Inside City Hall

Neil Garratt and Emma Best
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  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Fortnightly news from London's City Hall and discussion of the issues affecting London. Hosted by Conservative London Assembly Members Neil Garratt and Emma Best.

  1. 03/26/2025

    The end of the black cab? Plus the Mayor's "ambitious" net zero plans, phone and bike theft, and the axing of the cyber crime helpline.

    Season 3, Episode 4 On Inside City Hall this episode, London Assembly Members Neil Garratt and Emma Best discuss:   Waste of the Week: TfL union facility time Mayor axes cyber crime helpline. A trivial saving, an important service lost. Mobile phone and bike theft missing from Mayor's Draft Police and Crime Plan. Net Zero. The Mayor's completely unrealistic "ambitious" Net Zero by 2030 plan. The W14 bus that doesn't quite go to Whipps Cross hospital. Black Cabs: twenty years until the London black cab is no more.   Do you have a question for us? Tweet us: @NeilGarratt @EmmaBest22   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

    16 min

  2. 03/21/2025

    Budget week: police numbers, potholes, grooming gang enquiry, phone theft and bike theft, night life, and why Mayor Khan needs a new strategy

    Season 3, Episode 4 On Inside City Hall this episode, London Assembly Members Neil Garratt and Emma Best discuss: Waste of the Week (0:57): pub quiz question, how many Deputy Mayors does London have? Conservative Budget Amendment (3:50): Police funding, police officers v staff, phone and bike theft, night life prosperity fund, pot hole fund, London investigation into child grooming,  Tech issues (18:02): For the biggest meeting of the year, none of the mics in City Hall's Chamber were working, and the live stream wasn't working. City Hall's lengthy saga of IT and tech problems. People's Question Time (21:30): in Haringey. Thanks to the Mayor making the location secret, the public are staying away. Who would have guessed? Rachel Reeves doesn't mention London (28:45): recalling last year's national Labour budget following the election, and the strains of the Labour Mayor Khan finding his new post-election place in the new Labour pecking order. Nationalised rail? Rent control? What will the Mayor's strategy be now he can no longer blame everything on the government?   Do you have a question for us? Tweet us: @NeilGarratt @EmmaBest22   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

    36 min

  3. 02/17/2025

    LIVE - Tackling London's Theft Epidemic, our live launch event with Chris Philp MP and Dr Lawrence Newport

    Welcome to Inside City Hall series 3 episode 3 This special episode is all about Tackling London's Theft Epidemic, especially mobile phones and bikes. The rest of this episode consists of the full as-live recording of our launch event in City Hall from last Tuesday, for those who weren't able to attend in person. You'll hear me introduce the event, launching my new report. Then Dr Lawrence Newport (10:58) independent researcher and founder of the Crush Crime campaign. Then you'll hear from Chris Philp MP (21:15) the Shadow Home Secretary. Finally we go to a Q&A with the audience (31:49) and some fascinating discussion and answers. I hope you enjoy it and I hope to see you at our next City Hall event. Don't forget to like Inside City Hall, follow or subscribe on your podcast app, and leave us a review as it helps other people to find the podcast.    Read the report: TACKLING LONDON'S THEFT EPIDEMIC: CITY HALL CONSERVATIVES LEADER JOINED BY SHADOW HOME SECRETARY AND CRUSH CRIME FOUNDER Crush Crime: Petition - Crush Crime   Do you have a question for us? Tweet us: @NeilGarratt @EmmaBest22   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

    52 min

  4. 02/13/2025

    Police budget pressure, Labour Attack on School STEM, Tackling London's Theft Epidemic, and GLAP is Waste Of The Week

    Series 3 Episode 2 We are so back! On Inside City Hall this episode, London Assembly Members Neil Garratt and co-host Emma Best discuss: Waste Of The Week. Through GLAP, the GLA owns 6.3 square km of London which was supposed to be redeveloped. It is many, many years behind schedule having languished under Mayor Khan, leaving the GLA parent at least £250m out of pocket. Police Budget Pressure (2:40). Thanks to the Mayor's spending choices, the Met is going to have to lose many officers. But how many? 2600? 1300? Some other number? Labour Attack On School STEM (6:29). Emma's motion to the Assembly challenging Labour's attack on maths, physics, computer science, and adult learning. Tackling London's Theft Epidemic (12:10). Neil's report launched on Tuesday with Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp and Dr Lawrence Newport founder of the Crush Crime campaign. We show how the fact that crime is concentrated among certain highly prolific offenders and in certain places, you can target them and get huge results. Read the report: TACKLING LONDON'S THEFT EPIDEMIC: CITY HALL CONSERVATIVES LEADER JOINED BY SHADOW HOME SECRETARY AND CRUSH CRIME FOUNDER Crush Crime: Petition - Crush Crime   Do you have a question for us? Tweet us: @NeilGarratt @EmmaBest22   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

    36 min

  5. 05/21/2024

    Tram Trouble, Pay per Mile scrapped, and the modified d'Hondt electoral system.

    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

    21 min

  6. 06/09/2023

    ULEZ scrappage musical chairs, Solar Together - same scheme new problems.

    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

    24 min

  7. 06/02/2023

    Shawcross Prevent Review, ULEZ "computer says no", Wennington fire, and the Mayor's bad junk food science.

    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

    48 min

  8. 03/06/2023

    Ealing People's Question Time, the budget, road pricing, and tackling online fraud.

    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

    1h 2m
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About

Fortnightly news from London's City Hall and discussion of the issues affecting London. Hosted by Conservative London Assembly Members Neil Garratt and Emma Best.

Information

  • Creator
    Neil Garratt and Emma Best
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    35
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Neil Garratt and Emma Best
  • Show Website
    Inside City Hall