London Mayor hits back at comments by the PM about TfL finances at a Covid-19 press conference
By Joe Talora, local democracy reporter
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has hit back at comments made by Boris Johnson about TfL finances at a Covid-19 press conference yesterday.
Following a question about London’s economic recovery from the pandemic and a funding deal for TfL, the Prime Minister said that “the current Labour mayor” had “decided to blow” TfL money on “an irresponsible fares policy”.
Mr Johnson, himself a former Mayor of London, said that there was a “black hole” in TfL finances before the Covid-19 pandemic and that he, as mayor, had left them “in robust, good order”.
He said: “We are doing our best to help them out and we will continue to do so. But I’m afraid you have to look at some of the decisions that were taken by the current Labour mayor as well.
“I hesitate to make a point like that but since you rightly draw attention to the fact I’m a proud former mayor of London I do think we could look at the way TfL is being run.
“That doesn’t mean we aren’t going to continue to support – of course we are – but we do need to have some responsibility from the mayor as well.”
But Sadiq Khan immediately took to social media to hit back at the Prime Minister who, he said, had “lied yet again”.
Mr Khan said: “The PM lied yet again from £2.6 million taxpayer-funded press conference. Covid-19 is the sole cause of TfL’s challenges. Before the pandemic I was fixing his mess at TfL – reducing the deficit by 71 per cent compared to what he left.”
TfL is heavily reliant on income generated from passenger fares, with around 72 per cent of its budget estimated to come from them.
The number of people using the Tube fell by around 92 per cent and bus passenger numbers fell by almost 80 per cent in March 2020 when the first national lockdown was imposed, leading to a large funding shortfall.
The comments made by Boris Johnson yesterday have also caused controversy at the BBC, which hosts the Prime Minister’s Covid-19 briefings.
This morning, Politico’s Alex Wickham reported that the BBC were holding “internal talks” over what to do about the Prime Minister’s comments given that local elections, including the London Mayor election, are just one month away.
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