London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jan 28, 2026

‘Totally unacceptable’: Mayor Khan tears into PM Johnson for leaving him out of London’s Covid-19 second wave planning

‘Totally unacceptable’: Mayor Khan tears into PM Johnson for leaving him out of London’s Covid-19 second wave planning

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has hit out at PM Boris Johnson for not including him in the UK government’s contingency planning in the event that the city sees a second wave of Covid-19. Proposals include “sealing off” the capital.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has hit out at PM Boris Johnson for not including him in the UK government’s contingency planning in the event the capital is stung with a second wave of Covid-19. Proposals include "sealing off" London.

In a letter sent to the prime minister on Monday, Khan insisted that it was “totally unacceptable” for him not to be involved in the “far reaching” contingency proposals. The mayor noted that several media reports on Sunday said that the “plans included using the M25 (motorway that circles Greater London) as a quarantine ring - effectively sealing off the city.”



Khan effectively told Johnson to put the brakes on such ideas. The Labour mayor appeared particularly irritated at not being invited to a COBRA meeting (the government’s top-level crisis committee) on the coronavirus crisis for 12 weeks.

"Decisions continue to be taken without consultation with those who run and understand the country's biggest city."


“This must stop,” Khan angrily told Johnson. “Riding roughshod over democratically elected representatives,” would only lead to worse outcomes for Londoners and Britain as a whole, he added.

Khan - who has been a consistent critic of the government’s handling of the Covid-19 outbreak - claimed that the PM’s administration had been “slow to take decisions” or had taken the “wrong decisions” during the pandemic.

The 49-year-old former Labour MP for Tooting, South London, said that it was “highly regrettable” that transitional arrangements for London, which included the involvement of key partners, namely the mayor and his government, have essentially been “ignored.”

The UK’s capital has suffered greatly during the pandemic with commuters staying at home - meaning the city’s transport network is losing 90 percent of vital revenue. As a result, Khan secured a £1.6 billion UK government bailout for Transport for London (TFL). However - somewhat controversially - it was only granted on the basis that Khan increase the vehicle congestion charge, end his TFL fares freeze and temporarily remove free travel for school children.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Wall Street Bets on Strong US Growth and Currency Moves as Dollar Slips After Trump Comments
UK Prime Minister Traveled to China Using Temporary Phones and Laptops to Limit Espionage Risks
Google’s $68 Million Voice Assistant Settlement Exposes Incentives That Reward Over-Collection
Kim Kardashian Admits Faking Paparazzi Visit to Britney Spears for Fame in Early 2000s
UPS to Cut 30,000 More Jobs by 2026 Amid Shift to High-Margin Deliveries
France Plans to Replace Teams and Zoom Across Government With Homegrown Visio by 2027
Trump Removes Minneapolis Deportation Operation Commander After Fatal Shooting of Protester
Iran’s Elite Wealth Abroad and Sanctions Leakage: How Offshore Luxury Sustains Regime Resilience
U.S. Central Command Announces Regional Air Exercise as Iran Unveils Drone Carrier Footage
Four Arrested in Andhra Pradesh Over Alleged HIV-Contaminated Injection Attack on Doctor
Hot Drinks, Hidden Particles: How Disposable Cups Quietly Increase Microplastic Exposure
UK Banks Pledge £11 Billion Lending Package to Help Firms Expand Overseas
Suella Braverman Defects to Reform UK, Accusing Conservatives of Betrayal on Core Policies
Melania Trump Documentary Sees Limited Box Office Traction in UK Cinemas
Meta and EssilorLuxottica Ray-Ban Smart Glasses and the Non-Consensual Public Recording Economy
WhatsApp Develops New Meta AI Features to Enhance User Control
Germany Considers Gold Reserves Amidst Rising Tensions with the U.S.
Michael Schumacher Shows Significant Improvement in Health Status
Greenland’s NATO Stress Test: Coercion, Credibility, and the New Arctic Bargaining Game
Diego Garcia and the Chagos Dispute: When Decolonization Collides With Alliance Power
Trump Claims “Total” U.S. Access to Greenland as NATO Weighs Arctic Basing Rights and Deterrence
Air France and KLM Suspend Multiple Middle East Routes as Regional Tensions Disrupt Aviation
U.S. winter storm triggers 13,000-plus flight cancellations and 160,000 power outages
Poland delays euro adoption as Domański cites $1tn economy and zloty advantage
White House: Trump warns Canada of 100% tariff if Carney finalizes China trade deal
PLA opens CMC probe of Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli over Xi authority and discipline violations
ICE and DHS immigration raids in Minneapolis: the use-of-force accountability crisis in mass deportation enforcement
UK’s Starmer and Trump Agree on Urgent Need to Bolster Arctic Security
Starmer Breaks Diplomatic Restraint With Firm Rebuke of Trump, Seizing Chance to Advocate for Europe
UK Finance Minister Reeves to Join Starmer on China Visit to Bolster Trade and Economic Ties
Prince Harry Says Sacrifices of NATO Forces in Afghanistan Deserve ‘Respect’ After Trump Remarks
Barron Trump Emerges as Key Remote Witness in UK Assault and Rape Trial
Nigel Farage Attended Davos 2026 Using HP Trust Delegate Pass Linked to Sasan Ghandehari
Gold Jumps More Than 8% in a Week as the Dollar Slides Amid Greenland Tariff Dispute
BlackRock Executive Rick Rieder Emerges as Leading Contender to Succeed Jerome Powell as Fed Chair
Boston Dynamics Atlas humanoid robot and LG CLOiD home robot: the platform lock-in fight to control Physical AI
United States under President Donald Trump completes withdrawal from the World Health Organization: health sovereignty versus global outbreak early-warning access
FBI and U.S. prosecutors vs Ryan Wedding’s transnational cocaine-smuggling network: the fight over witness-killing and cross-border enforcement
Trump Administration’s Iran Military Buildup and Sanctions Campaign Puts Deterrence Credibility on the Line
Apple and OpenAI Chase Screenless AI Wearables as the Post-iPhone Interface Battle Heats Up
Tech Brief: AI Compute, Chips, and Platform Power Moves Driving Today’s Market Narrative
NATO’s Stress Test Under Trump: Alliance Credibility, Burden-Sharing, and the Fight Over Strategic Territory
OpenAI’s Money Problem: Explosive Growth, Even Faster Costs, and a Race to Stay Ahead
Trump Reverses Course and Criticises UK-Mauritius Chagos Islands Agreement
Elizabeth Hurley Tells UK Court of ‘Brutal’ Invasion of Privacy in Phone Hacking Case
UK Bond Yields Climb as Report Fuels Speculation Over Andy Burnham’s Return to Parliament
America’s Venezuela Oil Grip Meets China’s Demand: Market Power, Legal Shockwaves, and the New Rules of Energy Leverage
TikTok’s U.S. Escape Plan: National Security Firewall or Political Theater With a Price Tag?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
×