,” said a NATO security official, who echoed the widespread belief the Russian president was directly responsible. “He locked him in a hole, denied him medical treatment and transferred him to solitary confinement in the worst prison in Russia. That alone is enough but it won’t be clear how he died until someone can examine the body. Which is why they’ve yet to release it.”

Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, said in an online video that she would continue her husband’s political activism and opposition to Putin’s rule. 

"We know why - concretely - Putin killed Alexey Navalny three days ago. We will tell you about it later,” she said. 

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4a38zbMitchell ProtheroMax DalyAlexei NavalnyrussiaNewsYulia NavalnayaVladimir Putin
<![CDATA[Putin Critic Alexei Navalny Dies in Russian Prison]]>https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/5d9avq/alexei-navalny-dead-russia-prison-putin-critic-activistFri, 16 Feb 2024 15:28:33 GMTRussia’s leading opposition figure and vocal Kremlin critic, Alexei Navalny, died Friday in an Arctic Circle prison.

Navalny, 47, was serving a multi-decade sentence on corruption charges, widely denounced by the international community as political retribution. 

At a conference on Friday afternoon, his widow, Yulia, responded to the report of his death by blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin, and called for justice.

“If it's true, I would like Putin and all his staff, everybody around him, his government, his friends, I want them to know that they will be punished for what they have done with our country, with my family and with my husband,” she told the annual meeting of Western security officials to gasps in the audience. “They will be brought to justice and this day will come soon."

Russia’s state news service Tass announced Navalny’s death Friday afternoon, describing him as a “blogger”.

Navalny was the most credible and outspoken critic of Putin over the last decade, running candidates for office, conducting open source investigations into Putin and other Russian oligarchs' wealth from corruption. His anti-corruption work was the subject of the 2023 Oscar award-winning documentary, Navalny.

These activities and a willingness to confront an increasingly autocratic Putin infuriated the Kremlin and eventually led to corruption and slander convictions considered absurd by outside observers, alongside a near fatal poisoning attempt on his life in 2020. 

Navalny’s legal and political team, mostly based outside Russia due to fear of arrest, could not immediately confirm his death. Last year when he was moved to Penal Colony No. 3 his team accused authorities of moving him to one of Russia’s most remote and toughest Arctic prisons to limit his communications and access to health care. 

“On February 16, 2024, in Penal Colony No. 3, the convict Alexei Navalny felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness, according to representatives of the department,” sai a statement from Russian prison authorities.

“Medical personnel from the institution arrived promptly, and an ambulance crew was called. All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, but unfortunately, they did not yield positive results. The emergency medical team pronounced the convict dead. The cause of death is being investigated,” the statement added.

“As far as we’re aware, in accordance with all the rules, the prison service is carrying out checks and clarifications,” Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov told reporters, according to CNN. 

As the only credible opposition politician in an increasingly Putin-dominated Russia, Navalny had long irritated the regime, eventually accusing Russian intelligence of orchestrating a poisoning with nerve agents in August 2020 that he only survived after treatment in a Berlin hospital. While recovering in Germany, Russian prosecutors indicted Navalny on a cascade of charges related to his political activity, including insulting the veterans of World War Two, and arrested him on his return to Russia in January 2021.

International leaders immediately condemned what many weren’t shy about describing as his murder.

“It’s obvious” that Putin killed him, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Navalny’s health has substantially deteriorated over the course of his three-year incarceration as he grew increasingly gaunt and frail in a series of court appearances on a series of charges that eventually led to a 19-year sentence expected to increase to 30 years after a perfunctory appeal of new convictions. 

In December his legal team announced that Navalny had disappeared from his prison cell and transferred to an unknown facility. After filing hundreds of requests for information on the transfer over 10 days before prison authorities announced Navalny had been moved to one of the most remote prisons in Russia, where contact with his legal team and medical care was restricted.

His reported death comes one day after a video court appearance where an extremely gaunt Navalny joked with the judge about the number of fines he’d accrued for minor prison infractions.

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5d9avqMitchell ProtheroMax DalyNewsrussiaPutinAlexei Navalnyprison
<![CDATA[Even Better Names for the London Overground Lines]]>https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/pka85m/new-names-for-london-overground-linesFri, 16 Feb 2024 10:29:45 GMTA recession was announced this week. A mild one, but, a recession that comes off the back of a cost of living crisis, pandemic, and nearly 15 years of austerity, which itself was meant to get us out of previous recessions. Money is tight, basically. 

That’s why I skipped breakfast this morning, and had myself a quick and cheap lunch, so I could spend as much time as possible earning cold hard fucking cash for the taxman and the landlord. 

Later I have to go on the overground from London Fields to Stoke Newington. This is a line I know in my head as the Liverpool Street to Chingford Line, because that’s where it goes. So you can imagine my surprise, upon reading the news, that I will soon have to remember this line by a new conceptual name and colour, because Transport for London has spent £6.3 million on a funky rebrand of London’s six overground lines. I did the maths: That’s like, £1 million per rebrand.

“Not only will it be easier than ever to navigate the Overground, the lines now reflect London’s rich local culture and history,” said Mayor Sadiq Khan, as he stood proudly outside Highbury and Islington station. The new names and colours will be: the Lioness line (yellow), the Mildmay line (blue), the Windrush line (red), the Weaver line (maroon), the Suffragette line (green) and the Liberty line (grey). 

The problem is: These names are shit. Not quite as shit as the fact this all cost £6.3 million, but shit nonetheless. They come across like tokenistic, lazy attempts to do things that seem good and progressive but achieve absolutely nothing for real people. Like, you know, the estimated 15,000 very real people of the Windrush generation whose lives have been turned upside down by government failures and most of whom are still waiting on compensation. Aw, but at least they get a little tube line name!

Something had to be done about this, so I decided to use the power of my mind to place myself in the shoes of the Mayor of London, and devise my own TFL rebrand. Here are six very appropriate and very not shit at all names for London’s six overground lines – names that embody the city’s rich local culture and history. I’m willing to give them to TfL for a mere £500,000 each, that’s half price! And I’ll even slap the new stickers up myself. 

The General Equality line 

We need to use these lines as a way to show our respects and efforts in making London an inclusive and equal place for all. Therefore we should have the general equality line as a reminder of how the world should be an equal place – and to recognise all of the efforts toward equality in the city generally, whatever their struggles may be. Yes we could have been specific and called it, say, the Emmeline line (after Emmeline Pankhurst) but that sounds too close to the Elizabeth Line doesn’t it, and we can’t have Queenie turning in her solid gold grave. Plus what if people are like: “What about the other Suffragettes?” Or worse: “What about other people who campaigned for equality in the history of forever?” The General Equality Line fits the bill for everyone. 

This line will be grey, because grey is very serious and I’m very serious about this.

The Homelessness line 

Hear me out, we need to make sure we are solving both the housing crisis and homelessness. This new line will be a testament to our dedication to eradicate homelessness, by spending a boat load of cash on new names for the overground lines in our wonderful city. As always, if you see a homeless person on the Homelessness line, please do not give them money, but yes you can make a donation if you must.

The Homelessness line will be blue to honour the cold nights these people have to endure. Blue means sad and this is a sad thing that we can hopefully solve by putting money into funky rebrands. You never know, this may actually end up doing far more for the issue than the blatantly obvious move of providing accommodation.

The Huge Massive Stinking Fat Line After Eight Pints on a Thursday line

The cocaine economy is the great unifier of white collar (and nose) London. Across all political divides, from bankers to media elites to influencers, we all have one thing in common: A love of railing coke. In 2019, the cocaine market was worth £1 billion, according to Sky News. You could rebrand a thousand overground lines with that much money – if only! 

Nevertheless, we shall honour this local tradition with The Huge Massive Stinking Fat Line After Eight Pints on a Thursday Line. This line will be green, in reference to the green seal you see on the charming little baggies discarded all across our perfect city. 

The Yellow Salt Beef Bagel Shop line

Rest in peace, Yellow Brick Lane Bagel Shop: “Britain’s First & Best Beigel Shop” established in 1855, which was seemingly shut down and issued a repossession order this week. Your bagels were generally considered inferior to the white bagel shop, but at least your queues weren’t massively inflated due to TikTok hype. This line will, of course, be yellow.

The Rest of the UK line 

Here in London, we care about the rest of the UK a lot. This line terminates at Cheshunt, which is technically in Hertfordshire. So when people pipe up and say, “What about the rest of the UK? We’ve been promised, and are in dire need of, better public transport, and you’ve just spent £6 mil on some colours and words in London!” we can confidently reply: “Look at the maroon one, it is called The Rest of the UK line and it even goes to Hertfordshire, which is not London.”

This line shall be maroon, because it is an old-timey colour, and anywhere outside of London is like stepping into the past.

The We Used to Be a Proper Country line

And finally, we need to have one line that’ll convince the people who think “we used to be a proper country” that this whole rebrand was a wonderful idea. On this line, you’ll be able to smoke on the train and be horrible bastards to just about anyone as much as you please. You can say bigoted things and make jokes that are just jokes because they’re funny and not because you’re a bad person. 

Yes, we can have a stop named after Winston Churchill. This line will be red, like the red of our faces when we are filled with patriotic glee.

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pka85mRhys ThomasBecky BurgumLondontfltransportSadiq KhanOvergroundLondon OvergroundundergroundrecessionTransport for London
<![CDATA[The Israel-Hezbollah Conflict Is Escalating and IDF Warns It's Just the Start]]>https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/z3m59x/israel-hezbollah-conflict-lebanon-airstrikes-hamas-warWed, 14 Feb 2024 16:17:17 GMTThe Israeli air force is bombing Hezbollah targets deep inside Lebanon after the militant group fired dozens of rockets at military bases and border towns.

Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Israel Defense Force (IDF) Chief of Staff told local officials Wednesday that despite the strikes, there was a “long way to go,” before the border with Lebanon would be quiet and the tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from the border area would be able to return.

“There are very great achievements in hitting Hezbollah in Lebanon, but we continue to act,” he said. “This is not the point to stop. There is still a long way to go.” 

The exchange began on Wednesday morning when Hezbollah and its allies in Lebanon fired multiple rockets at key military facilities including the IDF’s northern command and an air force base at least 20km inside Israel’s border, killing one person and wounding nine. 

The attack is the largest escalation yet of the clashes between Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia, and Israel, which began days after the October 7th attack by Hamas and its allies in Gaza, on Israel. 

"Numerous launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into the areas of Netu'a, Manara, and into an IDF base in northern Israel,” the military said in a statement according to the YNet news site. “The IDF struck the sources of the fire." 

Since October both sides have been carefully calibrating their attacks and responses to avoid a regional war. 

Hezbollah’s move immediately drew massive criticism, directed at embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, from right wing members of his cabinet, who have demanded stronger action in both Gaza and Lebanon to suppress Hezbollah, Hamas, and other Iranian backed allies but now seemed to call for all out war on Hezbollah.

“These are not drips,” tweeted Itimar Ben Gvir, a right wing-firebrand and the current Israel Security Minister, referring to what he saw as significant attacks. “This is war.”

“The red line became a white flag - the war cabinet surrendered to Hezbollah and lost the north,” also tweeted Avidgor Liberman, a former Netanyahu ally turned rival.

Military officials immediately announced that Israel would retaliate and not limit the strikes to the launch sites used in the attack. So far concerns about a broader war have generally limited both sides' attacks and retaliation in the increasingly tit-for-tat conflict. 

By Wednesday afternoon, the IDF said it was conducting “broad strikes” throughout South Lebanon. The Lebanese media announced at least four people had been killed in Israeli attacks on half a dozen towns and villages that continued on Wednesday afternoon.

“The [Israelis] are bombing all over the south,” Abu Ali, a resident of the southern city of Nabatiyah about 20 km from the border, told VICE News “They are targeting the resistance from [eastern] Shebba to [the coastal city of Tyre].”

A Hezbollah official refused to comment directly on either of the attacks but said Israel had further escalated the conflict.

“[Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah has said there will be no pause to the resistance operations so long as the [Israelis] continue to massacre the people of Gaza. They will not sleep in safety as long as Gaza suffers.”

Close allies with Hamas under Iranian tutelage, Hezbollah entered the conflict a few days after October 7 after Israel began a massive bombing campaign that became an all out ground invasion against Hamas in revenge for the attacks that killed about 1,200 people and saw at least 240 kidnapped by the Gaza-based militants. 

Although Hezbollah’s opening of a second front has put massive pressure on the IDF, which has mobilized over 300,000 reservists, the fighting has been mostly limited to small scale attacks and responses that have killed a handful of Israelis and, according to Hezbollah, about 200 of its fighters and allies. 

French negotiators have repeatedly attempted to propose a diplomatic solution to fighting on this front, which has been the worst since the 2006 summer war between Hezbollah and Israel. Solutions have included key Hezbollah units being withdrawn from the border and replaced by the Lebanese Army. But Hezbollah’s chief, Nasrallah, has repeatedly refused to discuss an agreement so long as the Gaza conflict continues.

“Except for some right-wing extremists in the cabinet, nobody wants a regional war, at this time,” said an Israeli security official who would not speak on the record criticizing the government. 

“But that doesn’t mean a regional war won’t happen. Israel has a very weak leader in Bibi who might not be able to resist his more militant coalition partners. And of course our enemies in Hezbollah and Iran might also decide on the timing [to start a war].” 

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z3m59xMitchell ProtheroMax DalyNewsisraelHezbollahLebanonpalestinegaza
<![CDATA[Russia's Leaked Most Wanted List Includes a Prime Minister and a US Senator]]>https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/bvjaa4/russias-leaked-most-wanted-list-includes-a-prime-minister-and-a-us-senatorTue, 13 Feb 2024 14:28:52 GMTRussian prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for hundreds of foreigners including the prime minister of Estonia, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, top human rights officials and even the spokesperson for the social media company Meta, according to a leak of Internal Affairs Ministry records. 

Russian investigative reporters Mediazona found the database of 96,752 suspects could be accessed from the internet, then built a search tool to allow searches by name and discovered a large number of indicted foreigners. These included foreign fighters supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion, officials with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Ukrainian officials and lawmakers in Baltic states that voted to remove Soviet memorials from World War Two. Russian citizens lead the list with over 31,000 names listed.

Although Graham’s indictment, for strongly supporting Ukraine’s government, was noted last May, other names accessible on the database include Piotr Hofmański, the president of the International Criminal Court, which indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes in Ukraine. He is wanted by the Eastern Administrative District of Moscow, according to the database. Andy Stone, press secretary to Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta, faces charges from Russia’s Central Administrative District police department of aiding terrorism.

The inclusion of a slew of politicians from Baltic states – whose independence after previously being part of Russia during the communist era has long posed tensions with Moscow – appears related to a series of removals of Soviet monuments from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which Russian prosecutors decided constituted being pro-Nazi.

Estonian PM Kaja Kallas faces charges of politically supporting the removal of a monument of a Russian tank from the capital Tallinn in 2022, according to the database, and confirmed by a Russian official. 

Estonia has recently warned NATO that the Russians are increasing their military presence along the border as tensions between the alliance and Moscow escalate. 

Dozens of other Baltic lawmakers, including judges, members of parliament and former political figures also face charges for supporting the removal of monuments.

“Crimes against the memory of the liberators of the world from Nazism and fascism must be answered,” said Russian spokesperson Maria Zakharov on Telegram. 

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bvjaa4Mitchell ProtheroMax DalyNewsrussiaVladimir PutinEstoniametaUkraine
<![CDATA[You Might be Smoking a Black Market Vape Without Even Knowing It]]>https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/k7z559/vape-black-market-inside-illegal-e-cigarette-industry-ukTue, 13 Feb 2024 14:21:34 GMTTake a stroll down London’s Oxford Street and, amongst the American Candy Shops and high-end retailers, you’re bound to find a man attempting to flog a pack of disposable vapes. Sold pretty much anywhere – from local off-licences to barber shops, nightclubs and tanning salons, the list goes on – Britain’s streets have become inundated with these brightly coloured, highly addictive sticks of plastic.

It's a big problem, affecting both our health and the environment. According to data from the environmental campaign group Material Focus, approximately five million disposable vapes are discarded each week in the UK. PM Rishi Sunak recently announced a ban on all single-use vapes, citing the need to prevent children from accessing these addictive devices, even though selling them to individuals under the age of 18 is already illegal. However, the blanket ban has raised concerns that it could inadvertently fuel the thriving black market for these products.

According to the BBC, 484,366 illegal vapes were seized at Kent ports in 2023, with an additional 19,349 confiscated from shops – and there are many more that slip under the radar. Industry insiders revealed to VICE that as many as 40 to 50 percent of vapes in the UK are currently illicit – as in, imported illegally and not in compliance with current UK regulations. So how did we get into this mess?

To understand the extent of this issue, we need to trace backwards: all the way to Shenzhen, China, a region of the world fittingly called “Vape Valley”. “The region has over 1,000 factories, where 90 per cent of the vapes are made globally, Markus Lindblad, director of the nicotine company Haypp, said. Following Beijing’s crackdown on the domestic market, many of these companies have now shifted their focus towards exporting abroad. 

A worker in Vape Valley, Shenzhen tries out a product
A worker in Vape Valley, Shenzhen tries out a product. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

"The UK is a significant market for vapes, both legal and illicit," Simon from Yuoto, a distribution company based in Vape Valley, tells VICE. "It's the primary market in Europe, accounting for approximately 30 per cent of total exports on the continent. I estimate that about half of these exports are illicit, obtained through illegal means."

To reach the UK many of these vapes are sold through representatives based in Vape Valley directly contacting shops, distributors, and wholesalers – often cold-called via WhatsApp. “I’ve had multiple – they are pushy,” says Usain, who works at a vape wholesale distributor in Halifax. “I don’t think the ban will do much to solve the problem.” There are also many WhatsApp groups, targeted towards wholesale sellers, that are inundated with vendors attempting to sell vapes abroad, many exceeding legal limits in terms of puffs and nicotine strength.

For small shipments, illicit vapes are often sent with minimal consequences. Paul*, from Yorkshire, who has worked in the vape industry for four years, and wishes to remain anonymous under a pseudonym, received some illicit products for personal use from China. They noted that the products arrived like any other package, without encountering issues or customs fees. 

Many Chinese distributors who contacted Paul also offered to deceive UK customs by falsely labelling their products on the packages. “I’ve had distributors contact me on WhatsApp offering to change the packaging of their products, for example, 20 milligrammes instead of 50, or 2 millilitres instead of 3.2. It’s like a get-out-of-jail-free card – if you’re caught, you can claim ignorance,” he told VICE. 

Andrej Kuttruf, CEO of the vape company Evapo, has observed mislabeling being used to classify a product as a zero-nicotine disposable, thereby circumventing UK tobacco product regulations. “This way they can sell disposable vapes with a much bigger tank size too,” he tells VICE. “The government has been aware of this issue for years and still hasn’t closed that loophole for nicotine products.”

Even when illegal vapes reach the retailer, there’s little consequence if they’re found to be selling. “There was an instance last year where a retailer was fined just £25 – that’s just absurd,” Lindblad added. “Even now, after Rishi Sunak’s latest announcement, we are talking fines of just £100 or £200.”

For larger shipments, more sophisticated techniques are likely employed. Paul mentions that he's heard of criminals exploiting the green lane shipping policy, which reduces checks to just import and export, making it easier to ship packages through bribes. Manchester appears to be a hub for illegal imports, as noted by both Paul and Kuttruf. "I know someone based in the city who imports 10 containers of vapes at a time, equating to tens of thousands of units," Paul adds. Many of these units are sold to brick-and-mortar vendors where ID checks are rarely enforced.

Paul also points out that individual dealers frequently buy these packages and utilise social media apps like Snapchat to sell them to children. "I've witnessed individual 'dealers' using Snapchat to promote vapes to school children, and it's incredibly effective. Within days, they'd have numerous customers, and because messages disappear, there are minimal consequences," he explains. Similar tactics have also been employed on TikTok, where various accounts with hefty followings are going viral, selling illegal vapes to the masses. 

So will a blanket ban eradicate this problem? Probably not. “This addictive product is very attractive to the black market already,” said Scott Butler, director of Material Focus. “We’re moving the disposable vape market from a legal market not meeting its legal responsibility [to an illegal one underground]. I would hope that channels within the black market would be more restricted, but we’re already seeing illicit vapes everywhere.” 

“This is a very similar move to what we’ve seen with the UK’s recent ban on nos (nitrous oxide),” Katya Kowalksi from the drugs policy think-tank Volteface agrees. “It’s a lot to do with populism – doing what the public love to hear but not really thinking about [the consequences]. Yes, we all want kids to not be using disposable vapes. However, what this policy doesn't highlight is that kids using vapes is already illegal. So you're banning something that is already illegal, rather than trying to prevent it from happening in the first place.”

“This is how the UK government approaches every drug or substance,” she continues. “They just opt for a blanket with very little specialism and detail. They don’t look into what works and what will reduce the mass consumption of vapes.” Instead, Kowalksi argues, the government should invest in a bottom-up approach, including better education on the risks of vaping and its environmental impacts. 

Another solution would be to implement strict licensing laws on selling vapes. “This is what the industry is calling for – and fines of up to £10,000 if retailers are caught breaking the law,” Kuttruf said. “We have approximately 55,000 retailers, including convenience stores and vape shops, in the UK. These businesses could contribute funds by obtaining a license to sell vapes, with the proceeds directed towards supporting Trading Standards in addressing this issue. . Right now, Trading Standards has been cut to the bone, they don’t have the money to enforce this – which has led to this thriving black market.” 

In typical Tory fashion, this short-sighted blanket ban will likely not resolve this problem. The vape industry is constantly evolving, with many disposable vape manufacturers investing in newer "less disposable" models, such as rechargeable pods. However, it's up for debate how these newer models will address the environmental impact of the plastic waste generated by disposable vapes.

Although this new ban, which has yet to be announced with further details, will likely impact the legal market, it also runs the risk of strengthening its competing black market. “This policy is just too simplistic,” Kowalksi concludes. “Trying to stamp out disposable vapes in this way is only going to create potential customers for the illicit black market that already exists. It’s what’s happened with nitrous oxide, and it’ll happen here. We need to focus on harm reduction, instead of a blanket ban purely for the sake of populism.”

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k7z559Jack RamageZing TsjengvapingVapesvapeaddictionnicotineCrime
<![CDATA[Would You Pay £36 for Scrambled Eggs? I Did.]]>https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/ak388k/scrambled-eggs-hide-restaurant-london-reviewTue, 13 Feb 2024 09:41:46 GMTI’m on the overground feeling the effects of the night before. What happens when you drink two bottles of orange wine (or any wine, really) is the next day you're just totally dry – horrid mouth, horrid throat. I feel like a raisin, inside and out. My vape throat (or actual illness, it isn't clear what’s happening in there) just isn't getting better, to the point where I should perhaps admit that it never will unless I quit. I'm on my way to get a ludicrously expensive plate of scrambled eggs at Hide restaurant in Mayfair, London.

Hide has recently hit the news thanks to sensational articles with headlines like “Diners’ fury as posh London restaurant sells scrambled eggs on toast for £58”. At Hide, they’re either out of the £58 white truffle dish, or they’ve wisely taken it off the menu. They do, however, have black truffle with scrambled egg, which will set me back £36. That’s the cost of ten bacon and egg McMuffins. So: Is this viral breakfast item even worth it?

Outside the restaurant, the first person I make eye contact with through the massive street-level window has had work done. Those Daffy Duck lips are a signifier of wealth, aren't they, on certain people anyway. The next thing I do is hit someone with the heavy (possibly oak?) door as I walk in – she was stood directly behind it. I apologise and she doesn't acknowledge me and I am reminded of the duality of London: how you can have a totally random uplifting experience, and then a disconcerting one in the same morning. Paul Simon’s Diamonds on the Soles Of Her Shoes plays on the speakers. 

I’d describe Hide’s decor as “high-end” and “international” and “woodworker’s delight”. The female maître d walks me to my seat, moves the table to let me sit, gestures for me to sit, and then closes the table around me like a steel lung. To get up you have to physically move the table. I order the £36 scrambled eggs and a £28 Costa Rican coffee. 

I feel like a fraud in that I'd never be here on a Monday morning if it wasn’t for this one weird journalistic trick. Also, I'm bad at surreptitiously filming – I don't like being a dick. I also feel like a boomer filming everything in such an overt, extended way (phone held high above the table; 10-second videos!). The people here must be in a totally separate stratosphere to me financially. I try not to overthink it.

The ambiance is nice, actually, very calming with the music piped in. My latte comes and there is a lovely possible flower impression in the foam. It tastes like a strong latte, and I'm sure it's good, but it’s near impossible for me to say if it’s worth £28, seeing as that’s such an obscene price surely no coffee is worth. 

I'm polite with the wait staff to make it clear that I'm a good person and not so used to exorbitant wealth that it's corrupted my humanity. When the eggs arrive, they’re actually delicious on their own – but then the truffle is a very sexy, complicating touch. The bread is soft, almost cake-like. It's all very tasty. And now I am torn – I want this life now, actually. I want it very much! This was always the risk. And look, the truffles obviously elevate the dish, and maybe it's not that bad at £36? Perhaps the eggs are expensive because the rent is expensive, plus the place is Michelin-starred. Truffles, also, are notoriously pricey. Still though, £36!

I must admit that I am here for a secret third thing, which is that I am obsessed with making the perfect scrambled eggs. These eggs are the elite runny consistency and deep yellow, which pleases my obsession. No salt or pepper or condiments on the table, nor are they offered, which implies the dish is perfect as is, which… fair. 

I’m hoping people think I'm stopping to film because I am an influencer and therefore have some kind of inscrutable TikTok wealth. The Asian woman next to me seems interested in what I'm up to – she and her partner are discussing dress codes, doing that thing where they slip between their shared language and English, and for a moment I wig out that they're questioning my outfit. 

The bill, which is obviously insane, comes to £80.50 for the bottled still water, fancy latte and eggs with truffles. I do some more filming of the restaurant interior (mostly the spectacular contorted wooden staircase) and make my exit. 

All in all, I’d say, no, it’s not worth £80.50. Obviously it’s not. How could it be? But! But! The truffled eggs were delightful, and if you’re up for spending money for the sake of it as the world burns, then sure, you may as well drop a tonne on some scrambled eggs. 

@nichet

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ak388kNick ThompsonZing TsjengMichelin-starredtruffleswealthLondon restaurantsrich peopleFoodeggs