A new report released today by City Hall Conservatives Spokesperson Emma Best AM sets out how millions of pounds have been wasted by Sadiq Khan during his time as Mayor, and makes recommendations for improving Londoners' health.
The report provides a long list of where Sadiq Khan has unnecessarily splurged millions of pounds, including:
An eye-watering 82% increase in staffing costs from £36m to £66m;
£1m spent on beach parties;
Giving £500,000 to a vaginal moisturiser company, and another £500,000 to a lingerie company;
Increasing the "Night Czar" salary from £35,000 to nearly £120,000 despite night-time venues closing and calling out a lack of support;
Spending £10m on determining "the colour of Met Officers' personalities".
The report then goes on to forensically examine the state of London's health, looking at children's health and early-years development, STIs and drug deaths, air quality, provisions for elderly & disabled Londoners, and more.
The report makes 48 recommendations, including:
Scrapping ULEZ
Providing more discounted fruit & veg in deprived areas of London
Offering HIV testing on an "opt-out" basis to those visiting STI clinics
Allowing ambulances to travel through LTNs
Removing "floating bus stops" and "Copenhagen-style" bus stops where possible
Emma Best AM, City Hall Conservatives Health Spokesperson, said:
"This report seeks not to analyse every single health-related issue facing Londoners today, but instead focuses on those areas of Londoners’ health where the Mayor and the GLA can do something that will have a real impact. While Londoners struggle with the cost of living, Khan wastes millions on spin doctors, marketing and pointless initiatives.
"Many of the statistics are revealing, showing that contrary to popular belief, hundreds of thousands of Londoners are facing poor health which can be entirely avoidable. Tackling obesity, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV transmissions, poor vaccine uptake and other issues outlined within this report should all be key priorities for whoever resides in the Mayor’s office.
"This report therefore ties together data from across London and sets out a number of reasonable proposals, which I hope the Mayor adopts."