The race to be the next Conservative candidate for Mayor of London is underway. I’m not a Tory so I don’t have a say and I didn’t vote in the last Mayoral Election because I disliked the Conservative candidate and really didn’t see him being any better than the mainly terrible Sadiq Khan. However, London has been my home on and off now for over a decade and as much as I love the place it is in many ways failing. Below are my five policies for massively improving London.
Get Building
The number one priority of the mayor has to be fixing London’s housing crisis. While most of the candidates and the current Mayor appreciate that there is a problem, the solutions offered by some of them would do nothing to end the crisis and would, in many cases, make the problem even worse. The main reason why housing is so expensive in London is because supply has failed to keep up with demand and so the only credible way of making housing more affordable is to build more homes.
The Mayor should be given powers to liberalise the planning system so that millions of new homes in and around London. A review of the green belt needs to take place so that at the very least abandoned petrol stations lost their designation. Ideally any area that is of no environmental or agricultural benefit should be available to be built on. The green belt is choking London’s economy and even modest reforms would allow London to build the homes it needs. We also need to start building up. Residential towers near tube and railway stations would also be an effective way of providing homes for Londoners.
It’s not just homes which need building London needs much more of everything including offices and labs. London is home to world leading universities, HealthTech companies, and pharmaceutical firms. These organisations undertake cutting edge research as well as making massive contributions to the economy. However, London is running out of lab space and offices, driving costs up and stifling London’s life science industry.
Then there is energy. We need an abundance of energy to bring costs down for households and businesses. We need to build wind turbines, solar panels, and nuclear power plants in order to meet London’s energy demand. We also need more data centres and Daniel Korski’s proposal for a submerged data park looks intriguing.
Unfortunately the building projects we need will be at risk of being blocked by NIMBYs. THe Mayor needs to have the ability to override local authorities who refuse planning permission. Ignoring the NIMBYs and building more of everything is the only way to lower costs for households and businesses thereby lowering costs for businesses and driving economic growth.
In addition to liberalising the planning system, the Mayor should be given permission to scrap business rates and council tax and replace them with a Land Value Tax. Such a move would reduce the burden on households and businesses and get London building.
Crime
If you’d been on Twitter over the weekend then you might have heard about the man who films himself committing crimes and puts it online (here is a handy thread of his vile exploits). His actions are essentially a microcosm of the fact that in London, for the most part, crime is decriminalised. Even if there is CCTV evidence, even if you can show exactly where your stolen phone is, even if the criminal documents his own crimes and places them on the internet then the Met won’t bother to investigate. What is more, politicians use if for their own agenda by claiming it’s evidence of why we need more poorly designed laws such as the Online Harms Bill. The problem is not a lack of laws, but rather the police failing to do their job.
There have been shocking revelations coming to light as the violent sexual assaults committed by serving officers have been revealed and the vile racist, homophobic, and misogynistic ‘jokes’ they make to each other. The Met even failed to spot that there was an actual serial killer at large targeting gay men. This was either because they are no good at detecting crime, institutionally homophobic, or simply couldn’t be bothered. Regardless, it shows that the Met is rotten to the core and is not fit for purpose. It needs closing down and replaced with a police service capable of keeping London safe.
However, all of the blame should not be placed on the Met. Part of the problem is that we are over-criminalised as a society. Why, for example, is it illegal for adults to take drugs and why should the resources of the criminal justice system be wasted on prosecuting those who choose to take drugs? The Mayor should follow through with Sadiq Khan’s suggestion of allowing cannabis to be legalised. Such a move would significantly free up the police and allow the Met to focus on keeping the public safe.
Nightlife
London’s nightlife is woeful and getting even worse. Bars, pubs, and clubs are forced to close their doors and turn away customers embarrassingly early and often just as the night is getting started. Many clubs and music venues have been forced to close down and you can’t even buy a sausage roll after 11pm.
This is ruining the fun of young people who need venues to stay open late as it’s difficult for them to host friends at their houses because they’re too small and too far away. What is more, it is incredibly damaging to London’s economy as bars and restaurants are forced to turn away paying customers early in the night.
Again, the problem here is NIMBYism. People who chose to buy a home in the middle of London should not be able to dictate how other people live their lives by forcing the pub next door to close early. It should be the default position that venues can remain open into the early hours and the Mayor should overrule local authorities which attempt to prevent this from happening. The current Night Czar should be fired immediately and replaced by someone competent.
Tourist Tax
London desperately needs a tourist tax. Doing so would not deter tourists but it would help deal with some of the negative externalities associated with tourism. A modest tax levied on hotel stays would raise a significant amount of revenue each year which could be used to reduce the tax burden on Londoners and used to fund TfL. What is more, it would be easy to implement and bring London in line with other major cities around the world.
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods
There are some bizarre conspiracy theories associated with Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) with unhinged and grifting commentators claiming they’re a plot by the World Economic Forum to control us. Obviously the conspiracy theorists are wrong and there is actually a very strong conservative case for LTNs.
The Mayor should pedestrianise the majority of Central London, introduce more LTNs, and incentivise people to ditch their cars and use other forms of transport instead. Such a move will be good for our health, good for the environment, and also provide a boost for bars, restaurants, and retailers.
So, there we have it. Five policies for improving London and reversing decline. Ofcourse much more will need to happen if we want to stop the rot such as investing in public transport and allowing London to be exempt from any increased restrictions to immigration.