Thread by @PickardJE

Grant Shapps has threatened to seize control of Transport for London unless Sadiq Khan accepts package of measures inc higher council tax, pension reforms, larger congestion charge zone and higher fares in return for rescue funding
ft.com/content/fc7ad3… via @financialtimes

letters have leaked:

this month Shapps, transport secretary, wrote to Khan setting out a list of demands in return for any financial rescue package, according to a letter seen by @FT:

key is the threat to use new legal powers to “direct TFL” aka seize control of the authority

Shapps demanded:

- extra council tax supplementary payments from Londoners

- congestion charge to be 18 times larger (from north circular to south circular)

- fares to rise by more than RPI+1%

- pension reforms at TFL

- fewer fare concessions

- driverless trains sooner

threat to expand the congestion charge zone has angered Tory MPs:

Tory mayoral candidate @ShaunBaileyUK says

“under no circumstances would I back an extension of the congestion charge zone....would hit hard working Londoners in the pocket and death knell for small businesses.”

in other words it’s all kicking off in Westeros as well as The North while negotiations with Dorne aren’t going brilliantly either

so @SadiqKhan has rejected the Shapps demands in another letter seen by the @FT

the mayor has instead suggested the return of the central grant which used to be £700m a year and has - over the last 5 years - been whittled down to er nothing

(found these old tweets from 2015)

yes I am a grown man

tbf I should mention that Shapps says in his letter threatening to seize control of TFL - and only giving it “series of short term funding settlement” - adds:

“I stress that this is no more our preference than it would be ours.”

the Shapps letter sets out the importance of discretion during the secret talks:

"I know you will understand that central to the success of these negotiations is the expectation that they will take place in private."

there is a delicious passive-aggressive quality to both letters:

Shapps: "thank you for coming to see me..helpful and constructive meeting...partnership...very much welcomed"

Khan: "welcoming your warm words...you rightly make the point that partnershp is key to success"

now #pmqs has begun and @CatherineWest1 asked PM about the “dreadful plan” to extend congestion zone to 4m Londoners

Boris Johnson insists TFL had “massive black hole” before the pandemic and thus any policy of increasing congestion zone is “entirely his (Khan’s) responsibility”

London Tory MPs are up in arms after discovering the existence of the Shapps letter proving that *he* told Khan to increase congestion zone

@BobBlackman asks the PM if this is true

Johnson gives him a non-denial denial about how the financial mess is entirely Khan’s fault

Jasmine Whitbread, head of London First business group:

“The pandemic has broken TfL’s funding model....attaching long-term conditions to this bailout risks big decisions being taken without adequate planning, consultation, or mitigation of unintended economic consequences."