Governments are notoriously disjointed institutions. When one government is involved, things might be simple enough to follow. But when you have the myriad of parliaments and assemblies that the UK does – and all with different interests and priorities – it soon becomes a headache to keep up with them all.

And there’s none quite so good at stirring up trouble right now than the Tory government in Westminster. So when Transport for London went to the government last year to get a bailout, it was inevitable it would come with an endless number of conditions – because this government’s decision to remove £1040 per year from the poorest in society was only the latest indication that they operate out of spite and vindictiveness.

Back on Tuesday, I reported there was increasing pressure on the London mayor to reopen the Night Tube. I spoke about a petition concerning women’s safety doing the rounds – and I also mentioned the awkward question of the circumstances the government had willingly placed them in.

Today, Khan has announced it will now restart in late November. Good news? Clearly so. But Khan’s motivation for this is questionable. Because anyone with an ounce of common sense would have reopened the Night Tube already. Nightclubs reopened in London back on July 19th, when nearly all English Covid restrictions were ditched – given known shortages of taxi drivers, how did no one in power in London have the foresight to predict this problem?

Instead, Khan now just looks like someone keen to jump on the bandwagon. People – not just women – should clearly be able to get home safely after a night out. But by ignoring the issue for months and suddenly announcing he’s effectively bringing forward the reopening – it was originally scheduled for next year – he simply looks like an opportunist who’s doing it for political gain…

By The Editor

Editor-in-chief at Amateur’s House.