Khan calls for proper devolution of power from Whitehall

Speaking at the recent Centre for London conference, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called for the proper devolution of power and resources from Whitehall to cities and communities across the UK.

Khan’s speech criticised the government’s current approach of using the coronavirus pandemic to ‘hoard power in Whitehall’, instead of working in partnership with local authorities and mayors to tackle the pandemic in key areas, such as test and trace and economic support.

The Mayor of London has also spoken out against the government’s ill-conceived and damaging overhaul of the planning system which has been dictated from Whitehall and ‘will take away democratic control and local scrutiny from the planning process’. Ministers are not merely hostile to elected devolved leaders, says Khan, but they are ‘actively trying to undermine the UK’s long-standing devolution settlements’.

Khan said: “This government declared before the last election that the days of Whitehall knows best are over. Yet their conduct during this pandemic has shown they believe the opposite is true, with ministers treating local leaders as adversaries or with suspicion, rather than as trusted partners.

“But worse than this, the government has been using the cover of this national health emergency to undermine key parts of the devolution settlement – most notably by trying to control how London runs our world-renowned transport system.

“If Covid-19 and the failures of the test and trace system has taught us anything, it’s that hoarding power at a national level doesn’t work. If we are to build back better as a city and a country, cities and communities around the UK need much more meaningful devolution and a weakening of the stranglehold of Whitehall.Boris Johnson was a strong advocate of more devolution when he was Mayor of London – the whole country would now benefit from him putting his words into action.”