Sadiq Khan is back doing what he does best: spaffing taxpayer’s cash on publicity stunts. The Mayor’s most recent scheme is a £145,000 advice bus, to provide Londoners with information during the cost of living crisis. The trouble is, just 13% of the budget is being spent on advisers, with the rest going on publicity, project management and logistics. According to the Bus’ decision document, £12,000 was allocated for publicity, £10,000 on a celebrity endorsement and £1,000 on a photographer. £18,000 will go towards actual advice… 

Of the funding for the bus, £45,000 came from London’s Low-income and Food programme and £70,000 from the Children and Young Londoners Early Years budget. Emma Best, the GLA Conservatives’ health spokesperson, said:

“Sadiq Khan should be judged by his actions, not his words, and what he appears to have done here is take money from people in need to fund his own publicity… He claims to want to help those who are most in need, but like some kind of reverse Robin Hood, he takes cash away from those who desperately need it to splash on feel-good campaigns that boost his own PR”

Sadiq’s stunt is not only wasteful, it also highlights the Mayor’s hypocrisy: the bus used in the Mayor’s photo-op is a diesel-guzzler. All the while, Sadiq punishes London’s diesel drivers with his ULEZ expansion.