London Mayor Sadiq Khan has admitted that the £50M of taxpayers' cash has already been spent and lost on the scrapped Garden Bridge and there is no way to retrieve the money back. 

Speaking to LBC's radio program yesterday, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan stated that "the deal struck by his predecessor Boris Johnson on the controversial tree-lined bridge beggared belief."

Sadiq Khan had given his decision about the controversial London Garden Bridge at the end of April and scrapped the Thomas Heatherwick-designed project due to financial uncertainties of its fundraising scheme to begin construction. 

Regarding the speculative budget scheme of the project, Khan said that "money committed by Mr Johnson and George Osborne from the Greater London Authority and the Department for Transport had already been spent."

"The money that Boris Johnson gave to the [Garden Bridge] Trust has been spent by the Trust," Mr Khan said.

It was expected that the overall budget for the Garden Bridge would be cost £200M in total. When Margaret Hodge, a Member of Parliament, submitted an independent report on investigating proper management plans over public funds and conducting the procedures about the project, the report was already pointing out that the funds spent for the project were not well managed.

The Garden Bridge, located between Temple station and the South Bank, was originally set to be 100% funded by private sector donors. 

"One of the criticisms of Dame Margaret Hodge in her report was the fact that there was no incentive for those who pledged money, these rich donors, to actually give the money over," continued Mr Khan.

"These were pledges, not actual money, as a consequence of the deal made by the previous mayor, monies were given to the Trust by him and the Government – that money’s been spent."

The presenter did not let the issue slide and probed further. 

He said: "Nothing you can do to chase the man who spent it? I know where he is – he’s in the Foreign Office." But Mr Khan insisted it was out of his power after Mr Johnson signed a mayoral direction handing over the money.

The grilling came after a furious radio caller blasted the mayor in a heated exchange over social housing in London. A caller Andrew accused Mr Khan and his office of being "wined and dined" by developers at the expense of social housing.

But Mr Khan refuted the claims and insisted he was working hard to "build the homes we need" in the capital.

"As a consequence of the deal made by the previous Mayor, monies were given by him and by the Government and that money has been spent."

And James O’Brien, the LBC presenter, asked whether the taxpayer should "wave goodbye" to the £50m. Mr Khan responded: "It does look that way, yes, because the money has been spent."

All images courtesy of Arup

> via Leading Britain's Conversation