Richmond Park needs protection from an increase in Heathrow flights
The London Assembly has passed a motion put forward by London Liberal Democrats calling for the protection of Richmond Park from Heathrow Airport's plans for increased flightpaths.
The London Assembly has passed a motion put forward by London Liberal Democrats calling for the protection of Richmond Park from Heathrow Airport's plans for increased flightpaths.
New Home Office statistics have revealed that a shocking 81% of burglaries went unsolved across London in the year ending June 2023. This is equivalent to 141 burglaries going unsolved across the capital every single day. Meanwhile, only 5.2% of cases resulted in a suspect being charged or summonsed.
Caroline Pidgeon has strongly criticised the Mayor's decision not to the ULEZ scrappage scheme to retrospective applications.
The Mayor confirmed his stance following questions that Caroline submitted in October.
As disruption on the Elizabeth Line worsens, Caroline Pidgeon has called on the Mayor to accelerate work to fix the recurring issues.
Caroline told the Evening Standard:
“Services on the Elizabeth Line have clearly deteriorated over the course of the summer.
“As London’s flagship piece of transport infrastructure, customers rightly demand more reliable levels of service.
Speaking to ITV London, Caroline Pidgeon expressed deep concern at rising incidents of hate crime in London and stressed the need for it to be investigated and acted on.
Caroline said:
Antisemitism, Islamophobia and hate crimes of any kind are completely unacceptable.
On ITV London's Late Debate show, Caroline sharply criticised the Conservative government's decision to scrap most of the HS2 project.
Caroline said:
As new figures revealed that the Metropolitan Police is failing to reach its target for recruiting new officers, despite a large increase in its advertising budget, Caroline Pidgeon said:
London Assembly Liberal Democrats voted to back a cross-party motion at City Hall condemning the terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel, and supporting London’s Jewish community and international law.
Speaking in the Assembly, Caroline Pidgeon said:
City Hall Liberal Democrats have called for the full pedestrianisation of Oxford Street.
During Mayor's Question Time, Caroline Pidgeon highlighted that Sadiq Khan had previously committed to the pedestrianisation of London’s flagship shopping street in his 2016 manifesto. London Liberal Democrats have supported pedestrianising London’s flagship high street since 2004.
The Mayor stated Oxford Street is “not what it used to be” and indicated that he agreed with Caroline that the street should move towards full pedestrianisation.
Responding to the terrorist attacks in Israel by Hamas, Liberal Democrat Leader in the London Assembly Caroline Pidgeon AM said:
"London Liberal Democrats condemn these absolutely sickening terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel and join the call for an immediate cessation of violence and safe return of hostages.
"The scenes of kidnapped and murdered civilians, particularly of children, have been utterly heartbreaking to watch.
New data revealed by the Liberal Democrats has shown large numbers of ULEZ fines to vehicles registered outside of the UK have been left unpaid.
According to the data, 167,663 ULEZ fines were issued to vehicles registered outside of the UK in 2022. 30,520 of these fines (amounting to £4.98 million) were cancelled, but a further 115,048 fines are still open cases – meaning that only 13% of fines issued to non-UK registered vehicles in 2022 have been paid.
In her last Liberal Democrat conference speech before she steps down from the London Assembly, Caroline Pidgeon called for the establishment of a regional Parliament for London, along the lines of the Welsh and Scottish Parliaments.
As the Metropolitan Police announced that it could take over two years to root out officers who have breached standards or failed vetting, Caroline Pidgeon highlighted the scale of the problems the service faces:
"These shocking figures once again demonstrate the extent of the crisis within the Met.
"Many people will also be asking the question: is two years fast enough, given the already significant damage to public confidence in the service?
Caroline had a fabulous Saturday campaigning in the sunshine with Liberal Democrats in Mid-Bedfordshire, supporting Emma Holland-Lindsay in the parliamentary by-election. The team got a great response from residents.
In the London Assembly, Caroline Pidgeon pressed the Mayor to review issues with accessibility on the Elizabeth Line – following reports from travellers with disabilities that they have been unable to board due to a lack of level access or boarding ramp.
Caroline Pidgeon has called for an investigation into allegations that deputy mayor Shirley Rodrigues asked one academic to modify the conclusion of a scientific report, and another to issue statements supporting the Mayor's policy on the ULEZ.
In the London Assembly, Caroline said:
"We called for an investigation at City Hall into what has or has not happened, in order that we could have more facts – because I think Londoners need to know the facts on this…
The Met will not be reviewing the decision to allow a high-ranking Scotland Yard officer to keep his job despite being found to be paying prostitutes, according to an answer provided to Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon.
In May this year, an investigation by the Evening Standard revealed that a high-flying Scotland Yard officer who has a key role in helping recruit women to the force was allowed to keep his job despite paying hundreds of pounds to use prostitutes.
Commenting on the publication of Transport for London’s new road safety charter, Caroline Pidgeon said:
“I welcome the publication of this charter by TfL following my lobbying efforts on this issue during the last year to both the Mayor of London and TfL.
“High streets across London are blighted by motorcyclists and scooter riders cluttering pavements.
Commenting on the anniversary of Sir Mark Rowley's appointment as the Met Police Commissioner, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member and Police & Crime Spokesperson Caroline Pidgeon AM said:
“This year has been a tough year for the Met in light of the release of the Baroness Casey Review and its clear conclusions of institutional sexism, racism, and homophobia alongside bullying.
Labour and Green Party London Assembly Members voted against the Liberal Democrats' proposal to open the Mayor of London’s ULEZ scrappage scheme to retrospective applications.
An amendment brought forward by the Lib Dem group in the assembly had called on the Mayor to open his scrappage scheme to those who replaced their vehicles between January and the Mayor’s widening of the scheme in August.