SADIQ KHAN IN CONVERSATION
MAYOR EXPLAINS HOW SPORT WILL HELP THE CAPITAL GET BACK ON ITS FEET AND WHY HE HAD TO PUT UP CONGESTION CHARGES
LONDON mayor Sadiq Khan vowed to fight to make sure the capital recovers quickly from the pandemic, if he wins a second term on Thursday (6).
Europe’s first south Asian and Muslim mayor of a capital city also revealed how the government forced him to raise congestion charges.
He was speaking during an “In Conversation” event organised by the Asian Media Group, publishers of Eastern Eye and Garavi Gujarat newsweeklies.
“My credibility of making promises is determined by what I’ve done in the past,” Khan told a virtual global audience of more than 60,000. “So, the good news is we’ve managed to successfully lobby the government to extend the business rate holiday that was going to stop, if you remember, in March.
“We successfully lobbied government to extend the VAT relief that was going to end in March. We managed to persuade them to extend the furlough scheme, that was also going to end in March, until September.”
Khan said he wanted to continue what his administration had already started.
“Those who have been furloughed could become redundant without proper support. Those businesses that are currently, I call them ‘incubated on life support’, may not survive when it comes to reopening.
“We are doing massive promotion campaigns to encourage people to come back to the centre of London in particular. Why do I say that? Because many of these businesses rely on footfall. If you’re a restaurant, if you’re a hotel, you need people coming back for this early summer.”
Khan pointed out that his administration intended to plough more than £544 million into schemes such as development academies in the green, creative, digital, health and social care sectors supporting Londoners to get the skills they needed for jobs in the future.
He also promised to capitalise on London as a sporting venue and is advertising around the UK to attract visitors.
“We set aside £6m to encourage people from the west and across the country to come to London safely throughout the summer,” he added.
“We’ve got eight football matches taking place here as part of Euro 2020s. The finals are at Wembley, two semi-finals, and the group stages, and hopefully England will be supported all the way through to the final by fans in London.
“We’ve got great cricket coming to London. India are coming, Pakistan are coming, New Zealand are coming.
“So these sporting events, combined with those cultural events, will give us, hopefully, the springboard for rapid recovery this summer, leading on to the future going forward.”
He reaffirmed his campaign promise to bring some Indian Premier League (IPL) matches to London.
Foreign travel is expected to re-open on May 17, but the government wants a traffic-light system for different countries affected by the virus.
“We want as many countries as possible to prove they are safe for international tourism,” said the mayor. “For green countries, they don’t need to selfisolate. Amber countries need to selfisolate. For the red countries, obviously, they will have to quarantine.
“We’re going to have to be careful that we don’t inadvertently, in our speed to reopen the economy, have the virus returning. So, this time, I commend the government. They have got it right on this occasion. Their roadmap is every four weeks – they look at the evidence.”
Meanwhile, retailers and charities have blamed Khan for putting up congestion charges to £15, extending the hours and making it seven days a week, as well as widening the area.
One company said it was paying £250,000 in fines and £300,000 in congestion charges annually while trying to deliver medical equipment to London’s hospitals, GP surgeries and pharmacies.
The BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, north London, said its volunteers were struggling to deliver 50,000 lunches across the capital every week.
But Khan revealed that the government forced him to put up charges and extend the hours and zones as part of its £2 billion deal to bail out Transport for London (TfL).
He agreed that the government “held a gun to his head”, but said he was now fighting other tougher measures it wanted to impose on Londoners.
“If I’m re-elected, once we come out of the pandemic, I’ve said to the government, you can’t impose conditions on London. We know London best.
“What I’ve said to the government is that we should decide what the Ccharge level is, what the times are, and what the days are, because we know our communities, our economies.
“There’s no point having theatres reopen if people are discouraged because of the £15 charge. There’s no point encouraging people to do good for the community if they can’t have weekends off, because they’ve been charged £15.
“So that’s one of the things to negotiate with the government after May 6.”
See full interview with Sadiq Khan online at easterneye.biz