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?
Sadiq Khan was confronted with his own record as he, of course, used the opportunity of the Elizabeth Line’s final stage completion to get in front of the cameras today. At the exact moment Sadiq Khan celebrated the Elizabeth Line’s first birthday on Sky News, Transport for London warned of “severe delays” across the line after a train broke down at Paddington station. It has since returned only to “minor delays”.
Of course, Sadiq couldn’t let his victory lap end there. He also took to Twitter to heap praise on his “remarkable success”. The very same “remarkable success” which ran £4 billion over budget and opened 4 years late.
The Elizabeth line’s full peak timetable has now been introduced. In its first full year, the Elizabeth Line has seen remarkable success with more than 150m journeys taken on the line since it opened in May 2022
— Mayor's Press Office (@LDN_pressoffice) May 22, 2023
Co-conspirators won’t be surprised to see Sadiq hyping up his own underwhelming record. His insistence that clean air is “a matter of life and death” hasn’t driven him to improve air quality on the tube…
Boris bike hires have plummeted since Sadiq Khan whacked up prices – there were just over 600,000 in March 2022 compared to over 1,000,000 in the same month last year. This all comes after Sadiq scrapped the £2 per 24-hour charge, in favour of a £1.65 per ride fee – meaning commuters would be paying out on average £3.30, instead of £2, daily. The price of an annual subscription also rose from £90 to £120. Hires have decreased on the same period from the previous year in every month since the new prices came into effect…
Considering Khan is using the promise of clean air to peddle his punitive ULEZ expansion, reducing the number of emission-free cycling journeys is yet another case of Khan acting against his own rhetoric. Sadiq previously used post-pandemic cycling figures to boast of his success in cleaning up London’s air. Guido looks forward to seeing how he spins the latest figures…
Sadiq has once again been demanding yet more cash for Transport for London (TFL), claiming the government (see: the taxpayer) should open the coffers to solve the “funding crisis” or face imminent tube and bus route cuts. Well, here’s how Sadiq spends the money he’s already got…
New Freedom of Information requests from the TaxPayers’ Alliance found that Transport for London spent a total of £44,445.11 on commemorative merch ahead of the opening of the Elizabeth Line, most of which was handed out for free to volunteers. Here’s the full breakdown:
- 40,000 commemorative edition pin badges: £19,855
- 7,000 cotton tote bags: £6,370
- 50,000 mints: £5,100
- 4,000 keyring torches: £4,080
- 7,000 purple commemorative lanyards: £3,640
- 7,000 travel card holders: £2,030
- 3,500 yellow volunteer lanyards: £1,540
- 7,000 pencils: £1,330
- 140 surgical face masks: £470.40
- 8 purple foam hands: £29.71
Tfl insist these goodies were designed to “recognise staff, their friends and family who gave up (in some cases) four hours of their weekend” to go on mandatory test rides of the Elizabeth Line prior to its opening. They also claim the items “made a very real and important contribution to the pride and exceptional customer service that have been hallmarks of the launch”. Customer service so exceptional that virtually the entire tube network ground to a halt last week… including the Elizabeth Line.
Elliot Keck, investigations campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:
“If Transport for London is going to spend money like it’s minted they shouldn’t be begging taxpayers for more and more cash to cover up their wasteful spending.”
£5,100 on mints. Staff may claim to be overworked and underpaid, at least their breath could wake up a corpse.
Away from the Beergate saga, Grant Shapps and Sadiq Khan have ended up in exactly the kind of “mudslinging” match Sir Keir has promised to avoid this past week. After Transport for London announced today that the Elizabeth Line would finally open on 24th May, Grant Shapps launched a scathing attack on the Mayor of London for allegedly breaching pre-election purdah rules, which limit communications and policy announcements leading up to voting day. Accusing Sadiq of “breathtaking… cynicism”, Shapps railed against Khan for his political loco-motive, and referred him to the Electoral Commission for investigation…
Sadiq immediately pushed back, however, by insisting he “wasn’t going to get into mudslinging” with Shapps… only to do exactly that by calling him a “sourpuss“, and claiming he “needs to grow up”. It’s the last day of the campaign. Maybe they both just needed to let off some steam…
TfL has announced the mask mandate on all its services will finally end from tomorrow, albeit with the inevitable caveat that they will still be “strongly recommend”. This follows Sadiq’s comments that he ‘expected’ the rule to be lifted following the government’s ending of all legal Covid restrictions at the same time – now TfL have officially confirmed it. Full steam ahead…
