The row began after the mayor sought to blame Boris Johnson for the Met Police’s current funding gap
Tensions flared at City Hall on Thursday as former Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall made a provocative remark about Sir Sadiq Khan, saying she would “love to throw” the mayor into a black hole.
The heated exchange erupted as Khan spoke about the “£22bn black hole” in the UK’s public finances, identified by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. He argued that the financial legacy of the previous Conservative Government had left Labour with tough decisions to make.
During a London Assembly meeting, Hall pressed Khan, asking whether he would apologise to businesses in the capital that are being forced to “lay off staff” due to Reeves’ increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions.
“I can’t run away from the fact that one of the inheritances of the new Government is a black hole to the tune of £22bn,” said Khan. “There’s two ways to fill a black hole.”
As he spoke, Hall was heard muttering: “I’d love to throw him in it.”
The mayor, apparently unaware of the comment, continued: “You either raise more revenues, or you make cuts, and what the Government’s got to do is both of those things, to make the books balanced.”
Blame game over met police funding
The row intensified after Khan claimed that former mayor Boris Johnson’s decision to cut his share of council tax bills had significantly contributed to the Metropolitan Police’s current financial struggles.
During his tenure from 2008 to 2016, Johnson reduced the mayoral ‘precept’ – the portion of council tax allocated to the mayor’s office – by 11 per cent. In contrast, Khan has raised it by 78 per cent over his time in office, arguing that this was necessary to properly fund vital services.
“The previous mayor didn’t raise council tax for the police [element of the mayoral] precept. We are about £500m worse off because of the previous mayor’s decision,” said Khan. “What I’ve done is use the levers at my disposal.”
Hall hit back, accusing the mayor of repeatedly blaming decisions made nearly a decade ago instead of taking responsibility for his own financial management.
“You’ve got to stop going on about things that happened nearly nine years ago, Mr Mayor, and start taking responsibility,” she said.
TfL funding under fire
Hall also criticised Khan’s decision to freeze public transport fares, arguing that this policy had deprived Transport for London (TfL) of much-needed revenue.
“You freeze fares – if you hadn’t done that, there’d be an extra £1bn in TfL,” she claimed.
Khan responded by pointing out that fares under Boris Johnson’s tenure had risen by 42 per cent, whereas his administration had kept them significantly lower in real terms.
“Since I’ve been mayor, compared to inflation, they’re 21 per cent less,” said Khan. “On buses, they’re 23 per cent less than they would be if they went up by just inflation. God knows what they’d have gone up by if, heaven forbid, Boris Johnson was [still] mayor.”
Hall fired back, saying: “Well, he’d be doing a better job than you are, Mr Mayor.”
Her Conservative colleague, Alex Georgiou, added that parts of London’s Underground network are in a “crippled” state due to the lack of additional revenue from fare freezes.
Khan defended his approach, arguing that the freeze had been funded by efficiency savings within TfL and direct contributions from City Hall.
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“The fares freeze between 2016 and 2021 was paid for by efficiencies [within TfL]. The fares freeze since [in 2024/25] was paid for by City Hall – we give TfL, every year, money towards that, which supports hard-working families in London, including businesses,” Khan said.
“This idea that you punish fare-payers by increasing – every year, above inflation – fares, like Boris Johnson did, as a ‘good thing’, doesn’t work. Because we’ve seen across the country, passenger numbers going down on public transport – in London, on buses, they’ve gone up.”
Budget debate looms
The bitter exchanges at City Hall come ahead of a final debate on the mayor’s upcoming budget, scheduled for Tuesday, 25 February.
With London’s transport network, policing, and finances all under scrutiny, the debate is expected to be a contentious one, with Conservatives likely to continue pressing Khan over his financial decisions and policies.
As Londoners brace for potential changes to council tax, transport fares, and policing budgets, it remains to be seen whether the mayor will secure the funding he insists is needed – or whether his critics will succeed in holding him accountable for the capital’s financial pressures.
