1.6bn GOVERNMENT BAILOUT FOR TFL AFTER THREATS FROM LONDON MAYOR SADIQ KHAN - BAILEY UNIMPRESSED

By: Marceline Powell

Shaun Bailey - Conservative candidate for London Mayor, today accused Current Mayor, Sadiq Khan of leveraging London's safety over the Government to bail himself out and absolve himself of responsibilty for the failure of the 600m per month transport service. Sadiq khan says he has ran out of money due to the lockdown, and people being unable to commute to work. The bailout decision was reached after Khan threatened a 'deep cut to services' if the Government didn't step in.

Shaun Bailey, (pictured below) Conservative candidate for Mayor, said whilst the bailout was good news for London, and good news for the workers who need to move around, it was not good news for Khan, adding:

"The only person this is bad news for, is Sadiq Khan. TFL needed a bailout long before the Corona Virus, and the fact that Sadiq Khan chose to use the safety and welfare of Londoners to leverage against the government is completely wrong and continues his theme of not taking responsibilityfor TFL." Said Bailey in a scathing attack against Khan during the TV interview with GMTV presenters.

Bailey said that cutting services was not the way to keep London transport staff safe. Following concerns that passengers on London buses and trains were not observing social distancing guidelines. And concerns about lack of protective equipment for drivers and staff who are in contact with all passengers.

Bailey, told GMTV presenters that he had personally given Sadiq Khan a telephone number to a PPE supplier but Khan had not acted on it and lost the opporunity to equip staff properly. He added that the threat to cut services was a commercial decision made by Khan.

TFL costs 600m per month to run, and revenue had gone down by 90%. However, Khan asked for much more money than he lost in revenue and Bailey says the reason is because Khan had already created a 'black hole in TFL finances and has failed to run it properly over the last four years.

Khan is accused of running TFL into a record level of debt, the loss of 17 out of 25 development contracts and loss of 30% (3,000) staff during his historic term.

The bailout comes following Boris Johnson's directive for those returning to work. The advice to 'Drive if you can' has been scrutinised and said to unveil a class war between those who can afford to own cars and drive to work, and those (often) front line workers who may not have such privilige, and therefore being put more at risk.