Simon Usborne

Hereditary peer Lord Mancroft: ‘They don’t care about fox hunting. It’s about us’ [FREE TO READ] The Conservative politician and former master of hounds on House of Lords reform, the pros and cons of privilege — and his numerous tattoos

I don't really know how to describe this, but it was great fun as.ft.com/r/8f9937cc-9...

I've been unemployed for a few months. I now set myself pretend jobs to prevent the rot setting in. My son thinks this guy is funny, which is a good enough excuse to make something. Any requests?

To be worn at the small chain of French burger joints www.rosaparks.fr/restaurants/...

my fav melted cheese spot since circa '94

Great stuff. I was at the Cabane last week and they were asking after you (in a good way)

‘It’s just a bomb’ [FREE TO READ] The true story of two strangers and an extraordinary act of courage

Two strangers sit on a bench outside a Leeds hospital. One is carrying a homemade bomb in a bag. He plans to set it off inside. The other makes the extraordinary decision to try to talk him out of it. A brilliant, brilliant piece by Ravi Somaiya, edited by Neil O’Sullivan as.ft.com/r/153da9db-e...

**FT GRAD SCHEME**

applications are now open. Incredible opportunity for young wannabe hacks. Spread the word:

job-boards.greenhouse.io/financialtim...

Why Zipcar gave up on London The car-sharing scheme was hit by rapidly increased costs, a new congestion charge, and a lack of support from councils.

@londoncentric.media has the answers www.londoncentric.media/p/zipcar-lon...

How Britain’s shoplifting epidemic is forcing supermarkets to fight back Metal barriers, digital locks, facial recognition and hi-tech innovations are being rolled out in an attempt to halt severe losses

Wrote about the supermarket crimewave, and how the big players are (maybe) turning the tide. From live facial recognition, to changes in the law - and those new plastic guards that make grabbing a bag of coffee awkward www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/e536d64...

Comeback King: a new hotel for the man behind the fallen Birch Chris King’s Birch brand was hailed as ‘the future of the British hotel’ — then swiftly went bust. As he launches Crafted, a new retreat in East Sussex, he tells Simon Usborne what went wrong

Remember the Birch hotels? Big splash, critical acclaim, multiple awards... then the whole thing blew up. I met co-founder Chris King at his new gaff in Sussex to talk about the failure and his comeback www.ft.com/content/54b0...

😬

You'll never see a better use of a before/after photo slider than in this v nice piece about balding by @rhodri.biz www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11...

The inside story of Winter Wonderland It's one of the biggest events in the capital — but what goes on away from the public's eyes?

The always great @londoncentric.media asked me to explore the madness of Winter Wonderland. It got interesting when some former workers told me about goings on behind the Avalanche waltzer (plus the fact its operators have manslaughter convictions) open.substack.com/pub/londonce...

It's mindblowing what they're having to do there - retrieve radioactive waste from giant concrete silos that were never designed to be emptied. This one was built in the 50s. Retrievals started in 2023.

Went to Sellafield to look at how robots - including those mad dogs - are increasingly joining the nuclear decommissioning race. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11...

Huh. I confess I didn’t know his story when he pulled me aside after an Everest talk I’d chaired at the FT weekend festival two months ago. He was cagey when I said we should do an interview and I understood why when googling him on the way home… fascinating guy

A good day to share one's own worst mistake (xref the de Blasio balls-up). See last paragraph, and the mea culpa: simonusborne.wordpress.com/2016/03/23/w... #wankyballs

I'm publishing the weirdest story I've ever written tomorrow, for London Centric members only.

So here's an one-off offer. Sign up for a year before midnight today and I'll give you 33% off. If the story doesn't live up to expectations, I'll refund you tomorrow. www.londoncentric.media/a21e85e7

STUDENTS! You can subscribe to the Guardian for just £9 a year: theguardian.com/studentoffer. Spread the word.

One year of London Centric A selection of our favourite stories that you might have missed — and a quick note from Jim.

A little bit of navel-gazing on the last twelve months of trying to run a start-up local news organisation with no investment or plan, entirely funded by readers. www.londoncentric.media/p/london-new...

No idea who this “Osborne” guy is

Famously comfy? You might as well be dragging my arse over the sleepers

You join us live from Danny Dyer’s birthday drinks.

More like 14-18p but that is still criminally low

Meet the water sommeliers: they believe H₂O can rival wine – but would you pay £19 a bottle? A restaurant in the English county of Cheshire has launched a water menu, as have a number of US establishments. Is it really possible, though, to tell one terroir from another?

Went up north to try Britain's only water menu and talk to the "sommeliers" who are convinced water's the new wine www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

I’m chairing a debate about Everest following my story about the seven-day “xenon” expedition - and the fallout. Part of a top lineup at the @ftweekend.com Festival. ukftweekendfestival.live.ft.com/agenda/sessi...

love this story - and would like to know more about the "Society of Mudlarks, a separate secretive group with special privileges"

London's mudlarks at war: feuds, fights and slurs on the shoreline “Fuck off, this is my patch": A niche hobby exploded in popularity due to social media. Now the police are involved, as the people searching the Thames mud for historic artefacts battle each other.

London's mudlarks at war: feuds, fights and slurs on the shoreline.

It's a Bank Holiday so for one day only, I'm making this brilliant piece by @susborne.bsky.social free to read.

There's also an experimental one day flash sale for the first 25 people!

www.londoncentric.media/p/london-mud...

My day trip to medieval England At the ‘Wimbledon of jousting’, Simon Usborne finds historical re-enactment is becoming big business — and meets the knights and tourists partying like it’s 1499

Went to the “Wimbledon of jousting” for @ftweekend.com www.ft.com/content/f4da...