The arsonist who tried to set London Fields ablaze

Dear Londoners — Monday again! We’re desperately trying not to mention the weather and yet, it insists upon itself, as the cultural critic, Peter Griffin, once put it. The team spent their weekends fleeing the heat, with Peter cycling to Margate’s shoreline, faecal matter in the waves be damned. Managing editor Moya went to Scotland where, she reports, water actually fell from the sky and the grass was an unfamiliar green. 

London’s firefighters had no such respite, rushing around the city attempting to prevent the capital’s parks going up in smoke. Their valiant efforts managed to stymie a would-be arsonist in London Fields — that’s our top story today, along with the news that Westminster is finally ripping up at least some of the regulations preventing housebuilding in London.

We’ve also got big news: tickets are out for The Londoner’s first in-person event of the year and it’s a blockbuster. We’ve amassed a pretty A-List line-up of journalists, including Sky’s Beth Rigby and our founder, Joshi Herrmann, to dig into the psyche and policy of the UK’s new prime minister — and tickets for Londoner members are only £5. Join us on the 9 September to ask ‘Who is the real Andy Burnham’; more details below. 

First though, here’s your briefing.

Mass arson attempt in London Fields thwarted

If most Londoners felt bombarded by the slew of phone alerts that rained down on Friday evening, urging them not to light barbecues or “any activity that could start a fire”, Isaac Shozi might have felt a touch of irony. At 05.07am the following morning police were called to reports of a man lighting multiple fires around London Fields park in Hackney. Ten fires in all were extinguished; miraculously, all failed to light up the straw-dry grass of the park. Shozi was swiftly arrested and charged, according to the BBC.

But it was plainly a lucky escape. London’s parks and grasslands and train lines are a tinderbox after a summer devoid of meaningful rain. London Fire Brigade were called to 63 grass fires in one day amidst one of those interminable July heatwaves, whereas Royal Parks have instructed their groundskeepers to mow the grass as short as possible to prevent the risk of fires. The would-be arsonist has never had it so good. This week’s predicted downpours are very welcome — although now there’s warnings of flash floods. From the frying pan…

Londoner Live: Who is the real Andy Burnham?

In less than a month, we're hosting a special Londoner event about Andy Burnham and what he really believes. The Londoner's founder Joshi Herrmann will be joined on stage by four journalists who have covered our new prime minister closely over the years: Patrick Maguire from The Times, Helen Pidd from The Guardian and Jack Dulhanty from The Mill. The panel will be chaired by Beth Rigby from Sky News, and will tackle questions like: What actually is “Manchesterism”? And what will it mean for London?

It's on Wednesday 9 September, 6pm – 7.30pm, at London Scottish House, Westminster. Tickets are £15, or just £5 for paying Londoner members. Click the button below to get yours.

The new housing boom planned for London’s tube stations

It’s cranes and diggers to the ready, as Angela Rayner announced this week that she’ll be pressing ahead with plans to tear up the planning rules around tube and rail stations. New homes within 800m of “well connected” stations (a pretty nebulously defined term) will now receive default approval, rather than trudge through a series of tiring regulatory hoops around local impact. The move also comes with new density expectations which will encourage developers to build high.