GB News Presenter Tom Harwood, joined political campaigners over the weekend in a bold publicity stunt that saw them cleaning graffiti from London Underground trains, accusing Mayor Sadiq Khan of failing to maintain the capital’s transport system.
The group, Looking for Growth — a self-described political movement to “END Britain’s decline” — filmed themselves removing graffiti from a Bakerloo Line train in what they called a demonstration of civic action and frustration.
Joe Reeve, the 28-year-old Londoner who co-founded the group, said: “I take the Bakerloo line every morning and I see someone push past the barrier. Then when I get down to the Tube, every single carriage is full of graffiti. It feels like no one is doing anything to make the city better,” he told the London Standard.
Wearing a high-visibility vest emblazoned with the slogan “Doing what Sadiq Khant”, Reeve was joined by GB News’ Tom Harwood, who posted on X (formerly Twitter): “I’m absolutely sick of seeing endless disgusting graffiti on the tube.”
In a widely shared video, Harwood told viewers: “We have been wiping away, swiping away, with eco-friendly graffiti remover… A couple of guys with cheap graffiti remover can make it look slightly less terrible. You can too!”
The stunt comes on the heels of another viral video involving Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick, who confronted fare dodgers on the Tube, igniting a renewed public focus on law and order on London’s public transport.
The Bakerloo Line, one of the oldest in the network, has long been criticised for outdated rolling stock and poor maintenance. Its trains, the 1972 Mark 2 stock, are now 53 years old—well beyond their 40-year design lifespan. Despite calls for modernisation, the estimated £1.9 billion required to order new trains from Siemens has left Transport for London (TfL) stalled.
Complicating matters further, Rail magazine reported earlier this year that any delay in decision-making could increase the cost significantly, as Siemens’ production line would need to be restarted once Piccadilly Line orders are completed.
Siwan Hayward, TfL’s Director of Security, Policing and Enforcement, defended TfL’s efforts, stating: “The safety of our customers and staff is our top priority. We are working closely with the police to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour on the network, with over 2,500 police and police community support officers and 500 TfL enforcement staff patrolling the network at all times.
“We work hard to ensure that our customers and staff feel safe when travelling on the network and continue to strengthen our capability to deter and detect fare evaders and ensure our trains and stations remain a pleasant and clean environment for passengers.”
However, Harwood questioned the mayor’s motivations, tweeting: “Conspiracy theory: Is the Mayor letting the Bakerloo line degrade so heavily re: endless graffiti in order to ‘prove’ to Westminster it’s in need of more investment?”
The group’s actions have sparked scrutiny over TfL’s current cleaning contracts. Guido Fawkes reported that ABM Facility Services has held repeated contracts since at least 2017, with taxpayers funding the cleaning at considerable expense. A recent 60-month tender for cleaning services, including graffiti removal, is reportedly worth £775 million excluding VAT — amounting to £12.9 million per month, £3.2 million per week, or £461,310 per day.
In response to the specific incident of graffiti on the Bakerloo line train cleaned by Harwood, TfL said: “A track defect in the depot meant we were unable to use our automatic train wash for a few weeks.”
Looking for Growth said their aim was to “challenge high energy costs, excessive bureaucracy, and a Government that has lost its ambition” — but their latest campaign may now also put public sector efficiency and accountability firmly in the spotlight.
Image credit: Tom Harwood / X
