Khan: 'Not A Secret' Garden Bridge Might Not Be Built

16 August 2016, 11:49 | Updated: 16 September 2016, 10:53

London Mayor Sadiq Khan admits that it's "not a state secret" that the controversial Garden Bridge - a pet project of Boris Johnson's - might not be built.

Two months ago, James hosted Sadiq Khan's first State of London Debate and noted how vocal the audience were about the topic of the Garden Bridge.

So now that Khan is 100 days into the job at City Hall, James brought him back to the subject of the proposed bridge - a longstanding favourite project of predecessor Boris Johnson.

"I don't know whether I misread your face or not," said James. "But you seemed genuinely surprised by the strength of opposition to continuing with the Garden Bridge project."

"I understand there's concerns," said Sadiq. "I'm pragmatic. What I can't undo is the money spent by the previous guy.

"Boris Johnson committed £30m of money to the Garden Bridge Trust. I was quite clear in my mind, I'm not willing to spend a penny more of taxpayers' money which I'm responsible [for] on this project.

"What I'm not going to do is pull the plug if it means £30m being wasted plus the money spent by the government. But I completely understand the concerns people have around the Garden Bridge."

"I've been quite consistent: what I'm not going to do is spend additional taxpayers' money on the Garden Bridge."

James responded: "Which leaves open the possibility that it won't be built at all."

The London Mayor's reaction? "This is not a state secret, of course that's a possibility."