Fury as London mayor Sadiq Khan splurges a whopping £2.1 million of taxpayers cash on woke statues commission_Nhy
Sir Sadiq Khan has been blasted for spending more than £2million of taxpayers’ money on a ‘woke waste’ scheme to make London‘s public art more diverse.
The Labour mayor set up his Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, just days after protesters toppled a statue of slave-trader Edward Colston in Bristol.
It was meant to ‘enrich the public realm’ by making statues, murals and memorials more representative of the capital’s population.
But now it has emerged that the project has so far cost a staggering £2,138,888.
The sum, revealed by The Spectator in a Freedom of Information response, includes £1,156,417 on grants for local community projects.
The Greater London Authority said the ‘Untold Stories’ fund has funded 398 new artworks, trails and events in public spaces.
Projects include 159 ‘plaques, QR codes and information boards’ including a tribute to anti-slavery campaigner Olaudah Equiano on Tottenham Court Road and five Rainbow Plaques ‘marking people, places, culture and significant moments in London’s LGBTQIA+ histories’.
The cash also contributed towards a ‘sound installation to highlight stories from working-class women’ on the Olympic Park and ‘walk of fame’ stars in the pavement to celebrate migrant workers in Cricklewood.
Sir Sadiq Khan (pictured) has been blasted for spending more than £2million of taxpayers’ money on a ‘ woke waste’ scheme to make London ‘s public art more diverse
Projects include 159 ‘plaques, QR codes and information boards’ including a tribute to anti-slavery campaigner Olaudah Equiano (pictured) on Tottenham Court Road
Pictured: Protesters throw the statue of Edward Colston into Bristol harbour during a Black Lives Matter protest rally
Last night, Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, told The Mail: ‘Londoners have had enough of the Mayor racking up the taxpayer-funded credit card with endless amounts of woke waste.
‘Sadiq Khan claims to stand up for the capital yet its clear as day that he’s more interested in an ideological crusade that sweeps away the city’s extraordinary historical legacy.
‘Instead of studying statues the Mayor should focus on tackling the knife crime crisis destroying lives across London.’
Sir Sadiq is also under fire over the tickets he accepted to see Taylor Swift last summer.
The Londoner revealed yesterday that the company who gave him the freebie, LS Events, has won £44.7million of business from City Hall in the past three years.
A spokesman insisted Sir Sadiq is ‘not involved in the tendering of contracts, which follow full and open processes’ and that all gifts are ‘declared openly and transparently’.
He is being investigated by the GLA’s monitoring officer to see if he ‘exercised an appropriate level of caution’ in deciding to accept six tickets worth about £3,000 for the US superstar’s Wembley gig.
Plans also include five Rainbow Plaques ‘marking people, places, culture and significant moments in London’s LGBTQIA+ histories’. Pictured: A similar one in York
The Greater London Authority said the ‘Untold Stories’ fund has funded 398 new artworks, trails and events in public spaces (stock photo of the London skyline)
Former Tory mayoral candidate Susan Hall said: ‘Another day, another massive waste of money from London’s Mayor. Taxpayers want the basics sorted.
‘More police, safer streets – not more woke statues. Maybe Sir Sadiq wants a statue of himself?’
A spokesman for the Mayor said: ‘The Commission has supported 70 community-led projects across 24 boroughs, including memorials, artworks and commemorations, as well as provided funding to London’s first HIV/AIDS permanent memorial and the Memorial to Victims of Transatlantic Slavery.
‘This work has helped to increase representation of women, disabled people, Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and LGBTQI+ figures in the capital, as we build a fairer London for everyone.’
