Tory Assembly member accuses Sadiq Khan of ‘tricking Londoners’ over housing targets March 21, 2019 A Conservative Assembly member has said Sadiq Khan's housing credibility is in "tatters" after he accused the mayor of double counting figures from previous years. Andrew Boff, a former mayoral candidate and Tories' housing spokesperson in the London Assembly, said Khan had failed to reach his housing target of 12,500 homes for the previous financial year because he had [...]
Sadiq Khan confirms TfL will remove controversial Michael Jackson bus adverts March 21, 2019 Controversial adverts that express support for Michael Jackson are to be removed from the side of Transport for London's (TfL) buses, Sadiq Khan has confirmed. The adverts, which bear the tagline "Innocent", were pushed by a Jackson fan group in response to a two-part Netflix documentary, Leaving Neverland, in which the late singer is accused of abusing young boys [...]
TfL slashes £1bn deficit in ‘relentless’ cost-cutting drive but warns of continued economic woes March 20, 2019 Transport for London (TfL) has halved its near £1bn budget deficit thanks to an aggressive cost-cutting drive. The transport body said a "relentless focus on efficiency" and "tight financial management" will help it to get the £968m deficit – partially caused by the loss of the government grant and Sadiq Khan's fare freeze for single journeys – [...]
City Hall accused of ‘repeating mistakes’ of Garden Bridge scandal over £22m housing loan March 18, 2019 City Hall has been accused of repeating the mistakes of the Garden Bridge after it agreed to loan nearly £22m towards the development of a controversial housing site in south London. The Greater London Authority (GLA) has agreed to loan American property developer Anthology £21.8m to build homes at Woodlands and Masters house in Lambeth, despite [...]
City Hall at risk of Momentum takeover after Labour changes reselection rules March 14, 2019 City Hall could be targeted by hard-left Labour activists after the party changed rules to make the deselection of moderate candidates more likely. Labour’s governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), voted to change party rules for the Assembly last month, which one Labour Assembly Member (AM) said had sparked a “climate of fear and [...]
Government pours nearly £600m into housing around Old Oak Common and Brent Cross stations March 14, 2019 Nearly £600m will be poured into housing projects near key railway stations, housing minister James Brokenshire has announced. Up to £250m will got towards the construction of up to 13,000 new homes close to the new HS2 railway station at Old Oak Common, near East Acton. The new station at Old Oak Common is set to open [...]
TfL boss Mike Brown ‘hid Crossrail testing issues’ from Sadiq Khan in weekly email update March 14, 2019 Transport for London (TfL) boss Mike Brown ordered references to the difficulties Crossrail was experiencing with dynamic testing to be removed from email updates sent to Sadiq Khan, it was revealed today. At a grilling by the London Assembly's transport committee, Howard Smith, operations director for TfL Rail and the Elizabeth Line, admitted he felt Crossrail ought [...]
Tory mayoral hopeful Shaun Bailey pledges 10 per cent salary cut if he defeats Sadiq Khan in 2020 election March 11, 2019 Tory mayoral hopeful Shaun Bailey has vowed to take a 10 per cent pay cut and cap the salaries of his close political advisers if he defeats Sadiq Khan in the 2020 mayoral election. Bailey, who was selected as the Tory choice for mayor last autumn, has pledged to tackle increasing staff costs at City Hall, which he [...]
Sadiq Khan and local councils gear up for Heathrow third runway legal challenge March 11, 2019 A legal challenge against Heathrow's bid to build the third runway launches today in the High Court. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, five local councils and Greenpeace are taking the government to court over objections to the Department for Transport's (DfT) airport national policy statement, (NPS) the legislation that makes the case for Heathrow [...]
Sadiq Khan’s junk food advertising ban will hurt TfL and marketers, but fail to fight childhood obesity March 4, 2019 Last week, a divisive political leader brought an end to a scourge that threatened our everyday society. No, I’m not talking about Donald Trump, whose summit with Kim Jong-un unfortunately failed to achieve the denuclearisation of North Korea. I’m talking instead about London mayor Sadiq Khan, whose ban on junk food advertising on the Transport [...]