Sadiq Khan accused of 'squirrelling away money' before election as 'broke' Mayor finds extra £66.5 MILLION in City Hall budget
Tube strikes: 'Congratulate Sadiq Khan for being grown up' to stop 'MISERY' …
The London Mayor has been accused of "squirreling away money", after finding an extra £66.5 million in the City Hall budget.
The money was found in the income collected from business rates - which was higher than expected - GB News understands.
Dubbing the money "secret cash", a Conservative Party source suggested the Mayor had been keeping back money from the budget in order to hand out more money ahead of the Mayoral elections in May.
Last month, the Mayor found an extra £512 million to put towards a spending boost in his draft City Hall budget for next year, which will be put towards free school meals, TfL and the Met Police.
The London Mayor has been accused of "squirreling away money", after finding an extra £66.5 million in the City Hall budget
PA
A Conservative Party source claimed this money, alongside the £66.5 million, adds up to a "sizable election slush fund" - claiming it has been "tucked away over previous years, whilst claiming he was broke".
London Mayoral Candidate for the Conservative Party, Susan Hall, told GB News: "Sadiq Khan has been squirrelling money away for eight years for his pre-election gimmicks, while our police force and victims of crime have suffered.
"Londoners deserve better than this. As Mayor, I will get a grip of crime and make our streets safer, with a £200 million investment in policing."
The Mayor's Office told GB News that it is normal for business rates income to bring in more money than is budgeted for.
At the time the £512 million was announced, the Mayuor was accused of finding the money "down the back of the City Hall sofa".
City Hall Conservatives leader Neil Garratt said: “Last night, the mayor announced he has found half a billion pounds of Londoners’ money down the back of the City Hall sofa.
“Half of this money has come from reserves – money he stashed away while crying poor and receiving billions in taxpayer bailouts from the government.”
Caroline Pidgeon, Lib Dem assembly group leader added: “This is a sticking plaster budget from the Mayor in an attempt to try and see himself through the upcoming election.
“Magically, the Mayor seems to have found pots of money that only a few weeks ago he was denying existed.
“Our emergency and transport services are creaking at the seams and overstretched, and this budget won’t fix that.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London, said: “The Mayor’s budget will help to deliver a safer, fairer and greener London for everyone.
"This includes delivering free school meals for all state primary school children for another year, freezing TfL fares to make transport more affordable for millions of Londoners and investing record amounts in policing from City Hall. The Mayor will publish his final draft budget next week.”