London should be the engine that saves us from decline
We should be proud of our great city, but also clear-eyed about its failings on housing, crime and the cost of living, says Lawrence Newport
London is like nowhere else on earth. As Matt Clifford said last week at Looking For Growth’s event Make or Break, London is the city that birthed the electrical age, the steam locomotive and the stock exchange. Its institutions created modern policing, public sanitation systems, and underground train networks; its principles formed the basis of numerous legal and electoral systems worldwide.
We should be proud of our city’s history, of its people and of its beauty. But we must be clear-eyed: London is not the city it once was. The Metropolitan Police and Sadiq Khan’s dangerous policies are failing us. Last year, shoplifting increased by 54 per cent and theft went up 41 per cent. In fact, two in every five phone thefts in Europe happen in London, and a knife crime ‘incident’ happens every 30 minutes – most of which remain unresolved.
Housing has become completely unaffordable. In 2024, 44.6 per cent of the average Londoner’s take-home salary was spent on rent; 20 years ago, that number was 33 per cent. The shrinking number contemplating trying to buy a house are finding a similar, yet more profound challenge – even the top 10 per cent of earners in London face house prices more than five times their annual income. For those on normal incomes, doing everything right, the cost of living is now extreme.
Labour promised change at the last election. Change from past Conservative governments, responsible for failing generations and shredding our social contract. But 18 months on since one of Labour’s most memorable election nights, what do we find? The same, familiar story. The same pattern, driven by the same incentives, hierarchies and cultures, that failed us for decades.
It does not have to be this way
The government has failed to get Britain building. Construction of the Lower Thames Crossing has still not started, even though the preferred route was announced back when Theresa May was Prime Minister, over 3100 days ago. Moreover, in the first half of 2025, construction of only 2,158 private homes began in London – that’s not even five per cent of Mayor Khan’s target. Whilst the government has actually tried some reforms (unlike the Tories) and there are some green shoots in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill passing through Parliament, many of the core principles have been repeatedly watered down as the government has given in to intense lobbying by people who don’t prioritise the British people. In short, the bill isn’t the radical change we need to finally reduce energy and house prices, and it won’t let Britain rebuild. The results of keeping things the same are plain for all to see: no new homes, astronomical prices, a higher cost of living, higher taxes and yet still nothing works.
It did not have to be this way. Decline is a choice. Our politicians chose stagnation and decline through their indecision, incompetence, and inability to make tough calls.
But there is good news. We can choose differently. Our default answer does not have to be ‘no’. We can choose to find the courage to take the bold, radical decisions necessary to stop the rot, and to turn our country around. Whilst we have become a country paralysed by barriers, British innovation and ingenuity can still save us. Because, despite the mass failure of our political institutions, our country and our city still buzzes with creativity.
Talent cannot flourish in a city where owning a home is out of reach for most, where crime is so high, and where starting a family appears more risky than it should be
Indeed, London’s restoration to the world’s greatest hub for business, innovation and the future of human history is possible simply because of our people. Thousands of talented individuals are building the next generations of AI, energy and biotech startups here – and they are doing so despite our politicians’ best efforts to suffocate our country under a labyrinth of regulation, that they themselves no longer understand. Entrepreneurs are still starting in London; the problem is that we make it so difficult for them to stay, grow, and thrive.
Talent cannot flourish in a city where owning a home is out of reach for most, where crime is so high, and where starting a family appears more risky than it should be. Nor can it reach its full potential in an ecosystem that’s first answer to every problem is more regulation. London does not need more Westminster-imposed paperwork. It does not need yet more tax hikes,
more boxes to tick, and fewer services that actually work. It does not need another budget cycle driven by the same advice from the Treasury, the same questions from the press about black holes, and the same lack of vision from our politicians. Rather, it needs permission to build again. It needs Westminster to release the shackles that have chained the city to stagnation and decline for decades.
We have done this before. We know what our city once was: the world’s capital of commerce and innovation. We were once the envy of the world. We are the city of Gresham, Wollstonecraft, Stephenson, and Franklin. We must channel that spirit, that belief that London can be where the future is made.
At LFG, we believe the story of London is not yet finished. We believe we have new chapters to write on AI, fintech, life sciences, and robotics. We believe scientific breakthroughs, filmmaking, and renewable technologies can happen here. We believe that beneath the crime, grime, and decline imposed on us by the decisions our politicians have made, there is a city still brimming with creativity and invention. If Westminster can find the courage to unleash the British people, London will be the engine that saves us from decline.
Lawrence Newport is director of Looking for Growth