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 [...]
Here’s how the mayor wants to improve access to office space for London’s startups December 2, 2016 Sadiq Khan wants to protect the capital's office space. And how does he plan to do that you might well ask? Well, apparently he's rounding up a team of entrepreneurs and business leaders to appoint to the Workspace Providers Board. They will advise on securing offices and creating new ones, such as by identifying sites for building new developments, [...]
Tube ticket offices were closed prematurely but don’t need to be reopened, says independent review by London TravelWatch December 2, 2016 A review into the impact of Tube ticket office closures has found offices were shut prematurely. It doesn't though, call for the reopening of ticket offices. The independent review by travel watchdog London TravelWatch was commissioned by mayor Sadiq Khan after Tube ticket offices were closed under his predecessor Boris Johnson's tenure. The decision did not [...]
Editor’s notes: The uncertain art of measuring the UK’s economic uncertainty December 2, 2016 You may not have seen it on the News at Ten but Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Kristin Forbes delivered a fascinating speech last week on the nature of economic uncertainty and how best it can be measured. As Donald Trump said when he delivered his victory speech, “it’s a complicated business, folks”. [...]