Thread by @ShaunBaileyUK

As expected, @SadiqKhan is now running to the Government for a bailout of TfL, where Khan serves as Chairman.

On one level it makes sense - the coronavirus is hammering fare revenues.

But that’s not all of the story. Far from it. #thread 1/12

When Sadiq Khan became Mayor, TfL had healthy finances. That he is now asking the Government for a bailout of £3.2 bn - i.e. far in excess of the impact of COVID - is evidence of four years of bad management, not simply the impacts of this horrible disease.

What do I mean? 2/12

In 2014,  TfL was told by the government that it would have to become ‘self-sufficient’.

The then Mayor, one @BorisJohnson, identified £12bn of savings to start. Another £4bn would have put the service on a sustainable footing over the long haul. 3/12

But Khan found no further savings when he took over. Instead, he chose to dig a deep hole. 4/12

Despite knowing his vote-buying election giveaway would cripple TfL, Khan went ahead with his ill-thought out promise to “freeze” single fares (mostly to the benefit of tourists, not London commuters with Travelcards).

This move has cost TfL £640m so far. 5/12

Meanwhile, the Khan-era delays to Crossrail (which was on time under Boris) have cost a further £1.35bn in lost fares. There is also no firm opening date for this much needed service, whose delay is putting a huge ? over the prospects of Crossrail 2. 6/12

Khan’s poor choices and financial mismanagement - again, prior to COVID - led to:

● TfL staff levels cut by 30%
● Crossrail being delayed to 2022 - at this point, it will have cost the GLA and TfL an extra £3.65bn
● £300m of cash reserves being spent this fiscal year 7/12

And it gets worse, friends.

In the last four years under Khan's chairmanship of TfL:

17/25 major infrastructure projects (eg tube and station upgrades) are now delayed or cancelled

1/8 major roads are in a bad state of repair

In other words, our city runs less smoothly. 8/12

Despite Khan staying mum, TfL has now admitted that fares must increase by RPI+1. 
This is not going to fix the problem though. 9/12

TfL now has debts of £13bn. This will rise to c. £14bn by May 2021.
That's the max. level of debt TfL is allowed to reach. We've hit the ceiling.
Each year, Londoners have to pay £400m in interest on that debt.
If Khan wants a bailout, he must explain how he’ll pay it back. 10/12

To repeat:

The failure of TfL is not because of Coronavirus.  It is because of four years of bad management by Sadiq Khan.

TfL is now asking for a £3.2bn bailout.

But Khan did not fix the roof while the sun was shining.

And now Londoners will have to foot the bill.11/12

TfL should not have needed this size of bailout.  But now they do.  
Gov support must not allow the Mayor to repeat his financial mismanagement

A bailout must be accompanied by scrutiny and oversight. @SadiqKhan is someone to whom you don't want to hand a blank cheque. 12/12