It is not a traditional form of election campaigning. Just weeks before he seeks a third term, Sadiq Khan is to add £37.26 to his share of average council tax bills, a rise of 8.6 per cent. This takes the Mayor’s slice of the Band D rate to £471.40 - nearly £200 more than when he came to power.
Clearly, this is a risk for Khan, with Tube and bus fares also rising at the same time. Not least because this is still a cost-of-living crisis. Inflation may be falling but that means only prices are rising more slowly and Londoners continue to tighten their belts this Christmas. Yet it is a calculated risk. The reality is that the Mayor has to operate under tight budgets, soaring demand and precious few tax-raising powers.
Without the ability to collect a proportion of income taxes locally (and spend within Greater London) or the power to add new council tax bands, Khan has few options. All too often, the Mayor of London, a global city, is reduced to going cap-in-hand to central government to ask for funds that often come with gratuitous strings attached.
The other revealing aspect is how this tax rise speaks to Khan’s confidence in victory. Politicians frequently refrain from unpopular measures in election years, even if they make for good policy. For example, while the Evening Standard supports the extension to the Ultra low emission zone, on the basis that all Londoners have a right to breathe clean air, it will no doubt cost the Mayor votes in May.
The challenge for Khan will be to demonstrate - in word and on the ground - that he is generating value for money. That the additional £20 bill for Transport for London will see an improvement in services, and that the Met can be reformed. This is the bread and butter of city politics, and it is all up for debate over the coming months.
A shift from the West
The tone in Westminster, across European capitals and even in Washington, is changing. That Israel’s war against Hamas cannot continue indefinitely as is.
This week, the Foreign Secretary called for a “sustainable ceasefire”. This represents a change from the humanitarian pauses previously called for, but falls short for an immediate ceasefire. That this call from Lord Cameron came in a joint article with the German foreign minister added to its weight.
Israel has a clear right to defend itself from terrorism. Hamas’s brutal attack on October 7, in which 1,200 Israelis were murdered, women raped and more than 200 people taken hostage, was an appalling crime. Yet world leaders, including friends of Israel, have grown increasingly loud in saying that too many Palestinian civilians have died in the resulting war against Hamas.
To some extent, this is a well-trodden path. Israel suffers an appalling terrorist attack, the country responds with overwhelming force, and the support of Western leaders erodes until a ceasefire is called for. We may be seeing that pattern once again.
This time, however, is more difficult, because of the scale of the Hamas atrocity and the ferocity of the Israeli response. Moreover, even if Hamas were to be militarily defeated, it is unclear who or what would assume the administration of Gaza, which is facing a humanitarian catastrophe.
A political vacuum is unlikely to provide safety or security for either Palestinians or Israelis.
British Museum's exciting redevelopment
What is sometimes lost in the media coverage of the British Museum is that London is host to perhaps the greatest collection of historical and cultural artifacts in the world.
And today, the museum has announced exciting new steps in its plan to restore the Bloomsbury site, including new locations and facilities. The scale of the redevelopment is hugely significant, while an international architectural competition to reimagine one-third of the galleries is to be launched in the spring. It will house items ranging from nails from the Sutton Hoo ship burial to rare Peruvian fabrics and ancient fingerprints preserved on 5,000-year-old antler picks.
A multi-year partnership with BP, which will provide £50 million over 10 years, will ensure that millions of visitors will continue to be able to access the museum's extraordinary collections, not only during the works themselves, but for generations to come.
