Jack Brown: Khan's fare hike does not betray a break with the government on transport

The Mayor's announcement confirmed what we had already been told, and so far TfL has secured a decent deal under Labor.

Sadiq Khan and Transport for London have confirmed that some fares will be increase by an average of 4.6 percent in 2025. From March 2, London Underground fares will increase, while bus and tram fares will remain frozen. This is interesting for at least two reasons: for what it says about the Mayor's approach to public transport pricing, and for what it reveals about the relationship between City Hall and national levels of Labor government.

Khan's mayoralty has stood out for its repeated and attention-grabbing pledges to freeze London's public transport fares. They remained static for five years, from 2016 to 2021, following a clear manifesto commitment, although they have increased since Covid (and only simple tariffs have been effectively frozen, of course, the cost of subscriptions, escaping the control of the mayor, continuing to increase). to go up).

The mayor is certainly the one who wins the votes, and doing this or even reducing them has long been a left-wing cause in the capital, dating back to Ken Livingstone's controversial fair rates initiative when he led the Greater London Council . This aimed to significantly reduce prices by exploiting “the prices» across the capital. Interviewed for the book The Mayor of London at 20Livingstone said that although mayors have few levers to pull to tackle the capital's stark economic inequalities, “reducing rates by increasing council tax was no less a redistribution of wealth”.

In contrast, Boris Johnson's mayoralty has seen repeated rate increases and has focused on reducing the mayor's council tax principle. Rates increased 42 percent during his tenure at City Hall. So has Khan abandoned his left-wing principles, just when we have a Labor government?

In a word: no. Khan continued Livingstone's legacy by keeping bus and tram fares as they were. His claim that money raised from metro fare increases “help us move forward» with new bus projects such as Superloop 2 and the project “The baker's race” further highlights this priority given to the bus network and, undoubtedly, to Livingstone's “redistribution of wealth”. Buses and trams are more likely to be used by poorer Londoners, disabled Londoners and those from outer London. A clear choice is made here.

What does all this say about Khan's relationship with the central government? In his announcement, the mayor cited pressure from abovesaying that “the government has made it clear that if we are to secure vital national funding for essential transport projects, tube and TfL train fares should increase in line with national rail fares.”

Neil Garratt, leader of the Conservative group in the London Assembly, spoke tothe labor government [has] suspended the mayor's powers over rail fares“, comparing this to Takeover of conservative governments of TfL in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. And on the face of it, Khan does indeed appear to be saying that the new government has imposed a tariff increase on him, something he has accused the Tories of doing in the past.

Garratt's claim is essentially that governments of both political persuasions showed they did not trust or agree with Khan's tariff freeze policy by forcibly reversing it. But are the two interventions really comparable? Are they proof that after the constant public disagreements between the Labor mayor and successive Conservative National administrations, there is now trouble in paradise with the new regime?

I doubt it. The mayors manifesto 2024 committed to freezing prices only “until at least March 2025” and “as long as economic conditions allow”. This wording strongly hinted at a change from March 2025, so the new announcement should not come as a surprise. This also echoes what then Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said: told him in a letter at the end of October.

The Mayor will surely be pleased with the continued (significant) capital investment that Haighs also committed to in the letter, given the wider national climate of austerity that dare not speak its name. It may be that, as a BBC headline says, funding requested by mayors for transport has been “cut in half”. However, this surely reflects little more than the different policies of public negotiations between a conservative government considered hostile (asking for a lot, expressing indignation when it is not granted the full amount) and a friendlier government (asking for less, celebrating a huge victory when more is awarded). ).

So far, London's transport network has performed well under the new government. The mayor's fare freeze was an electoral success, but was not unanimously hailed as helpful to TfL's finances. It’s clear that London’s transport network needs investment, with several Tube lines under severe pressure and bus speeds significantly reduced. Khan will surely relish the opportunity to have a clear rationale for raising London Underground fares – and, perhaps, to have someone to blame for it. For its part, the central government is unlikely to shy away from being seen as tough on spending.

There is another aspect to consider. would have soon to be knighted Sadiq Khan is in his third term as mayor, and it would be surprising if he ran for a fourth. So it's not a bad time for him to show a little flexibility on prices.

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