Member Article

Devolution on the agenda as Khan seeks cross-party consensus

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is forging on with efforts to get more powers devolved to the capital as he hosts a summit of political and business figures today.

Drawing on leaders from across London, the Mayor is striving to forge a new cross-party consensus on the issue as he looks to push on with even more ambitious plans for devolved powers following the EU referendum result.

Devolution has been propelled up the new Mayor’s agenda following June’s referendum, where 59.9% of Londoners voted to remain in the EU, in contrast to the majority of England which backed a leave vote.

Perhaps more than elsewhere in the country, the capital stands to lose the most from any realignment of relations with the European Union, particularly if the UK loses access to the single market and workforce.

Now Khan has warned that the city cannot protect Londoners from the ongoing fallout from Brexit without ‘more autonomy for London government’, meaning more control for City Hall and London’s boroughs over public services and taxes raised in the capital.

Khan said: “This is all about protecting Londoners’ jobs, wealth and prosperity and providing an extra incentive for economic growth. Now is the time for us to raise our ambition and unite as a city to call for greater autonomy for Londoners.

“Londoners should have more control over how taxes raised in our city are spent, and how public services are run.”

As part of the summit, Khan has invited Conservative and Labour MPs, along with council leaders and business representatives from the Corporation of London, London First and the London Chamber of Commerce, to sketch out what devolution might look like and to settle on an agreed path for all parties.

Proposals will likely build upon the recommendations outlined by a 2013 devolution report by the London Finance Commission, instigated by former Mayor and new Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

Highlighting the sense of urgency currently gripping London’s political and business spheres, Colin Stanbridge of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, believes that sealing a devolution deal for the capital will be vital to ensuring its continued economic success.

He added: “Keeping London an economic success has always been vital not just to us who live and work in the capital but to the whole country.

“Now, as we face into the future, outside the EU, it is more important than ever that policymakers carefully consider what they can do to ensure the UK prospers, not falters, in the years ahead.”

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