Majority of Londoners support TfL control over commuter rail services July 25, 2019 Nearly 60 per cent of Londoners want decision making on the railways to be taken by the mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL), a new poll has found. Research by Populus for the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents train firms and Network Rail, found that 59 per cent of Londoners want decision [...]
Sadiq Khan’s minicab congestion charge is not discriminatory, court rules July 24, 2019 Sadiq Khan’s decision to impose a congestion charge on private hire vehicles (PHVs) was lawful and appropriate, the High Court has ruled. The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) challenged the London mayor’s decision to lift the congestion charge for PHVs, arguing that the policy disproportionately affects female and black and ethnic minority drivers. [...]
Naked houses: Unfinished homes give buyers a discount price – but are they practical? July 24, 2019 In case you hadn’t noticed, Britain is in the grip of its worst housing crisis since the 1940s. The verdict, delivered in a recent report from the Centre for Policy Studies, will be endorsed by anyone who has endured the vagaries of the London rental market, where a ‘cosy one-bed’ can be a garage with [...]
Spending watchdog slams failure to sell public land for homes July 24, 2019 The UK’s public spending watchdog has slammed the government for failing to sell enough public land for houses to be built on, saying it has prolonged “the nation’s housing crisis”. Read more: UK house sales plummet in June, held back by Brexit ‘ball and chain’ The government set itself the target of selling enough publicly-owned [...]
Sadiq Khan slammed for London rental cap proposals July 19, 2019 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has been blasted as “economically illiterate” after announcing plans to cap rents on homes in the capital. Read more: Sadiq Khan rejects Tulip tower planning application Khan today called for the government to give him powers to limit the amount rents can rise in London, which has seen rental prices [...]
London Underground: Entire Tube network set for 4G coverage by mid-2020s July 19, 2019 Londoners will be able to use the 4G mobile network anywhere on the Tube by the mid-2020s under plans unveiled by Transport for London. The first passengers to benefit from the roll out on the underground will be those using the Jubilee Line, with the eastern part of the line spanning from Westminster to Canning [...]
DEBATE: Was Sadiq Khan right to reject plans for the Tulip tower? July 17, 2019 Was Sadiq Khan right to reject plans for the Tulip tower? Caroline Pidgeon, a Liberal Democrat member of the London Assembly, says YES. I seriously disagree with Sadiq Khan on many subjects, but on this issue I think he is right. Innovative and challenging designs of buildings are of course important, but we should never [...]
Tulip tower: Developers will meet to consider appeal after Khan halts project July 16, 2019 Backers of the proposed Tulip tower will meet this week to consider an appeal against Sadiq Khan’s decision to reject their planning application, City A.M. understands. US-based developers the Tulip Project said they were “disappointed” the mayor stopped the project at the final hurdle. They maintained the tower would “generate immediate and longer-term socio-economic benefits [...]
Sadiq Khan rejects Tulip tower planning application July 15, 2019 London mayor Sadiq Khan rejected plans for the controversial Tulip tower this afternoon, dashing supporters’ hopes that the Square Mile would become home to the second-tallest skyscraper in western Europe. The 305-metre building, named for its distinctive viewing platform at the top, was planned as a visitor attraction in the heart of the City, next to [...]
Give me a fulcrum and lever long enough: London’s engineers are moving the world July 12, 2019 British ideas continue to move the world. Irrespective of the political developments around Brexit, the soft power and influence of our industrial intellectual property and engineering innovation benefits not just Britain, but transforms lives around the world. Today, London and the rest of the UK celebrate the fiftieth anniversary winner of the Royal Academy of [...]