Shapps and Khan play the trasport blame game...

Due to the unpopularity of the changes to London's transport system following the slow winding down of the lockdown - including 

Congestion charge extended to 10pm in order to annoy night time workers

Congestion charge extended to 7 days a week to hit pleasure users

Public Transport Discount removal for the young and the elderly

Road closures - including two major bridges and east west routes - to encourage cycling while PM insists that everyone should go to work but avoid public transport.

Mr Shapps the Minister for Transport and Mr Khan the unelected Mayor for London whose term ran out in March but wont face re-election til 2021 have been engaged in a battle to blame each other for the logistical and financial mess.

Mr Khan insists all these measures are needed because they were insisted on by Mr Shapps in order to fill the big financial hole created by giving everyone free travel and telling them to stay at home during the Covid-19 lockdown.  So Mr Shapps has responded by releasing the terms of the loan (see here) that he has made to Mr Khan that Mr Khan says make necessary all these unpopular changes.

The terms of the loan are on page 22 onward ...along with lots of graphs with lines going below zero.  However, what they don't say is:

1) The Mayor has to extend the Congestion Charge beyond 6pm to 10pm

2) The Mayor has to extend the Congestion Charge 7 days a week

3) The Mayor has to charge the elderly and the young more than he used to

4) The Mayor has to COMPLETELY close major through roads such as London Bridge and Waterloo Bridge to motor cars.

The terms of the letter which would seem to start on page 61 seem to simply require the Mayor to restart the Congestion Charge and ULEZ zones.  I can see no stipulations requiring the Mayor to behave like an idiot?