Sadiq Khan is reportedly furious at Chancellor Rachel Reeves over a perceived lack of funding for London in the upcoming spending review. Sources close to the mayor suggest the capital will receive none of its key transport requests, including an extension of the Docklands Light Railway to Thamesmead and completion of the Bakerloo line extension.
The mayor is also understood to share concerns of senior Metropolitan Police officers that London will not get a substantial uplift in funding. Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has written to the chancellor warning of the effects on tackling crime without a serious increase in policing budgets. A City Hall source called it 'unacceptable if there are no major infrastructure projects for London announced in the spending review and the Met doesn’t get the funding it needs.'
Khan had also requested powers to introduce a tourist levy in London, which has been rebuffed, though such changes would likely be implemented at a budget rather than a spending review. The mayor has rarely criticised the Labour government but is now speaking out, saying that 'it will simply not be possible to achieve national growth ambitions without the right investment and growth in our capital.'
A Treasury source declined to comment on specifics but highlighted benefits granted to London, including support for a third runway at Heathrow—which Khan opposed—and expansions of Gatwick, Luton and City airports, as well as funding for HS2 to run to London Euston and approval to pedestrianise Oxford Street. They also noted that City Hall would have cash freed up by the Treasury’s commitment to fund free school meals for children with parents on universal credit.
Research released by IPPR North found that if the north of England had received the same per person spending as London over the decade to 2022-23, it would have received £140bn more. London received £1,183 per person annually, compared to £486 for the north and even less for the Midlands. Khan argued that 'the way to level up other regions is not to level down London' and that investment in the capital benefits the whole UK.
