Sadiq Khan and three aides bill Londoners for Davos trip

Sadiq Khan and three City Hall aides billed taxpayers more than a thousand pounds to attend this year’s World Economic Forum at the Davos ski resort.

Figures obtained by the Standard reveal that the Mayor stayed at the four-star Sunstar Alpine Hotel while the three aides stayed at the stunning mountain-top Schatzalp Hotel.

A one-night stay for the group, who flew in from London on January 18 and left the next day, cost £1,687.30. The Mayor’s hotel was £190 for the night.

City Hall today said the trip provided the opportunity to “strengthen ties” after Brexit, and cost far less than Davos trips by ex-mayor Boris Johnson.

But John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The real question is why [Mr Khan] needed to take so many staff members with him for a trip lasting only 24 hours.”

A spokesman for the Mayor said Mr Johnson took teams of five in 2013 and 2014 and both trips cost over £5,800.

He added: “There is no other location in the world where it is possible to meet so many global leaders and business people in one place in a visit that lasted little over 20 hours, and cost less than a third of the price of visits to Davos organised by the former mayor.”