London is back to its booming pre-Brexit and pre-Covid levels, the city’s mayor Sadiq Khan has said.
The UK capital is soaring ahead on the tourism and transport fronts, he said, even before the busy summer season.
“I think we’re back,” Mr Khan told the Financial Times. “If you look at public transport numbers at weekends, tourism and leisure is back.”
With a population of nine million, London was one of the world’s most visited cities before being brought to a standstill by the coronavirus outbreak.
Like others cities across Britain and beyond, London’s economy took a battering from the shutdown.
Since being elected as London’s first Muslim mayor in 2016, Mr Khan has clashed with Tory politicians over policies affecting the capital.
During the pandemic, he secured several bailouts worth hundreds of millions of pounds to keep the Transport for London (TfL) network afloat.
Conservative MPs and the then-prime minister Boris Johnson accused the mayor of mismanaging money.
Mr Khan said the city had been subjected to an attitude of ill will by successive Conservative government.
But he expressed hope that his dealings with No 10 Downing Street would improve if Labour wins power at the next general election.
The party, led by Keir Starmer, is soaring ahead of the Tories in the latest polls.
Mr Khan is expected to run — and win — a third term as London mayor in 2024. “This anti-London animus isn’t going to go away overnight with a change of government,” he said. “[But] the potential of working with a Labour government that’s pro-London is so incredibly exciting.”
Mr Khan campaigned against Brexit and since the UK voted to leave the EU in June 2016 he has stuck to his position.
He has argued that the drop in immigration from European countries has caused businesses, particularly hotels and restaurants, across London to suffer.
He has urged the government to launch a new scheme for EU citizens to obtain London-only worker visas to help companies fill vacancies.
“Businesses in London complain of two big things: a skills shortage and a labour shortage,” he said. “Some restaurants are doing no lunch sittings because they’ve not got the staff.”
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
