Sadiq Khan unveils Brexit panel featuring Lord Mandelson and Santander chair to advise on getting “best deal” for London December 19, 2016 Sadiq Khan has recruited an assortment of business leaders, investors and academics in an effort to boost London's Brexit credentials. The mayor announced a new Brexit Expert Advisory panel to advise him on the risks, challenges and opportunities for the capital in the wake of June's vote to leave the European Union. Members include Sir George Iacobescu, [...]
MP support for Heathrow expansion reaches new high (says poll commissioned by Heathrow) December 19, 2016 It might have some prominent opposition, from London mayor Sadiq Khan to Boris Johnson, but Heathrow wants to make clear its expansion has hefty backing too. The airport has just released a new poll of 130 MPs by ComRes, which recorded 74 per cent of MPs backing the third runway; a rise of seven percentage points [...]
Newly appointed night czar Amy Lamé hits the Piccadilly line Night Tube for the first of her night surgeries December 16, 2016 The mayor's first night czar starts a pet project of her own tonight. Amy Lamé, who was announced by the mayor last month as night czar, is launching the very first of her night surgeries – where she'll meet the capital's nightlife lovers and night-time workers to find out just what they want to see from [...]
Sadiq Khan announces Philip Kolvin QC as chair of Night Time Commission December 16, 2016 The mayor has picked a licensing expert who acted on behalf of Fabric nightclub to chair his Night Time Commission. Lawyer Philip Kolvin QC will take the reins of a revamped Night Time Commission that'll work alongside newly appointed night czar Amy Lamé. Kolvin is head of Cornerstone Barristers and a patron, and past chairman, of the [...]
Mayor says construction will start on Swiss Cottage-West End cycle superhighway next year though full route isn’t set in stone December 16, 2016 The mayor has confirmed work will start on a new cycle superhighway from Swiss Cottage to the West End next year. Sadiq Khan said construction on the new 2.5 mile route, cycle superhighway 11, will begin in the autumn of 2017 when the gyratory will start to be removed. It was one of the more controversial plans [...]
The nightmare’s nearly over for the Piccadilly line social media team: It’s just running with “minor delays” now December 16, 2016 Piccadilly line passengers have not been impressed with Transport for London (TfL) taking out half the fleet of trains for wheel repairs. It has been causing severe delays along the line since last month – and some turmoil for the poor people manning the Piccadilly line's Twitter account. But today, the account had some – relatively – good [...]
Editor’s notes: Forget about Murdoch, media dominance is now an online battle December 16, 2016 For a while this week it felt as if we’d slipped back five years, as Ed Miliband and Vince Cable dusted down their criticisms of Rupert Murdoch. 21st Century Fox’s bid for Sky saw the former Labour leader take to Twitter like a student protester. “Do we want Rupert Murdoch controlling even more of [the] [...]
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan invests £220m in the capital’s boroughs including central London’s first new park for 100 years December 15, 2016 The mayor has announced he's plugging £220m into the capital's boroughs to boost transport, town centre and public space developments. Sadiq Khan said the funding will be used by boroughs across the capital for a range of projects, with initiatives to encourage walking and cycling, reduce road dangers and improve air quality. Among the projects to receive [...]
MPs slam government for failing to grasp “the serious impacts of poor air quality” on British people December 15, 2016 MPs aren't impressed with the government's progress on air quality. A letter from Conservative MP Neil Parish, chairman of the Commons environment committee, sent yesterday to environment minister Therese Coffey, said the government had not been convinced it was doing enough to tackle the problem. "We are extremely concerned that, despite the courts twice rejecting its [...]
Piccadilly line Night Tube launch to go ahead on Friday despite ongoing disruption as mayor says “lessons must be learned” December 14, 2016 Despite the mayor acknowledging that "Piccadilly line service has not been good enough" with ongoing disruption caused "for thousands of people," the launch of the Night Tube will go ahead as planned. It starts on the line – the fifth to get the all-night treatment – on Friday 16 December and will run all night [...]