5 days ago
EXCLUSIVE What a bloomin' liberty! Sadiq Khan is ridiculed for handing out 12,000 wildflower seeds to commuters - after saying London's Green Belt should be built on
Sir Sadiq Khan has been ridiculed for handing out wildflower seeds to commuters just weeks after announcing that London 's Green Belt should be built on.
Part of his plans for Climate Action Week he launched a new Green Roots Fund to invest £12million into neighbourhoods so make them 'greener, healthier and more climate resilient'.
In the video posted to X Sir Sadiq can be seen chatting to commuters and helping hand out 12,000 free seed packets, as he says: 'The benefits of nature should be for everyone and we are committed to making this a reality for everyone.'
However, his comments have now been slammed by the deputy leader of the City Hall Conservatives Emma Best who labeled the move 'astonishingly hypocritical' as just weeks ago he was 'sending in the bulldozers' to London's green belt.
Speaking to MailOnline, Ms Best said: 'This is astonishing hypocrisy from the Mayor and greenwashing of the highest order.
'With one hand he is commanding bulldozers to demolish a country park and with the other he is handing out flower seeds as though that balances his actions.
'Sadiq Khan says the 'benefits of nature should be for all Londoners' but clearly that excludes those whose parks and green spaces he intends to build on.'
In May the Mayor used a speech to argue that brownfield site alone cannot meet the capital's needs.
He suggested 'low-quality' green belt should be released to developers with conditions such as providing affordable homes and transport links.
Up to now Sir Sadiq has argued against permitting the use of such land before previously-developed brownfield options have been exhausted.
However, the Labour government has set a tough wider goal of building 1.5million homes over this Parliament.
London has a new target of adding 88,000 new homes a year, but the city's current plan is delivering only around 40,000 a year.
Meanwhile, rents in the capital rose 11.5 per cent last year and councils are spending £4million a day on temporary accommodation amid increasing homelessness.
Sir Sadiq has now launched a consultation on the next version of the London Plan, which will set out his vision for development in the capital over the next two decades.
City Hall has already begun a review of green belt land in line with the Government's policy of building more on low-quality parts of the green belt, so-called 'grey belt' land.
However, other possibilities will now be explored for securing enough land to meet London's housing needs.
Sir Sadiq speaking at the event in May said 'the truth is we're still far from fixing housing'.
'The green belt can often be low-quality land, poorly maintained and not really enjoyed by Londoners. Only around 13 per cent is made up of parks and areas that the public can access,' he said.
'So given the quality of parts of London's green belt and the extent of the housing crisis, I believe the current position is wrong, out-of-date and simply unsustainable.
'Development on carefully chosen parts of the green belt – done in the right way – would allow us to unlock hundreds of thousands of new homes. This would not only go a long way to ending the housing crisis but provide a huge boost to our economy.'
