Sadiq Khan slashes his own pay by 10 per cent as he warns of £500million black hole in London’s finances from lockdown – threatening cuts to police and Tube unless the government bails the capital out
- London Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced that he is taking a 10 per cent pay cut
- Mr Khan said London faces £500million black hole in its finances from lockdown
- Warned of cuts to police, fire service, Tube unless government bails capital out
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Sadiq Khan today declared he is slashing his pay by 10 per cent as he warned coronavirus has caused a £500million hole in London’s finances.
The mayor is reducing his salary by more than £15,000 as he threatened cuts to police, fire services and the Tube unless the government bails the capital out.
The call came amid mounting concerns about the impact of lockdown on the economy, with fears GDP will plunge by a third this quarter as the UK endures the worst recession in 300 years.
Mr Khan has been heavily criticised for slow progress in getting transport services in the capital to full levels, with images of workers packed in to carriages.
But he said the GLA, in common with other authorities across the country, faces a £493million budget shortfall over the next two years, due to loss of business rates and council tax income from coronavirus.
There have also been costs to ‘support Londoners during the pandemic’, he insisted.
He suggested the shortfall will undermine the government’s efforts to recruit 20,000 new police officers across the UK and overhaul the London Fire Brigade after Grenfell.
Mr Khan is currently paid £152,000 a year, and his decision to take a cut could heap pressure on ministers to follow suit. Politicians in New Zealand have taken a temporary cut.
Sadiq Khan today declared he is slashing his pay by 10 per cent as he warned coronavirus has caused a £500million hole in London’s finances
The mayor is reducing his salary by £5,000 as he threatened cuts to police, fire services and the Tube unless the government bails the capital out
The mayor’s 15 direct political appointments will also have pay freezes.
Mr Khan said: ‘Londoners did the right thing to tackle Covid-19 by following the rules, staying at home and helping to save lives. But now the Government is punishing them with a new era of austerity.
‘Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on London’s public finances which were in great shape before the pandemic. TfL’s fares income has dropped by more than 90 per cent and local business rates and council tax income has fallen off a cliff.
‘This is the worst possible time for a return to austerity – just when we need to invest in London’s recovery.
‘Unless Ministers act, the current number of police officers will need to be reduced and it will be impossible to tackle youth violence or make the changes to the London Fire Brigade that are desperately needed after the awful Grenfell Tower tragedy.
‘I didn’t enter politics to administer government austerity, and I will do everything in my power to persuade ministers not to force another era of austerity on local and regional government.
‘Whatever happens I will protect the frontline services that Londoners depend on as much as possible – and it’s only right that I should volunteer for an immediate pay cut in these extremely difficult circumstances and continue not to take any pension contributions. In addition, I have taken the decision to freeze the salaries of my political appointments at City Hall.’