Sadiq khan

Wednesday

Ed West

Civil life in London is now balanced on a knife edge

I’m a member of a small and weird minority, the conservative urbanophiles. Obviously cities are nests of degeneracy and, even worse, the false faith of progressivism – my postcode voted 82 per cent Remain and the Tories finished fourth in 2015 – but nevertheless urbanisation is glorious, the best thing our species ever did. City life means socialising, culture and prosperity.  But the English-speaking world forgot two important things about city life in the 20th century, lessons that have been painfully half re-learned: that cities should be beautiful and cities need to be civilised. The story of American urban decline in the late 20th century is especially tragic, hollowed out

Steerpike Steerpike

Sadiq Khan’s speech at Sarah Sands’ leaving do – Corbyn’s plans for No 10 and Farron’s big act

Last night, politicians including Boris Johnson, Nick Clegg and Sadiq Khan put their party political differences to one side for the night as they came together to bid Sarah Sands farewell at her Evening Standard leaving do. Speaking at party at The Ned, the Mayor of London paid tribute to Sands for her work as editor at the London paper — and wished her luck in her new role as the editor of the Today programme. However, Khan also couldn’t resist a few digs at his political rivals: ‘Tonight also gives many of us gives us a night off from the general election campaign. It means Tim Farron has a

Monday

Melanie McDonagh

Of course we’re not cowed by terrorism – what other choice do we have?

Stay safe, London. Stay safe, everyone. It’s nice, isn’t it, as a sentiment, which is just as well because it is the motto du jour of every celebrity who has added his or her mite to what passes as debate on the terrorist attack last Wednesday. And, my goodness, they all piled in: JK Rowling, Katy Perry, James Corden, Neil Gaiman; every man and woman of them, you’ll be pleased to hear, against this sort of thing, and urging us all – especially those not actually resident in London – to ‘stay safe’. The other trope is that ‘nothing will divide us’, that this is what terrorists want – Stella

Saturday

Sarah Sands

George Osborne’s Evening Standard job is good news for London

George Osborne has been a good friend to London. He sees the point of infrastructure and I hope he’ll fight hard for Crossrail 2, which has been shunted into the sidings by this government. London business rates are a huge issue, close to Osborne’s heart. He’s a supporter of the arts, with a streak of romanticism missing in David Cameron and Theresa May. It’s good news for Sir Simon Rattle’s concert hall, and Thomas Heatherwick’s Garden Bridge. The mayor Sadiq Khan, who is more than a match for Osborne as a political strategist, will understand what they can jointly achieve as champions of an open, liberal city. The Prime Minister

Thursday

Sarah Sands

Diary – 23 March 2017

So I am feeling a bit better about my lack of radio experience. These are exciting times for free movement of labour and with Westminster under the control of Tory and Labour cabals, lovely jobs outside Parliament are tempting. George Osborne is no more qualified to edit the London Evening Standard than Tristram Hunt to run the V&A, but now art and antiquities scholars have dried their tears, that is turning out splendidly. The late Nick Tomalin pointed out that success in journalism requires only ‘ratlike cunning, a plausible manner, and a little literary ability’. The trade is temperament as much as technical skill and Osborne has a journalistic love

Thursday

Melanie McDonagh

Cressida Dick’s anti-terror cock-up should have disqualified her from the Met’s top job

Well, on the bright side, it seems that the Home Secretary and the Mayor of London are forgiving people, at least concerning offences that don’t concern them personally. Amber Rudd and Sadiq Khan have, as was universally predicted, decided that Cressida Dick should replace Bernard Hogan-Howe as head of the Met, the biggest policing appointment in the country, which includes its important counter-terrorism brief. It would seem, then, that no mistake can be too grave – not to say fatal, no error of judgment too egregious, no apparent loss of control in a crisis too serious, to disqualify someone from taking control of London’s police force. Ms Dick was, of course,

Tuesday

Steerpike

London not open for Larry, the Downing Street cat

As part of Sadiq Khan’s ongoing efforts to prove London is ‘united and open for business, and to the world’ in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, the Mayor of London has released a series of videos of late to try to get the message across. In one such film, David Walliams narrates as a host of animals — from penguins at London Zoo to Horse Guards Parade horses — appear on screen, with the simple message: ‘London is open a home for all creatures great and small’. However, Mr S understands that not every London animal resident is on board. Word reaches Steerpike that behind the scenes a tug of

Monday

Ross Clark

A view of St Paul’s is the least of London’s housing problems

Richmond Park has been in the news a bit lately. It is portrayed as a bastion of wealth and privilege, whose residents stand accused of trying to lord it over ordinary voters. But never mind blocking Brexit, do the people who live there deserve the right to an uninterrupted view of St Paul’s? Outrage has greeted the construction of a 42-storey tower in Stratford, East London, which is accused of compromising the view of Wren’s great cathedral from a mound in Richmond Park. Planning permission for Manhattan Loft Gardens, which will incorporate 250 flats as well as a 145-bed hotel, was granted back in 2011. Yet no-one seemed to notice

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters | 1 December 2016

Irrational EU Sir: James Forsyth’s otherwise excellent piece on Brexit talks (‘Britain’s winning hand’, 26 November) suffers from the flaw of most British analyses of the EU: the presumption that the EU is a rational actor. If that were so, Greece would not be in the euro, Europe’s borders would not be guarded by Turkey, and David Cameron would have returned from his talks with a deal enabling the EU to keep one of the world’s most successful countries in the union. The recent EU history of perversity and intransigence suggests that whatever aces Theresa May holds, she should prepare to walk away from the table as empty-handed as her

Thursday

Nick Hilton

The Spectator podcast: May’s winning hand

On this week’s podcast we discuss the royal flush that Theresa May has been dealt, debate Sadiq Khan’s progress, half a year into his tenure as London Mayor, and pose the seasonal question of whether advent is better than Christmas. First, James Forsyth‘s cover story this week charts the remarkable fortune of Theresa May, as the weaknesses of Labour and the Eurozone (not to mention her Trump card) give her a strong hand heading into the Brexit negotiations. Speaking to the podcast, James says that: “I think you could say that, look, the EU27 are being remarkably united at the moment. They clearly do not want to suggest that you can leave the

Andrew Gilligan

No Khan do

Let’s try a thought experiment, shall we? If a senior adviser to my old boss, Boris Johnson, had celebrated John Smith’s heart attack, mocked Gordon Brown for talking about his dead son and referred to senior members of the Labour party as ‘scum’, how long do you think that person would have kept their job? Thankfully, however, this particular mini-Trump, the former reality TV star Amy Lamé, was appointed (as London’s ‘night czar’) by a Labour mayor, and her -targets were all Tories, so it’s fine. As, apparently, are Lamé’s years of virtue-signalling on social media for higher spending and taxes while arranging to receive her own City Hall salary

Thursday

Toby Young

In defence of Zac Goldsmith

I’m baffled by the reaction to Zac Goldsmith’s decision to resign as the Conservative MP for Richmond Park. It is being interpreted, even by MPs on his own side, as an act of opportunism, a chance to rehabilitate himself with the metropolitan elite after his bruising defeat in the London mayoral election. Surprisingly few people seem willing to entertain the idea that he might be acting on principle. Exhibit A in the case for Zac’s defence is the fact that he’s the MP for Richmond Park in the first place. Zac could have applied to be the candidate in any number of safe Conservative seats in 2010 and, given his

Friday

Ed West

Foreign investors aren’t to blame for London’s housing crisis

I hate gentrification; my area was so much cooler when there were people openly selling drugs on the high street, my neighbours’ house had a mattress outside and the nice restaurants needed bouncers so the diners weren’t constantly harassed by crack addicts. Now it’s all just nice coffee shops, other broadsheet readers and arthouse cinemas. But don’t worry, for the Mayor of London is on the case, launching an inquiry into how much London land is being bought up by overseas investors and, as the Guardian reports, ‘the scale of gentrification and rising housing costs in the capital‘. Sadiq Khan says there are ‘real concerns’ about the surge in the number of homes

Tuesday

Tom Goodenough

Sadiq Khan’s power ballad to Jeremy Corbyn

Sadiq Khan’s speech to Labour conference just now could be summed up in a single word: power. He repeated it so much – 38 times in total – you’d be forgiven for thinking he could do with a thesaurus. But there was nothing accidental about him banging on about power. This was a clear dig at Jeremy Corbyn. Khan’s big idea isn’t real that big at all. He told his party that Labour out of power ‘will never, ever be good enough’, while his finishing plea was that: ‘It’s time to put Labour back into power, it’s time for a Labour Government. A Labour Prime Minister in Downing Street.’ It might seem

The Spectator

Full speech: Sadiq Khan at Labour conference

Labour in power. Not just talking the talk, but walking the walk too. Never sacrificing or selling out on our ideals, but putting them in action every single day. Not a revolution overnight, but real and meaningful change that makes life easier for the people who need it most. Conference, after the election this summer the leadership of our party has now been decided and I congratulate Jeremy on his clear victory. Now it’s time for us all to work together towards the greatest prize: getting Labour back into power. Conference, with Labour in power your home and your commute get more affordable, the air you breathe gets less polluted,

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Labour conference, day three: The Spectator guide

Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, and Sadiq Khan, the Labour politician with the largest mandate to his name, both take to the stage today on the third day of Labour’s conference in Liverpool. Watson described the leadership contest as a ‘very bruising summer’ for the party and insisted the focus now was on ‘rebuilding trust’ among voters after Corbyn was re-elected leader on Saturday. He’s likely to make a similar pitch in his keynote speech today. While Khan will tell the Labour conference (in a veiled dig at Corbyn) that the party can only make a difference if it manages to win power. Elsewhere, Corbyn’s defeated rival in the leadership race

Monday

Alec Marsh

Why is Sadiq Khan giving Americans his views on the US election?

‘It’s important for those of us who are foreigners to stay out of the US elections.’ So said the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, with due propriety during his visit to America last week. Unfortunately he then added: ‘I hope that the best candidate wins and I hope she does win with a stomping majority.’ Given the febrile state of US politics, I’m sure that this cringe-worthy endorsement is precisely the sort of intervention that Clinton needs in order to get her faltering campaign back on track. And perhaps the lord mayor of, say, Wandsworth could polish his chain of office and head to Paris to advise the French on

Thursday

Steerpike

Evening Standard’s change of heart about Sadiq Khan

During the London mayoral campaign, the Evening Standard was accused of showing ‘overwhelming bias’ towards the Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith. The Media Reform Coalition claimed the paper had become the ‘mouthpiece of the Conservative party’ after it ran twice as many positive headlines about Goldsmith than his Labour rival Sadiq Khan. Khan was also the subject of twice as many negative headlines — which included: ‘Exposed: Sadiq Khan’s family links to extremist organisation’ and ‘Minister: Khan is unfit to be mayor’. However, despite the paper’s best efforts — and eventual endorsement of Goldsmith — it wasn’t enough to sway voters, and Khan was elected mayor with 57 per cent of the vote. So,

Wednesday

Charlotte Gill

Bureaucracy is destroying the fabric of London’s nightlife

London’s nightlife is under attack. That became obvious this morning with the news that the popular club Fabric has closed for good. After a series of drug-related deaths at the venue, Islington Borough Council has decided the risk of keeping it open is too great. It’s come as a shock to many that Fabric is finished. Indeed, a petition to keep it alive reached over 148,000 signatures – and many celebrity backers, such as Annie Mac and the Chemical Brothers pleaded with the public: save the rave. But it was too little, too late. Another London nightclub has been forced to close. Fabric is just a small part of a much bigger problem; our party

Steerpike Steerpike

Sadiq Khan takes a swipe at George Osborne at GQ awards

To GQ‘s Men of the Year awards at the Tate Modern. With Russell Brand not around to make Nazi jokes at the expense of a sponsor this year, Amy Schumer did her best to unsettle the champagne-fuelled crowd. Accepting the ‘woman of the year’ gong, the American comedian said she was relieved an awards ceremony ‘finally celebrated men’. However it was Sadiq Khan’s ‘politician of the year’ gong that caught Mr S’s attention. Accepting the award, the Mayor of London made sure to mention his predecessor George Osborne — who triumphed in the category just last year. Given that the former Chancellor of the Exchequer has since returned to the backbench, Khan said that he was nervous Osborne’s