London will need post war-style plan to recover from Covid pandemic, Sadiq Khan warns

Sadiq Khan at Global Radio
The Mayor said the Government needed to accept that London “is the country’s biggest asset” 
PA

A post war-style reconstruction of central London is needed after Covid-19 delivered a “catastrophic” £12.8 billion hit to its economy, Sadiq Khan said today.

A major report laid bare the impact of the pandemic on the West End and Canary Wharf — and a “worst-case scenario” of up to 26,000 jobs in the arts and cultural industries being lost if the capital faces repeated lockdowns.

The Mayor said the Government needed to accept that London “is the country’s biggest asset” and mount the largest advertising campaign in history to re-attract domestic and then international visitors when it had “got a grip” of the pandemic.

In an interview with the Standard, Mr Khan said the culture, leisure, retail and hospitality sectors in the “central activities zone” had “suffered catastrophically” and there was “no guarantee or sense of inevitability they are going to bounce back”.

The report refers to the West End as a “playground” of theatres, bars and restaurants and notes that, between 6pm and 6am, the night-time economy supports one in eight jobs in the city. It argues that shops and museums may need to extend their opening hours in response to Londoners’ changing work habits. It calls for the restoration of tax-free shopping for international visitors.

Mr Khan recalled the “foresight and vision” of Clement Attlee and William Beveridge during the Second World War, when they realised there was a need to plan a recovery rather than just wait for the war to end. Mr Khan said: “One of my concerns is there is no planning from the Government for our recovery. We have got to do it for ourselves.

“The Government has got to realise that London is a global brand. We are arguably the country’s best asset, so they can’t take us for granted. We are the shop window to not just tourists and visitors but investors as well.”

He called for an extension of the business rates holiday beyond March and the furlough scheme beyond April.  Spending by overseas tourists last year is estimated to be down by £7.4 billion. Domestic tourists have spent £3.5 billion less, and commuters £1.9 billion less. Today’s interim report, by Arup, Gerald Eve and the London School of Economics for City Hall, reveals:

*Almost 250,000 jobs were lost in London last year.

*London faces a bigger challenge than New York and Paris from home-working and lack of tourism because fewer people live in the centre.

*International tourism is not expected to recover until 2024, and domestic tourism until 2023.

*Firms will not abandon central London as staff are likely to want to work Tuesday to Thursday in the office.

*Central London is “well placed to recovery strongly” with the right policies in place.

The report concludes: “The years 2021 and 2022 are important for encouraging people back into town and most importantly ensuring that London’s unique and internationally significant arts and culture offer survives.”  

Mr Khan said including key workers in the second phase of the vaccine roll-out — after the 15 million people in the first four priority groups are jabbed — would boost the recovery. He called for secondary schools pupils to wear masks.

Last week he wrote to the families of five Met officers who had died with Covid. Mr Khan said: “I think [phase two] should be those occupations that are most vulnerable to catching the virus… those who work in shops, our teaching and school support staff, police officers, transport workers.

“We do know the reason why a disproportionate number of black, Asian, ethnic minority people are catching the virus is because they tend to be in these occupations.”

Meanwhile, manufacturing in the UK slowed in January to a three-month low, due to supply-chain disruptions caused by Covid-19 restrictions and transport delays following the end of the Brexit transition period, according to data from the IHS Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index.

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