London mayor Sadiq Khan’s office accused of ‘alarmingly cosy relationship’ to ‘silence’ ULEZ criticism

Published

2 years ago

August 20, 2023

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Sadiq Khan’s deputy and a scientist the mayor’s office helps to fund have been accused of working together in an attempt to criticise research that questioned the effectiveness of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).

Emails obtained by the Conservative Party under the Freedom of Information Act showed Professor Frank Kelly of Imperial College London and deputy mayor for the environment, Shirley Rodrigues, apparently working together to “fight back” against research published and publicised by the same university.

The ULEZ and its expansions are becoming key political dividing lines between the Conservatives and Labour, and were part of the reason the Tories held on to Boris Johnson’s former seat in west London in a by-election earlier this year.

Prof Kelly is an expert on public health policy and air quality.

He is also the director of the Environmental Research Group (ERG), a body which provides air quality information and research in the UK, which has received hundreds of thousands of pounds from the mayor’s office, among other sources.

According to the Greater London Authority, £757,000 over four years was the “vast majority” of the money provided – and was used for the Breathe London project, which involves installing air quality monitors across the capital.

The Conservatives have accused Prof Kelly and Mr Khan‘s office of having “an alarmingly cosy relationship”.

Their main accusation stems from the response by Prof Kelly and Ms Rodrigues to a study published by Imperial in 2021, which examined the impact of the ULEZ over a period of 12 weeks.

Emails show the mayor’s office – including Ms Rodrigues – contacted Prof Kelly in the wake of this study being published and reported on to “challenge some of the misunderstandings” in it.

The mayor’s office apparently took issue with the limited period of time over which the study was conducted.

Prof Kelly told the Labour mayor’s team his university “is not keen for us to put a direct contradiction” out in the media – but he was happy to “fight back”, according to the emails.

The mayor’s office also offered to put Prof Kelly in touch with senior Labour figure David Lammy for a “friendly” interview on the London MP’s radio show.

‘Khan conspired to silence research’

Peter Fortune, a Conservative member of the Greater London Assembly, said: “Science relies on open, transparent debate.

“It is unacceptable that Sadiq Khan and his deputy conspired to silence legitimate research because it would damage the mayor’s reputation and credibility.

“Sadiq Khan has claimed he is just following the science, yet he has been using scientific advisors to protect his own interests.

“The mayor’s own independent impact assessment shows the ULEZ expansion will have a negligible effect on air quality, while hitting the poorest Londoners hardest.

“That is why we need to tackle air pollution where it is, instead of taxing where it isn’t.”

‘Normal and proper’ to work with experts

A spokesperson for the mayor said: “It is right – and standard practice across government – that we commission experts to carry out research to inform the work we do.

“Frank Kelly and the Environmental Research Group at Imperial are some of the world-leading academic institutions looking at air quality.

“It is normal and proper to work with these experts to ensure our policies are as effective as possible at dealing with issues such as the high number of deaths – up to 4,000 a year – linked to toxic air in London every year.”

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The statement added: “The ULEZ analysis from the engineering department at Imperial only paints a partial picture, not accounting for the full lifetime impact of the scheme, and only focusing on its immediate impact around its launch.

“It is commonplace for academic experts to disagree with how other academic studies are interpreted, as was the case here.”

Politics

North Carolina bills would add crypto to state’s retirement system

Published

3 hours ago

March 26, 2025

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North Carolina bills would add crypto to state’s retirement system

North Carolina lawmakers have introduced bills in the House and Senate that could see the state’s treasurer allocate up to 5% of various state retirement funds into cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

The Investment Modernization Act (House Bill 506), introduced by Representative Brenden Jones on March 24, would create an independent investment authority under the state’s Treasury to determine which digital assets could be suitable for inclusion into the state retirement funds.

An identical bill, the State Investment Modernization Act (Senate Bill 709), was introduced into the state’s Senate on March 25.

The bills define a digital asset as a cryptocurrency, stablecoin, non-fungible token (NFT), or any other asset that is electronic in nature that confers economic, proprietary or access rights.

The North Carolina bills don’t set market cap criteria for digital assets, unlike other crypto bills that are working their way into law at the state level.

The newly created agency, dubbed the North Carolina Investment Authority, would, however, need to carefully weigh the risk and reward profile of each digital asset and ensure the funds are maintained in a secure custody solution.

Bitcoin legislation tracker Bitcoin Laws noted on X that House Bill 506 wasn’t drafted as a Bitcoin reserve bill as it does not mandate the investment authority to hold Bitcoin (BTC) — or any digital asset — over the long term.

North Carolina wants in on Bitcoin bill race

On March 18, North Carolina senators introduced the Bitcoin Reserve and Investment Act (Senate Bill 327), which calls for the treasurer to allocate up to 10% of public funds specifically into Bitcoin.

The bill — introduced by Republicans Todd Johnson, Brad Overcash and Timothy Moffitt — aims to leverage Bitcoin investment as a “financial innovation strategy” to strengthen North Carolina’s economic standing.

The treasurer would need to ensure that the Bitcoin is stored in a multi-signature cold storage wallet, and the BTC could only be liquidated during a “severe financial crisis,” with approval from two-thirds of North Carolina’s General Assembly.

The bill would also create a Bitcoin Economic Advisory Board to oversee the reserve’s management.

According to Bitcoin Law, 41 Bitcoin reserve bills have been introduced at the state level in 23 states, and 35 of those 41 bills remain live.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, both of which will initially use cryptocurrency forfeited in government criminal cases.

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Politics

SEC plans 4 more crypto roundtables on trading, custody, tokenization, DeFi

Published

3 hours ago

March 26, 2025

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SEC plans 4 more crypto roundtables on trading, custody, tokenization, DeFi

The US Securities and Exchange Commission will host four more crypto roundtables — focusing on crypto trading, custody, tokenization and decentralized finance (DeFi) — after hosting its first crypto roundtable on March 21.

The series of roundtables, organized by the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, will kick off with a discussion on tailoring regulation for crypto trading on April 11, the SEC said in a March 25 statement.

A roundtable on crypto custody will follow on April 25, with another to discuss tokenization and moving assets onchain on May 12. The fourth roundtable in the series will discuss DeFi on June 6.

“The Crypto Task Force roundtables are an opportunity for us to hear a lively discussion among experts about what the regulatory issues are and what the Commission can do to solve them,” said SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, the task force lead.

The specific agenda and speakers for each roundtable have yet to be disclosed, but all are open for the public to watch online or to attend at the SEC’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

SEC softens on crypto with new leadership

The agency’s Crypto Task Force was launched on Jan. 21 by acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda. It’s tasked with establishing a workable crypto framework for the agency to use.

The task force held its first roundtable on March 21 with a discussion titled “How We Got Here and How We Get Out — Defining Security Status.”

The SEC will also be hosting a roundtable about AI’s role in the financial industry on March 27, according to a March 25 release.

Join us on March 27 for a roundtable discussion on artificial intelligence in the financial industry. Topics include the risks, benefits, and governance of AI.

More details: https://t.co/ekX2RWp2KQ pic.twitter.com/7fH3j1tlwj

— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) March 25, 2025

The roundtable will discuss the risks, benefits, and governance of AI in the financial industry, with Uyeda, Peirce and fellow SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw slated to speak.

Under the Trump administration, the SEC has slowly been walking back its hardline stance toward crypto forged under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

The regulator has dismissed a growing number of enforcement actions against crypto firms it launched under Gensler.

Uyeda, who took the reins after Gensler resigned on Jan. 20, flagged plans on March 17 to scrap a rule proposed under the Biden administration that would tighten crypto custody standards for investment advisers.

Uyeda also said in a March 10 speech that he had asked SEC staff for options to abandon part of proposed changes that would expand regulation of alternative trading systems to include crypto firms, requiring them to register as exchanges.

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered

Politics

Chancellor Rachel Reeves expected to announce further welfare cuts in spring statement

Published

10 hours ago

March 25, 2025

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Chancellor Rachel Reeves expected to announce further welfare cuts in spring statement

Rachel Reeves will unveil further welfare cuts in her spring statement after being told the reforms announced last week will save less than planned, Sky News understands.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has rejected the government’s assessment that the package of measures, including narrowing the eligibility criteria for personal independence payments (PIP), will save £5bn.

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The fiscal watchdog put the value of the cuts at £3.4bn, leaving ministers scrambling to find further savings.

Ms Reeves is now expected to announce that universal credit (UC) incapacity benefits for new claimants, which were halved under the original plan, will also be frozen until 2030 rather than rising in line with inflation

As originally reported by The Times, there will also be a small reduction in the basic rate of UC in 2029, with the new measures expected to raise £500m.

A Whitehall source told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby that it is “hard to tell how MPs will react”, as while the OBR’s assessment means fewer people will be affected by the PIP changes than thought, they “might be unhappy about the chaotic nature of it all”.

The government did not publish an impact assessment of the crackdown on benefits it announced last week, saying that would come alongside the spring statement on Wednesday.

Several Labour MPs criticised the measures as pushing more sick and disabled people into poverty, while former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called the package a “disgrace” on Tuesday and accused the government of imposing austerity on the country.

Spending cuts expected

Ms Reeves is expected to announce a large package of departmental spending cuts when she gives an update on the economy on Wednesday, potentially putting her on a further collision course with her own MPs.

Having only committed to doing one proper budget each year in the autumn, the spring statement was meant to be a low-key affair.

However, a turbulent economic climate since October means the OBR is widely expected to downgrade its growth forecasts for the UK while the government has borrowed more than previously expected.

This has wiped out the £9.9bn gap in her fiscal headroom Ms Reeves left herself at her budget last year – money she needs to make up if she wants to stick to her self-imposed fiscal rule that day-to-day spending must be funded through tax receipts, not debt, by 2029-30.

The chancellor has sought to blame global factors but the Conservatives blame measures like the national insurance tax hike on employers, saying this is choking business.

Shadow chancellor Mel Stride urged Ms Reeves to “use the emergency budget” to “fix her own mistakes and end Labour’s war on enterprise”.

Ms Reeves will defend her record in the spring statement, saying she is “proud” of what Labour has achieved in its first nine months in office.

However, on the eve of the statement, polling showed the public is pessimistic about what is to come.

According to More in Common, half think the cost of living crisis will never end, while YouGov found three-quarters of people want to see a tax on the richest over spending cuts.

Ms Reeves is not expected to announce any tax hikes, having said her tax-raising budget in October was a once-in-a-parliament event.

Defence increase to ‘deliver security’

In a bid to fend off criticism, she will also announce an extra £2.2bn will be spent on defence over the next year to “deliver security for working people”.

The money is part of the government’s aim to hike defence spending to 2.5% of the UK’s economic output by 2027 – up from the 2.3% where it stands now.

Ms Reeves will insist this plan, set out by the prime minister in February, was the “right decision” against the backdrop of global instability, saying it will put “an extra 6.4bn into the defence budget by 2027”.

“This increase in investment is not just about increasing our national security but increasing our economic security, too,” she will say.

The money is coming from reductions to the international aid budget and Treasury reserves, and will be used to invest in new technology, refurbish homes for military families and upgrade HM Naval Base Portsmouth.