Inside City Hall Neil Garratt and Emma Best

Series 3 Episode 1
On Inside City Hall this episode, London Assembly Members Neil Garratt and new co-host Emma Best discuss:
Election Results. Including a sales pitch for the modified d'Hondt electoral system used for electing Assembly Members. Tram Trouble. Rolling stock problems on the Croydon Tram, echoing Central Line problems. The repeated fares freezes sound good, but is it short-term gain, long-term pain as they drain capital investment from London's infrastructure. Pay Per Mile. The media have been reporting that Conservative pressure forced Mayor Khan to abandon plans for Pay Per Mile. That's curious because he never really admitted to having such plans! Regardless of your view, it would fundamentally change the way people think about the roads across London and such a change needs an open debate not to be snuck through. Do you have a question for us?
Tweet us:
@NeilGarratt
@EmmaBest22
@CityHallPodcast
 
Email us: 
Neil.Garratt@London.gov.uk
Emma.Best@London.gov.uk
 
Need more City Hall news?
Try:
Neil's City Hall Diary on substack
City Hall Conservatives on substack
Or the City Hall Conservatives on YouTube

Series 2 Episode 13
On Inside City Hall this episode, Neil Garratt and Nick Rogers discuss:
ULEZ - a "major" announcement. The Mayor makes a "major" announcement about ULEZ Scrappage, but it looks more like a rounding error that fails to solve the cost of living impact of the Mayor's charge and still leaves companies playing ULEZ Musical Chairs with too few compliant vans available to meet the demand. Solar Together. The contractor that caused so many problems with their Mayoral-approved solar panel programme has gone into liquidation, making a bad situation worse. A follow up  to the story in Series 2 Episode 7, in January. What have we been reading, watching, or listening to this week?
Nick. After the movie, now the book: Master and Commander and the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey-Maturin series.
Neil. Human Factor by Graham Greene, my first Greene but certainly not my last!
Do you have a question for us?
Tweet us:
@NeilGarratt
@NJROnline
@CityHallPodcast
 
Email us: 
Neil.Garratt@London.gov.uk
Nick.Rogers@London.gov.uk
 
Need more City Hall news?
Try Neil's City Hall Diary on substack
Or the City Hall Conservatives on YouTube

Series 2 Episode 12
On Inside City Hall this episode, Neil Garratt and Nick Rogers discuss:
Shawcross review. The Police and Crime Committee looked at the major review of the Prevent anti-terrorism programme. ULEZ. Unusually, not the charge itself but TfL's "computer says no" approach to people trying to pay it. Wennington fire. The London Fire Brigade's review of last year's major blaze which highlights that the LFB faces some distinctly rural firefighting problems, as well as more familiar urban and high rise challenges. Mayor's Junk Food ad ban. Research widely quoted by the Mayor and his allies has been cited by academics as case study for bad science, the kind of activist "research" that undermines public confidence in science. What have we been reading, watching, or listening to this week?
In a naval-themed discussion, Neil's been watching the classic Master and Commander starring Russel Crowe, while Nick watched BBC documentary The Warship: Tour of Duty following Britain's biggest ever warship HMS Queen Elizabeth's maiden voyage through disputed waters around China.
Do you have a question for us?
Tweet us:
@NeilGarratt
@NJROnline
@CityHallPodcast
 
Email us: 
Neil.Garratt@London.gov.uk
Nick.Rogers@London.gov.uk
 
Need more City Hall news?
Try Neil's City Hall Diary on substack
Or the City Hall Conservatives on YouTube

Series 2 Episode 11
This week on Inside City Hall, Neil Garratt and Nick Rogers discuss:
People's Question Time. The people want to talk about ULEZ, but the Mayor wants to smear critics as "holding hands with the far right". City Hall Budget. And the Conservative alternative to tackle dirty air and the cost of living. Road Pricing. The Mayor's post-ULEZ pay-per-mile plan to charge every vehicle in London every time it moves, which is starting to look increasingly like a plan to tax outer London to fund TfL services in central and inner London. Operation Elaborate. A major police operation to tackle organised online and phone fraud by shutting down iSpoof. Met Recruitment. Mayoral rhetoric meets reality: the Mayor has been claiming the government must fund 6000 extra police officer this year not the 4077 offered. But they've only managed to recruit about 3000. What have we been reading, watching, or listening to this week?
Clarkson's Farm, on Amazon Video
Do you have a question for us?
Tweet us:
@NeilGarratt
@NJROnline
@CityHallPodcast
Email us: 
Neil.Garratt@London.gov.uk
Nick.Rogers@London.gov.uk
 
Need more City Hall news?
Try Neil's City Hall Diary on substack
Or the City Hall Conservatives on YouTube

Series 2 Episode 10
This week on Inside City Hall, Neil Garratt and Nick Rogers discuss:
The Mayor's Cost of Living Summit with Martin Lewis the Money Saving Expert does not go as planned when the public bring up ULEZ and Martin thinks they have a point. Then undermines the Mayor's rent control obsession. Blue light shared working, eg police making use of space in fire stations. Missing children. Staggeringly, Police in London record 25,447 cases of missing children per year relating to 8,414 individuals.  
What have we been reading, watching, or listening to this week?
Diary of a CEO Episode 216 interview with the Mayor (YouTube)
Ealing Comedies: Passport to Pimlico, The Titfield Thunderbolt, and Whisky Galore!
 
Do you have a question for us?
Tweet us:
@NeilGarratt
@NJROnline
@CityHallPodcast
Email us: 
Neil.Garratt@London.gov.uk
Nick.Rogers@London.gov.uk
 
Need more City Hall news?
Try Neil's City Hall Diary on substack
 

 Series 2 Episode 9
This week on Inside City Hall, Neil Garratt and Nick Rogers discuss:
- The new ULEZ Scrappage scheme, which launched on Monday,
- How Sir Mark Rowley is cleaning up the Met, while the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime may not be helping,
- Nick's article on the future of Conservatives in millennial London,
- The Night Czar gets 40% pay rise, but what is there to show for her existence?
 
What have we been reading, watching, or listening to this week?
- City Journal's 10 Blocks podcast
- Short Circuit (1986) classic 80s sci fi
- I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
- Exploring ChatGPT and Novel AI
 
Do you have a question for us?
Tweet us:
@NeilGarratt
@NJROnline
@CityHallPodcast
Email us: 
Neil.Garratt@London.gov.uk
Nick.Rogers@London.gov.uk
 
Links we mention in this episode:
Neil's City Hall Diary:
Neil Garratt's City Hall Diary | Substack
 
TfL scrappage scheme:
Scrappage scheme - Transport for London (tfl.gov.uk)
 
There's a ~1 minute excerpt of Neil's Q&A with MOPAC in the podcast, here's the video of the full exchange:
https://youtu.be/skC7ZxUoubo
 
Nick's OnLondon article:
Nick Rogers: Millennial voters are key to restoring Conservative fortunes in London - OnLondon
 
This is the 10 Blocks podcast episode about the way crime is concentrated:
Stubborn Facts About Crime: 10 Blocks podcast | City Journal (city-journal.org)
 
ChatGPT, the new AI system everyone's talking about:
New chat (openai.com)
 
Novel AI, an AI bot powered by ChatGPT that apparently will write a novel for you, or help you play a game of quasi-Risk!
NovelAI - The AI Storyteller