On Wednesday morning Mr Khan published his manifesto which includes commitments to freeze fares for the full four year mayoral term, build thousands of new homes each year, boost neighbourhood policing and pedestrianise Oxford Street.
Mr Goldsmith later claimed Londoners faced “a £440 hike in Mayoral council tax” to fund what he claimed was “a £5 billion unfunded spending commitment” by the Labour frontrunner.
The Tory mayoral hopeful said that If Mr Khan didn’t raise City Hall’s share of the council tax he would instead be forced to “savagely cut back on the police budget, or cancel virtually all the key transport improvements.”
He added: “Londoners simply can’t afford a four year Corbyn-Khan experiment with our great city.”
Goldsmith’s campaign also claimed Mr Khan’s pledge “to keep council tax as low as possible” was not the same as ruling out increases to fund his policies.
However Labour have now hit back, saying: “This is a new low even for Zac Goldsmith’s desperately negative and dishonest campaign – they have tried and failed to find any unfunded spending commitments in Sadiq’s manifesto and have instead resorted to fibbing about it.”
A statement issued by Mr Khan added: “The Tory campaign has given no details of how Goldsmith’s many spending commitments would be funded. He says he can put more police on public transport and keep them on the street at the same time.
“He has promised to build 200 parks and 100 farms. And he has pledged to demolish and rebuild every one of London’s council estates. None of these policies are funded.
“Goldsmith has no answers to the challenges that London faces. His plan for fares is a 17 per cent hike – which could cost Londoners up to £1,000 over the next four years. He’s not fit to be Mayor of London.”
