Sadiq Khan’s manifesto has over £1 billion of unfunded commitments over the mayoral term which could only be paid for by a new revenue stream, raising fears that he is set to bring in his planned pay-per-mile tax.
Susan Hall, the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, has condemned the manifesto as ‘uncosted’ and ‘irresponsible’, at a time when the Met Police is in desperate need of funding and reform.
Susan has pledged to provide the Met Police with a vital £200 million cash injection, funded from cutting waste across City Hall and TfL. Sadiq Khan’s manifesto would cancel that and leave the Met Police underfunded.
She has also condemned Sadiq Khan for failing to commit to recruiting additional police officers, noting that his manifesto only suggests that some additional officers may be recruited if there’s a change in government. It is not clear how he would recruit these additional officers after his failures to use millions of government funding to hire the police that are needed to keep Londoners safe.
Sadiq Khan has provided little to no explanation as to how he will fund most of the commitments in his manifesto, including:
- £560 million to deliver universal free school meals over four years – according to Sadiq Khan’s own costings (source).
- Approximately half a billion to freeze fares for the entire Mayoral term – based on the £123 million it cost to freeze TfL fares until 2025 (source). He has stated this is his intention, only caveating that it will be ‘if economic circumstances allow.’
Speaking to the Conservative Post, Susan Hall said:
“Sadiq Khan’s manifesto is uncosted and irresponsible, with over 1 billion pounds of unfunded commitments that can only be paid for if he brings in pay-per-mile and slashes the police budget.
“Crime has soared and trust in the police is at all time lows, and yet Sadiq Khan has offered next to nothing to keep Londoners safe.
“I am listening to Londoners, which is why I will cut the waste at City Hall and TfL and focus on making our city safer for everyone, with 1,500 additional officers, two new police bases in every borough, and a return to borough-based policing so your police are local to you.
“I will scrap Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ expansion and pay-per-mile plans on day one, because my plans can be paid for without hitting drivers.”
