Series 2 Episode 13

On Inside City Hall this episode, Neil Garratt and Nick Rogers discuss:

• ULEZ - a "major" announcement. The Mayor makes a "major" announcement about ULEZ Scrappage, but it looks more like a rounding error that fails to solve the cost of living impact of the Mayor's charge and still leaves companies playing ULEZ Musical Chairs with too few compliant vans available to meet the demand.
• Solar Together. The contractor that caused so many problems with their Mayoral-approved solar panel programme has gone into liquidation, making a bad situation worse. A follow up  to the story in Series 2 Episode 7, in January.

What have we been reading, watching, or listening to this week?

Nick. After the movie, now the book: Master and Commander and the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey-Maturin series.

Neil. Human Factor by Graham Greene, my first Greene but certainly not my last!

Do you have a question for us?

Tweet us:

@NeilGarratt

@NJROnline

@CityHallPodcast

Email us: 

Neil.Garratt@London.gov.uk

Nick.Rogers@London.gov.uk

Need more City Hall news?

Try Neil's City Hall Diary on substack

Or the City Hall Conservatives on YouTube

Series 2 Episode 12

On Inside City Hall this episode, Neil Garratt and Nick Rogers discuss:

• Shawcross review. The Police and Crime Committee looked at the major review of the Prevent anti-terrorism programme.
• ULEZ. Unusually, not the charge itself but TfL's "computer says no" approach to people trying to pay it.
• Wennington fire. The London Fire Brigade's review of last year's major blaze which highlights that the LFB faces some distinctly rural firefighting problems, as well as more familiar urban and high rise challenges.
• Mayor's Junk Food ad ban. Research widely quoted by the Mayor and his allies has been cited by academics as case study for bad science, the kind of activist "research" that undermines public confidence in science.

What have we been reading, watching, or listening to this week?

In a naval-themed discussion, Neil's been watching the classic Master and Commander starring Russel Crowe, while Nick watched BBC documentary The Warship: Tour of Duty following Britain's biggest ever warship HMS Queen Elizabeth's maiden voyage through disputed waters around China.

Do you have a question for us?

Tweet us:

@NeilGarratt

@NJROnline

@CityHallPodcast

Email us: 

Neil.Garratt@London.gov.uk

Nick.Rogers@London.gov.uk

Need more City Hall news?

Try Neil's City Hall Diary on substack

Or the City Hall Conservatives on YouTube

Series 2 Episode 11

This week on Inside City Hall, Neil Garratt and Nick Rogers discuss:

• People's Question Time. The people want to talk about ULEZ, but the Mayor wants to smear critics as "holding hands with the far right".
• City Hall Budget. And the Conservative alternative to tackle dirty air and the cost of living.
• Road Pricing. The Mayor's post-ULEZ pay-per-mile plan to charge every vehicle in London every time it moves, which is starting to look increasingly like a plan to tax outer London to fund TfL services in central and inner London.
• Operation Elaborate. A major police operation to tackle organised online and phone fraud by shutting down iSpoof.
• Met Recruitment. Mayoral rhetoric meets reality: the Mayor has been claiming the government must fund 6000 extra police officer this year not the 4077 offered. But they've only managed to recruit about 3000.

What have we been reading, watching, or listening to this week?

Clarkson's Farm, on Amazon Video

Do you have a question for us?

Tweet us:

@NeilGarratt

@NJROnline

@CityHallPodcast

Email us: 

Neil.Garratt@London.gov.uk

Nick.Rogers@London.gov.uk

Need more City Hall news?

Try Neil's City Hall Diary on substack

Or the City Hall Conservatives on YouTube