Is London in crisis? Mayoral candidates give verdict

The main London mayoral candidates have been setting out some of their key ideas with six months to go until the City Hall elections.

At an event organised by the Centre for London they were asked whether London was "in crisis".

Current Mayor, Labour's Sadiq Khan, denied that the capital was in crisis.

However, he said London had undergone several crises during his two terms including Brexit, the Grenfell fire and Covid.

He cited as a problem the government's handling of the pandemic, and the cost of living.

There have been record numbers of social homes built, he said, but six times the current funding was needed to provide the homes that were necessary.

"This is a marathon," he said. "You can only achieve incremental change unless there's more money."

Mr Khan said a third term at City Hall could bring with it the benefits of a better relationship with central government.

"Imagine what we could achieve with a Labour mayor and Labour government working in sync," he said.

And he defended Ulez as bringing cleaner air to outer London with a scrappage scheme to help many.

Susan Hall, the Conservative candidate, said the Metropolitan Police was "in crisis" with trust and confidence plummeting.

One reason she gave was a restructuring that meant one commander was no longer assigned to each of London's 32 boroughs. They were instead in charge of two or three.

"So many people don't feel safe," she said.

For young people, housing was the priority. With the billions of pounds from government she would "get a move on" building the necessary homes.

She would replace the Ulez in outer London, which was introduced at the end of August, with a £50m fund which councils could access to tackle local pollution hotspots.

With Mr Khan's mayoralty characterised by tension with the Tory government, she was asked how she would work with a potential Labour one.

"I would stand up for Londoners whoever it was," she said.

"It is vital to forge relationships to get the best deal for Londoners."

"Many people are experiencing London in crisis," said Green candidate Zoe Garbett, citing housing and the cost of living.

She said there were too many empty homes in London and there was not enough retrofitting and regeneration of existing housing, rather than demolition which often led to "net fewer homes".

Asked about the fallout from the expansion of the Ulez, she said it needed to have been a "fair and coherent strategy".

The Greens would have brought it in across inner and outer London at the same time, she said, with more investment in public transport and more scrappage funds for people discarding their polluting vehicles.

"It's about talking to people about the barriers and bringing them along with you, she said.

Rob Blackie, the Liberal Democrat candidate, said London had been "wounded" by crime, the impact of Brexit and the cost of living.

"But it's not an unsavable crisis," he said.

He's pledged to de-prioritise the police's use of stop and search for cannabis and laughing gas, saying that's not where the public wants the Met's focus to be.

It would enable considerable police time to be diverted to other priorities like investigating rape and sexual offences, he said.

The mayoral election is due to take place on 2 May.

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