James O'Brien 10am - 1pm
James Asks Sadiq: Will We Get Garden Bridge Inquiry?
28 April 2017, 11:46 | Updated: 28 April 2017, 12:18
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has effectively killed the Garden Bridge project, so James wants to know: will we get a proper investigation into where the taxpayer's money went?
Khan has called a halt to the building of the proposed bridge over the Thames - a project that's already cost almost £50m.
In a letter to the trust's chair Lord Davies, Sadiq Khan says if the plans continue, taxpayers will be exposed to additional financial risk.
So James wanted to know when Sadiq joined him - will there be an inquiry into the decisions that got us to this point?
"The Garden Bridge project at a cost of a potential blank cheque is not one I'm willing to sign," Sadiq told James.
"I would like an inquiry," James told him. "You mentioned taxpayers, I'm a taxpayer. That's a significant chunk of change that appears to have gone up in smoke and no-one's going to be held responsible as things stand.
"Is there going to be an audit? Is there going to be an inquiry?"
Khan said that there could be a case for the Public Accounts Committee to look into the spending on the project.
"It's not just taxpayers' money from City Hall, there was also taxpayers' money from the Department for Transport. One of the things the Public Accounts Committee can do...is look into £47m of taxpayers' money being spent."