Downing Street clashes with Sadiq Khan over London cycle lanes

Tensions concerning Downing Street and Sadiq Khan’s Transport for London not long ago escalated above designs to grant councils revenue even right after they ripped out cycle lanes.

Andrew Gilligan, the Primary Minister’s transportation adviser, intervened in and vetoed TfL designs to distribute £100m for procedures that really encourage “active travel”, according to correspondence found by The Telegraph.

Correspondence concerning Mr Gilligan, Boris Johnson’s biking aide for the duration of his time as London mayor, and Will Norman, Mr Khan’s walking and biking commissioner, reveals mounting tensions concerning the two males.

“Can we speak comrade,” Mr Gilligan questioned Mr Norman in a WhatsApp concept on Aug four. Just after no reaction two times later, he reported: “Can we speak you should comrade”.

The Downing Street adviser, who is an observer on behalf of the Governing administration on TfL’s board, was looking for to finalise the allocation of lively funding to London boroughs.

Weeks previously, he blocked proposals to allocate funding to councils that had eliminated biking lanes.

“We are still not being robust sufficient with authorities which are taking away strategies,” he emailed on July sixteen in reaction to TfL’s designs. 

“The risk level, and the opportunity tipping level is now, as far more councils remove or take into account taking away strategies. The time to make a stance with backsliding councils is now.”

10 times later, Mr Gilligan emailed at four.48am to say that in spite of modifying the funding allocation, TfL was still not sending out a strong sufficient concept.

“You say you’ve up-to-date the borough funding letters to make obvious that no funding will be offered to boroughs for the reasons of taking away non permanent strategies –- but I cannot see that.

“Could it be spelt out you should? Alongside the strains of: ‘We will not, now or in foreseeable future, fund any council to minimize amenities for lively vacation, or to remove or weaken strategies. In line with the new nationwide advice, strategies have to not be eliminated or weakened prematurely, or devoid of right session, or devoid of obvious evidence that they are not performing. Councils which do so will acquire reduced funding’.”