Concerns were raised in the London Assembly this week over Sadiq Khan’s manifesto commitment to make London’s rivers swimmable within 10 years.
As part of his re-election bid earlier this year, Sadiq Khan’s manifesto commits to launching “an ambitious plan to make rivers in London swimmable within ten years”. However, the Liberal Democrats have highlighted that there is explanation within this manifesto on how this target is going to be met.
During questioning on Thursday by Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member Hina Bokhari, Sadiq Khan failed to outline any further details on how he would meet this target besides lobbying Thames Water.
Later on in the same Mayoral Question Time session, he spoke about the impact that the completion of the Thames Tideway Tunnel will have on sewage levels in the Thames, however the super sewer is not a Mayoral project and is not receiving funding from the GLA.
In response to the Mayor’s answers, Assembly Member Bokhari accused the Mayor of “yet more election gimmicks” and “making promises he cannot keep”, highlighting that he has not been able to outline specific actions he will take to reduce pollution in London’s rivers to levels safe for swimming in by 2034 nor has he been able to outline how he intends to monitor his progress.
The Liberal Democrats also called on Sadiq Khan to lobby any future Labour Government for the devolution of powers over water supply and sanitation to London, citing the model’s success in allowing cities like Paris and Copenhagen to clean up their waterways. Sadiq Khan agreed he would do this so long as the powers came with the financial resources to do so.
Commenting Hina Bokhari AM said:
“This UK Conservative Government has allowed Water Companies to run riot over recent years, spilling millions of litres of sewage into the Thames and its tributaries like the Wandle, while also taking out millions of pounds in Profit to pay big bonuses for CEO’s.
“While its clear the blame for the state of London’s rivers lies with central Government, it is really concerning that the Mayor has yet again seemed to have prioritised election gimmicks and made promises he cannot keep.
“I am however pleased that the Mayor committed to lobbying the future Government for the GLA to have powers over water supply and sanitation. Londoners have been let down by Thames Water for far too long and the devolution of powers over water has allowed cities like Copenhagen and Paris to make amazing progress in cleaning up their waterways.
“The Liberal Democrats will continue to hold the Mayor to account over the coming months and years over his manifesto commitments.”
