Time once again (the 15th year we've done this!) to gaze into our crystal ball and glimpse London's near future.
January
Labour's new VAT charges on private school fees kick inn. One of London's oldest, James Allen's Girls' School, can't hide its feelings...
February
Freed from his role in government and back on the media circuit, Michael Gove announces his new gameshow. How Deep is Your Gove? sees the former Cabinet Minister touring mystery Tube stations and other subterranean spaces, while a panel has to work out where he is, and whether to let him back out.
March
Hackney's pothole problem reaches crisis point. The council trials a new initiative whereby all the holes in the road are simply swept under the pavement.
April
After the success of the south London 'tram-bus', TfL experiments with other mixed-modes of transport. First up, literally, is the CableRoutemaster.
May
The new holographic Elvis show opens at ExCeL to great acclaim. The virtual performance is, however, prone to AI hallucinations during some of The King's more popular songs.
June
As open-water swimming resumes in Canary Wharf basin, one swimmer complains that the water should have been skimmed for algae first.
July
"Bollardworld" — a multi-sensory, immersive illusion-attraction — opens in the heart of the Square Mile. It soon goes bust after critics say there are too many barriers to entry.
August
As Paddington in Peru comes to Netflix, anger grows at the disruption caused by a publicity stunt in which several major roads are coated in marmalade
September
Questions are raised of a well-known restaurant chain after a "river" of brown liquid is reported in one of its West End Branches. Health and safety investigators also look into reports of children falling down disposal chutes, and turning violet after eating the food.
October
Excitement mounts as the new Piccadilly line rolling stock finally enters service. Alas, funding cuts mean it's not quite the debut everyone was expecting.
November
Crime in London is entirely eradicated, after the Met police erect one of these signs on every street.
December
Transport for London announces the introduction of cross-town blimps, in fulfilment of the predictions in this old Tube poster from 1926.
See how we predicted the year ahead for 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, and leave your own predictions in the comments below.
