data tracking hospitality closures and openings found there are 540 fewer venues now than there were in 2020. it suggests the pandemic combined with the cost of living crisis are having a big impact. grace regan had to shut both of her restaurants. we re closing after four and a half years of serving our vegan curry to walthamstow. and we ve decided to close because basically, ever since covid, we ve seen a reduction in revenue and an increase in our costs, and it s just no longer viable to be running the business. a statue of the peace campaigner brian haw, who spent ten years camped outside parliament, will be installed opposite the imperial war museum after a crowdfunding campaign. mr haw died from lung cancer in 2011 having spent a decade protesting against british and american foreign policy. efforts were made to remove him but it was only an illness that forced him to stop.