Sadiq Khan has scrapped the in-person People’s Question Time event due to be held in Richmond on 29 February.
For the first time since the Greater London Authority was established 24 years ago, People’s Question Time will be held wholly online.
Commenting on Sadiq Khan’s decision, Neil Garratt, City Hall Conservatives Leader, said, “Sadiq Khan is running scared of scrutiny. Twice in January he announced policies straight after London Assembly meetings because he knew his half-baked plans would not stand up to our questioning.
“Now he’s dodging Londoners’ questions as well, banning the people from People’s Question Time so he can hide online. Every other Mayor has attended People’s Question Time in person. Sadiq Khan is afraid to face Londoners and he’s afraid to face scrutiny.”
Andrew Boff, Chair of the London Assembly, said: “People’s Question Time is an important opportunity for Londoners to put their questions to the Mayor and the London Assembly. Londoners have been able to attend this event twice yearly for the past 24 years.
“The London Assembly has a clear view that it should continue in its current form until a proper review can take place. The Mayor’s unilateral decision to scrap the in-person People’s Question Time planned for Richmond in February goes against the Assembly’s representations that to go online now, at the very end of this term, would send a damaging signal to our constituents about our commitment to direct engagement.
“Our preference is for an in person People’s Question Time in Richmond, with the local constituency member in the Chair.”
