Coronavirus: All Trafalgar Square events cancelled March 17, 2020 All events set to take place at Trafalgar Square have been cancelled by City Hall until further notice. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan took the step today to shut down events at the public square, after further social distancing measures were advised by the government yesterday to combat the spread of Covid-19. This means the [...]
Sadiq Khan says schools could face coronavirus closure within two weeks March 17, 2020 Sadiq Khan has advised that schools could be closed within the next two weeks as a part of increasing isolation measures to combat the coronavirus. Boris Johnson announced a swathe of new recommendations yesterday, including for people to avoid “unnecessary travel” and to stop going to pubs, restaurants and theatres. Large public gatherings have also [...]
TfL to run reduced service during coronavirus outbreak March 17, 2020 Transport for London (TfL) will run a reduced service on its network during the coronavirus outbreak, mayor Sadiq Khan has said. Weekday public transport in the capital will be cut back to a “Saturday-type service” over the next few days, Khan told Sky News today. This means weekday Tube and bus services will run at [...]
Met Police confiscated just one e-scooter a week despite ban March 16, 2020 The Metropolitan Police confiscated just one e-scooter per week on average last year, despite a crackdown on the illegal road use of the vehicles. Of these, 25 confiscations came in the two weeks following the death of Emily Hartridge, who was hit by a lorry while riding an e-scooter in London in July 2019. In [...]
Transport department refuses to release Garden Bridge report March 16, 2020 The Department for Transport (DfT) has said it will not release a report into the failed £48m Garden Bridge so it can protect a trust that no longer operates. The Garden Bridge Trust was set up to manage the disastrous project, which was championed by Boris Johnson when he was mayor of London and former [...]
Coronavirus: Union bosses likely to put Tube strike on hold March 16, 2020 Union bosses have indicated they will delay a planned Tube strike during the coronavirus outbreak, after meeting with Transport for London (TfL) today. Members of the train drivers’ union Aslef last week voted to go on strike over a pay dispute. However, it appears the union, which has 2500 Tube drivers, is prepared to suspend [...]
Coronavirus: TfL set to lose £500m from decline in passengers March 16, 2020 Transport for London (TfL) is expecting to lose up to £500m from the impact of coronavirus and will ask the government for financial support. In the past week, passenger numbers on the Tube were down by 19 per cent year-on-year, while bus passenger numbers fell by 10 per cent. The transport body said the figures [...]
A levelling up agenda cannot afford to overlook the UK’s beating financial heart March 16, 2020 With the strong and unpredictable economic headwinds of 2020, last week’s Budget came at a critical juncture. All eyes were on the new chancellor, in particular on what the Budget might propose to alleviate some of the short-term Covid-19 shocks to the economy. Efforts to support households and businesses, particularly SMEs, through the Covid-19 outbreak [...]
HS2: Transport department defends top civil servant over transparency row March 15, 2020 The Department for Transport (DfT) has denied its top civil servant broke the civil service code of conduct as she faces accusations she withheld information on HS2’s budget blowouts. City A.M. reported earlier this month that DfT permanent secretary Bernadette Kelly admitted she did not tell parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) she knew HS2 was [...]
Keith Wade: Is the world now heading for recession? March 13, 2020 As I returned to the UK last weekend, my taxi driver talked of panic-buying and impending food shortages. Having wondered if I had stepped off at the wrong airport, it subsequently became clear that his thinking was very close to that of the markets. On Monday (9 March), equities sold off and credit spreads widened [...]