Sadiq Khan is being investigated for a possible breach of the City Hall code of conduct relating to comments prior to the ULEZ expansion. Tory member of the London Assembly Nick Rogers accused Kahn of “knowingly [making] false and dishonest statements” about his knowledge of results from a TfL consultation that showed two-thirds of respondents were opposed to the expansion. Is the TfL team literally making up support for the ULEZ expansion now?

Khan is also being investigated for his response to hecklers at a People’s Question Time meeting in Ealing, where he said “What I find unacceptable is some of those who’ve got legitimate objections [about ULEZ] joining hands with some of those outside, who are part of a far-Right group.” This quickly prompted members of the audience to shout back “normal people are not right wing”. 

The Greater London Authority’s monitoring officer, Rory McKenna, appointed an independent investigator to look into the complaints. Khan he get out of this one?

The endorsement no one was looking for has arrived: Sadiq Khan has ‘endorsed’ Susan Hall to be the Tories’ London Mayoral candidate. Speaking in the London Assembly yesterday, Sadiq threw his hat in for the woman who routinely mauls him in the very same chamber, joking he’d “like Susan” to take him on in the electoral clash next year. Team Moz have already churned out a campaign graphic, obviously…

A painfully awkward moment in the London Assembly today, as LibDem Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon quizzed Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley on the investigation into the “Shaun Bailey for London Holiday Party“… while Bailey himself, who remains a member of City Hall’s Police and Crime committee, was sitting just a few rows away from her.

Pidgeon was clearly in a mood to ruffle feathers, reminding Rowley about the new incriminating evidence of the “jingle and mingle save the date” invitations and a leaked video of the raucous event. Bailey said nothing, ashen faced as Caroline threw the cat among the pigeons… 

Tory London Assembly member Susan Hall has slammed Sadiq Khan for relying on “misleading” and “inaccurate” statistics to justify expanding the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) across Greater London. Speaking in Mayor’s Question Time this morning, Hall tore into the Mayor for previously claiming “nine out of ten” vehicles in outer London are already ULEZ compliant, pointing out that he now appeared to have changed his language to “seen driving in London“. Which, clearly, isn’t the same thing…

Khan refused to apologise, leading to a breathless back-and-forth as Hall accused the Mayor of “giving the wrong impression“:

Hall: “We’re quite clear that you were inaccurate last time… so you don’t want to correct the statement then, that you made last time? I.E that you were incorrect?” 

Khan: “No Chair, I’m quite clear on what I’ve read out. I’m happy to read it out again, if that helps.”

Hall: “No, it’s a waste of time. Because you won’t accept ever that you’re wrong…”

Hall added that there were around 16,000 non-compliant vehicles Harrow and Sutton alone, with many of their owners unlikely to be in a position to replace them soon. Khan didn’t seem particularly interested. Maybe he’d be more interested to know how unhealthy the air is on the London Underground, given his policy will inevitably force thousands more people to use it. Guido has even done the investigative work for him. Something you’d think he’d care about, given he’s just written a book called “Breathe“…

Sadiq Khan has been summonsed to the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee, to answer questions on the Winsor Review. The report, published last month, investigated the circumstances around Cressida Dick’s sacking. It found Sadiq committed an “abuse of power” and that the Met Commissioner had been “intimidated” and faced “political pressure“. Even worse for Sadiq, if he fails to attend the committee he could face up to 3 months in prison.

Susan Hall AM, Chairman of the Police and Crime Committee, added:

“The Sir Tom Winsor review has raised important questions about the circumstances under which the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner stood down. The London Assembly Police and Crime Committee has statutory powers to summons the Mayor, which we have used for the first time today. We believe that given the seriousness of the review’s findings, the Mayor needs to address the unanswered questions that have emerged.”

Sadiq is being summonsed under Section 33 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. It’s the first time this has been used on a sitting mayor. When it comes to London crime, it seems Sadiq is leading by example…

When London Assembly staff first moved into their new East London home, Guido revealed they were less than pleased with the quality of their working environment. From flooded bathrooms to power cuts, to multiple committee rooms being out of use, Sadiq’s multi-million renovation hardly seemed to have gone to plan. Now, however, LBC has revealed staff don’t have much to worry about as Sadiq is seemingly actively preventing them from working there…

A leaked memo shows that for the 90 civil servants working for the assembly, they have been provided with just nine desks, which must be booked by staff via the intranet. Otherwise they’ll have to sit in ‘drop in centres’…

It’s not just the secretariat facing shortages. Figures from the Mayor’s office show that across the new City Hall building and their continued subletting of the fire brigade’s offices in Southward, there are just 586 total desks for 1096 staff.

Responding to LBC’s other revelation that the assembly as a whole will only meet Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from now on, Jacob Rees-Mogg noted his amazement that the most popular work-from-home days just happen to be those bordering the weekend: “The idea Monday and Friday have ceased to be full working days is one to be very suspicious about because it indicates some people are using working from home to do less work.” Just what has Sadiq Khan been smoking…