- So today, my quest continues to try to find out
how we can get London back to work,
how we can keep this city functioning.
I've got David Stafford on the show today,
who is the head of the Big Bus Tours here in London
that used to have 50 buses working,
sending tourists all around the city, promoting business,
promoting their spending in restaurants and cafes,
which is no longer happening.
He's got one bus now and I've got Greg Mulholland
who works for the Pub Federation,
who is here to talk to me today
about how the hospitality sector is being decimated
by the curfew and the latest lockdowns.
And I have been out there for the past month
speaking with everyone I can.
I've spoken with John Morgan from the Theater's Trust.
I've spoken with Peter Bleksley former Met police officer
for 21 years.
I've spoken with Steve McNamara,
head of one of the largest taxi driver unions here.
I've spoken with Jonathan Downey.
Who's had five restaurants shut down in this city,
including Milk and Honey
an 18 year institution completely closed down.
I've been out there in the field,
speaking with Peter Dore-Smith of Kaffeine in Soho.
I've sat down with Simon Woodroffe
one of the original Dragons' Den,
and I've been asking them,
how can we get London back to work?
And they all want to,
they all know the hospitality sector
is actually one of the cleanest, safest places
for Londoners to go to only 3.3% of COVID transmissions.
They know we've gotta get people in the city
back here spending money.
We've gotta find solutions for our cinemas
and our theatres.
And yet they are coming up against an immovable object.
And that is our mayor.
Who is quite literally lobbying,
he is campaigning for this city to go on lockdown.
He is begging the government to lock us down,
saying it as quote unquote inevitable.
Even though the R number in London is less than one,
which means the disease is not actually growing.
It's contracting.
Why does he keep doing this?
I've been trying to figure it out.
I spoke to people yesterday,
out on the streets in Covent Garden,
I spoke to shopkeepers and I said, why is this happening?
And they said, Brian, we need people back here.
So our businesses can thrive.
And I said, well, why is he trying to shut this city down?
Is he just trying to stay relevant?
And I think I finally figured out what he's trying to do.
He's trying to engineer a bailout of this city
as a last ditch effort,
because it's the last thing you can do to cover up,
the complete and total financial mismanagement of this city
for the past five years.
The transport for London,
our public transport network is £5 billion in the hole.
He is going to the government asking for another 20 billion
in affordable housing.
And the only way he can make any type
of something out of his reign as mayor
is to sabotage the whole thing in a lockdown.
That's all I can see.
And honestly, I find that contemptible that action.
Why else would someone who's been given the task
of making a city better,
try to shut it down when there is no science
to base that shutdown on?
And so that's what I think is happening here.
I think our mayor is sabotaging our own city.
I think it's criminal.
And I think it's unacceptable.
There is one solution here,
which is get London back to work.
Every single Londoner I speak to
wants to get back to London.
They wanna fill these offices greater than 13%.
The taxi drivers wanna work.
The restaurant owners wanna work.
The pubs wanna open.
The professionals wanna open.
The teachers wanna be back.
And yet one man sits in city hall
and says, no, no, no, no, no it's inevitable.
We're gonna lock it all down.
We're gonna shut it all down.
And then I'm gonna go cap in hand to the government
and ask for billions and billions and billions
to cover up my mismanagement of this great city.
I can no longer stand by and watch this great, great town
that's given me so much.
It's given me so much for the past 20 years,
driven into the ground,
which is why I have decided to become your next mayor.
And trust me when I am given that incredible honour,
my job will be this to listen and to serve.
And try to make sure that you are looked after.
I will not try to make sure that this city goes bankrupt.
I will actually try to find out
how we can get London back to work,
how we can put your physical health first,
your mental health first,
how we can put our children's education first
and how we can again own the place
as the greatest city in the world.
We have the greatest culture,
the greatest financial sector,
the greatest entrepreneurs,
the greatest theatres,
the greatest people, everything.
And yet it's being all just run into the ground.
By a mayor who seems like he wants to sabotage
this great city.
So those are my thoughts today.
I'm curious what you think.
Please leave your comments below.
Share this video if it resonated with you.
Again, I'm frustrated,
but I also see incredible solutions
and I'm super optimistic.
Every single person I speak to in the streets wants change.
They wanna get back to work
and they wanna find solutions.
And I promise that I will be there doing that
alongside with you.
And I'm super excited for the future.
Thank you very much.