Clubbing with Susan Hall
Plus: wild swimmers vs vulnerable children, undeterred squatters, and accidentally setting off the fire alarm at Stratford
Morning — pledges in the London mayor race went completely haywire this week. We’ve seen candidates promise a dedicated London toilet official, baby banks, bus nationalisation, changes to weed policing, Tube bans for noise polluters, a fresh Olympic bid, and even a big night out. But in contrast to all the noise, for a while now there’s been a deafening silence from Sadiq Khan’s camp on an issue that used to be his go-to: introducing rent controls in London. What happened to Khan’s rent plans leads your Sunday round-up below.
Plus: wild swimmers vs vulnerable children, undeterred squatters, and accidentally setting off the fire alarm at Stratford.
PS: Best of luck to those running the London marathon today.
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🗳️ FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL 🗳️ Sometimes it’s what a candidate doesn’t say that’s most revealing — as in the case of Sadiq Khan, who’s gone quiet on London-wide rent controls. Since 2019, Khan has repeatedly called on the UK government to give him the power as London mayor to cap or freeze private sector rents in the capital. He pledged in his 2021 manifesto that he’d “lead the campaign for rent controls for our city”. But when Khan’s re-election campaign revved up earlier this month, and he unveiled his ‘new deal for renters’, city-wide rent controls were suspiciously absent. A Byline Times scoop now explains why — Khan has revealed he’s “not been able to persuade” Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of the need for the policy. Starmer had seemingly poured cold water on the idea a couple of times beforehand, telling the Evening Standard in an interview in March that rent controls were “not our national policy”. So Khan now says he’s unwilling to “make promises [on rent controls] that won’t materialise after the election … It’s really important we’re realistic about what we can do”. Khan still has a few alternatives up his sleeve — rather than rolling out the policy across all of London, he’s pledged he’ll build a batch of 6,000 rent-controlled homes if re-elected, though these will just be for key workers, like bus drivers or care workers. And he’s also got plans to set up a London Rent Commission, bringing together landlords and tenants to explore the issue. But that all doesn’t go far enough for some — “Khan’s new deal will fall flat if he does not continue to push for the power to cap rents in London,” said a spokesperson for London Renters Union.
Oh well — at least there’s been some big London bus ideas this week. Most prominently, Khan unveiled plans for ‘Superloop 2’ on Friday, a significant expansion to the express bus service he’s introduced in outer London. The draft route map is viewable here, and sees the number of services double from 10 to 20, with new links at Stratford, Elephant & Castle and Hammersmith, among others. Khan also announced on Tuesday that he’ll nationalise the capital’s buses with a new public London Bus Company if re-elected. 16-privately run bus companies currently operate services at the moment, but once their contracts end, Khan says he’ll decide whether to bring them under public ownership, to potentially provide “better value for money, consistency and service to all Londoners”.
Meanwhile, Susan Hall has waded into London nightlife discourse, pledging she’ll go on a big night out if she wins the election. On Tuesday, Khan’s Conservative rival said she’d expand the weekend Night Tube service to the Hammersmith and City line if she’s elected, as part of plans to “revive” the capital’s night-time economy. She also said she had ambitions to add the Circle, District and Metropolitan lines to the Night Tube “when feasible”, but she’s picked Hammersmith and City first because of its “essential role in connecting to some of London’s biggest cultural venues”. Plus some insight into Hall’s past: “I have enjoyed my fair share of clubbing and it is only right that we make it safer and easier for everyone to enjoy London’s fantastic night scene,” she told Guido Fawkes, adding that she’d go out on the “razzle” with nightlife business representatives if she manages to win on May 2. In perhaps more traditional Tory vibes, Hall also announced this week that as mayor she’d ban passengers from playing loud music or taking calls on speakerphone while on London’s transport network. Noise polluters would risk a fine of up to £1,000 or even a ban from using TfL services, under Hall’s proposed crackdown on anti-social behaviour on the network.
And the mayoral pledges haven’t stopped there — there’s been an absolute tonne this week. Khan pledged to eliminate rough sleeping ‘once and for all’ in London, to extend his free primary school meal programme for another four years, to establish ‘baby banks’ offering essential childcare items to families in need for free, and to make another Olympic bid. The Lib Dems’ Rob Blackie has put forward a few ideas on policing, pledging to double the number of sexual predators caught in London by creating a new Sexual Offences Unit, and to lower the priority given to investigating laughing gas and cannabis possession. And the Greens’ Zoe Garbett has pledged to hire a ‘Loo Czar’ and create a Toilet Commission for London, to increase the number of loos on the Tube and bus network.
Elsewhere from the London mayoral campaign:
The first televised mayoral debate aired on ITV on Tuesday — watchable in full here.
Both Labour and the Lib Dems published their London manifestos, with party leader Ed Davey turning up to the launch of the latter. Still no sign of an official doc from Hall’s campaign though.
A new poll shows Hall closing the gap with Khan, slightly. The YouGov survey, conducted between April 9 and 17, puts Khan on 46%, down from 49% in February, and Hall on 27%, up from 24%.
Meanwhile, Hall’s campaign has issued a letter urging Londoners to ensure Khan “wins by a smaller margin than he’s expecting” — something the Lib Dems say is “a clear admission that Conservatives have given up on winning in London”
Hall has continued to say that Khan has plans to introduce pay-per-mile road charging in London. Khan has again insisted he’s ruled this out.
Some controversy over how much candidates had to pay for coverage in official election info leaflets that have been posted through Londoners’ doors. “It costs an extra £10,000 to get a featured section. Is that democratically unfair and skewing voters towards candidates with more money? You might think that. I couldn’t possibly comment,” said Count Binface, who wasn’t included.
🧑⚖️ Despite even the High Court getting involved, the squatters at Gordon Ramsay’s Camden pub are apparently staying put. Some had started leaving the celeb chef’s pub, the York & Albany near Regent’s Park, on Friday, after Ramsay’s lawyers secured a High Court order for the possession of the premises the day prior. A spokesperson for the group, calling itself the Anarchist Association London Branch, had responded to the court order by saying they would be leaving within 24 hours, and added: “This swanky building has been left empty for years, even though Camden has some of the worst levels of rough sleeping in the country’. But by Saturday, it was clear some of the squatters were undeterred. The court orders printed and taped to the doors have been torn down, a banner reading “Whatever they say squatters will stay” was draped over the side, and one squatter still at the premises told the Press Association: “We’ve made a deal. With the owner, not Ramsay”. By ‘owner’, he was referring to film director Gary Love, who purchased the freehold of the pub in 2007 before leasing the pub to Ramsay on a 25-year term. Ramsay has been trying to get rid of the pub since, and he’s currently got it on the market for £13m. Love though hasn’t commented publicly on the squatter’s alleged ‘deal’. Time will tell if Ramsay escalates things and brings enforcement action — or if the squatters will try again with their plans to turn the pub ‘Camden Art Cafe’. Also this week: squatters also moved into Marco Pierre White’s former restaurant in Leicester Square last Sunday, but police removed them that day.
💣 Plans to demolish the brutalist Museum of London and Bastion House buildings, by the Barbican estate, were given the go-ahead this week — then immediately paused. The City of London Corporation’s planning committee approved the plans, which have been the subject of three years of consultations, on Wednesday, but shortly afterwards housing secretary Michael Gove called in the decision in for a public review. The City wants to replace the 1970s buildings with some modern office blocks and a ground plaza, but the scheme has drawn a load of opposition, with concerns ranging from preserving the Barbican’s brutalist heritage to the climate impact of knocking down buildings that could be retrofitted. Not everyone’s delighted by the delay though — “Why is Michael Gove intervening to ‘save’ this lump of concrete? Embarrassing,” writes commentator Tom Harwood. The Museum of London is safe FYI despite the plans, having found a new home at West Smithfield.
🏊♂️ Another planning battle: wild swimmers in east London are trying to turn an old depot into a pond — potentially at the cost of a childrens’ home. The 14-acre site in Waltham Forest used to belong to Thames Water, but it’s now owned by the UK government, and the Department for Education is currently working up proposals with borough councils in the capital to turn the site into the Pan London Secure Children’s Home, which would provide specialist care for highly vulnerable children with complex needs. But a group of wild swimmers have another idea: turning the facility into the East London Waterworks Park, with a community-owned natural swimming pond and a “brownfield rainforest offering people the opportunity to immerse themselves in nature”. The swimmers have already managed to raise £620,000 from 5,000 supporters for their pitch, claiming they only need to raise £1m to buy the site from the government. Whether wild swimming will trump vulnerable children remains to be seen — a spokesperson for Waltham Forest council tells the Times “any plans submitted for this site will be subject to the same process and scrutiny as any other planning application”.
😬 A pretty bad week for one marketing department, after it emerged an advert had edited out the burnt remains of Grenfell Tower from a background shot. “Insulting” and “really upsetting, is how bereaved families of the 2017 tragedy have described the move, which was noticed by Channel 4 viewers on Monday during an advert for pain relief gel Voltrarol. The shot in question was of people playing football on the Westway football pitches close to the council block — other tower blocks were kept in the background, but Grenfell Tower, now covered in white sheeting and a banner, was notably absent. A spokesperson for Haleon confirmed the editing has happened and said: “We are deeply sorry for any distress that our recent Voltrarol advertisement may have caused. We will be taking the advert off air with immediate effect”.
👮 The Met Police has issued an apology to Jewish Londoners, after an officer used the words “openly Jewish” while threatening to arrest a Jewish man near a pro-Palestine march last Saturday. Gideon Falter, chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, was wearing a kippah skullcap when he was stopped in the Aldwych area of London, then told that his presence was causing a “breach of peace”, in a video posted online. The Met later apologised for the officer’s phrase, then apologised again after being criticised for victim blaming by suggesting Falter’s presence was “provocative” in its first apology. “Being Jewish is not a provocation. Jewish Londoners must be able to feel safe in this city,” the force later said. Elsewhere in London policing: a 30-year-old man has been charged after stabbing a police officer in north London on Tuesday, and it’s been revealed the Met is set to pay out millions to a 27-year-old Black man left paralysed after being Tasered.
🔍 And finally, we leave you with:
The 2024 list of the most expensive streets in London/the whole UK: Buckingham Gate (in Westminster, £9.6m average asking price), Vicarage Gate (Holland Park, £6.3m), Park Road (St John’s Wood, £5.8m), St John’s Wood Road (Maida Vale, £5.4m), Cadogan Square (Knightsbridge, £4.8m)
The most expensive coffee in London (£265 from a coffee bar in Mayfair)
Viral marketing success for a Chinese restaurant near Westminster
Commuting to London from Germany and from Argentina
✍️ A quick correction: Last week we reported on Greenwich council selling its historic borough hall to a developer for £2.4m. Incorrectly, we suggested the council had only just sold off the entire town hall building, and mistakenly wrote that the new buyer intended to use the latest sale to create 80 facts. In fact, most of the old town hall was sold in 1973, for which approval for the flats was given this year. The latest sale concerned the Borough Hall portion of the building — the bit without the clock tower.