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Benali Hamdache, a new Green Party Assembly Member in London, argues that the city needs devolved powers similar to those of Wales and Scotland to address its housing crisis. During a Centre for London fringe event at the Green Party’s annual conference on October 2, Hamdache stated that London's fiscal powers fall short compared to cities like Madrid and Berlin, and he highlighted New York City as an example where the mayor can levy local income tax and property surcharges. He believes that giving London more autonomy would enable the Mayor of London to raise additional funds for housing initiatives, addressing unique challenges such as closing primary schools due to high house prices.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-04,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Benali Hamdache, a new Green Party Assembly Member in London, argued at a Centre for London fringe event during the party's annual conference that London requires more fiscal autonomy similar to Wales and Scotland. According to Hamdache, City Hall’s current powers are inadequate compared to other major European cities like Madrid and Berlin, hindering efforts to address the housing crisis. Since taking office, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has granted mayors across the country additional powers, including the ability to impose an overnight tourist tax and retain a portion of income taxes raised locally. Despite these measures, Hamdache maintains that London’s unique challenges necessitate greater devolved power to fund critical housing initiatives.
Written for “UK Housing Crisis Debate” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 2 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 56108: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-04
London needs devolved powers on par with Wales and Scotland to solve the capital’s housing crisis, ministers have been told.
asserted
ministers → need → crisis
Green Party Assembly Member Benali Hamdache said City Hall’s fiscal powers were “far behind” comparable European counterparts like Madrid and Berlin.
asserted
powers → say → Madrid
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has granted Mayors across the country further powers since coming into office, such as the ability to levy an overnight tourist tax on visitors and, and has announced plans to allow authorities to retain a portion of income tax raised in their areas.
asserted
authorities → grant → areas
However, Mr Hamdache said there was still a “huge gulf” in devolution between what Whitehall has given and what City Hall needs, especially when compared to major cities like New York.
asserted
Hall → say → York
Closing the gap would allow the Mayor of London to raise more money and invest further in housebuilding schemes, he added.
asserted
he → close → schemes
He also claimed that while it was positive to see other strategic authorities catching up to the devolved powers that the Greater London Authority (GLA) possess, the capital has a “unique” set of challenges – and so needs special treatment.
asserted
capital → claim → treatment
“London has the least amount of devolved taxation powers compared to major European cities, while the challenges that London faces are very specific to this city,” Mr Hamdache told a Centre for London fringe event at the Green Party’s annual conference in Brighton on Friday, October 2.
asserted
Hamdache → have → Friday
“We are one of the few cities that is closing down primary schools because of the state of house prices.
asserted
that → close → prices
There might be policy levers that we might want to see specifically implemented in London that might not work for other metro regions.
uncertain
that → want → regions
“I would like to start to see devolved powers to London on the level of Wales or Scotland.”
asserted
I → like → Wales
In an interview after the event, Mr Hamdache clarified that his thinking was inspired by the powers granted to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who can levy his own municipal income tax and impose property surcharges to raise income.
asserted
who → clarify → income
“When you compare the amount of powers that Mamdani has compared to Sadiq Khan, it’s a huge, huge gulf,” he said.
asserted
he → compare → Khan
Read More
New Green Party Assembly Member vows to hold Sadiq Khan to account on housing
“Other London European cities [also] have much more tax rating powers.
asserted
cities → read → powers
They’re able to set up a tourist tax themselves rather than wait for Andy Burnham to do so after many years of waiting.”
asserted
Burnham → ’re → years
He said a first step would be to look to the structure of the Greater London Council (GLC), which was disbanded in 1986.
asserted
which → say → 1986
“The Mayor still has a lot less powers over London than the GLC did.
asserted
GLC → have → London
The GLC had influence on education, had influences on health, and we are slowly, slowly returning back to where that was – but we are still far behind.
asserted
we → have → health
“London just has so many unique challenges compared to the rest of the country.
asserted
London → have → country
And so I would love for London to have the freedom to set policy that works for London.
asserted
that → love → London
“When it comes to housing, the opportunity to raise more income, to spend that on housing would be hugely, hugely powerful.
asserted
opportunity → come → housing
“The opportunity to have more devolved powers to deliver housing on a London level on a strategic [London-wide] level would be hugely, hugely important.”
asserted
opportunity → deliver → level
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