In 2022 Sadiq Khan hailed London Fire Brigade’s introduction of ZEPA1 – the UK’s first electric fire engine. He said “emergency services are a key part of our clean air goals, and this high-performance green fire engine will help to ensure Londoners breathe cleaner air whilst working to tackle blazes across the city.” It is based at Hammersmith basement and is equipped with 280kWh battery for 200 miles of range. Only one problem so far…
The EV fire engine has never been used to put out an actual fire. In fact it has not been used in any live incidents whatsoever since it was introduced in 2022. The fire brigade provided an excuse to EV newsletter The Fast Charge: Transitioning to a zero-emissions fleet requires careful planning, delivery and resourcing and we are proactively addressing this as we continue to trial the vehicle’s capabilities.” It sounds like another three years in the garage then. Would be quite something if the actual fire engine went up in flames…
In a brutal blow to Sadiq Khan’s grip on London, all 32 borough leaders – Labour, Tory, LibDem, and Independent – have united to demand a share of his powers, calling for a radical shake-up of the Mayor’s dominance. They want to use the English Devolution Bill to strip Khan of his total control, calling for a ‘Combined Board’ to establish joint decision-making arrangements between the Mayor and council leaders. A sign of just how unpopular Khan really is…
This is the biggest intervention on the Mayor of London’s powers since the role was first created 25 years ago. Khan’s much-hated ULEZ expansion and wasteful spending might have something to do with it. Cllr Claire Holland, Chair of London Councils said:
“Giving boroughs a seat at the table and a proper say in regional decision-making will put us in a far stronger position to tackle the challenges we face as a city and drive growth in London. We must seize this opportunity to hardwire collaboration between the Mayor and boroughs into our devolution deal so that we can all deliver better outcomes for Londoners.”
Could Khan go down in history as the London Mayor so disastrous, his own office was stripped of much of its powers?
Read the joint statement in full below:
Continue reading “London’s Borough Leaders Demand Share of Mayor’s Powers in Revolt Against Khan “
London Mayor Sadiq Khan never misses a chance to moan about the Greater London Authority budget, asking the government for more cash to tackle knife crime or hit his housing target. UK DOGE has been digging into potential savings including £32,835 on “brand insights” for social media and £16 million shipping TfL staff around in taxis during strikes. UK DOGE can reveal that Khan’s central team of woke warriors also carries a hefty price tag…
The GLA is annually shelling out a staggering £447,200 on six full-time Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion roles – an eye-watering average of £74,533 per person – all to ensure City Hall is sufficiently “inclusive.” For that you could:
The taxpayer may have a view on which should be prioritised. UK DOGE recommends costs are cut here…
UPDATE: Neil Garratt AM, City Hall Conservatives Leader tells UK DOGE:
“When we proposed a budget amendment last month to cut the number of city hall bureaucrats, other parties got extremely defensive about how vital these staff were. Why are we wasting this much money on pointless roles when there’s 101 better things that Londoners want funded?”
Spending rather a lot of time there, Guido is already thinking ahead to 7 May 2026, when Labour’s control of Westminster City Council could come to an end. The Tories lost control of their flagship London council for the first time since 1965 in 2022…
If the Tories do eventually regain control, Sadiq Khan’s plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street will be met with major opposition by the blue bigwigs that are the Westminster Tories. The Tory group on the council has already put forward a motion to hive off £250,000 to fund a legal challenge to Khan’s plans – but it was voted down this week. Better have a whip-round instead…
Conservative group leader Paul Swaddle said:
“The mayor believes this [scheme] is going to be paid for by private investment, with no supporting details, which leaves businesses fearing it’s going to be a raid through business taxes or Crossrail-style levy. The mayor also intends to raid the neighbourhood community infrastructure levy – money that should be spent on local priorities.”
Looks like Khan’s dream of no cars on Oxford Street may yet be scuppered if the Tories can grab the council back again…
As BBC Verify’s 63-strong team is busy producing its vital public service fact-checking (Are top honours winners too posh and too southern?), Guido has decided to step up to the plate and provide verification services when required. Guido Verify is hereby launched.
James O’Brien’s show continues to cement its reputation as the least-well-informed radio show in the country. Last week O’Brien confused the Munich Crisis with the invasion of Poland in one of his diatribes…
This time Sadiq Khan took a break from campaigning against Brexit to talk about how awful Reeves’ plan to expand Heathrow Airport is:
“I forgot people affected by this not just those affected by the noise and the air and carbon emissions but also villages destroyed, homes destroyed, I mean the surface links he will have to increase by 50%. I mean at the moment to give you an idea there’s a cap of 480,000 flights a day – they want to increase that according to their plans to 720,000 and that means villages being destroyed, and homes being demolished.”
Clearly Khan foresees total armageddon if a third runway is built. His maths is interesting, though. Guido Verify has examined the claims.
If 720,000 flights left Heathrow every day there would be 30,000 planes shooting off every hour which is of course 500 per minute. 8.3 per second. O’Brien did not challenge Khan on his sums and nodded along…
Khan may have intended to refer to the annual flight cap – useful to get these details right if you’re going to take matters before a judge. What is it about LBC and maths…
Sadiq Khan has pledged to use “any tool in the toolkit” to fight Reeves on her plan to expand Heathrow and get a third runway operational by 2035. One man has stepped forward as his legal champion…
None other than Jolyon Maugham has reassured his supporters that the Good Law Project is “already dusting off our plans, formulated with a leading environmental Silk, to challenge Heathrow expansion.” Back in 2021 the Good Law Project began soliciting donations for its legal battle against any possible expansion to the airport – all it managed to do was repeatedly complain about the Airports National Policy Statement and sending Jolyon’s favourite pre-action protocol letter to the government. Now the grift can take off again…
Reeves insists that her new growth projects and Net Zero go “hand in hand” – something that Ed Miliband has expressed his doubts about when it comes to Heathrow. Any legal campaign against Reeves’ plans will no doubt have public and private support from more than one senior Labour figure. Guido isn’t sure Jolyon’s reverse midas touch will be welcomed with open arms…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”