That 2p National Insurance tax cut already feels like a lifetime ago. Londoners in almost half of local authorities will from April pay average council tax bills higher than £2,000 per year. It comes as the Mayor increased his portion of bills, the so-called “precept”, by 8.6 per cent.
Clearly, London’s councils are facing huge funding pressures. Indeed, many are on something of a financial cliff edge, thanks to a perfect storm of higher costs and ever-rising demand, particularly for social care and housing. At the same time, they have endured a 27 per cent real-terms cut in core spending power since 2010, according to the Local Government Association.
But amid what is still for millions of Londoners a cost-of-living crisis, higher council tax bills means less money to spend on life’s other essentials — let alone small pleasures. Another bitter pill to swallow.
Long road for the Met
It is one year to the day since Baroness Casey’s excoriating review into the Metropolitan Police, which found the force to be institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynist. How much has really changed?
Sadiq Khan, who oversees the Met, today acknowledged it still had a “long way to go” to transform itself following the failures which led to the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, a serving police officer, as well as a succession of other scandals.
When she published her findings, Baroness Casey warned there may be other officers like Couzens. A report last month by Lady Elish Angiolini reached a chillingly similar conclusion. This can never be allowed to happen again. What is all too clear is that a year on from the report, and three years since Ms Everard’s murder, women in London do not feel substantially safer.
The Mayor and Home Secretary must put aside partisan calculations and work with the Commissioner to leave no stone unturned and ensure that the Met has the vetting in place, the resources to tackle violence against women and girls and nothing less than a total transformation in its culture.
Tricks of the trade
“How did you nab a table there?” Let’s face it, if you book late or the restaurant has just gone viral on TikTok, your chances of a prime 7.30pm slot are slim. But the Standard has some advice to grease the wheels.
Don’t just book early, find out when tables are released online. If it’s 11am on the third Friday of each month, be ready. If there’s no availability, call on an actual telephone. Jump on cancellations. Be flexible on timings. And if the food matches expectations, make your next reservation before the bill even arrives.
