London Assembly calls on Grayling to reconsider Transport for London’s proposals to take over Southeastern December 7, 2016 The London Assembly has passed an urgent motion calling on the transport secretary to reconsider his decision not to devolve franchise management to Transport for London (TfL). Leader of the Labour group on the London Assembly, Len Duvall, who proposed the motion, said the issue was "far too important" to be used for party political purposes. Duvall said [...]
Leaked rail letter: Grayling said he wanted suburban rail “out of the clutches” of Labour December 7, 2016 The transport secretary has been criticised for "political point scoring" and faced calls to resign, after a leaked letter said he wanted to "keep suburban rail services out of the clutches of any future Labour mayor". Yesterday Chris Grayling rejected Sadiq Khan's bid to take over commuter routes, saying the mayor hadn't proved his alternative would [...]
Mayor doubles funding on improving London’s air quality to clean up the capital December 7, 2016 Sadiq Khan has made no secret of his aims to tackle the capital's air pollution problem. And now the mayor has pledged to invest £875m to tackle air quality over the next five years – more than doubling spending on it, after his predecessor Boris Johnson committed £425m. Earlier this year, Mercer said London ranked [...]
Sadiq Khan dealt blow by Chris Grayling: TfL won’t take over Southeastern services December 6, 2016 Sadiq Khan has spoken out over the announcement that Transport for London (TfL) won't be taking over Southeastern services from 2018. Chris Grayling has rejected the mayor's plans for City Hall to take over suburban rail services. In an interview with the Evening Standard, Grayling said: "Right now, I think the last thing our railways need in [...]
Step-free access on the Underground is getting a £200m boost from the mayor December 6, 2016 The mayor of London has announced step-free access on the Underground will get a financial boost to the tune of £200m over the next five years. Sadiq Khan said this will bring the total number of step-free access stations on London Underground to more than 100 stations and 40 per cent of the network. The [...]
Chris Grayling will announce plans to destroy Network Rail’s monopoly later today December 6, 2016 Transport secretary Chris Grayling will today unveil ambitious plans to shatter Network Rail's monopoly over Britain's train tracks. Speaking at centre-right think tank Policy Exchange, Grayling will set out plans to bring closer together train operation and infrastructure maintenance, beginning on services between Oxford and Cambridge A new “East West Rail” organisation will lead on [...]
Sadiq Khan has promised to spend £770m on supporting London’s cyclists by 2020 December 5, 2016 London mayor Sadiq Khan has revealed plans for a huge investment in the capital's cycling infrastructure, totalling a mammoth £770m over five years. The plans represent an almost doubling of the spending by Khan's predecessor Boris Johnson, but critics have questioned how the mayor will fund the investment, and why it will not help to [...]
How tech startups and investors really feel about Brexit December 5, 2016 What is going to be the impact of Brexit on UK tech startups?Will the flat-whites downed by the geeks of Shoreditch turn even flatter? That’s been the topic on the lips of almost every observer of the scene in the last few weeks, especially given how international the staffing is in most tech companies, particularly in [...]
Boris Johnson has set up a clash with Theresa May over students and migration numbers December 4, 2016 Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has publicly rejected the government's policies on migration numbers, specifically the inclusion of student numbers. Only in October, Downing Street stressed that there is no review of the current plan – which sees students included in net migration sums. That was a reaction to comments from chancellor Philip Hammond, who had [...]
Small Business Saturday: How London celebrated local businesses on the day December 3, 2016 If you've had an eye on Twitter, you may have noticed Small Business Saturday has been going on today. And as an opportunity for all of the nation to get out and support their local firms, Londoners have been doing just that. Here's what's been happening for Small Business Saturday in London: Read more: Small Business [...]