KHAN’S PAY-PER-MILE SCHEME, AND HOW CLOSE WE CAME TO IT
The Mayor may have claimed it was a myth, but the policy would have been devastating for Londoners.
It has been another embarrassing week for Sadiq Khan, as Jim Waterson’s new outlet LondonCentric broke the news that TfL was indeed measuring up a Pay-Per-Mile scheme for Londoners. Read on to find out how much it would have cost, and how close we came:
THE METER’S RUNNING, MATE
Despite the Mayor insisting that Conservative concerns about a Pay-Per-Mile scheme being fear-mongering, it was revealed this week that Khan had City Hall officials drawing up plans - ready to be implemented by 2026.
Drivers in London would have had to install a device in their car or on their phone to track their journeys, effectively turning every private car in the city into a government-funding taxi.
Whilst the figures are still murky, some suggestions point to the possibility that driving from one side of London to another could have cost as much as £40, on top of the cost of petrol, road tax, and insurance.
By TfL’s own estimations, almost all road journeys in London would have been abandoned. Whilst we’re grateful that this plan was smothered before it saw the light of day, it means that the next time the Mayor tries to gaslight us and say that our concerns are unfounded, we’ll know he’s got previous form.
MAYOR ON TRACK TO MEET HOUSING GOAL - BY 2060
Sadiq Khan’s ambitious 2026 target to build over 21,000 affordable homes in London won’t be completed until 2060, figures released this week show.
Having started (not completed) just 347 homes in the last 6 months, in the last three years the Mayor has built less than 8% of his 2026 target. Meanwhile, spiralling costs of housing are borne by Londoners: only earlier this week the Mayor was telling us all how increasing affordable housing could bring £7bn to London’s economy. Presumably, Sadiq Khan is furious with himself for failing to build affordable housing in the city which he is Mayor of.
Sadiq Khan reluctantly admitted that London needs more money for affordable housing - having received £0.1bn this year from the Labour Government. The Conservatives gave him £8.9bn over the last 8 years, which means that Labour should match the Conservatives’ funding in 89 years at current trends.
NEIL GARRATT AM SAYS: SUPPORT TAXI DRIVERS
At Plenary last week, Neil Garratt AM proposed a motion calling on the Mayor to provide further support to Taxi drivers. Noting how they’ve come so far in modernising their vehicles to cut emissions in London, the Leader of the City Hall Conservatives pointed out that the cost of doing so can be prohibitively expensive - and support is limited. The Black Cab is one of the enduring images of our amazing City, and Neil highlighted the need for more financial support to ensure that drivers aren’t put out of business when their existing vehicles need to be retired. Watch the full speech below:
THOMAS TURRELL AM CALLS ON TFL TO VET THREATENING SECURITY “GOONS”
Some of you may remember that a TfL subcontractor threatened a protestor against ULEZ, and ultimately ran them over. This was taken through the courts and finally resulted in a victory for the victim who was run over.
Speaking at the Plenary, Thomas Turrell AM called on the Mayor to provide greater vetting of these subcontractors after further allegations of physical and sexual threats were made, proposed a motion to this effect. Who could be surprised then when the other parties tried to amend it to remove any reference to the original victim? Listen to Thomas’ passionate speech on the indignity of the whole thing: