Labour’s plan to gerrymander London’s mayoral election will backfire July 24, 2025 Giving the vote to teenagers may be getting the headlines, but Labour are also planning to rig London’s mayoral elections by restoring supplementary voting. It’s a plan based on dangerous assumptions, warms James Ford Labour is clearly panicking. There is a very real fear that, come 2028, the combination of a deeply unpopular Labour government [...]
Angela Rayner pushes for new tourist tax to fix black hole July 22, 2025 Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner is pushing Chancellor Rachel Reeves to give more power to councils to tax tourists amid worries that local governments are struggling to keep finances in check. Rayner has suggested that councils should be able to tax tourist hotel stays and take advantage of a rise in visitors, rather than taxing [...]
The discrete joy of guerrilla swimming in the Thames July 22, 2025 Guerilla swimmers are defying the authorities to go swimming in the Thames – don’t listen to the gloomsters telling you it’s not safe, says James Bethell Swooshing down the Thames past the pubs and bridges on the powerful tides in the warm summer water is utter bliss. We met at a pub for some chat, [...]
Mayor of London announces £1.4m sports fund for capital July 19, 2025 The Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, has this morning announced a £1.4m cash injection for community sport across the capital. Khan, currently in Africa on a trade mission, confirmed the fund in South Africa, alongside England Rugby World Cup Winner Jason Leonard OBE’s charity Atlas Foundation. The round of funding forms part of Go! [...]
Sadiq Khan to host first-ever mayoral London-Africa business summit July 17, 2025 Sadiq Khan has unveiled plans to host the first-ever mayoral London-Africa business summit next year in a bid to deepen trading ties with the continent. According to the mayor, the summit will bring together entrepreneurs and investors, state officials, trade groups and stock exchanges from across the continent, with the aim of promoting London as [...]
Sadiq Khan: Why I’m leading the first trade mission to Africa by a London Mayor July 15, 2025 Africa is the world's most rapidly urbanising region. Forging closer ties could be a boon for London businesses, writes Sadiq Khan.
The best 25th birthday present for the GLA would be more devolution July 11, 2025 25 years since the GLA’s creation, London has made major strides in devolved policy areas, particularly in transport, but now urgently needs more fiscal powers and a formalised partnership between boroughs and central government, says Antonia Jennings Trailblazing. The first of its kind. A UK leader in regional devolution settlements. All phrases which have been [...]
Here’s how failing TfL can restore confidence in our graffiti-riddled Tube July 10, 2025 Sky-high pay and bonuses, PR gaffes, and a failure to tackle graffiti and fare dodging suggest that TfL is losing touch with its customers, writes James Ford Last week was bad news week for Transport for London (TfL). Poor old Andy Lord, the beleaguered transport commissioner, started the week by explicitly denying that a lengthy [...]
The secret to London’s last housing boom? Less paperwork July 9, 2025 The last time London built enough houses was almost 100 years ago, when planning applications were just three pages long and took just weeks to approve, finds Sam Dumitriu Labour were elected on a pledge to build 1.5m homes. And Mayor Sadiq Khan has clear instructions from the Deputy PM: “build more homes!” In fact, [...]
Uber, AA and Royal Mail urge Khan to scrap EV congestion charge plans July 3, 2025 A host of businesses including Uber, the AA and Royal Mail have urged Sadiq Khan to re-think rolling back the exemption for electric vehicles in London’s congestion charge. Some 28 business and green groups published an open letter to the Mayor arguing that changing the discount would threaten London’s clean air ambitions, while prompting a [...]