Latest news with #JoeReeve
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
If Britain is broken, what is to blame – big money and big tech, or graffiti on your train?
Britain, let's face it, is crap. Crap, I mean, in quite a specific sense: we might not be teetering on the brink of civilisational destruction, as the post-Brexit right can often seem to think. But there nonetheless remains a vast, ambient sense of rubbishness. Everything is expensive but nothing works. Our streets are full of potholes; our houses are full of mould. All the shops are shut, except for a Tesco Express, where there are security tags on the eggs. It takes about a million years to build a railway line. Up to now, the response to Britain's enshittification has, by and large, seemed remarkably fatalistic: Keir Starmer spent the first year in government repeatedly insisting that there just wasn't any money, and so really nothing could be done. Thank God then, one might think, for Looking for Growth, a new campaign group led by young (well, late 20s, early 30s) Londoners Lawrence Newport and Joe Reeve, who have reportedly been advised by Dominic Cummings, and who have taken it on themselves to rid the tube of the scourge of graffiti. You might have seen the video: riding the Bakerloo line, wearing hi-vis jackets that proclaim they are 'Doing What Sadiq Khant' and accompanied by the GB News presenter Tom Harwood, for some reason, Looking for Growth perform a task that looks so simple only a government might fail to achieve it – apply a bit of spray and a bit of elbow grease – to rid some rolling stock of a litany of ugly tags and scrawls ('It's not even good graffiti!', Harwood exclaims). 'This is shameful. This is not OK. We're done waiting for @MayorofLondon to pull his finger out,' a tweet by Reeve explained. It's certainly proved an effective publicity stunt, but what exactly are Looking for Growth, and its backers, attempting to drum up publicity for? The campaigners would like to be known as a 'pro-growth' and 'anti-crime'group who defy the traditional left-right political spectrum. However, as a London Centric piece about the group claims, they often reference the French political meme 'Nicolas, 30 ans' that depicts a young professional struggling as he pays taxes toward an older bourgeois couple and a younger is quoted as saying, 'That probably does describe quite a lot of our members.' Looking for Growth members appear to balance their pessimism about the present state of things with an optimism about what we might broadly call 'tech-driven' solutions: the video displayed on the front page of their website features an image of Michelangelo's God from The Creation of Adam, touching a robot arm. Londoncentric describes many of Looking for Growth's members as 'tech sector-adjacent'; predictably perhaps, their tube clean-up video was retweeted by Elon Musk. What might we say about all this? Certainly there is a powerful vision here. Britain is crap – and people know it. Mainstream politicians really don't seem to be able to do anything about it: hence why there is clearly so much electoral space for parties not called 'Labour' or 'the Conservatives' to exploit. But the likes of Looking for Growth seem to be entirely mistaken about the nature of Britain's enshittification. Take graffiti, for instance. TfL has claimed that it's unable to hold back carriages for cleaning and replace them with backups due to government budget cuts, but even if graffiti really were some sort of permanent, intractable problem on the tube – would the mere existence of graffiti be what's making Britain crap? Granted: part of how we know Britain is crap is because it looks crap. Still more profound, surely, is what we might call our sense of institutional crappiness manifested in the fact that all of our transactions are mediated through apps, but then if anything goes wrong you're only able to 'talk to' an AI, never an actual human being. It's expensive and shoddy housing. Crappiness is an elevated utilities bill; crappiness is shrinkflation. In short, the more we think about how Britain is actually crap, the more we can think about who is actually responsible for its decline. This is stuff being done to us by the venture capitalists who seem to own all our strategic assets; the private landlords we decided to sell all our social housing stock to. It is stuff being done to us by big tech. If anyone actually wants to make anything better, it's those much grander forces we're going to need to find a way of scrubbing off our metaphorical walls. Tom Whyman is an academic philosopher and a writer
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
If Britain is broken, what is to blame – big money and big tech, or graffiti on your train?
Britain, let's face it, is crap. Crap, I mean, in quite a specific sense: we might not be teetering on the brink of civilisational destruction, as the post-Brexit right can often seem to think. But there nonetheless remains a vast, ambient sense of rubbishness. Everything is expensive but nothing works. Our streets are full of potholes; our houses are full of mould. All the shops are shut, except for a Tesco Express, where there are security tags on the eggs. It takes about a million years to build a railway line. Up to now, the response to Britain's enshittification has, by and large, seemed remarkably fatalistic: Keir Starmer spent the first year in government repeatedly insisting that there just wasn't any money, and so really nothing could be done. Thank God then, one might think, for Looking for Growth, a new campaign group led by young (well, late 20s, early 30s) Londoners Lawrence Newport and Joe Reeve, who have reportedly been advised by Dominic Cummings, and who have taken it on themselves to rid the tube of the scourge of graffiti. You might have seen the video: riding the Bakerloo line, wearing hi-vis jackets that proclaim they are 'Doing What Sadiq Khant' and accompanied by the GB News presenter Tom Harwood, for some reason, Looking for Growth perform a task that looks so simple only a government might fail to achieve it – apply a bit of spray and a bit of elbow grease – to rid some rolling stock of a litany of ugly tags and scrawls ('It's not even good graffiti!', Harwood exclaims). 'This is shameful. This is not OK. We're done waiting for @MayorofLondon to pull his finger out,' a tweet by Reeve explained. It's certainly proved an effective publicity stunt, but what exactly are Looking for Growth, and its backers, attempting to drum up publicity for? The campaigners would like to be known as a 'pro-growth' and 'anti-crime'group who defy the traditional left-right political spectrum. However, as a London Centric piece about the group claims, they often reference the French political meme 'Nicolas, 30 ans' that depicts a young professional struggling as he pays taxes toward an older bourgeois couple and a younger is quoted as saying, 'That probably does describe quite a lot of our members.' Looking for Growth members appear to balance their pessimism about the present state of things with an optimism about what we might broadly call 'tech-driven' solutions: the video displayed on the front page of their website features an image of Michelangelo's God from The Creation of Adam, touching a robot arm. Londoncentric describes many of Looking for Growth's members as 'tech sector-adjacent'; predictably perhaps, their tube clean-up video was retweeted by Elon Musk. What might we say about all this? Certainly there is a powerful vision here. Britain is crap – and people know it. Mainstream politicians really don't seem to be able to do anything about it: hence why there is clearly so much electoral space for parties not called 'Labour' or 'the Conservatives' to exploit. But the likes of Looking for Growth seem to be entirely mistaken about the nature of Britain's enshittification. Take graffiti, for instance. TfL has claimed that it's unable to hold back carriages for cleaning and replace them with backups due to government budget cuts, but even if graffiti really were some sort of permanent, intractable problem on the tube – would the mere existence of graffiti be what's making Britain crap? Granted: part of how we know Britain is crap is because it looks crap. Still more profound, surely, is what we might call our sense of institutional crappiness manifested in the fact that all of our transactions are mediated through apps, but then if anything goes wrong you're only able to 'talk to' an AI, never an actual human being. It's expensive and shoddy housing. Crappiness is an elevated utilities bill; crappiness is shrinkflation. In short, the more we think about how Britain is actually crap, the more we can think about who is actually responsible for its decline. This is stuff being done to us by the venture capitalists who seem to own all our strategic assets; the private landlords we decided to sell all our social housing stock to. It is stuff being done to us by big tech. If anyone actually wants to make anything better, it's those much grander forces we're going to need to find a way of scrubbing off our metaphorical walls. Tom Whyman is an academic philosopher and a writer
Metro
14-06-2025
- Metro
London Underground driver sacked after knitting and watching videos at the wheel
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A London Underground driver who was caught knitting behind the wheel has been sacked. Footage shows the driver of the Northern Line train at Hendon Central station appearing distracted as pulled away from the stop in February. They can be seen watching a video on their phone as well as knitting. It was only when a commuter spotted the driver and filmed the driver were they eventually caught. The witness who caught the incident on camera said: 'I was so surprised. I didn't expect to see someone meant to be at work being so casual about the job. 'Especially because, at the time, there were Tube strikes going on, so it felt mad they were complaining about the job then relaxing on it. 'And, although I don't know how automatic the system is for the tubes, I remember thinking that this person has the passengers' lives in their hands. 'It felt crazy that this driver wouldn't take that more seriously.' Transport for London said: 'This video was made earlier in the year. We carried out a full investigation and the person involved no longer works at TfL.' Meanwhile commuters have decided to take the state of the network's graffiti into their own hands and have started scrubbing them. Recent months have seen a dramatic increase in defaced carriages, with Underground trains frequently seen covered with graffiti both on the inside and outside. Joe Reeve, from Looking for Growth, led a team to spruce up trains on Sunday morning. He told Metro: 'We are seeing this [graffiti] every single day. I take the Bakerloo Line every day. I see someone push through the barriers, and then every carriage is covered in graffiti. 'Londoners are fed up and the cavalry is here. We are not going away.' His team used an environmentally friendly water-based graffiti remover to clear the writing plastered all over the carriages, including on the doors, floors and ceilings. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Woman stabbed mum to death with birthday cake knife at child's party MORE: Manhunt after woman 'sexually assaulted inside cinema' MORE: Royals watch Red Arrows fly past after touching tribute to Air India crash victims
Metro
09-06-2025
- General
- Metro
Londoners take graffiti covered Tube trains into their own hands
A group of people took Tube graffiti into their own hands by giving carriages a scrub themselves. Recent months have seen a dramatic increase in defaced carriages, with Underground trains frequently seen covered with graffiti both on the inside and outside. Joe Reeve, from Looking for Growth, led a team to spruce up trains on Sunday morning. He told Metro: 'We are seeing this [graffiti] every single day. I take the Bakerloo Line every day. I see someone push through the barriers, and then every carriage is covered in graffiti. 'It's one of the those things that bugs people.' He added: 'Londoners are fed up and the cavalry is here. We are not going away.' His team used an environmentally friendly water-based graffiti remover to clear the writing plastered all over the carriages, including on the doors, floors and ceilings. But he explained that while some stains came off on the first wipe, others took far longer to remove, suggesting they had been left for weeks. He said: 'It comes off in the first wipe if it's under a week. When the graffiti's older it sticks more. By not dealing with it right away, it makes it much harder and more expensive to remove it later.' They're hoping to return to the fleet on Tuesday, and this time Joe hopes they will cover a full carriage every 30 minutes. In the last few months, graffiti has become a common sight on the Tube in recent months, specifically on the Bakerloo and Central lines. Both happen to have some of the oldest rolling stock on the network, with Bakerloo line trains having been continuously in service since 1970 – the oldest fleet still operating in Britain today. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video But the problem has spread onto other lines and newer trains, with even the brand new Piccadilly Line stock, which has yet to begin service, covered in artwork on arrival from Germany last year. Many commuters have said the graffiti reminds them of the New York Subway in the 1980s, when the system was well-know for being hotspot for crime and tagging. London Assembly member Bassam Mahfouz said that as well as making trains look a 'complete eyesore' the artwork was making passengers feel less safe. He said: 'If it is removed within a reasonable period of time, then that minimises the number of people who see it and therefore, there is no point putting even the sliver of effort to my artwork if it's not going to be seen, and I'll move somewhere else. Last month, TfL explained that a faulty automatic train washer was partly responsible for the uptick in graffiti visible on trains, but later clarified that the problem had been rectified. However commuters are increasingly convinced the problem is a symptom of the network's ageing rolling stock, with some suggesting that a shortage of trains on both lines means TfL is unable to take sets out of service to rid them of graffiti. One user commented on Reddit: 'TfL's current budget constraints means less money is being spent on low-level maintenance requirements such as graffiti removal, so it's not being removed much, and more graffiti is encouraging more graffiti and so on.' Another factor is the lack of CCTV coverage on both lines, with the exception of some refurbished Central Line trains, so vandals are rarely caught on camera. More Trending Joe blames a combination of poor procurement and management at the top, in particular the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. TfL said that it works to remove graffiti quickly, but added that where it cannot be wiped down easily it is covered wherever possible before being attended to during engineering hours, in order to keep trains in service. Siwan Hayward, director of security, policing and enforcement said: 'The safety of our customers and staff is our top priority. We are working closely with the police to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour on the network, with over 2,500 police and police community support officers and 500 TfL enforcement staff patrolling the network at all times. 'We work hard to ensure that our customers and staff feel safe when travelling on the network and continue to strengthen our capability to deter and detect fare evaders and ensure our trains and stations remain a pleasant and clean environment for passengers.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: The real reason behind 'Stop Hiring Humans' ads appearing on the Tube MORE: 'Stupid' Apple Pay prank plagues commuters on London Tube MORE: Fare dodger barges his way through barriers – and straight into arms of police
Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
'We're doing what Sadiq Khan can't!' Fed-up commuters take matters in their own hands and scrub graffiti off Tube trains
They are the UK's oldest passenger trains in regular scheduled use, and are known for their rather tired feel and appearance given they started running in the 1970s. But a group of volunteers so angered by graffiti-covered carriages on the London Underground 's Bakerloo line have taken matters into their hands to clean them up. The team led by Joe Reeve, 28, are now attracting praise from Transport for London (TfL) train drivers and passengers who have thanked them for their efforts. Mr Reeve, who is the founder of a policy group called Looking for Growth, has been critical of London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan - saying he is 'doing what Sadiq Khant'. Speaking about wider concerns about the state of the Tube, he told The Standard: 'I take the Bakerloo line every morning and I see someone push past the barrier. 'Then when I get down to the Tube, every single carriage is full of graffiti. It feels like no one is doing anything to make the city better. I'm pretty patriotic. 'I love London, and I think it should be the best city in the world. I had the option to move to the US for work, but I want to stay in the UK and see it get better.' He added: 'Sadiq has been mayor for a while and has said in videos he's proud of what he's achieved. I - and a lot of people - feel pretty frustrated with him.' Mr Reeve, who lives in Lambeth, South London, said three drivers have thanked the group for their efforts, with one telling them: 'At least someone's doing something.' TfL claims that it works to remove graffiti as quickly as possible - but where it cannot be removed easily, it is covered if possible and cleaned during engineering hours. The aim is to keep trains out on the network and minimise passenger delays. Susan Hall, leader of the City Hall Conservative Group, told MailOnline: 'A group of activists in one morning have put Khan and TfL to shame by showing how easy it is to clean up our Tube. 'It's disappointing that the Mayor constantly has to be humiliated into acting, but we look forward to legions of TfL staff being put to good use wiping down the remaining graffiti which has adorned Tube carriages for disgracefully too long.' It comes after shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick highlighted fare dodging on the TfL network last month. He released a video in which he confronted people who forced their way through the ticket barriers at Stratford station, and it quickly went viral. Siwan Hayward, TfL's director of security, policing and enforcement, told MailOnline today: 'The safety of our customers and staff is our top priority. 'We are working closely with the police to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour on the network, with over 2,500 police and police community support officers and 500 TfL enforcement staff patrolling the network at all times. 'We work hard to ensure that our customers and staff feel safe when travelling on the network and continue to strengthen our capability to deter and detect fare evaders and ensure our trains and stations remain a pleasant and clean environment for passengers.' The current rate of fare evasion on the TfL network is estimated at 3.4 per cent of journeys, and the transport body wants to cut this to 1.5 per cent by 2030. The issue has also been highlighted by the ongoing Channel 5 documentary 'Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law' which is next airing this Sunday at 9pm. The Bakerloo line runs from Elephant and Castle to Harrow & Wealdstone, with the current set of 1972 Mark 2 stock trains now more than half a century old.
