It's all about the feelz in the Persian Bazaar that was once called 'London'.
Quote:ON YER BIKE: Sadiq Khan spends millions on culture festivals including ‘bicycle ballet’ as London’sThe Sun:
bloody crime epidemic rages.
'SADIQ Khan has been blasted again for spending millions of pounds on culture festivals as the capital's
crime crisis continues to spiral. The London Mayor's critics say the cash should be spent tackling violent
crime instead.
The Conservative Group in City Hall claimed that Mr Khan has spent £11.65million in just three years in office,
compared to the Boris Johnson who splashed out just £3.9million in his last two and a half years in power.
Freedom of Information requests to City Hall revealed that £30,000 was spent on a bicycle ballet as part of that.
The Mayor's office provided £1.25m of funding along with other sponsors to Waltham Forest as London Borough
of Culture. Tory London Assembly member Suzanne Hall told LBC, who revealed the news, that the Mayor should
review where the cash was going so he can spend more on the police.
She stormed: When we look at money being wasted on splash parties -£300,000 this year.
Last year, it was a beach party for £400,000. Then there was £30,000 for bicycle ballet to explore the role of cycling
in female liberation. "Oh for God's sake, it's getting ridiculous.
"He needs to look at every penny to see where he can make savings to put into more police officers. It's taxpayers'
money, not his money or City Hall's money."
The news comes just weeks after The Sun revealed the Mayor would hold another beach party in London this year
-after spending more than £400,000 on it last year.
And he has repeatedly said he can't spent more cash on police and fighting crime as his central budgets have been
cut too much.
The Mayor's Office said that both spent around the same amount of cash when it was averaged out, and argued that it
gave money to Waltham Borough Council as part of its culture programme to spend on what it wanted -which included
the bicycle ballet.
They claimed that the Mayor's office have invested around £2.58million per year into culture, which they say is similar to
the previous Mayor's budget. It works out as around £7.4million in the last three years.
A spokesperson for the Mayor's office said: "These figures do not give an accurate reflection of the amount of money
invested in these schemes each year due to the way they have calculated the figures.
"The Mayor invests an average of £2.58million a year in these creative industry programmes, similar to the amount invested
by his predecessor. Last year our funding returned £524 million in sales, exports and inward investment.
"Tackling violent crime will always be Sadiq's highest priority in the face of huge Government cuts to police and youth services.
He has invested record amounts in the Met, including funding the Violent Crime Taskforce, and tackling the underlying causes
of crime through the new Violence Reduction Unit, which is investing in youth workers, supporting vulnerable parents and young
people and supporting work to reduce school exclusions.
He's also established a £45 million Young Londoners Fund and yesterday announced funding for 43 projects that will provide
positive opportunities for 3,500 young people at risk of getting involved in crime.
"The Mayor's cultural programmes form a crucial part of this work - creating constructive activities for young Londoners away
from crime, providing access to training and jobs for disadvantaged young Londoners, and promoting growth and investment
in the creative industries which generate £52 billion a year for our city."...'
Edith Head Gives Good Wardrobe.