Sadiq Khan’s latest scheme for “progressive” social engineering has come under fire after it emerged that over £2 million of taxpayers’ money has been wasted on the so-called Workforce Integration Network, a misguided initiative aimed at boosting race and gender quotas within the Greater London Authority (GLA). This lavish expenditure, supposedly designed to help Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic Londoners break down employment barriers, continues to drain public funds while City Hall staff face the very real threat of job cuts due to the city’s escalating financial crisis.
Emails sent to around 1,500 GLA employees reveal that redundancies might be necessary, a historic first in the organisation’s 25-year history, highlighting the scale of Khan’s fiscal mismanagement. The funding shortfall stems from the end of post-Brexit government “parachute” payments, rising business rates, and uncertain council tax revenues, creating a perfect storm of economic instability. City Hall’s response? Prepare for “all scenarios,” including severe staffing reductions, at a time when core services should be the priority.
Khan’s Office launched the Workforce Integration Network, purportedly to tackle inequalities, especially among young Black men suffering disproportionately high unemployment, 32%, compared to 14% for their white peers. While the initiative twists itself into pretzels about “dismantling structural barriers,” critics see this as a politically motivated stunt that wastes millions on social engineering rather than delivering tangible benefits to London’s residents. Efforts to prioritize sectors like construction and digital industries are noble in theory but fail to justify the billions spent on divisive identity politics when public services are strained to breaking point.
Despite the misallocated funds, Khan boasts that supporting under-represented Londoners could boost the workforce by 290,000, an economic benefit of £17.4 billion. Yet, such hollow promises ring increasingly hollow amid the chaos of city finances. Meanwhile, major infrastructure projects like relocating City Hall have delivered questionable savings, initially claimed at £61 million, the real figure may be closer to £37 million once additional costs and delays are included, exposing Khan’s penchant for exaggeration.
In an act of fiscal spectacle, Khan has taken a voluntarily 10% pay cut from his £152,734 salary and frozen senior appointments’ wages, all while raising the alarm that funding cuts could devastate essential services like the police and fire brigade. With workspace shortages further disrupting operations, City Hall’s budgeting mistakes and political distractions have presented a clear picture: the capital’s priorities are all wrong, and taxpayers are footing the bill.
Furthermore, Khan has announced a £32 million ‘Good Work for All Fund’ aimed at low-paid and unemployed Londoners, another example of government intervention that strains the public purse while failing to address the underlying problems. Instead of focusing on levelling up and encouraging economic growth, Khan’s government appears more interested in social engineering, ignoring the mounting evidence that these “diversity” initiatives are a sideshow to the real issues threatening London’s future: fiscal responsibility, public safety, and effective governance.
As the capital teeters on the brink of financial ruin, it’s clear that these misguided priorities only deepen the crisis. London deserves leadership that puts taxpayers first, not politicians wasting billions on ideological schemes that do little to improve the lives of ordinary people. The current administration’s inability to manage the city’s finances suggests that an urgent change is needed, before the city’s core services and economic resilience are permanently undermined.
Source: Noah Wire Services