By Ellie Meakin from HouseSitMatch.com Christmas in London can be beautiful. The endless rows of twinkling lights, roasted chestnuts on every street corner and the continuous flow of fake snow being pumped out of Oxford Street. It can be hard to get into the festive spirit when you are still working every hour available, and have home and pet sitting arrangements to organise too. If you’re like me this year, no matter how many mince pies I wolf down, I’m still...

By Carlotta Stephens – Food writer Nestled on the second floor of the bustling Kingly Court, this Peruvian restaurant has taken London by storm and eight weeks into opening there is a huge buzz around the place. The popular pop-up Señor Ceviche is now a permanent fixture with neighbouring eateries that include The Rum Kitchen, Pizza Pilgrims, Whyte & Brown, The Life Goddess, Stax Diner and Shoryu. Whilst Christmas is in full swing around Carnaby Street, once you set foot...

To what extent is the Mayor of London Boris Johnson a political duplication of our revered war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill? For all the undertones of that question littered across in the mayor’s latest book, The Churchill Factor, it is worth exploring. The first thing to note is that Johnson will be incredibly smug that the question is even on the table, which goes some way in answering whether this is an engineered quandary or viable comparison. It is apparent that...

By Stephen Mayne, @finalreel   In a world awash with adaptations of young adult dystopian fiction, The Hunger Games series still towers above its brethren. The first two outings were fresh and thrilling experiences, full of colour, action and the newly minted star power of Jennifer Lawrence. She remains the chief attraction, just as her character Katniss Everdeen seems to hold the fate of Panem in her palm, but the youthful charm is wearing off. Hampered by the commercially astute and...

A new report has revealed a cultural change in banks may take a generation, with the cost of poor culture far exceeding previous estimates. British retail banks and building societies have paid out at least £38.5 billion in fines and redress for customers over the last 15 years, with at least £27 billion of that due to the mis-selling of PPI. Poor culture also resulted in poor customer service, with banks have receiving 20.8 million complaints between 2008 and the first half of 2014, and 25 million between 2006 and...

By Corrina Antrobus, film reviewer @corrinacorrina Paul King’s theatrical adaptation of Michael Bond’s 1985 Paddington is not just a teddy bear’s picnic, it’s a big warm bear hug to London as a melting-pot. However you can banish any fears of saccharine soaked naffness. It obviates tokenism with its insistence on painting our capital with kaleidoscope colours and fond cultural salutes; Mum wears African prints, daughter is bilingual and the nautical nods from dad and Mrs Bird can’t be a coincidence. Director...

By Bill Lytton The Rochester and Strood by-election delivered more than a second Ukip MP last week. In fact, the incumbency of former Conservative Mark Reckless was backseat news to other, more telling, political situations. Namely that, in Alberto Nardelli’s words, “Britain has gone from a two-three party system to a six party system,” and that Labour’s very infrastructure is deteriorating. Embarrassment abounded following Ukip’s 2,920 vote majority win. The UK Independence Party scored 42 per cent of the vote,...

By Anna Power, Film Editor @TLE_film Few films depict the real horror of war like Kajaki. The True Story. So realistic is the carnage that the film moves into trailblazer territory, taking the war film genre and catapulting it into brave new terrain. It’s a visceral and shockingly authentic portrayal of a British unit’s experience of the Afghanistan war. The film’s release too is a timely one, wedged between Remembrance Sunday and the WW1 Centenary, a poignant and fitting reminder...

By Will Bateman Jamie T submerged from the London streets in 2007 as a scruffy, gap-toothed,Kronenbourg-swigging street-poet with Panic Prevention. After 5 long years of excruciating silence after 2009’s Kings and Queens, he takes to the stage to a sold-out Alexandra Palace to promote the recent release of his reflective and matured third album Carry On The Grudge. Diving straight in with album opener ‘Limit’s Lie’, and met with a roar applause and relief from a 10,000 strong crowd of...