Oxford Street pedestrianisation plans get the green light

0:02Hi, I'm Charlie Duffield and welcome back to The Standard Podcast. If you're new here, hit follow and give us a rating. For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk. Coming up later in the show, why theatre fans are divided over a new West End debut.

0:29But first, it's regarded as the nation's high street and sees around half a million visitors every day. But today, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed that plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street will go ahead, following overwhelming backing from residents and businesses who took part in a nine-week consultation. Here's Sadiq Khan speaking earlier today. These are North Korean type results, so it's quite remarkable. Somebody's going to rename me Mayor Kim soon, but I'm really pleased and proud. in terms of our consultation. Almost 7 ,000 responded. Seven out of 10 support our plans to, our bold plans to regenerate this iconic street.

1:11More than two thirds support our plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street. So what does this mean for one of the world's busiest shopping areas? Well, for a start, cyclists would be banned from their pedestrianised areas, although potentially just during core trading hours. I don't apologise for wanting this street to be for pedestrians only. That means if you're a really fit cyclist like me and you want to cycle down here, you've got to go round because what you don't want is, and we've all done it in shared spaces, been walking and there's been a cycle whizzing past or you've been pushing a buggy or a wheelchair and a cyclist whizzing past.

1:45And listen, if you're a cyclist, you don't really mind just doing a right or doing a left, going down the parallel streets to get to the other side. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has welcomed the Mayor of London's plans, adding that they will help Oxford Street become a thriving place for tourists and Londoners alike. To find out more, I spoke to the Standard City Hall and Transport editor Ross Lydell. Ross, why has Sadiq been able to go ahead with these plans? I saw Sadiq Khan this morning on the rooftop of Selfridges when he was doing some media interviews and he was grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat because he was really very happy with the results of a consultation that was carried out of all Londoners and London businesses back between February and May.

2:32And the results came back essentially saying that two-thirds of those who took part in the consultation were in favour, not just in favour of actually pedestrianising the street, but also in favour of giving the mayor extra powers, namely taking away power from Westminster Council, which essentially runs the street just now, and also Camden Council, which is involved at the end of the street, the Tottenham Court Road end, in giving those powers and also some money-raising powers to the mayor. So hence Sadiq's very happy, jolly mood. Retailers have been very much in favour of this. Sadiq's release went out overnight and it included support from Ikea, which he visited a few weeks ago.

3:09John Lewis is in favour and Selfridge is in favour, probably because it will bring them more shoppers and will allow more people to come to Oxford Street. So one of these changes is actually going to be introduced? Well, that is a very good question. When will we take place? the next stage is that there will be a second consultation later this year on the precise details because what we don't know for sure yet is where all the buses will go or where all the cyclists will go so that will take us through into probably mid-2026 so we'll still be talking about the fine print for another year the mayor hopes to have the extra powers currently held by the two councils within his grasp by the start of january next year but there are two key dates that could start to mess this up.

3:52One is the borough elections across London in May 2026. The Westminster Council is currently run by the Labour Party, although Sadiq himself, a Labour mayor, doesn't get on too well with Westminster Council. And if the Tories are returning to power at Westminster City Hall, then that could make things a bit trickier for Sadiq. The other date in his diary that he'll be very mindful of is his own mayoral term, which runs out in May 2028. Now, he would certainly want Oxford Street to be pedestrianised by then. If I was a betting man, I would say the pedestrianisation will start to happen around the end of 2026, sort of sometime in 2027.

4:34So looking at where we're at now, traffic will probably be removed from Oxford Street within the next 18 months to two years. Whenever I visit Oxford Street or I'm around Oxford Circus, it's so busy with buses, cabs, cyclists. What does this all mean for the area as a transport hub? We don't know the detail yet. What Sadiq has made quite clear when he was speaking to me earlier today was that he does not want cyclists to cycle on the newly pedestrianised section of Oxford Street. Now, that could be quite an issue because there were so many cyclists there today when I was walking up to nine o 'clock in the morning and probably many Londoners were cycling to work.

5:13In terms of what will happen with Oxford Street and Oxford Circus, there are two big challenges. One is getting rid of the cyclists, because Sadiq has made it very clear that he doesn't want cyclists to cycle in Oxford Street, or certainly in the pedestrianised part. The other is about the buses. There are 16 bus routes that use Oxford Street to some degree at present. These will have to either be diverted or perhaps use Wigmore Street or Mortimer Street to the north of Oxford Street or have their routes changed to some degree. So there are many hurdles to overcome, but it does feel that this problem is now closer to being solved than in previous attempts by either Sadiq himself or his predecessors such as Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson.

5:59Let's go to a break. Coming up in part two, the stage debut causing a stir in the capital. We'll see you back here in just a moment.

6:22Welcome back. Jamie Lloyd's new production of Evita has opened at the London Palladium Theatre, but one of its most iconic scenes has been given an unconventional twist which has outraged some audience members. The story explores spectacle, public image and political theatre, and the actress Eva Peron plays Evita, wearing a sleek blonde wig and flowing white gown. Some have said the staging is creative, whereas others have been left simply feeling ripped off. Joining us now is the standard celebrity correspondent Tina Campbell. Tina, for listeners who might not know the story of Evita, can you tell us a bit more?

7:04So Evita is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice that premiered in 1978. And it's about the story of Eva Perón, the charismatic wife of Argentine president Juan Perón, who rose from humble beginnings to become a powerful political figure and beloved icon in Argentina. What has Rachel Zegler featured in before? So Rachel Zegler is a young American actress and singer who originally shot to fame on YouTube and then playing Maria in Steven Spielberg's 2021 adaptation of West Side Story, for which she won a Golden Globe. She also starred as Snow White in Disney's live-action remake, which was released earlier this year.

7:43Too much controversy. As she outright said, she didn't like the film, which is what the House of Mouse was built on. And a lot of people actually blamed her for the reason why the film bombed. They said that she was too woke for the role and also they had criticism over the fact that she is of Latina ethnicity, whereas the role of Snow White is based on the characters called that because her skin was Snow White. And why has this performance proved so divisive? Well, it's not actually her fault. In the musical, there's this song called Don't Cry For Me Argentina, which is the most iconic scene and song where the character Eva performs on a balcony to the people of Argentina.

8:22And they have decided for this revival at the Palladium that she sings it on the balcony outside the theatre. So she's singing to the people on the streets of Argyle Street, whereas the people inside the theatre, who've paid up with£250 a ticket, watch it on a live feed on a big screen. And this has really divided people because they're like, well, we've paid all this money. Why are we watching a screen? And whereas the people outside are getting a free performance. It sounds like this is quite a bold decision by the director. It's actually not that unusual. Sunset Boulevard, you know, recently, they had an actor who actually walked outside the theatre for that and also then they did it on Broadway as well.

9:00So, you know, it's not the first time it's been done, but I can understand why people wouldn't be particularly pleased, you know, because this is the song most people know if you say Evita, they know that or another suitcase in another hall. And if it's probably one of the only songs that you know you're going in, you know, you want to see it in all of its glory. And how have people reacted to Rachel Zegler? Rachel Zegler, she can't really seem to catch a break. Eva Perrine, she was 33 in real life when she died. And some have argued that Rachel's not quite the right person to portray this character.

9:30Rachel Zegler is only 24 in real life. I mean, she's got amazing vocal qualities, which nobody can deny, but age is not on her side. There was a 1996 film with Madonna in the role, which a lot of people are also probably having in the back of their minds. Finally, do you have anything else to add? Some people like it, but the thing is, I think also, the press night isn't until the 1st of July, I believe. There's only been about two or three performances of it so far, so it'll be interesting to see what the critics say when it comes out, and also if people are just going in with, you know, oh, it's Rachel Zegler, which is not fair on anyone in the cast.

10:10And that's The Standard. For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk. If you'd like to get in touch, please do drop us a line at podcasts at standard.co.uk. We'll be back here tomorrow at 4pm. We'll see you then.