TfL rolls out 20mph speed limit for central London March 2, 2020 A speed limit of 20mph has come into place today on all central London roads managed by Transport for London (TfL). The rollout of the new limit will apply to 8.9km of roads within the congestion charge zone, including some in the City of London. Some of the main roads affected inlcude Albert Embankent, Millbank [...]
UCL to force students to relocate mid-semester February 29, 2020 Top London university UCL is under fire this afternoon for forcing residents of a postgraduate residence hall to move out of their student accommodation – with no guarantee of where they will be moving to. Earlier this week students at Hawkridge House in Kentish Town were emailed informing them that “a decision has been made [...]
London Underground workers to be balloted on tube strikes in pay row February 28, 2020 London Underground’s thousands of workers are to be balloted on tube strikes as the long-running dispute over pay continues. The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has said it will ballot the 10,000 staff across the underground after more than a year of negotiating yielded no results. The union said London Underground had failed to [...]
Focus on Isle of Dogs: Dog days are over for once-neglected peninsula as new development abounds February 28, 2020 There are two questions that residents of the Isle of Dogs are often asked. First, why is it called the Isle of Dogs? The boring explanation is that it’s a corruption of a more sensible water-related name like the Isle of Ducks. The grim one is that it was so called because of the sheer [...]
Court date set for Uber’s London ban appeal February 27, 2020 The court date for Uber’s appeal of its London ban is set for 6 July, with a judge deciding today that the capital’s largest taxi union can take part in the proceedings. Chief Magistrate of England and Wales Emma Arbuthnot ruled today that the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA) are an “interested party” in the [...]
RMT calls on government to avoid ‘reanimating the corpse’ of rail franchising February 26, 2020 Rail union RMT has called on the government to commit to a full renationalisation of the UK’s railways ahead of the imminent Williams review into the franchising system. Although the review is expected to lead to an “overhaul” of the current system, RMT says that the concession model that is widely touted as the government’s [...]
Fuming: Foreign Office names and shames embassies for unpaid congestion charges February 25, 2020 Transport for London (TfL) is owed more than £116m of unpaid congestion charges by diplomatic officials, with the US embassy leading the way. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office released the figures today, showing that the US embassy had accumulated a total of 102,225 unpaid congestion charges, which adds up to £12.44m in lost revenue for [...]
The TfL junk food ad ban was clearly a recipe for failure February 25, 2020 Today marks a year since Transport for London (TfL) introduced a ban on junk food advertising anywhere on its network. But what impact has it had? And what are the lessons for London’s policymakers? One year on, there is little evidence that the ban has achieved much beyond generating a few headlines. In fact, it [...]
Sadiq Khan budget: Uncertainty over Met’s special operations funding February 24, 2020 Sadiq Khan will spend an extra £227.6m on the Metropolitan Police in 2020-21, however its specialist operations branch may face future funding uncertainty. Khan’s £18.5bn 2020-21 budget was approved by the London Assembly today. He plans to increase day-to-day spending for the The Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) to £3.89bn, which includes funding [...]
Exclusive: Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey calls for £104m ’emergency crime budget’ February 24, 2020 Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey will attach an amendment to the mayor’s budget in an attempt to inject an extra £104m to the Metropolitan Police’s coffers. The London Assembly will vote on Sadiq Khan’s £17bn 2020-21 mayoral budget at City Hall today. The 25 assembly members can successfully add amendments to the budget, or over [...]