Sadiq Khan faces his last public interrogation of 2024 when he appears in MayorThursday’s question time.
The session, the last of ten this year, is the Town Hall equivalent of Prime Minister’s Questions, but normally lasts about three hours, six times longer.
Khan faces questions from all 25 members of the London Assembly, both its Labor allies and its critics from the Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Green and Reform parties.
Questions are expected to include issues such as what it is doing to make rents more affordable for London’s key workers, whether the Metropolitan Police is doing enough to combat burglaries and the rising number of phone thefts and its plans to improve TfL services.
But the event also offers the opportunity for an unexpected response: Conservative group leader Neil Garratt asked Khan to list his New Year’s resolutions.
Follow this live blog for all the highlights…
10:45 , ross lydall
The first flashpoint concerns crime.
Conservative assemblywoman Susan Hall, whom Khan defeated in May’s mayoral election, says 64,000 burglaries were committed in London last year, but only 3,700 were solved, a six per cent clearance rate.
Ms Hall said: “We have effectively decriminalized a large number of crimes taking place in our city.”
Khan says burglaries have dropped 22 percent since he became mayor in 2016. He accuses conservatives of crying “crocodile tears,” which infuriates Hall.
She says, “Don’t you dare say they’re crocodile tears, because we care, we very well care. “You’re the one who doesn’t seem to care, because you’re not doing anything about it.”
Khan says the Conservatives are showing “feigned anger” and blames the “austerity” policies of the previous Conservative government for causing more crime.
Mrs Hall replies: “That should be your New Year’s resolution: to make London a safer place. Because right now it is an absolute disaster.”
10:41 , Noah Vickers
Conservative group leader Neil Garratt asks the mayor what New Year’s resolutions he has. In particular, he asks if you have decided to “control” the increasing number of stolen mobile phones in London in recent years.
Khan says he believes cell phone theft can be “eliminated by design,” similar to the way the theft of car stereos declined after manufacturers rendered the devices useless once removed from vehicles. He adds that he established a new Robbery Reduction Partnership earlier this year.
Dismissing the answer as “a load of nonsense”, Mr Garratt then asks about bicycle theft. The mayor affirms that “the police are making an effort” on this matter and that they are helped by the fact that bicycles are increasingly equipped with GPS.
10:30 , ross lydall
In other transport news, TfL has confirmed that Kentish Town tube station will reopen next Monday, December 23. as previously reported in The Standard.
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Khan says there is a “very good reason” why he is increase subway fares by 4.6 percent next year.
This is in return for the Government’s promise of a multi-year deal for London transport.
But the deal has not been agreed and is unlikely to be reached until the spending review next April or May.
Will Mr Khan feel as positive about rising fares if a good deal doesn’t materialize (TfL needs more than £500m a year)?
10:22 , ross lydall
Will it be the The chaos on the Piccadilly line is worth mentioning.? TfL has announced partial closures for the next six months to prepare for a new fleet of trains and has provided an update on why the current level of service is so disrupted.
10:15 , ross lydall
Good morning from City Hall. Assembly Speaker Andrew Boff invites Sadiq Khan to deliver some opening remarks: The Mayor wishes Londoners a “Peaceful and Happy Christmas.”
Khan talks about the “scandal” of rough sleeping and homelessness, and promises to “end rough sleeping forever.”
He will also give an update on the High Court decision on the Tower Hamlets low-traffic neighborhood earlier this week.
Khan says TfL will “consider the implications” of the judge’s ruling, which supported district mayor Lutfur Rahman’s plan to remove several LTNs in Columbia Road and Bethnal Green.