Euros football tournament could mark post-Covid ‘London renaissance’, says minister
The Euros football competition in June and July could mark the “renaissance” of London as the UK sheds its Covid restrictions, according to business minister Paul Scully.
Scully, who also serves as London minister, told City PM in a far-reaching interview that the football tournament could potentially be played in England with minimal or no social distancing restrictions.
Euro 2020 was originally supposed to be held last year across 12 different countries in Europe, with the final and both semi-finals at Wembley, but was postponed due to the pandemic.
Boris Johnson told The Sun that the UK has now put in a bid to host the entire tournament, with the government hoping 90,000 people can attend the final at Wembley on 11 July.
The government is hoping to lift all Covid restrictions on 21 June if possible, with a review into social distancing currently being conducted by the Cabinet Office.
“If there’s a celebration of sport, there will be a celebration of the renaissance…of London, so that will be significant,” Scully said.
“What we need to make sure is that we have everything in place in the first place to make sure we’re not putting things at risk.
“That’s why we just want to go gradually and not get ahead of ourselves, but exciting times ahead.”
When asked about the social distancing review, Scully said: “If everything stays to plan – we’ve got the four tests around the vaccine and variants – if those stay to plan then yes absolutely, we’ve talked about the fact that in June we want to get rid of as many, if not all, the social distancing measures that we can.
“Then we’ve got a bright future for London, but we have to make sure we get there – I don’t want get ahead of ourselves.”
Hosting the entire Euros would provide a major boost to the UK economy, particularly in London where much of it would likely be played.
The capital has been disproportionately economically affected by the pandemic, with Office for National Statistics figures showing London’s unemployment is at 6.9 per cent compared to the UK rate of 5.1 per cent.
The Centre for London think tank also found there was a 170 per cent increase in people claiming benefits in London between March and October 2020, compared with a 120 per cent rise UK-wide.
Some have predicted that central London will face long-term ruin if working from home becomes a more permanent trend in the capital.
However, Scully said he believed London will bounce back and people will once again flood central business districts as the UK returns to something near normality.
“People are not just going to stay away from these areas, you’ve heard from a number of businesses that they are going to bring people back in when it is safe to do so,” he said.
“If you’re a young person it’s great to be spending time next to someone to see how someone 20 years in the business is working.
“We need to shape that to make sure we support those businesses in coming months.”
He also flagged that High Streets, including in Central London, could see more residential property being built as a way to rejuvenate areas post-pandemic.
“In terms of high streets around London…one of the things we saw last December was the secretary of state for housing [Robert Jenrick] talk about housing needs and one of the areas was looking to have more residential properties in and around the High Street.
“London has always changed, it’s always flexed, it’s a matter of time and what we don’t want is a shock – we want to shape that changing to avoid any shocks. There’s plenty of support there to shape that change….more flexible use of buildings is certainly possible.”
London’s transport system also faces long-term uncertainty, with negotiations under way for another government bailout.
Transport for London’s (TfL) £1.7bn bailout from November, its second for 2020, is set to run out at the end of this month, with the transport body needing a new funding round to continue to operate.
The last bailout forced mayor of London Sadiq Khan to raise more revenues to help pay for TfL, leading to an above inflation increase in fare prices, a 10 per cent rise in council tax and a pledge to return to sustainable finances by 2023.
The mayor is now asking for a longer-term settlement with the government as London’s Tube and bus passenger numbers will still be far below pre-pandemic levels in 2021.
Scully said a long-term settlement will only come when the mayor makes more cuts to his TfL budget or finds methods to raise revenues.
“I think there will be [a long-term settlement], it’s basically trying to work out what the shape of TfL is going to be moving forward – it’s difficult to tell at the moment,” he said.
“We have to put TfL on a level footing and that will be partly due to negotiations and support, it will be a lot to do with the mayor having to make some difficult decisions to repair the structural black hole that was in TfL finances before the pandemic.”
Responding to the minister’s comments, a spokesperson for the mayor said: “The sole cause of TfL’s financial problems is the pandemic – and the minister knows it. Before the pandemic, Sadiq had reduced TfL’s operating deficit by 71 per cent and increased its cash reserves to over £2bn
“Rather than punish Londoners by attaching draconian conditions to any financial deal, ministers should let London keep the £500m per year of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) it raises and fund TfL fairly.”