by An official complaint about Sadiq Khan was raised amid a row about City Hall entering into a deal with an airline for flights to and around the US.
It came as new details emerged about the agreement made between the mayor’s office and United Airlines, which allowed Mr Khan, his staff and a group of journalists to travel freely.
The five-day trip in May 2022 – including visits to New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles – was a mayoral trade mission, aimed at attracting American tourists, business and investment to London.
But critics have raised questions about the fact that United Airlines provided the entire party with flights for free, with only fees and taxes payable, and whether City Hall gave anything in return.
The mayor’s office insists the deal was not a “formal partnership” and Mr Khan makes “no excuses” for “saving the taxpayers money on the flights”.
In a formal complaint to City Hall’s monitoring officer, however, Green assembly member Caroline Russell said she was concerned about a lack of openness and integrity from the mayor.
She said this was partly due to posts sent by Mr Khan’s personal and official Twitter accounts, which appeared to promote the airline during the visit.
London is a great place to visit and invest. I am excited to take this message to New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles and show America our great city.
First stop NYC – with @United – which now flies 22 hours a day from Heathrow to the US. 🇺🇸🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/HLi3lx1pRh
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) May 8, 2022
A line was also included in the City Hall press release about the trip, which read: “United Airlines is proud to fly London Mayor Sadiq Khan and his team on their trade mission to the United States. United Airlines is set to operate 22 flights per day from London Heathrow to the United States for Summer 2022.”
Ms Russell’s complaint is currently being investigated.
The mayor’s chief of staff, David Bellamy, admitted during a meeting of the London Commons in June that “it is a natural part of these trips that businesses doing business with London get some publicity from that”, but said that “it is not he would describe it. as a United Airlines sponsored trip”.
A document seen by the Standard shows how City Hall agreed that the airline could receive some “promotional opportunities” in exchange for the flights – which were mostly in business class -.
These are listed on the document as “recognition” from Mr Khan “at external events across the three cities”, as well as being “when and where appropriate, invited to join the Mayor’s events during the May visit” and for the “Inclusion of the United Logo on event signage as/when appropriate”.
In addition, it was agreed that United would “liaise with the Mayor’s office to optimize appropriate PR opportunities” and would have the right to pre-approve all material released by City Hall that used the United name or logo .
However, it is not known whether the airline actually enjoyed all these benefits.
The agreement also included “the traveling press”. This enabled City Hall to invite journalists, including from the Standard, BBC, ITV and other outlets, to join and report on the tour without those organizations paying air fares.
Mr Russell told the Standard: “The Mayor of London’s office should not be for sale – yet United Airlines got free publicity and the mayor’s final sign-off in exchange for business class flights to the US.
“The mayor of London is bound by the principles of public life set out in the Code of Conduct, and I am concerned that the integrity of his office has been damaged by what appears to be an endorsement of a product that actively harms the people for whom he was elected. attend.
“Londoners don’t want the BP logo on the mayor’s SUVs, they don’t want Nestle sponsoring free school meals, and they don’t like a corporate polluter getting a publicity boost from their mayor in exchange for free flights abroad .”
She said: “Ultimately, this ‘partnership agreement’ lacks the integrity and transparency we expect from City Hall. Londoners know what the other polluters are. who might be able to buy the endorsement of their mayor.”
A spokesman for Mr Khan said: “Promoting London at home and abroad is a key part of the mayorship and Sadiq makes no apologies for traveling to the US last year and saving taxpayers money on the flights.
“This visit was his first international mission since the start of the pandemic and an opportunity to encourage tourism to London and showcase the capital to businesses, investors, entrepreneurs and students in the world’s largest economy.
“In order to reduce the cost of the visit, City Hall found an agreement for a group flight package with United Airlines, where only taxes and fees were payable.
“This one-off agreement did not result in a formal partnership between the Greater London Authority and United Airlines.”
A United Airlines spokesperson said the company has made several sustainability-related announcements this year, including a goal to use 10 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel in 2023 – about three times more than in 2022 and 10 times more than in 2019.
