Revealed: The sums behind Khan’s backing of the Garden Bridge
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has claimed that cancelling a controversial Garden Bridge across the Thames would cost more than completing the project.
Speaking at Mayor's Question Time for the first time since his election, Khan said that almost £40m of public funds have already been spent by the Garden Bridge Trust.
Of a total of £60m of public funding, divided evenly between Transport for London and the government, with £20m of the TFL funding due to be repaid as a loan.
Khan said that £37.7m, of which £24.25m came from TFL, has already been spent by the Garden Bridge Trust.
“If we were to cancel that project today that full amount would have been spent to no benefit at all to Londoners,” Khan said.
“It's clearly in the financial interest of London and UK taxpayers to complete the Garden Bridge.”
It comes after Khan made clear his backing for an amended Garden Bridge project, which included greater public access to the project on completion.