I can't comment on this case - but I am interested in your comments
1. When you say the D328 had to route around the SE of England - do you mean it initially flew the whole STAR via SPEAR for a change - and not being given a short cut through LAM? (A LAM release often causes a much busier workload to Thames - and the TMA NE on 118.82 sometimes have to work incredibly hard to get you down to 4000ft by LAM.
2. Please do not have a go at ATC. It is nothing to do with Thames Radar or LCY Tower. The fact that there are no stands must mean that either the allocation plan is flawed, or someone went u/s on stand.
3. There are plenty of airfields to divert to if the weather is that bad.
4. It is only going to get busier - as Thames is expected to work all the Southend inbounds/outbounds from Southend (probably using 4000ft to get them inside CAS)
5. Everything inbound is descending to ALKIN at 4000ft - from SPEAR/LAM/DET - and Thames have only 3000ft and 4000ft to play with (and an RMA that is tiny - and runs DET-BIG-LCY-DET approx)
6. All the CLN/DVR/SAM/LYD SID's climb to 4000ft.
7. Biggin Hill is getting busier and they use the same levels.
8. I have NEVER seen any airline crews to Thames Radar. (I managed to get LCY to pull a few strings to get me on a Fam flight earlier in the year with VLM who are great!)
Why not come and visit - and you will see just how crowded the airspace is. The safest place for a departure when the sectors are overloaded and pilots want wx avoidance is on the ground. I appreciate that this doesn't help at LCY!