Latest news with #Sadiq Khan


BBC News
20-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Sadiq Khan says his mission to Africa will boost London business
Three countries and five cities in six days. London's mayor has certainly put a few miles on the clock in the past week in Sadiq Khan is the first mayor of the capital to go on a trade mission there - taking in Nigeria, Ghana and South him were about 30 businesses and representatives from London and Partners - the capital's so called growth agency that aims to attract investment previous mayors Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson, who went on similar trade missions, he has faced criticism from opponents for spending time out of London when there's plenty to do like previous mayors, Sir Sadiq has defended the trip as a way of promoting the capital to emerging what has he been up to on the whistle-stop tour? The trip started in Nigeria's biggest city, Lagos - and provided a chance to catch up with a number of firms from the city's growing tech sector. The message from Sir Sadiq was a clear one: partner up with London's tech firms - come and do business with perhaps of the drive during Covid when we were constantly told - "London is open".It was a message he repeated as he moved on to Accra in Ghana. Talking to students there he chose to fire a barbed message to his Labour colleagues in government - criticising proposals that could see universities having to pay a levy on international students' Sadiq talked of "the immense value international students bring to London and the UK" - and warned that "closing our country to global talent would be a pointless act of immense economic self-harm". The mayor followed that up with the promise of the first business summit between Africa and London - to be held in the capital next Dickie, the CEO of BusinessLDN, welcomed this pledge and backed the mayor's trip to Africa, saying: "London is a melting pot of communities, workers and businesses from across the globe."The mayor is absolutely right to bang the drum for closer ties with key high-growth markets. Boosting trade and investment links with the likes of Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa will benefit Londoners."As the tour started, the Conservative MP and shadow chancellor Mel Stride had suggested that the mayor should be back in London with "his hand on the tiller", addressing issues like shoplifting that affect small businesses. While BBC London is not on the current mayor's tour of Africa, I have been on similar ventures with Sir Sadiq and his predecessors Boris Johnson and Ken is interesting is the way they are generally greeted - the fact that being mayor of London is seen as a prestigious role - that London is regarded as a genuinely global can often be at odds with how they are viewed by the people in their own city. There have, of course, been mishaps along the way. Livingstone's trip to Venezuela to meet president Hugo Chavez only made it as far as Cuba. And when he was mayor Johnson had to cancel a planned visit to the West Bank after fears of that, the visits will continue whoever is mayor - as will the rows over whether such trade missions bring real value to London.


Daily Mail
14-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Fare evasion on the Tube hits highest for six years as Sir Sadiq Khan faces more criticism over 'Lawless London'
A record number of people are being prosecuted for fare dodging on the London Underground as calls continue for a crackdown. Transport for London (TfL) prosecuted 3,691 people on the Tube in 2024-25, which is the highest level for six years. Inspectors also issued 13,118 penalty fare notices (PFNs) - which cost £100 or £50 if paid within 21 days - and 850 written warnings. However, those caught are likely to represent only a small proportion of fare dodgers, with critics claiming the issue has reached 'horrific' levels. Prosecutions also remain lower than 2018-19, when there were 4,919. This year there have been 3,044 prosecutions on the Overground. The issue was thrust into the spotlight when the Tory shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick filmed himself being threatened when he tried to challenge people who were going through barriers without paying. Speaking from Stratford station in East London, he said such behaviour was 'chipping away at society' - as he called on the authorities to go after lawbreakers. Susan Hall, the leader of the City Hall Conservatives, told Sir Sadiq Khan earlier this month that fare dodging had reached 'horrific' levels and called for tougher penalties for serial offenders. Anger has also focused on TikTok influencers who have been sharing videos showing Tube passengers who illegally 'bump' through the station ticket barriers. Young men are filming themselves laughing and joking with each other as they push through the wide-aisle gates in videos liked by hundreds of thousands of viewers. In one clip posted by rapper Stepz, real name Samuel Agyei, he claims that Transport for London (TfL) have 'upgraded the barriers' but still pushes his way through. Another video by a Tiktoker called Tenton, who has 70,000 followers, sees him push through the barriers and ask: 'Mandem, at what age are we gonna stop bumping train?' He says: 'It's getting silly guys because I'm almost finished uni and I'm still bumping train.' As a staff member walks past, he tells them: 'Sorry, you didn't hear that.' Tenton continues: 'Realistically at what age are we gonna stop? When we got grey hairs we're not gonna be bumping train. Do you get it guys? I think the threshold is 25.' A third video by user CFCRocky7 features a man showing women how to push through the barrier at Stratford, with the caption: 'Saving NPCs [non-player characters] from extortionate train fares @Transport for London.' In another video posted by Parafactual, a series of commuters are shown at East Ham walking through the barriers without paying, following customers who do touch out. Similar videos have also appeared on other social media sites such as Instagram. Siwan Hayward, TfL's director of security, policing and enforcement, said: 'The overwhelming majority of our customers pay the correct fare, however there is a minority who do attempt to travel without a valid ticket which is a criminal offence. 'Fare evasion is unacceptable. That is why we are strengthening our capability to deter and detect fare evaders, including expanding our team of professional investigators to target the most prolific fare evaders across the network. 'This builds on the work of our team of more than 500 uniformed officers already deployed across the network to deal with fare evasion and other anti-social behaviour, keeping staff and customers safe.' An estimated 3.4 per cent of passengers did not pay fares between April and December 2024 – and they face a fine of £100 if caught, although this is halved if paid within a fortnight Ms Hayward added: 'Fare evasion is not a victimless crime. It robs Londoners of vital investment in a safe, frequent and reliable transport network and we are committed to reducing the current rate of fare evasion to 1.5 per cent by 2030.' TikTok told MailOnline it has removed videos which violate its community guidelines around criminal behaviour, and has also blocked associated hashtags and search terms related to this. The social media firm's guidelines state that it does not allow content which promotes or provides instructions on how to commit criminal activities that may harm people or property. Between October and December last year, TikTok claims to have proactively removed 97.1 per cent of content which violated its violence and criminal behaviour policies before it was reported to the firm.