Ken Livingston did introduce the first congestion charge, Johnson introduced the first ULEZ.
Good Morning Wednesday 6th May 2026
It’s been a while so I will start us off…….whats for supper and why?
The New Year's Honour's List has Sadiq Khan being given a knighthood. I am sure that will sit well with the families of children killed as a result of London knife crime, spiralling on his watch.
Stephen Fry and Gareth Southgate also receive knighthoods.
There are some awards for the Post Office campaigners too and these are the people I like to see recognised although I wouldn't be upset to see the Honour's Lists being abolished altogether.
Ken Livingston did introduce the first congestion charge, Johnson introduced the first ULEZ.
Kalm
Islamophobia and being of Pakistani origin is also an excuse to criticise Sadiq Khan
Yada,yada,yada. We can criticise whom we like. Being Muslim does not excuse him, or anyone else, from valid criticism.
Seen what is going down in America and Europe.
vegansrock
Ken Livingston did introduce the first congestion charge, Johnson introduced the first ULEZ.
Yes, thank you, this is more interesting than I had realised. My understanding is that Boris Johnson, as Mayor, announced the creation of ULEZ in July 2014, and this was confirmed in March 2015 after consultation. It was backed by the then PM, David Cameron who also agreed to provide funding to help in its implementation. ULEZ was then implemented across central London on 8 April 2019, by which time Sadiq Khan was Mayor. I don't understand therefore why Sadiq Khan is criticised for implementing ULEZ when it was Boris Johnson's idea originally, but as someone who lives in central London I am appreciative to both Mayors for supporting ULEZ.
I dint think Khan should be knighted, he was doing his job. He is paid to do the best he can.
"I don't understand therefore why Sadiq Khan is criticised for implementing ULEZ when it was Boris Johnson's idea originally, but as someone who lives in central London I am appreciative to both Mayors for supporting ULEZ"
In Central London I agree. But... It made absolutely no sense at all to implement ULEZ in the outer London boroughs. The majority of people were against it but Khan took no notice and implemented it anyway. It makes barely any difference to the air quality at all and so many people lost their livelihoods like my neighbour who is a plumber but couldn't afford to pay £12.50 a day if he wanted to work at a property down the road in leafy Coulsdon, so he sold his van and retired. One more skilled person lost!
TheatreLover but as someone who lives in central London I am appreciative to both Mayors for supporting ULEZ.
As someone who lives near the Blackwall Tunnel I'm not appreciative of Khan's total dismissal of local concerns and objections regarding extra traffic and pollution caused by the Silvertown Tunnel.
Freya5
Kalm
Islamophobia and being of Pakistani origin is also an excuse to criticise Sadiq Khan
Yada,yada,yada. We can criticise whom we like. Being Muslim does not excuse him, or anyone else, from valid criticism.
Seen what is going down in America and Europe.
Any update of the palestinian lot and their hand outs please?
Jeanathome
I await clarity on the " palestian lot" and some sort of hand out for them and also London being " over run".
I'm not sure who the former are, what they have received and who or what is all over London.
"The Palestinian lot" referred too are marchers. No handouts but millions spent on policing them. Comprende.
Comprende......very much so. Thanks.
So they shouldn’t have police at big marches then? Or should the marches be banned? Hmmm- that would be difficult- should all marches be banned or just ones we don’t like?
This
If Therese Coffey can be made a Dame on the basis of her very mediocre, short-lived support act to the worst Prime Minister in British history, ‘Sir Sadiq Khan’, who has broken several ceilings to win 3 mayoral terms in one of the greatest cities on earth, is only contentious if you’re a racist.
Brendan May
I am glad Sadiq Khan ,this philanthropic and unassuming man, was publicly recognised for his services. I wish there were more public servants as good as he.
Whitewavemark2
This
If Therese Coffey can be made a Dame on the basis of her very mediocre, short-lived support act to the worst Prime Minister in British history, ‘Sir Sadiq Khan’, who has broken several ceilings to win 3 mayoral terms in one of the greatest cities on earth, is only contentious if you’re a racist.
Brendan May
What if you were equally unimpressed with Coffey's award as you are with Khan's? Does that make you half a racist and half an OK sort of person? What if you think the whole awards system has been so thoroughly discredited by who gets the top ones, that it is now an anachronism that needs to be abolished?
All these poor plumbers who couldn’t afford to run their polluting vans seem to have been a figment of many imaginations- the plumbers in my ULEZ neck of the woods all have gleaming vans and charge an arm and a leg just to walk through the door. Any tradesmen who have kept dirty old vans just charge the extra on their call-out. The ULEZ extension moaners have largely drifted away now as they realise 98% vehicles of resident vehicles in the zone are compliant.
vegansrock
All these poor plumbers who couldn’t afford to run their polluting vans seem to have been a figment of many imaginations- the plumbers in my ULEZ neck of the woods all have gleaming vans and charge an arm and a leg just to walk through the door. Any tradesmen who have kept dirty old vans just charge the extra on their call-out. The ULEZ extension moaners have largely drifted away now as they realise 98% vehicles of resident vehicles in the zone are compliant.
The hardworking young chap who has a gardening business and ‘does’ our communal areas, and who I doubt is making megabucks, was certainly not happy about having to replace the non-ULEZ compliant van he needs for all his kit.
It was a major expense for him.
I dare say there were many similar.
vegansrock
All these poor plumbers who couldn’t afford to run their polluting vans seem to have been a figment of many imaginations- the plumbers in my ULEZ neck of the woods all have gleaming vans and charge an arm and a leg just to walk through the door. Any tradesmen who have kept dirty old vans just charge the extra on their call-out. The ULEZ extension moaners have largely drifted away now as they realise 98% vehicles of resident vehicles in the zone are compliant.
Wow you know every plumber in your neck of the woods, I don't know even one, let alone what all of them charge just to walk through the door! I'm impressed.
Do you think Khan should have taken any notice of the strong local opposition to the siting of the Silvertown crossing? As for the charges, why is only SE London to be charged to cross the river? Blackwall Tunnel, Silvertown, and the Dartford crossing are the only means to cross the river and all will be charging. All those bridges available west of these are totally free of charge. Apparently Khan is quite happy with a two tier London.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9j0m7gkvdo
Whitewavemark2
This
If Therese Coffey can be made a Dame on the basis of her very mediocre, short-lived support act to the worst Prime Minister in British history, ‘Sir Sadiq Khan’, who has broken several ceilings to win 3 mayoral terms in one of the greatest cities on earth, is only contentious if you’re a racist.
Brendan May
What claptrap 😄
Using the racist card doesn’t cut it, I disliked Therese Coffey and many, many other politicians who’ve been kicked up to the Lords. Sometimes it’s a reward for sycophants and sometimes to compensate and shut them up.
I dislike the mealy mouthed Khan and think he’s a lousy mayor just as much as Johnson was.
The only good mayor for Londoners was Ken Livingstone.
Freya5
Kalm
Islamophobia and being of Pakistani origin is also an excuse to criticise Sadiq Khan
Yada,yada,yada. We can criticise whom we like. Being Muslim does not excuse him, or anyone else, from valid criticism.
Seen what is going down in America and Europe.
Feel free to espouse racism bigotry etc.
Coped with it for years/decades physically and emotionally.
Racism and bigotry will always exist. I was told by a white cleaner in the 70's "even though you are educated my race will always be better than your race."
However, what is a problem is the politicisation of racism. Good multiculturalism cannot succeed if other peoples value system is constantly portrayed as inferior.
Not quite sure what is happening in Europe, but my take is degenerate people are entering right wing politics. They and their wretched supporters are spreading evil, blaming the green party to afghan refugees. There is a not a shred of independent evidence that the "others" have directly caused a lowering of living standards.
It will of course be interesting to see what the London mayors views will be towards President/E Trump.
He’s an excellent mayor, most Londoners agree, hence he’s won an historic third term.
KateW19
He’s an excellent mayor, most Londoners agree, hence he’s won an historic third term.
Given we've only had London mayors since 2000 isn't it a bit dramatic to employ this "historic" label? We've had two previous mayors both of whom served two consecutive terms.
Most Londoners did not vote for Khan he received 44% of the votes from a turnout of 40.5% of eligible voters so won because of our first past the post system. He won fair and square in our system but it is a falsehood to claim that most Londoners agree when clearly the majority didn't vote for him.
Nobody ever addresses the problem of his failure to listen to local opposition to the Silvertown crossing and his total disregard of how unfair it is that only the 3 east London crossings are/will be chargeable, while the numerous central and west London crossings are all free. Living in SW London he's totally unaffected by these issues.
By that argument Rosie51, Boris Johnson wasn’t popular in his second term either, as the turnout was below 40% then too. Is that really what you mean? The only measure of popularity that means anything in the British democratic system is who wins the seat.
Rosie51
KateW19
He’s an excellent mayor, most Londoners agree, hence he’s won an historic third term.
Given we've only had London mayors since 2000 isn't it a bit dramatic to employ this "historic" label? We've had two previous mayors both of whom served two consecutive terms.
Most Londoners did not vote for Khan he received 44% of the votes from a turnout of 40.5% of eligible voters so won because of our first past the post system. He won fair and square in our system but it is a falsehood to claim that most Londoners agree when clearly the majority didn't vote for him.
Nobody ever addresses the problem of his failure to listen to local opposition to the Silvertown crossing and his total disregard of how unfair it is that only the 3 east London crossings are/will be chargeable, while the numerous central and west London crossings are all free. Living in SW London he's totally unaffected by these issues.
Your quite right Rosie51 I forgot that Ken Livingstone wasn’t a mayor but leader of the GLC.
Casdon
By that argument Rosie51, Boris Johnson wasn’t popular in his second term either, as the turnout was below 40% then too. Is that really what you mean? The only measure of popularity that means anything in the British democratic system is who wins the seat.
But it still doesn’t make sense to say ‘ most Londoners agree’.
Well any vote in the UK is the same most people don’t vote for the winning party if you take non voters into account.
Rosie51 You are correct. The majority did not vote for Khan. the same way the majority did not vote for Starmer. The voting system needs to change.
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