This article, by Oli Smith, originally appeared in the Express.
SADIQ KHAN will yet again be forced to ask Boris Johnson for more money as the London Mayor faces more boroughs going "bankrupt" following the news that Croydon council has gone bust.
London faces a huge £1 billion deficit, amid fears that more boroughs in the UK capital are set to go bust. Earlier this week, the Labour-run Croydon council in south London essentially declared itself bankrupt after running up debts of £1.5 billion. Georgia Gould, the chairman of London Councils, told BBC London Politics this morning that Croydon "will not be the last".
She said: "Across London, boroughs are struggling and are cash-strapped.
"We have a billion pound gap across London left by the pandemic.
"If there is no money coming in from Government, Croydon will not be the last borough that faces this."
Croydon council issued the section 114 notice earlier this week, claiming they cannot fill a staggering £66 million black hole in its budget.
Rival mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey condemned Mr Khan for mismanaging London's finances and trying to "hide behind" the pandemic.
He tweeted: "Whether it’s TfL or Croydon going bust, it’s the same story.
"Sadiq Khan mismanages money and leaves Londoners with the bill."
This comes just weeks after Mr Khan demanded more than £29 billion from the Government during its spending review over the next 18 months.
Mr Bailey pointed out that the London Mayor had spent £100million on his own PR over just four years – at the same time as bankrupting TfL.
He added: "Over the last four years, Sadiq Khan racked up £9.56billion in waste at TfL. No wonder TfL went bust twice."
The Tory candidate also told LBC earlier this week: "It's not a surprise. Sadiq Khan touted Croydon Council as a hidden gem and now that council is bankrupt.
"It's yet another example of Labour's financial mismanagement. First we have TfL, run bankrupt, now Croydon Council."
Mr Bailey added: "And the sad thing is it's the people of Croydon and Londoners who will have to cover the cost of Labour's mismanagement.
"They cannot hide behind Covid. The auditors were very clear to say these problems have been coming for a while."
Mr Khan's spokesman responded to claims of financial mismanagement, saying: "The only reason TfL needs government support is because COVID-19 decimated our fares' income, as has happened to train operators across the country."
They added that before the pandemic Mr Khan "was clearing up the financial mess left by Boris Johnson's mayoralty", which ended in 2016.
During a phone-in session on LBC this week, one furious Londoner in Croydon branded Mr Khan as the "worst London Mayor in history".
Danny from Croydon called LBC's Speak to Sadiq phone-in this morning to question why Labour had "bankrupted" Transport for London and Croydon council.
