- Amy Lame faces criticism after trips to Sydney, Bologna and Madrid
Sadiq Khan last night amid intense scrutiny of London’s “Emperor of the Night”, who flies around the world despite more than 1,100 bars and clubs closing in London in just the past three years. , was facing new questions about its public spending habits.
Amy Lame, the woman charged with reinvigorating the city’s nightlife, has been criticized for leading the decline in London’s nightlife while traveling to Australia, Italy and Spain.
City Hall last night insisted travel was essential to “learn from other cities, share best practice and build partnerships”, but he also works for the Mayor on a £117,000-a-year salary and is also a BBC DJ. Mr Lame, who works there, has been criticized by his critics. Radio 6 – I’m having a hard time justifying traveling abroad.
Industry leaders and the Conservative Party are questioning whether she is offering value for money, as alarming figures show the capital is lagging behind cities such as Liverpool and Birmingham. .
This comes as Mr Khan has splurged more than £6m on a series of projects including the Overground rebrand, the derided ‘Say Ma’ate’ anti-harassment campaign and the controversial New Year’s Eve fireworks diversity show. This comes amid anger caused by the incident.
Nightlife in many cities has struggled to recover post-pandemic and is currently suffering a double whammy with the cost of living crisis, but the decline has been more pronounced in the capital than in other regions.
Liverpool and Birmingham have overtaken London in terms of the number of transactions, according to figures from SquareUp, a business payments processor.
Research shows 1,165 venues have closed in London since the pandemic, and the head of an industry body blames Mr Lame for London’s poor performance at a time when all UK cities are facing problems. He says he must bear the burden.
Michael Neil, chief executive of the Night Industry Association (NTIA), told the Times that the “night czar” must oversee all 32 London boroughs, but that is a position in other areas. He said he believes it is a far greater task than other boroughs. There are still questions to answer.
He said: “There’s a big difference between pointing the way, showing virtue and driving concrete change.” There are a lot of announcements, but not so many results. ”
“The industry feels we don’t have a strong enough voice,” he said, arguing that while there are valuable initiatives such as the Women’s Night Safety Charter, more needs to be done.
Lamé’s overseas travel (visiting Sydney, Bologna and Madrid over a 12-month period in 2022 and 2023) was not paid for by taxpayers, but instead funded by private donations.
But they still question whether they are making good use of her time, with Knill saying, “There’s so much economic pressure in the country, and people in the industry are saying, ‘Why are you here when you should be here?’ Are you there?'” he said. ”
Peter Fortune, Conservative London MP for Bexley and Bromley, told the magazine he was not necessarily opposed to Mr Lame traveling abroad to promote the city.
He said, “But I would like to see the results as a result of those trips. What happened as a result of Australia, Bologna? Where are the deals?
A spokesman for Mr Khan said UKHospitality figures showed revenue in London’s hospitality sector had increased by £3bn over four years to £46bn. They claim that last year the live music and hospitality “exceeded all expectations”.
The mayor has come under criticism in recent weeks for what some see as having “misplaced his priorities” when spending taxpayers’ money.
Earlier this month, travelers accused Mr Khan of spending £6.3m from the Greater London Authority’s budget to rename and change the colors of all six London Overground lines.
The bulk of the funding went towards updating customer information, including redesigning and re-presenting maps for all Underground and London Overground stations and publishing new editions in print and online.
When the names of Lioness, Mildmay, Windrush, Weaver, Suffragette and Liberty were revealed, there was some disdain from some quarters, with Khan himself admitting that “not everyone will be happy”. Ta.
A Conservative Party report in January accused the mayor of wasting £123m of taxpayers’ money, although the figure is disputed by Tory insiders. there were.
The Conservatives in the London Assembly said Mr Khan was wasting millions of pounds on “spin doctors, marketing and pointless initiatives”.
This included £10 million for a five-day workshop for the Metropolitan Police and staff to ‘determine the color’ of personality, around £1 million for a ‘beach party’ and £50 million for free advertising for a vaginal moisturizing company. Contains 10,000 pounds.
Transport for London has paid DNCO £115,275 for a five-month “naming investigation”, MailOnline can reveal.
The bulk of the £6.3m rebranding cost will go towards updating signage and maps across the transport network, and street addresses will be re-recorded from the autumn.
Mr Khan has stood by his decision in the face of criticism, calling it a “shameless political” move in an election year and saying the new name reflects “London’s rich culture and history”. praised.
Mr Khan and Transport for London chose DNCO for the project after naming the road Newham on which the new City Hall at Royal Docks will be built.
After “Londoners Square” and “Ship Horn’s Yard” were rejected, it was ultimately chosen as a tribute to the late Sri Lankan minister and anti-racism campaigner Kamal Chunchi Wei. Ta.
DNCO bills itself as “an agency dedicated to engaging the creative community.”
Transport for London, which is run by Mayor Khan and is responsible for the network, which includes the Underground, says it has given six lines a distinct identity to improve passenger convenience.
The Lioness, Mildmay, Windrush, Weaver, Suffragette and Liberty lines were unveiled by the Mayor of London.
But Susan Hall, Mr Khan’s Conservative mayoral rival, said: “The only thing that surprised me about today’s announcement was that Mr Khan did not nominate one of them to be Sadiq.” Ta. Conservative MPs said Mr Khan had “just given a new coat of paint to a creaky transport system”.
Some highlighted the costs six months after a £3.6bn government bailout saved TfL from bankruptcy.
TfL’s crime report shows violence and aggression against Tube staff has increased by 50%, rising from 431 incidents between April and September 2022 to 647 in the same period in 2023.
The announcement also comes four days before a major overground strike will impact services starting next Monday. Mr Khan, who is running for re-election in the capital’s mayoral election on May 2, sparked outrage last year over the expansion of Ultra-Low Emission Zones (Ures), but has now been criticized for his recent decision to freeze travel fares and fees. He is fighting for a third term. Starting next month, Fridays will be off-peak hours. Since the network’s creation in 2007, all landlines have been identified by the color orange.
Each route is displayed as a different colored parallel line on the tube map. Ms Hall told the Mail: “Thousands of people were killed during his mayoralty and yet Sadiq Khan is only interested in this virtue display of nonsense.”
“The only surprise is that [the] He did not name one of them as Sadiq, according to the statement.
Former London minister Paul Scully said: “Londoners don’t just spray clouds of virtue-at-a-cost words, they get you from point A on time, at affordable cost and in some comfort. “We want a mayor who can get to point B.” £6m of taxpayers’ money. Instead of doing the work Londoners expect, he’s just giving the creaky transport system a new coat of paint. ”
And Bob Blackman, Tory MP for Harrow East, said: “It’s yet another woke idea from a mayor who is getting more and more ridiculous by the day.”
But Mr Khan welcomed the line’s naming, adding: “We respect and celebrate different parts of London’s unique local history and culture.”
The ‘Emperor of the Night’ was also among those targeted in the report, with the Conservative Party claiming that £70,000 of taxpayers’ money was spent on a drag act called ‘Ducky Loves Funny’ hosted by Mr Lame. did.
But the Mayor’s Office hit back by branding the report “misleading” and attacking the government for not providing enough cash to fund public services in the capital.
A spokesperson for the mayor told the Times: “The Night Czar’s work includes representing the 1.3 million Londoners who work evenings and nights to secure better pay and conditions, protecting hundreds of venues and supporting the opening of many new venues. The Night Enterprise Zone program includes supporting and creating ground-breaking facilities to revitalize the capital’s high streets.
“Amy puts women’s safety at the heart of more than 2,100 organizations, helping boroughs develop night-time strategies to ease the licensing process and better plan every aspect of night-time life.”
MailOnline has contacted City Hall for further comment.