Sadiq Khan breaks tree planting election pledge

New figures have revealed that Sadiq Khan has only planted 287,004 trees despite promising that he would pay for two million trees by the end of his first term.

This means that the Mayor, who is now serving an extra year after his first term expired due to the coronavirus outbreak delaying London’s mayoral election, has only planted 14 per cent of the trees he promised he would by 2020.

The new figures also give a borough-by-borough break down, which reveals how the level of tree planting across the city has varied hugely. For example, more than 49,000 trees have been planted in Ealing since 2016, but only 3,271 in Islington.

Conservative London Assembly Member, Shaun Bailey AM, commented: “Sadiq Khan has failed to deliver on his pledge to plant two million trees by 2020, just as he has failed Londoners on transport and law and order.

“This is yet another example of PR man Khan putting press releases before policy, and Londoners won’t forget yet another marketing exercise gone wrong. “While Khan has repeatedly backtracked on his pledge to plant two million trees by 2020, Londoners haven’t forgotten about the Mayor’s promise to them. “Khan’s failed trees pledge shows how chaotic his management of City Hall has become. He has nearly bankrupted TfL and has gone missing on law and order. Londoners need change, they simply cannot afford Khan for another four years.”