Dan-the-man

Hi Our flat has been damaged significantly as a result of poor piping elsewhere in our block of flats, and we are currently going through insurance to have the restatement work funded. They have suggested we get quotations from local contractors so I thought this would be a good place to try. There is a partial collapse of the ceiling in the kitchen (perhaps roughly a square metre) and significant mould to the bathroom ceiling/walls. From what we gather so far the damage is significant enough that part of the ceiling/walls will need replacing. We'd be keen to hear recommendations for any appropriate local contractors, or any contractors themselves can message me directly with their details.

Hi, Do people have recommendations for where to buy good suit (£100-250). Walking distance from SE22 ideal but a short bus/train ride would be ok. It's fairly time sensitive, as I'm flying on Sunday for work and have noticed I no longer have a good suit which is appropriate so want to quickly pop out tomorrow and get something. Know there are some shops nearby which would have small selections, but wondering if anyone knew any place which had a large-ish quality choice.

According to the above timings, they suggest I (inadvertently) did, as the gap from 2006 to now is broken (apparently) by me. But I'm sure I saw it appear as a new thread which I was responding to. There's no way I'd go back to 2006 (before I even moved here). Admin - perhaps something wrong with site which is causing things like this to reappear and seem new?

There's a few decent options. Herne Tavern I've been to a few times. It's got a good garden so can accommodate a big group quite easily. Great Exhibition is good too. Would also recommend 'Crown and Greyhound' in Dulwich village.

I'm a big fan of Luca's and am getting stuff from there (pretty much always takeaway) a few times per week. Rule seems pretty reasonable to me, especially given the climate facing small businesses at the moment. Paying in advance is hardly unusual for service in cafe's - Cafe G does it too since you pay when you order.

My experience is that it's almost impossible to get police attention, no matter what evidence of a crime you've got, unless you threaten to complain to the IOPC or your MP (perhaps Councillor could work too).

Coffee's are not an unusual thing to order in a cafe....... Yes, I wfh but would often spent maybe 1 1/2 to 2 hours in a cafe, and would typically order 2 coffees whilst in there (v.occasionally breakfast if it was at that time, but that's rare). The cafe's would never be full (a rare exception might be Cafe G at lunch at weekends), so I would not be taking other potential custom from the cafe. It would literally be me paying a fiver or so for two coffees, or them getting zero. If they are open, then they have fixed costs such as AC/staff, and the more money they get, the more this is covered. I know some cafe's ban laptops at weekend (there are 2 on lordship lane which do this), a decision I entirely respect. It seems they've calculated that during the week, someone sitting doing their work and ordering just coffee/tea, maybe a cake or so, is better than the alternative which is the same table being empty. Plenty of pubs have recently been advertising themselves as potential places to work during the day, clearly targeting the wfh crowd. They've also obviously calculated that receiving a small amount of money from someone sitting there is better than an empty table at quiet periods.

Hi Given the super hot weather we are experiencing, and particularly how bad Monday/Tuesday are expected to be, I was interested in knowing if there are any cafe/restaurants with AC around. I tend to work from home, which has not been very easy in our recent heatwave and is likely to be very hard early next week. Also, I thought others would be interested in knowing where had AC, and people who know could share a list of places with AC so that everyone would know. This could be a very good resource for people.

I think it's been handled well by local businesses, with some just putting a few flags up but nothing more. Watching jubilee stuff on TV can be good but I don't like it when it is over the top as it can be in some places. Been to Herne Tavern, Cafe G and Clock House and atmosphere has been great. Liked the street party on Hindsman Road this afternoon - my partner and I walked past it after lunch.

Sorry about what you went through. I had something similar on the rye almost 4 years ago now. The anger lasts for years, not helped by the owner fleeing the scene, her violent partner attacking me across the rye and then the police doing sod all about it. I?d try and get CCTV if you can (this covers more than you might think so it?s always worth a try- maybe see if businesses/shops in area have it. Maybe even household doorbells? Hope you are ok.

Cafe G is a long-time favourite of mine, helped by it being by far the closest. Not cheap but have a good range of breakfasts done well.

one of the best bits of the area I feel is the number of relatively small and independent coffee places. 'Rise and Bloom' and 'Cafe G' are closest to me and I love both of them. Was sad about brick house as enjoyed that too (although my god it could get cold). It's genuinely upsetting if good local businesses can no longer afford to rent, especially since the place has been empty since. If it had been turned into much-needed housing I would be much less frustrated. I'm not super keen on pret coming to be honest, although Gail's (if that ever happens) is ok.

Hi, there is a few. Arapina I go to a lot, and is often quiet. Oru Space is another (it's almost set up for people to work). Outside LL, Cafe G is another good one.

An update: A complaint to the police has been issued. I'd appreciate anyone else coming forward as witnesses to an incident between a man with a small black dog and a man wearing a black jacket standing near the doorway of the Herne Tavern.

Hi, I am asking for witnesses to an altercation between two men outside the herne tavern between 8.10 and 8.15pm this evening to come forward please. For legal reasons I don't want to say any more at this stage but I will separately be asking for CCTV footage from the Tavern and nearby businesses. Best, Dan

Often there around that time. It's fine. Very safe.

Re politics of local councillors: Dulwich Village Richard Leeming - moderate Margy Newens - not sure, think pretty leftwards. Champion Hill Peter John- moderate, standing down. Sarah King - moderate but a bit of an EU ultra Dulwich Hill Maggie Browning - soft-left, roughly the centre of the labour party (i.e. not a Blairite, but not a Corbynite either, roughly half-way between those two extremes). Jon Hartley - likewise (I think). Goose Green McAsh - ultra-left - see the 'fxxx the tories' t-shirt. Victoria Olisa - fairly left wing but don't think quite at the McAsh level. Charlie Smith- I think fairly mainstream/old-school centre-left but can't be sure

I'll comment briefly on the politics, being an active Labour member (just to note I'm pretty pro-LTNs). Ultimately, one-party state/regimes always run into trouble. A particular problem with Southwark Labour is the radicalism of local members combined with a situation where virtually anyone in a red rosette gets elected with big majorities. This leads to a situation whereby ideological purity is required by anyone seeking to be selected by local Labour members. In the 2018 elections, some very good moderate councillors were not selected again. Their sole crime was that they were not momentum activists, whilst some very underqualified candidates were selected and won with decent majorities. Currently Labour is going through the process to select candidates for 2022 - I know from inside knowledge that pretty much anyone on the 'moderate' wing of the party has not even been shortlisted. This means local parties will again primarily be choosing from a shortlist of momentum-approved left wing candidates. Even as a Labour member for a long time (and desperate to remove this conservative government), I know I'll be voting for alternatives in the council elections (probably Lib Dems if they put forward anyone decent) just to try and ensure there is more balanced representation and to try and turf out some of the 2018 Labour contingent.

Don't know when selection process will be. It's possible the constituency will be redrawn. I think the plan was to just have a 'Peckham' constituency, with Camberwell being reallocated somewhere, and parts of the constituency also moving to the Dulwich constituency.

A few vague (possibly not always correct) insights from me. Momentum/party left have a definite local majority and if they manage to unite behind a candidate then they could easily win over local members. This could set up a real clash with the national leadership especially if the candidate in question has openly opposed Starmer etc. Leadership then has a big dilemma. They could stick to a position of principle and with what was agreed at conference and let the local CLP decide. The implication is that Starmer/Labour will be left with a far-left MP who will be in place for absolutely decades (I think the left will try and choose someone young for this exact reason). Get someone in their early 30s and they?ll have a socialist MP for next 40 years (probably). If Starmer/national party try and fight this, they take a big risk by contradicting what was agreed at conference and facing a huge internal mutiny with the party left who will argue (probably correctly) they have broken another promise. However, from their perspective it is probably still worth the fight. This could expose splits between Starmer and Rayner. So this national element alone is very interesting. In terms of the CLP, I could foresee Momentum/the left having a few people wanting to be candidates with different levels of support. Factionalism on the left (I.e. ?people?s front of judea? type stuff) could undermine their efforts. One thing which will help them is a shared desire to keep out anyone they regard as ?centrist? or ?blairite? which is frankly anyone mildly to the right of Corbyn in some cases. The moderates (knowing they are in a minority) may well be more disciplined and prepared to compromise. I could see them uniting behind a soft-left type (I.e. an Ed-Miliband type politician) who could peel over some of the left/momentum, especially if they choose an appealing individual. Many moderates would be prepared to support such a person on the grounds that the alternative (a far leftie) would be much worse. Then it comes to the gender/race of the candidate. This being modern Labour, it will be incredibly important (maybe even the sole criterion ? sounds sad I know). I?ve already seen many say ?it must be a woman?, ?it must be a woman?. The logic seems to be that losing one female MP requires Labour to replace her with another female. However...........in seats where male MPs are standing down, the exact opposite logic seems to apply ? I.e. it must be a woman to replace a man. This is despite 55% of Labour MPs being female. Don?t get me started on this. People are also saying it must be a ?BAME?, partly due to the diversity of the seat (although whites are the single biggest ethnic group and the parliamentary labour party is already much more statistically diverse than the UK population). The whole thing is reminiscent of an old ?Not the Nine O?Clock News? sketch. Just for comedy value, there is also the issue that a potentially interested candidate would be Harriet?s son, Joe Dromey, who has held parliamentary ambitions for years and is a Councillor. He is a white guy, but this did not stop Harriet/Labour overcoming an all-woman shortlist to put her husband Jack Dromey (Joe?s father) into his seat in the Midlands. The collective meltdown if this occurs would dwarf the melting of the polar ice caps. If I was him, I?d pretend Joe is short for Josephine and then he might be fine..... In terms of local movers and shakers who may be interested, I can think of a few (p.s. I don?t know for certain if such individuals are interested). Marina Ahmad ? London Assembly member for Lambeth and Southwark There are several councillors I could potentially see interested: Dora Dixon-Fyle Johnson Situ Sarah King Jasmine Alli James McAsh Jack Buck Generally they are varying shades on the left of the party. Seb Dance ? former MEP, the remainer?s remainer. I think he?s in/around the constituency and so may well put himself forward ? I understand he was looking for a seat. I did hear a rumour ages ago that the left were trying to push Grace Blakeley into this seat. If that?s true I?m sure the national leadership would be hopping mad. One certainty is the following: Both wings of the party will shamelessly exploit the following tactic, and be utterly hypocritical in doing so. ?Why are you not supporting our BAME female disabled LGBT candidate? There?s only one reason ? you must be a racist misogynistic ableist homophobic transphobe?. You can predict with absolute certainty that accusations of ?racism?, ?sexism? and others isms and phobias will be thrown around like confetti, all weapons in the battle to get their factional candidate selected. By all sides. And against each other. All the time. I really think some of these people practice issuing these insults in front of the mirror every morning. There?s not a small chance that in the General Election itself, a left-wing candidate standing independently on anti-Starmer ticket (and possibly getting a fair amount of support, as will the Greens). This will be Games of Thrones-type bloody and despite the absence of dragons and attractive people, it will be just as entertaining. As a final point, I am half-seriously thinking of standing (as a white male heterosexual moderate who is well to the right of virtually the entire CLP) just for the LOLs.

Hi Rockets, You are right. Definitely popocorn time. This could get bloody.

Hi Scarlett, Definitely you can join and I'd encourage you to do so. Not sure exactly what the process would be for selecting the new candidate and when it would take place, but you'd have a vote at your local branch level at least in terms of who your branch would nominate (I think that's how it works but can't be 100% sure).

Hi Duncan, I am a member of the CLP. Definitely very left-wing, probably the most left-wing in the country. How measured/judged? Not super easy, I admit it is a bit subjective but the left 'slate' won all the positions on the CLP Executive last year - this is post Starmer winning the leadership and many left wing members leaving/being expelled. Until recently, there was a crazy situation whereby a guy called Nick Wrack (who stood against Harman as a candidate for a far-left party in 2015) was actually on the executive. His campaign mnanager in 2015 (who had thus organised a campaign against the Labour Party) was even the CLP Secretary. This is all online/publicly available information. Quite a few leading CLP members were expelled post-Starmer for a range of stuff- I think more than in any other constituency in the country (but I'm not 100% sure on that fact). If you speak to anyone in Labour locally, the left is very firmly in control at a local-level. This is why the campaign to be the next candidate will be interesting. It is one of the safest Labour seats in the country so will be lots of interest. If it comes down solely to the local membership, there will easily be someone to the left of Corbyn winning. I'm sure the national leadership will take a big interest in the nomination process, but I'm not sure how much control/influence they have now (Starmer gave up quite a bit of control at the last conference I believe). I'm part of a moderates group locally and there is a reluctant realisation that we'd be best of choosing someone who is just *quite* to the left rather than potentially having a real extremist as a candidate. Either way it is shaping up to be potentially very ugly.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59560336 After 40 years. The battle for Labour selection should be very very interesting with a very left wing CLP and the party leadership/national executive committee being relatively moderate.

To back up my CCTV point - it seems the victim knew which direction the attacker went in i.e. towards herne tavern. Obviously we know approximately what time (around 10pm). There is probably some CCTV around the shops/traffic lights in that area (don't know for sure, but there are in most places now). If the victim can remember much about what the attacker looked like (obviously it was dark so this may be difficult), looking at CCTV at around that time frame may show the attacker walking/running off. A clear picture could help the police identify him. Edit: From my experience with such things, you need to really push (and I mean really push) the police in this sort of thing. Even take the initiative yourself and find out if there is CCTV from any of those businesses and then explicitly tell the police. Don't passively assume the police will undertake this themselves.