Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Monday, Sep 15, 2025

‘Totally unacceptable’: Mayor Khan tears into PM Johnson for leaving him out of London’s Covid-19 second wave planning

‘Totally unacceptable’: Mayor Khan tears into PM Johnson for leaving him out of London’s Covid-19 second wave planning

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has hit out at PM Boris Johnson for not including him in the UK government’s contingency planning in the event that the city sees a second wave of Covid-19. Proposals include “sealing off” the capital.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has hit out at PM Boris Johnson for not including him in the UK government’s contingency planning in the event the capital is stung with a second wave of Covid-19. Proposals include "sealing off" London.

In a letter sent to the prime minister on Monday, Khan insisted that it was “totally unacceptable” for him not to be involved in the “far reaching” contingency proposals. The mayor noted that several media reports on Sunday said that the “plans included using the M25 (motorway that circles Greater London) as a quarantine ring - effectively sealing off the city.”



Khan effectively told Johnson to put the brakes on such ideas. The Labour mayor appeared particularly irritated at not being invited to a COBRA meeting (the government’s top-level crisis committee) on the coronavirus crisis for 12 weeks.

"Decisions continue to be taken without consultation with those who run and understand the country's biggest city."


“This must stop,” Khan angrily told Johnson. “Riding roughshod over democratically elected representatives,” would only lead to worse outcomes for Londoners and Britain as a whole, he added.

Khan - who has been a consistent critic of the government’s handling of the Covid-19 outbreak - claimed that the PM’s administration had been “slow to take decisions” or had taken the “wrong decisions” during the pandemic.

The 49-year-old former Labour MP for Tooting, South London, said that it was “highly regrettable” that transitional arrangements for London, which included the involvement of key partners, namely the mayor and his government, have essentially been “ignored.”

The UK’s capital has suffered greatly during the pandemic with commuters staying at home - meaning the city’s transport network is losing 90 percent of vital revenue. As a result, Khan secured a £1.6 billion UK government bailout for Transport for London (TFL). However - somewhat controversially - it was only granted on the basis that Khan increase the vehicle congestion charge, end his TFL fares freeze and temporarily remove free travel for school children.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
×