Sadiq Khan. Can anyone tell me something positive about what he has done?

What? London is heaving. Even my zone 2 area is heaving and buzzy. Stacks of tourists on the tubes.

I have just walked back to the station via Borough Market, it's rammed with Friday night drinkers, diners and tourists.

Every time I go to London these days - which is pretty often as my DD lives near Old Street and I've got lots of family still in south London - it's absolutely rammed with tourists. I wandered around the west end a week or two ago and it was heaving, much busier than when I used to live and work in London myself. St Katherine's Dock? Really busy, and Tower Bridge and the Embankment was packed. Spitalfields? Thrumming. Just north of King's Cross? People everywhere.

And aren't those areas way nicer than they used to be? The first time I saw someone smoking heroin in the street was just opposite King's Cross station in the early 2000s but not any more. Spitalfields used to be grimy and run-down but now it's delightful, although I was a little sad when I saw The Spitz had closed down. And the Intrepid Fox on Wardour Street💔 Nevertheless those areas are way more inviting, and clearly way more popular, than they ever used to be. Even Archway looks quite inviting now!

It's got to be the glue.

@SnackQueen can we hear your facts on why you think Khan has destroyed London. You complained you were being ‘shut down’ but I can only see the opposite happening. People in this thread are interested to hear your thoughts and what is behind your assertions. Let’s hear your voice!

It's quite noticeable how much Khan has made London hostile to British and foreign tourists. He is one of those politicians who think that he can milk residents dry and be unwelcome to outsiders too.

Around 30 million tourists visited London in 2024, 2/3 of whom were international visitors. That's a lot of people, British and non-British, who don't seem to find London hostile. Or have a problem with its Mayor.

Thanks for knowing what decimated means... I thought I was the only one left. 😘

Yes, I still don’t understand why they changed it.

Yes! It's amazingly convenient to go about in London for locals and tourists, just step in, tap and go. Not so in New York even where you have to faff around buying some stupid OMNY card or whatever.

Point of order the London mayoral elections only became FPTP in 2022 (changed by the Tories) before then it was the supplementary vote system.

I Have no skin in the game, moved out a few years ago, so tbh I don’t really care who is mayor. I was just pointing out some facts. Our electoral system is flawed though. FPTP is not really adequate when votes are spilt among so many parties. The more people who feel their vote won’t count, the fewer will bother to vote.

looks out of office window overlooking the Southbank yep you are @TheCatsTongue it's completely empty. No fucker here. Ps are you on glue?

You know PAYG fares are capped right? As a regular visitor tourists to many cities around the world, being able to tap and go on buses, tubes and trains with your phone or debit card without having to download a special app or buy a separate ticket is amazing and not to be take for granted (Paris I am looking at you!)

As for "hostility" during covid. Most places discouraged visitors during covid lockdowns. I mean I had to show a vaccine passport to go to France in 2022 - funnily enough I am not still holding a grudge about it three years later and have been to France a lot since.

Nope. Visits to London up from 2023 and tourist income up from 2019 and 2023. So we are recovering from Covid - when most of the world told people to stay away. I got my Stats from the Visit Britain website which I can't be bothered to link to because I'd rather you actually Googled the evidence yourself rather than getting other people to do your thinking for you.

So two out of those four were policies instituted by the Tory government, not the London mayor. Another is something that didn't even happen but that you think tourists are nevertheless put off by (hopefully the ease of tap-to-pay across TFL will offset the bad juju caused by Khan once thinking about stopping Travelcards). And the last is something that's your personal opinion and not reflected in either tourism statistics or in the crowds of tourists I see there regularly.

Is that really the best you've got?

Well for a start, he wanted to ditch the Travelcard into London, which are the railway fares that include all travel within London for anyone coming into London from the surrounding counties, my fare would've doubled overnight. In the end it didn't happen, but Khan wanted it to end, with him just happily thinking people would happily pay double and keep visiting London.

All throughout the pandemic he told people not to visit (which yes there were restrictions), but the open hostility is still felt.

Seriously I walk around streets in London and it's dead. Covid did the damage and this mayor has done nothing to reinvigorate it.

The last government's removal of VAT-free shopping has been deadly, and that has seen a massive drop in tourists. The mayor hasn't bothered lobbying around it, despite most businesses telling him to do so.

“Being shut down” is not a synonym for “being disagreed with”.

I’d love to know why tourists are disappointed with London. All the traditional tourist attractions are still there, as are the museums, theatres and galleries. What are they expecting to find? Unicorns on every corner?

Gosh this is so much nonsense. I work with visitors to London from all over the place and they love it as much as they did 25 years ago when I started working with visitors to London.

IF London is in decline - which I dispute although I reckon the money is probably not rolling in as it once did - it's because of Brexit and the Tories and nothing else. Certainly not Sadiq Khan who has LITERALLY extended the life expectancy of my children.

What is it that he's done that's made London hostile to tourists?

He's is doing the government's job of managed decline.

The Tories wanted him to win the mayor elections because they refused to fund their candidates properly and openly celebrated Khan being re-elected.

I think central government see the decline of London as important because it helps bring it level with other regions in the UK, instead of trying to invest and improve other areas.

It's embarrassing really. I speak to foreign tourists in London and they try not to say how disappointed they are with London because they don't want to insult you.

It's quite noticeable how much Khan has made London hostile to British and foreign tourists. He is one of those politicians who think that he can milk residents dry and be unwelcome to outsiders too.

Why would you need slides?

I mean, I'm not operating under the assumption that your opinion about Khan is race- or religion-based, but is actually founded on the verifiable facts since 2016. And I'm not trying to shut you down for expressing that opinion, but asking for more information, so...

As your view must be informed by what's actually happened in the past eight years, it should be easy work to explain what that view is based on, right?

Let’s agree to disagree and hug it out.

Sure thing. I’ll send you my slides shortly.

39 years living and working in London here. Could you describe the "true extent of the decline" you apparently see all around you everywhere in London - and then explain how this is directly attributable to what Sadiq Khan has, or hasn't, done as Mayor since 2016?

In anticipation of your full and detailed answer. Which, as it's your lived experience, will be easy to provide, I imagine.

Cry me a river.