UK loses £7bn from Omicron restrictions’ impact on travel and tourism February 8, 2022 The UK has lost around £7bn from the impact of Omicron restrictions on travel and tourism, according to World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) data. “Imposing unnecessary travel restrictions to ‘deal’ with Omicron was not backed by science and cost the UK economy £7bn in lost revenues,” said WTTC’s chief executive Julia Simpson. “Travel is [...]
There is a light at the end of the London underground if we fight for its funding February 8, 2022 Last week, Transport for London was given another short extension on its emergency funding deal. This is hardly anything except another sticking plaster solution, stretched out a little longer, rather than a long-term programme to invest in London’s transport system. This came the same week that TfL issued a budget update setting out a potentially [...]
Starmer rescued by police from anti-vax mob February 7, 2022 Sir Keir Starmer had to be escorted by police out of parliament this evening, after the Labour leader was mobbed by a group of anti-vax protestors.
UK lags behind other European nations on new-build delivery February 7, 2022 The UK is lagging behind several other major European nations on the delivery of new-builds, in relation to its population size, analysis has found. The country’s construction sector was hammered by rising costs on supply and labour, as well as having works delayed or stalled due to Covid restrictions. Countries including France, Belgium, the Netherlands [...]
Enough is enough: Cressida Dick seeks to root out “poor conduct” from Met February 6, 2022 Met commissioner Dame Cressida Dick has said that “enough is enough” when it comes to body’s “poor conduct and nasty and inappropriate behaviour”. In a letter sent to the 43,000 police officers and staff in the Met’s payroll, Dick said the body’s reputation had been tarnished because of bad behaviour, the Sunday Telegraph reported. “If [...]
Mayor of London calls for register of overseas property ownership to tackle money laundering February 6, 2022 The Mayor of London has called for a register of overseas property ownership to crack down on London being used for international money laundering. Properties in the capital owned by overseas individuals and firms could be sheltering billions of pounds of undeclared funds, Sadiq Khan said. It comes as a report by cross-party MPs found [...]
Khan urges government to ‘get a grip’ on cost of living crisis February 5, 2022 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has called on the government to “get a grip” on the cost of living crisis, after energy prices were confirmed to rise by £700 this year. A new energy price cap coming into effect in April will see customers paying an average of £700 more a year. With runaway inflation, [...]
London Tory MP to call for government to block £100m expansion of Wimbledon’s All England club February 3, 2022 A senior London Tory MP is set to call on the government to block a £100m expansion of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC), which would see a new 8,000-person stadium built for the Wimbledon Championships. Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond told City A.M. that the proposed development would come “at the expense [...]
Mayor of London puts Cressida Dick ‘on notice’ following Met concerns February 3, 2022 The mayor of London Sadiq Khan has warned the Met Police commissioner she needs an “urgent plan” to address racist and sexist behaviour within the police. Khan said he had put Dame Cressida Dick “on notice”, and told the BBC he had never been “more angry or disgusted”. It comes after a report published on Tuesday [...]
Levelling up: Khan says ‘deprived’ London areas need funding as much as the North February 2, 2022 Sadiq Khan has said London’s poorest boroughs are “some of the most deprived” in the UK and need funding just as much as the North in response to the government’s newly unveiled levelling up white paper. The mayor of London said he welcomed the new policy plan to help left behind areas in the North [...]