Bermondsey MP Neil Coyle has criticised a protest by a “silly” private renters’ protest group for leaving litter outside his office, which his team had to clear up afterwards.
Coyle, the chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on homelessness, was supposed to meet the protest by renters’ group Acorn outside his Jamaica Road office earlier in April, before “diaries changed”, he said. The group then met in Southwark Park before marching to his office and leaving leaflets and a letter calling for more help for private renters.
The Bermondsey and Old Southwark MP told the News: “Their silly stunt and flyposting which needed cleaning up means they’ve now fallen off my to do list. But I’ll keep working for real renters and constituents whatever the silly tactics of an unrepresentative sideshow group.
A K-pop festival planned for Southwark Park has not yet been given a licence by Southwark Council – despite the organisers appearing to suggest it will go ahead.
Proud Events want to put on MIK Festival in Southwark Park this summer on July 30-31 – billed as Europe’s first outdoor Korean music festival.
Southwark Council consulted on the proposal earlier this year and has yet to make an official announcement.
But the Southwark Park Association 1869 (SPA) were dismayed to find that an MIK Festival website and Twitter page had been set up over the weekend, strongly suggesting that the festival was going ahead.
An email from the council’s events team to SPA said this was not the case and that Proud Events were promoting the event “subject to licence” and “entirely at their own risk”.
The festival would take place on the cricket pitch in the southern part of the park, bounded by the cafe and gallery to the north, and the athletics track to the south.
Building would start on the morning of July 20 and the dismantling process would finish in the evening of August 5 – meaning disruption to the usual functioning of the park over more than two weeks in total.
Organisers Proud Events have not responded to multiple requests for comment. The website for the festival does not currently have tickets on sale, but says more is to come soon.
Proud Events said they wanted to hold the event – which they said would be Europe’s first outdoor K-pop festival – in Southwark Park because of the area’s young, diverse population and good transport links. The company was originally given permission to hold the festival in 2021, before Covid rules scuppered these plans.
Discounted tickets to the festival could be available to local residents, and organisers promise Bermondsey and Rotherhithe residents “more than just music” at MIK.
“Also enjoying K-fashion, K- lifestyle, K-culture, street food and drinks, Random dance, flash mob. Or even your own dazzling moment on the stage,” they say.
The event does not appear to have much local support. Aside from Southwark Park Association 1869, other critics include the local Liberal Democrat councillors for north Bermondsey and the Southwark Park cricket club, whose members are concerned about damage to the pitch.
Elephant accountant hopes to be Masterchef
An Elephant and Castle accountant is hoping to swap balance sheets for cookbooks on this year’s edition of hit BBC show Masterchef.
Mark, 34, moved to the UK in 2012 and is originally from the Philippines. He appeared on Tuesday night (April 19) in the fifth and final week of heats to determine who gets into the show proper.
He said: “I’d say my style is eclectic, but I’m always inspired by my travels and Filipino roots, most especially my mum. I like to incorporate this with European and modern style of cooking.
“My husband is British and his family are traditional cooks, so that has influenced my style too.”
Masterchef, which originally launched in 1990, sees judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace look for the UK’s top amateur chef every year.
Exclusive: Coyle slams renter campaigners for mess at office
Bermondsey MP Neil Coyle has criticised a protest by a “silly” private renters’ protest group for leaving litter outside his office, which his team had to clear up afterwards.
Coyle, the chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on homelessness, was supposed to meet the protest by renters’ group Acorn outside his Jamaica Road office earlier in April, before “diaries changed”, he said. The group then met in Southwark Park before marching to his office and leaving leaflets and a letter calling for more help for private renters.
The Bermondsey and Old Southwark MP told the News: “Their silly stunt and flyposting which needed cleaning up means they’ve now fallen off my to do list. But I’ll keep working for real renters and constituents whatever the silly tactics of an unrepresentative sideshow group.
“My team had to clean their silly flyposting. It stops them doing their real job. It is ridiculous when we probably agree on more than we disagree but they chose a stupid course of action and undermined their own objectives.”
A spokesperson for Acorn said: “Southwark has some of the least affordable rents in the country, so it is disappointing that Mr Coyle wasn’t able to make the rally and also that he thinks his renters in his constituency raising these issues are ‘silly’.
“Acorn is the leading voice for private renters across the country and we hope we can work with Mr Coyle to improve support for renters in his constituency.”
The protest on April 8 aimed to draw attention to the trials and tribulations private renters face ahead of a government policy document on rental reforms, due to be published this spring.
Losal, 29, who spoke at the Southwark Park event, said: “I was born on a London council estate and have lived in London all my life. Most people I grew up with have been pushed away from the areas we came from. Short term contracts, ever rising rents and the possibility of being evicted at a moment’s notice has left a generation of Londoners being priced out of the city.”
Acorn, along with homelessness groups like Shelter and Crisis, wants the government to make it harder for private landlords to evict renters by ending Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions.
The groups also want the government to create a public national register of landlords, and limit landlords and estate agents to asking for one month’s rent upfront.
Southwark Council runs a licensing scheme for private landlords on top of its statutory requirement to license landlords renting out homes to five or more people in at least two separate households.