Sadiq Khan

LONDON Mayor Sadiq Khan has been given a word of advice by Margaret Hodge: Cancel the Garden Bridge over the Thames.

In a damning report on the project – originally estimated at £60m but now £200m – the MP concluded in a 45-page report: “It is better for the taxpayer to accept the loss than to risk the additional demands if the project proceeds.”

The former chairwoman of the public accounts committee also concluded that the appointment of the designer Heatherwick Studio and engineer Arup were “not open, fair or competitive”.

I don’t know what Joanna Lumley, who lobbied so hard for the scheme, will make of Hodge’s findings.