Sadiq Khan gets green light to increase council tax and business rates to tackle violent crime February 25, 2019 The London Assembly has backed Sadiq Khan's budget which includes plans to give an extra £234m to policing and tackling violent crime through council tax and business rate hikes. Around £95m has already been announced for the Metropolitan police, which has to make £263m worth of cuts by 2022-23. The £95m announced last December will be funded mostly from [...]
Crossrail bosses hope to give estimate for new opening date ‘by April’ February 25, 2019 London mayor Sadiq Khan has said there is no date that Crossrail chief executive Mark Wild can give "with confidence" for when the delayed railway will open, but that he hopes to give an estimate by the end of this financial quarter. The £17.6bn Elizabeth Line, which will stretch from Shenfield in the east to Reading in the [...]
U-Lez Miserable? London’s small businesses need support on new emissions rules February 25, 2019 A week is a long time in politics, or so goes the famous adage by former Prime Minister Harold Wilson. And it is apparent that a week and a half will be a very long time indeed in the world of small businesses, between 29 March and 8 April. With our departure from the European [...]
Critics hit out at Sadiq Khan’s ‘blunt’ junk food advertising ban to tackle child obesity February 24, 2019 Sadiq Khan's advertising ban on junk food across London's transport networks has come into force today, as part of the mayor's bid to tackle child obesity in the capital. Junk food advertising will be banned on the London Underground and at bus stops across London following a public consultation in May which received 1,500 responses, with 82 [...]
Heathrow breaks the history books with over 80m passengers flying through airport February 21, 2019 Heathrow airport enjoyed the busiest year in its history last year, bringing in 80.1m passengers, a near three per cent increase on the year before. The record-breaking numbers were accompanied by a climb in revenue of three per cent to £3bn, which the airport said was delivered by increasing demand and strong retail spend. Over the [...]
Port of Tilbury £200m London project gets green light February 20, 2019 Authorities have given the green light for a £200m port project on the outskirts of London, in a bid to deal with rising demand from the construction, manufacturing and retail sectors. The Department for Transport (DfT) gave the project its blessing yesterday, meaning work on the second terminal at the Port of Tilbury in Thurrock [...]
Labour pains: Seven MPs quit Corbyn’s party to launch The Independent Group February 18, 2019 Seven Labour MPs have resigned from the party and will now sit in parliament as an independent group in the wake of disaffection with the leadership's stance on Brexit and anti-semitism. The MPs, calling themselves The Independent Group, are Luciana Berger, Chuka Umunna, Former shadow chancellor Chris Leslie, Mike Gapes, Gavin Shuker, Ann Coffey and Angela Smith. Berger, [...]
Revealed: Final cost of ‘botched’ Garden Bridge project comes to £53.5m February 13, 2019 Backers of the failed Garden Bridge project are under fire after the "galling" costs of the scheme were revealed to have spiralled north of £50m. The Garden Bridge Trust, which managed the project since November 2015, was accused of “squandering public money” on the ill-fated venture, after Transport for London admitted that the project racked [...]
Sadiq Khan to warn that leaving the single market will damage London ‘for decades to come’ February 13, 2019 London mayor Sadiq Khan will today warn that leaving the single market will damage London and the UK “for decades to come” as the exit date for leaving the bloc draws ever closer. Khan, a staunch Remainer, will say that leaving the single market and customs union would lead to a “lost decade” in which 87,000 [...]
London’s iconic department store Liberty ‘seeks £300m sale’ February 12, 2019 London retail landmark Liberty department store could be set for new ownership for the first time in nearly 10 years. Its largest shareholder, private equity firm Bluegem Capital Partners, has reportedly hired UBS to look into potential buyers for the business. Read more: West End property giant Shaftesbury posts 'resilient' retail demand The company, which [...]