Sadiq Khan takes coronavirus pay cut as City Hall faces £500m black hole
Sadiq Khan will take a 10 per cent pay cut as he warns that City Hall will have to make cuts to public services without central government help.
The mayor of London said he would slash his £152,734 salary by almost £15,300, while warning that the Greater London Authority faces a £493m budget black hole due to the coronavirus crisis.
Khan warned that he would be forced to make cuts to the Metropolitan Police, London Fire Brigade, Transport for London and the Greater London Authority unless central government “acts to support local and regional authorities across the UK”.
The revised budget estimate comes from an expected shortfall in council tax and business rates receipts due to the forecast economic downturn.
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The mayor will release a revised budget and ask bodies such as Transport for London (TfL) and the Metropolitan Police to report back on “how they could deliver significant savings while continuing to support London’s recovery as much as possible”.
The mayor also called on Boris Johnson to guarantee there would not be a return to austerity in the face of the economic crisis and that his manifesto pledge of recruiting 20,000 new police officers will be kept.
“This is the worst possible time for a return to austerity – just when we need to invest in London’s recovery,” Khan said.
“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.”