Businesses bag £90m to overhaul UK city transport in government review March 19, 2019 Businesses will be offered up to £90m to implement their ideas on how to improve transport in UK cities and towns as part of a new government review. Businesses will be asked to offer their ideas into how to make transport more innovative, convenient and reliable, and how data sharing can improve public services by [...]
Oman Air beats British Airways to top Heathrow’s greenest airlines league March 18, 2019 Oman Air has topped Heathrow Airport's league of green and quiet airlines, beating rivals such as British Airways and Etihad Airways. Oman's flag carrier landed itself at the top of the league after it phased out its older aircraft and replaced it with the ultra-quiet and green Boeing 787 dreamliner. The Heathrow "fly quiet and [...]
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 [...]
Junk food ads set to be banned on TV and online before 9pm watershed in government crackdown March 17, 2019 Junk food advertisements could be banned from appearing on TV and online before 9pm, as the government today launched a consultation on measures to tackle the UK's growing obesity rate. Currently, ads for foods that are high in fat, salt or sugar are forbidden during broadcasts of TV programmes specifically aimed at children. The consultation by [...]
Heathrow boosts passenger numbers for 28th month in a row as London Fashion Week attracts tourists March 15, 2019 Heathrow Airport saw record rates of passenger traffic growth for the 28th month in a row in February as 5.48m travellers used the airport, up 1.7 per cent from the same time last year. The record-breaking streak was helped by London's Fashion Week, which invited visitors from 49 countries around the world to see collections from more [...]
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 [...]