
Sir Sadiq Khan to pedestrianise Oxford Street ‘as quickly as possible'
A separate YouGov survey conducted in September 2024 indicated 63% of Londoners are in favour of the project.
Oxford Street is one of the world's busiest shopping areas, with around half a million visitors each day.
Sir Sadiq Khan wants to ban vehicles from a 0.7-mile stretch between Oxford Circus and Marble Arch, with the potential for further changes towards Tottenham Court Road.
Detailed proposals for traffic will be consulted on later this year.
A previous attempt by Sir Sadiq to pedestrianise that part of Oxford Street was blocked by then-Conservative run Westminster City Council in 2018.
His latest proposals depend on him obtaining permission from Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner in her role as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to establish a new Mayoral Development Corporation, which would provide planning powers.
The aim is for this to be created by the start of next year.
Sir Sadiq said: 'Oxford Street has suffered over many years, so urgent action is needed to give our nation's high street a new lease of life.
'It's clear that the vast majority of Londoners and major businesses back our exciting plans, so I'm pleased to confirm that we will now be moving ahead as quickly as possible.
'We want to rejuvenate Oxford Street; establish it as a global leader for shopping, leisure and outdoor events with a world-class, accessible, pedestrianised avenue.
'This will help to attract more international visitors and act as a magnet for new investment and job creation, driving growth and economic prosperity for decades to come.'
Ms Rayner said: 'We want to see Oxford Street become the thriving place to be for tourists and Londoners alike, and that's why we welcome the Mayor of London's bold proposals to achieve that.
'We will support the mayor in delivering this ambitious vision, which will help to breathe new life into Oxford Street – driving investment, creating new jobs for local people and providing a boost to economic growth in the capital.'
Adam Hug, leader of Labour-controlled Westminster City Council, said: 'While the mayor's formal decision today was not the City Council's preferred outcome, it is far from unexpected, and it is now important for Oxford Street's future to move forward together.
'Since the mayor's new approach was made public last autumn, Westminster has worked pragmatically and productively with the Greater London Authority (GLA) to ensure that the plan for Oxford Street more closely meets the needs of businesses, visitors, and residents.
'Since 2022, Oxford Street has roared back to life after the pandemic. Such is the level of retail confidence that existing brands have spent £118 million refitting their stores in the last 12 months alone, according to Savills.
'Westminster City Council will work constructively with the mayor's team to ensure the nation's high street is re-imagined in a way that works for visitors, shoppers, and our residents.'
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Powys County Times
3 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Badenoch suggests migrants held in ‘camps' as crossings near 50,000 under Labour
Kemi Badenoch has suggested migrants currently housed in hotels could instead be held in 'camps', as the number of English Channel small boat crossings nears 50,000 since Sir Keir Starmer took office. The Conservative Party leader warned that some communities 'don't feel safe', as she visited Epping in Essex, where protesters have gathered in recent weeks opposing the decision to house asylum seekers in local hotels. Latest Home Office figures show that 49,797 people have arrived on British shores by small boat since Labour won last year's general election. Children were seen wrapped in blankets as they arrived into the Port of Ramsgate, Kent, by a lifeboat vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on Monday. The Conservative Party has claimed the figure has surpassed 50,000 following Monday's arrivals, but the official numbers are yet to be confirmed. At Epping's Black Lion pub, Mrs Badenoch told members of the community: 'We've got to turn things around very quickly. We cannot use rules from 1995, or 2005, or even 2015 for 2025. 'Our world is changing very quickly, and we need to adapt to it.' She added: 'Is it possible for us to set up camps and police that, rather than bringing all of this hassle into communities?' Asked what she meant by the suggestion, Mrs Badenoch told the PA news agency: 'We need to make sure that communities like Epping are safe. What a lot of the parents – the mothers and even some of the children – have said to me is that they don't feel safe. 'It is unfair to impose this burden on communities.' The MP for North West Essex said that 'lots of people here have been talking about being harassed by a lot of people in the hotels' and continued: 'Not everyone here is a genuine asylum seeker. People are arriving in our country illegally and that is why we have a plan to make sure that people who arrive here illegally are deported immediately. 'We need to close down that pathway to citizenship that means that lots of people get here not making any contributions, claiming welfare, claiming benefits. 'And we also need a deterrent.' The Government has previously set out its intention to close asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament. 'My worry is that things are actually going to get worse as Labour tries to move people out of hotels and into private accommodation – I think that is going to be a much worse situation,' Mrs Badenoch said. She had earlier told members of the community: 'As a party, we need to also hear from the community about what you think the solutions are. We don't have all the answers; it's important that we make sure that the community is part of the problem solved.' Referring to protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Mrs Badenoch said: 'I think there can be a balance. 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A group of refugee organisations and charities have urged party leaders to take a 'strong and united stand' after a wave of anti-migrant protests on the weekend. Hundreds of protesters in Nuneaton marched through the Warwickshire town on Saturday after two men, reported to be Afghan asylum seekers, were charged over the rape of a 12-year-old girl. Signatories to an open letter, published on Monday, told politicians they hold a responsibility to 'end the divisive politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past'. The letter, co-ordinated by campaign coalition Together With Refugees and signed by groups including Oxfam and Amnesty, said: 'Many of the people targeted have already suffered unimaginably, having fled for their lives from countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan and Syria. 'Now, due to unacceptable delays and a broken system, they are housed in hotels, a collective target of hostility, banned from working, with limited control over their lives or futures.' The coalition added that an 'outpouring of support from communities condemning the hatred is a powerful reminder that these views do not represent the vast majority'. Some protesters, also protesting against asylum hotels and houses of multiple occupation, held signs reading 'What about our girls' human right to safety' at the Nuneaton demonstration. The End Violence Against Women Coalition – another signatory to the open letter – said the 'far-right has long exploited the cause of ending violence against women and girls to promote a racist, white supremacist agenda' and added the 'attacks against migrant and racialised communities are appalling and do nothing to improve women and girls' autonomy, rights and freedoms'.


Scotsman
18 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Reform UK's rise reveals how out of touch Keir Starmer and John Swinney really are
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It is a strange form of criticism to brand some parties dismissively as 'populist'. Political parties operating in a democratic landscape need to be popular or they will not get elected. Why would any political party or leader of a party want to be branded as 'elitist' or 'condescending'? Being unpopular is what became of the old Liberal party. When it was replaced by the Labour party, did that make its leaders – Keir Hardy, Arthur Henderson and Ramsay MacDonald – populists? In time, they became popular and Labour eventually formed governments, so what's changed? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad One thing that has certainly changed is how the established parties are very similar. Of course they and their die-hard supporters will seek to argue they are very different, but it is becoming increasingly obvious to many people that, since the arrival of Edinburgh's own Anthony Blair, there really has not been a great deal of difference in many of the policies or laws that have become embedded in modern Britain. Keir Starmer jokes with John Swinney and Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan at a meeting in Edinburgh last year (Picture: Andy Buchanan/WPA pool) | Getty Images The 'Uniparty' Indeed it is easier to find policies that started with one party in government and have been followed through by the party replacing it. This has led to Labour and the Conservatives being branded as the 'Uniparty' – a term which in most respects should include the Liberal Democrats too (who were in power with the Conservatives between 2010-15). An example of this phenomenon is the treatment of Northern Ireland by successive Conservative governments since the Brexit vote of 2016. Theresa May started by conceding the Northern Ireland Backstop because the European Union threatened the imposition of a border with the Republic of Ireland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This was changed by Boris Johnson's government to become the Northern Ireland Protocol, and although early economic data showed that it was resulting in trade displacement, and although article 16 of that Protocol allowed for it to be suspended in such circumstances, Rishi Sunak gave up on standing up to the EU and instead doubled down on the concessions with his Windsor Framework. In typical Uniparty style, Labour cheered on this process just as it did with other bilateral policies like ending non-dom tax status and raising taxes to dangerously harmful levels where revenues would begin to fall. This week under Labour, the second of two physical border posts opened in Belfast, the first already completed in Larne. These border posts are to inspect GB goods going into Northern Ireland. Even in the 'Green Lane', such goods are treated like exports to a foreign country, requiring an export number, customs paperwork with a compulsory percentage pulled-over for physical checks. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad So, despite our governments telling us repeatedly that all the backstops, protocols and frameworks would prevent a hard border, our political elite – of all mainstream parties – have agreed to a concrete-and-steel border within and between our country. 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You might call Sturgeon's approach an elite, condescending, arrogant position – I'm with the populists who campaigned long and hard to protect a women's right to a private safe space. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The pursuit of Sturgeon's policy by her replacement, Humza Yousaf, was just as undemocratic as hers, and the Janus-faced approach of John Swinney in facing one way and then another rather than firmly enforcing the Supreme Court decision condemns him too. The populist approach would have been for him to withdraw the Scottish Government's legal defence, but in true patronising style the SNP establishment new better. UK control of policies Back to Brexit and last week we found that an academic poll which asked where decisions that affect people's lives should be made revealed our main established parties are still trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Carried out by YouGov for Queen Mary University London, it found that Labour, Conservative and even Liberal Democrat and Green voters gave majority support for all 20 areas of policy on taxes, trade, quality standards, border controls etcetera being decided upon by the UK Government alone. Of those 20, 17 had an overall majority for 'the UK alone', while for three it was the largest of the three options. And yet we are told by the Labour government we badly need an EU reset (contrary to the data on trade). Keir Starmer's reset will bring EU laws (present and future) with price increases – and even business taxes that will drive the cost of energy up – yet here we go again with Labour and the Liberal Democrats pushing for a 'reset' and the new Conservative leadership showing little enthusiasm for repudiating it. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Again, I'm with the populists. There is nothing wrong in having cordial relationships with one's neighbours but there is no need to concede our hard-won sovereignty to make decisions for ourselves. We should trust the people. Our political parties in Westminster, Holyrood, the Senedd and Stormont need to recognise that popular policies should be reflected in democratic choices. Only then will they challenge Reform UK – which is doing better than all of them because it seeks to listen and speak up for those who feel nobody is listening to them.

The National
41 minutes ago
- The National
Listen to Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch. You'll hear Nigel Farage
The meaning was clear. Thatcher had shifted the conversation in UK politics to such an extent that the left-wing Labour Party of Clement Atlee and Nye Bevan simply could not exist in the mainstream of the 21st century. The Conservatives' 'opponents' under Blair reflected Thatcher's own politics more than they did their own predecessors. READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon predicts that UK will 'no longer exist' in 20 years This was proven true when Jeremy Corbyn won leadership of the party – only to find that the same socialist policies that MPs like Wes Streeting gloat about as Labour achievements are now utterly unpalatable to them. But while that shift is now baked in stone, another is happening before our eyes. The entirety of UK politics is being dragged ever further to the right, with Nigel Farage steering the tow. We could look at the now-commonplace far-right-backed protests against immigration south of the Border. Or we could look at a media all too willing to excuse them. Take the BBC, for example, who opened their report on the growing pattern with a quote saying: "We fear for our children. If that makes me far-right then so be it." Or take Sky News, who used a picture of a Reform councillor holding a sign saying: 'I'm not far right. I'm worried about my kids.' (Image: Sussex News and Pictures) This nebulous 'fear for children' appears again and again – without any mention of children barricaded inside hotels due to violent anti-immigration protests outside, of course, let alone those radicalised into actually joining the protests. As excuses are made for the rhetoric, it continues to worsen. And as it worsens, it spreads. Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, has posted on Twitter three times in the last 24 hours. Every post includes some variation on the words: 'If you're an immigrant, I will deport you.' Some go further, and appear to threaten tourists as well. If you come to this country illegally, you will face detention and return. If you come to this country and commit a crime, we will deport you as soon as possible. — Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) August 11, 2025 Before that, Starmer was threatening delivery riders 'working illegally" with arrest. Before that, it was people arriving on small boats. Before that, he wrote: 'No gimmicks, just results. If you break the law to enter this country, you will face being sent back.' These messages aren't for the people actually coming to the UK. They are meant to be read by the far-right activists that populate Twitter. And Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is going even further. Not content with deportations, she has said she would consider placing people into camps so that they do not bring 'hassle into communities'. These are the extremist mutterings of a far-right activist, not the serious policy proposals of a Conservative leader. And they are normalised to the point that no one is even really batting an eye. The UK is not heading into a rabbit hole, we are already so far down it that the world of 2007 seems like a foreign land. If you can remember back then, Tory candidate Nigel Hastilow was reprimanded by his own party leadership for writing that Enoch Powell 'was right'. In 2025, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is dropping not-very-subtle references to Powell apparently of his own (speechwriter's) volition. In the not-too-distant future, if you hear Nigel Farage asked to name his greatest achievement, don't be surprised if the reply comes: 'Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch.'