Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

London's mayor powers could be reviewed: Report

Conservative politicians have slammed Sadiq Khan's move to expand the Ultra-Low Emission Zone across the city but pointed out the government has no power to stop him.

London's mayor powers could be reviewed: Report

Senior figures in the government are believed to favour a review of devolution for London amid concerns over mayor Sadiq Khan’s handling of the Met Police and the fire service.

His recent announcement on the expansion of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (Ulez) across the capital next summer has further ruffled the Conservatives’ feathers with several MPs warning it would adversely affect small businesses.

But the government has no power to stop the mayor from going ahead with the move.

Khan said last month that the expansion of the Ulez London-wide was aimed at tackling the “triple threats of air pollution, the climate emergency and congestion.”

He justified the expansion which will come into effect from August 29, saying it would enable five million more Londoners to breathe cleaner air.

The expansion of the Ulez to all boroughs of London means cars manufactured before 2005 would be charged £12.50 for entering the city.

But the announcement has led to fears that it would create a "financial wall" between the city and the rest of the UK.

Transport minister Richard Holden said the government had no power to veto the mayor’s decision in spite of the Ulez plan going against Khan's “manifesto and his own consultation".

Earlier this month, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services put the London Fire Brigade into special measures following an investigation that concluded the brigade was "institutionally misogynist and racist".

In June this year, the Met Police was placed into an advanced stage of monitoring after a series of scandals hit the force.

The Greater London Authority (GLA), the regional governance body, has powers over fire and emergency planning and policing.

A Whitehall source told The Telegraph that Mr Khan “has obviously got a good majority, but the Met Police are in special measures, the fire services are in special measures and he is underspending on housing development”.


“While we are looking at devolution frameworks elsewhere in the country, it is a natural time to check back at what has been done in London,” the source said.

Whether a review of London’s powers would be an internal government analysis or if it would be a larger scale piece of work, possibly involving a public consultation remained under discussion, the newspaper said.

More For You

Indian restaurant loses licence after Home Office catches illegal workers

Mumbai Local has been stripped of its licence by Harrow council. (Photo: LDRS/Google Maps)

Indian restaurant loses licence after Home Office catches illegal workers

AN INDIAN restaurant in north London has lost its licence after it was found to have repeatedly employed illegal workers.

Harrow council determined that the evidence suggested that using illegal workers was a “systemic approach” to running the premises and it had a “lack of trust” in the business to comply with the law.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump sees Modi, Putin closer to Xi, but insists US-India ties intact

FILE PHOTO: US president Donald Trump meets with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Trump sees Modi, Putin closer to Xi, but insists US-India ties intact

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump said India and Russia seem to have been "lost" to China after their leaders met with Chinese president Xi Jinping this week, expressing his annoyance at New Delhi and Moscow as Beijing pushes a new world order.

"Looks like we've lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!" Trump wrote in a social media post accompanying a photo of the three leaders together at Xi's summit in China.

Keep ReadingShow less
Farage pledges Reform UK election push as Tories, Labour falter

Nigel Farage gestures as he speaks during the party's national conference at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, Britain, September 5, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes

Farage pledges Reform UK election push as Tories, Labour falter

POPULIST leader Nigel Farage vowed to start preparing for government, saying the nation's two main parties were in meltdown and only his Reform UK could ease the anger and despair plaguing the country to "make Britain great again".

To a prolonged standing ovation by a crowd at the annual party conference on Friday (5), Farage for the first time offered a vision of how Britain would be under a Reform government: He pledged to end the arrival of illegal migrants in boats in two weeks, bring back "stop-and-search" policing and scrap net zero policies.

Keep ReadingShow less
Shabana Mahmood

Newly appointed home secretary Shabana Mahmood arrives at Number 10 at Downing Street as Keir Starmer holds a cabinet reshuffle on September 5, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Shabana Mahmood named home secretary, Lammy deputy to Starmer in major reshuffle

Highlights:

  • David Lammy becomes deputy prime minister while keeping foreign affairs brief
  • Angela Rayner resigned after admitting underpaid property tax
  • Lisa Nandy to stay on as culture secretary
  • Reshuffle marks first major shake-up of Starmer’s government

SHABANA MAHMOOD has been appointed home secretary in a major reshuffle of prime minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet following the resignation of deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.

Keep ReadingShow less
Epping protests

The protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping triggered a series of demonstrations across the country during heightened tensions over immigration. (Photo: Getty Images)

Asylum seeker convicted of sex assaults case that led to protests

AN ETHIOPIAN asylum seeker, whose arrest in July led to protests outside a hotel near London where he and other migrants were housed, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage girl and another woman.

The protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, about 20 miles (30 km) from London, triggered a series of demonstrations across the country during heightened tensions over immigration.

Keep ReadingShow less