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London Mayor to rebuild domestic tourism

Sadiq Khan on Monday launched the new campaign “Let’s Do London” to bolster economic recovery…reports Asian Lite News

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has launched a domestic tourism campaign to kick-start the British capital’s economy as restrictions on international travel will likely continue this year, local media reported.

In his signing-in speech for a second term as Mayor, Khan on Monday announced the new “Let’s Do London” campaign to attract domestic visitors to the city and bring its economy back to life, reports Xinhua news agency.

The 50-year-old politician from Britain’s main opposition Labour Party has allocated 6 million pounds ($8 million) to directly support the new campaign.

The campaign and events program will bring together London’s world-leading hospitality, culture, night-life and retail venues to promote all that the city has to offer.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan

“With restrictions on international travel likely to continue this year, Londoners and visitors from the UK have a unique opportunity to experience all the capital has to offer without the queues.

ALSO READ: Sadiq Khan re-elected as London Mayor

“In doing so you’ll be providing vital support for our world-leading venues as they start to re-open and need our help more than ever.

“My mission over the next three years is to put the dark days of the pandemic behind us and to deliver a better and brighter future for London, creating a fairer, greener and more prosperous city, where everyone gets the opportunities they need to fulfil their potential,” he added.

Khan confirmed that a top priority for his second term will be jobs, standing up for the Londoners who lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic and helping to skill up the city’s residents to get back into work.

He also confirmed he will continue to prioritize the long-standing issues that matter most to Londoners, including safer streets, more affordable housing and action to tackle air pollution and the climate emergency.

During the May 6 local elections, more than 5,000 seats were up for grabs in city hall and town hall elections, with the Mayor of London and 12 provincial mayors along with police and crime commissioners also being elected.

ALSO READ: Sadiq Khan Supports IPL in London

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London News UK News

Sadiq Khan re-elected as London Mayor

Sadiq Khan secured 55.2 per cent of the popular vote, after entering a run-off with Bailey when neither managed to secure a majority in the first round of voting…reports Asian Lite News

Incumbent London Mayor Sadiq Khan has won a second term in office, beating his Conservative rival Shaun Bailey, following the local elections held last week, the media reported on Sunday.

“I will always be a Mayor for all Londoners, working to improve the lives of every single person in this city,” the BBC quoted the 51-year-old Labour Party member, first elected as Mayor in 2016, was quoted as saying after the results were declared on Saturday night.

“The results of the elections around the UK shows our country, and even our city, remains deeply divided.

“The scars of Brexit have yet to heal. A crude culture war is pushing us further apart,” he added.

He won 55.2 per cent of the popular vote, after entering a run-off with Bailey when neither managed to secure a majority in the first round of voting, the BBC report said.

“Economic inequality is getting worse both within London and in different parts of our country.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan

“As we seek to confront the enormity of the challenge ahead, and as we endeavour to rebuild from this pandemic, we must use this moment of national recovery to heal those damaging divisions,” Khan, also the first Muslim mayor of an European capital city, added.

Labour continues its dominance in the capital, remaining the largest party on the London Assembly.

Labour took nine constituency seats, with the Conservatives winning the remaining five.

ALSO READ: Sadiq Khan Supports IPL in London

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Advantage Sadiq As London Goes To Poll

“ If you love London like I do, please vote for me,” Khan said in a Tweet. “If you want to rebuild our city so that it’s even better than before the pandemic.  If you want a brighter future for London. If you love London – vote for it”

Sitting Mayor Sadiq Khan took the substantial lead over other candidates including Conservative’s Shaun Bailey in the mayoral elections on May 6. His campaign pegging on building a new London is gathering momentum.

London mayor Sadiq Khan and deputy mayor for business, Rajesh Agrawal at Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Kingsbury. (Photo: Mayor of London)

“ If you love London like I do, please vote for me,” Khan said in a Tweet. “If you want to rebuild our city so that it’s even better than before the pandemic.  If you want a brighter future for London. If you love London – vote for it.”

He is also pledging to bring back Olympics to London within 20 years if he is re-elected as mayor.

 “Exploring a bid for the 2036 or 2040 Olympic and Paralympic Games is the ultimate demonstration of my plan to build a brighter future for London after the pandemic,” he said at an amateur boxing club in Earlsfield, south-west London.

The move, which has been backed by a leading business group and former Olympic medallists, aims to rekindle memories of the successful 2012 Games, an event that significantly boosted the profile of Khan’s predecessor Boris Johnson.

 “By ensuring the Games are staged across the UK and visitors encouraged and supported to explore every corner of our country, London 2036 or 2040 could be a huge boost to levelling up our cities and regions,” he added. “The spirit of 2012 showed London and Londoners at their best. It was a time that displayed the inclusive, diverse and welcoming heart of our city. As we emerge from Covid-19, we need to harbour this spirit and remind people what makes London the greatest city in the world. Bringing the Olympics back to London would do exactly that.”

Sadiq also said that he did his best during his tenure as mayor.

“Every single day for the last five years, I’ve woken up with the same excitement and passion about being Mayor of London as I had on day one,” Khan said. “Being the Mayor of the city in which I was born, where my parents moved to make a better life for our family, where I studied, raised a family, made a home and led a business, is the greatest privilege of my life. I love London.”

Mayor Sadiq Khan during a visit at the new vaccine hub at Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Kingsbury. (Photo: Mayor of London)

Sadiq Khan’s manifesto commitments include:

@ Help the more than 300,000 Londoners who lost their jobs during the pandemic to get back to work

@ Invest £50m as part of a “green new deal” to support more than 170,000 green jobs

@ Keep the London Recovery Board, which was set up to help the capital bounce back from the pandemic

@ Invest £5m to attract Londoners and tourists back to the West End

@ Set up a “good work fund”, which will spend £32m on four skills academies

“This my manifesto for London,” said Khan. “It’s a manifesto for our time, it sets out how we can rise to the occasion and meet the enormity of the challenges our city faces. This manifesto is about tackling the inequalities that still scar London, and it’s about putting forward a bold, positive vision to renew, rebuild and refresh London. I’m confident that with the right approach, and with the right choices, we can put the dark days of the pandemic behind us, and deliver a brighter future for all Londoners.”

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Sadiq Khan Supports IPL in London

Sadiq Khan has promised, if re-elected on May 6, he will build on five years of innovation to confirm London’s status as the “undisputed sporting capital of the world.”

Sadiq Khan has vowed to work hand-in-hand with cricketing authorities to make the Indian Premier League (IPL) the latest global sports league to stage matches in London.

 The Labour candidate for Mayor has promised to ‘keep banging the drum’ for investment in the capital including through international sport, as he pursues his vision for a better, more prosperous London after the pandemic.

Also Read – Sadiq visits new vax hub at Kingsbury Temple

“During his first term as London Mayor, Sadiq successfully brought Major League Baseball to the capital for the first time and extended London’s relationship with the NFL, helping to secure a ten-year commitment for the league to play regular season matches at the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium,” a press release said.

 Following its establishment in 2008, the IPL has achieved stratospheric global growth and is now commonly considered to be one the largest sports leagues in the world. Bringing matches to London would allow the capital to build on the legacy of the three global competitions in recent years that have seen both major cricket grounds in London (Lord’s and The Kia Oval) sold out months in advance.

London mayor Sadiq Khan and deputy mayor for business, Rajesh Agrawal at Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Kingsbury. (Photo: Mayor of London)

 Sadiq is an avid fan of cricket and had a trial for Surrey County Cricket Club as a teenager. He is also passionate about the power of all sports to bring people together which is why, throughout his first term as Mayor, he consistently invested in grassroots and community-based initiatives under the banner of ‘Sport Unites’.

Also Read – Sadiq Urges Businesses to Tackle Racism

 Building on the success of the 2012 Olympic Games secured by Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone and Sadiq’s wider ‘Sport for All of Us’ strategy, under Sadiq, London has become the sporting capital of the world attracting major events including the ICC Cricket World Cups for both men and women, the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, the European Championships in men’s and women’s football and global competitions in diving and skateboarding.

 London also hosts the annual Wimbledon Championships, world title boxing matches including the seminal bout between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko and is currently home to six Premier League football clubs, four Women’s Super League teams, two Rugby Union premiership clubs and two first-class cricket clubs.

Mayor Sadiq Khan speaks to NHS staff at the new vaccine hub at Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Kingsbury. (Photo: Mayor of London)

Speaking at a visit to watch young cricketers training at Kingstonian CC, Sadiq Khan said: “This is part of my plan to build a better London after the pandemic.

 “I know Londoners are hungry to see more of the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant and, with two of the world’s greatest cricket grounds in Lord’s and The Kia Oval, London is ideally placed to host IPL matches.

Also Read – Sadiq unveils plan to save West End businesses

 “The absence of live crowds at elite competitions has been hard for many sport-loving Londoners but I know we can build a better, more open and prosperous city after the pandemic and see our capital confirmed as the undisputed sporting capital of the world.

 “I will never stop banging the drum for investment in our city and bringing the Indian Premier League to London would not only guarantee a home crowd for every country but boost tourism and generate much-needed revenue to help get our capital back on its feet.”