Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Thank you, Mayor, A
Speaker 1: big round of apast for our Mayor. I feel like
Speaker 1: it's very hard Mayor to impress you. So London's had
Speaker 1: the Olympics, the Coronation, even Taylor Swift. How does you
Speaker 1: know south By South Wet's rank on the Mayor All
Speaker 1: Excitement scale this week?
Speaker 2: I think south By Southwest London is just below Harry
Speaker 2: Styles in twelve nights at Wembley Stadium.
Speaker 3: I mean it's sort of that's sort of bit. It's great.
Speaker 3: I'm really I'm really.
Speaker 2: Pleasing proud that south Bay Southwest is back. I mean,
Speaker 2: the sort of people we've got in this room is amazing.
Speaker 2: This week's gonna be amazing, and it kicks off an
Speaker 2: amazing June. We've got London Tech Week next week and
Speaker 2: the Climate Action Week taking place later on this month.
Speaker 2: And it's a great springboard because what South Bay Southwest
Speaker 2: does so well, as I said, it's the multi disciplines,
Speaker 2: it's the multi generation, it's the multi beliefs, multi backgrounds
Speaker 2: coming together, and this is an incubator for great ideas
Speaker 2: and I'm just so excited.
Speaker 3: And so proud.
Speaker 1: You touched on this in your opening speech. If London
Speaker 1: only existed on social media, it'd be very difficult to
Speaker 1: get people to actually move here. So why is the
Speaker 1: internet so bad on cities and how do you fight disinformation?
Speaker 3: Well, I think.
Speaker 2: Attack in London has become a national school and an
Speaker 2: international sport.
Speaker 3: Why do I say that.
Speaker 2: Most people's experience of London it's very different to the
Speaker 2: version you see on social media, and there's a reason
Speaker 2: for that. We've done some research and looked into what's
Speaker 2: going on here. Basically, you're a combination of people using
Speaker 2: the algorithms on social media that monetize negativity and hatred,
Speaker 2: but also combination of state actors, whether it's China, Russia
Speaker 2: or MAGA influences being unhappy that a city that is progressive, liberal,
Speaker 2: diverse is incredibly successful. I mean, we are the antidote,
Speaker 2: antithesis of nativist populist movements.
Speaker 3: So don't be surprised if you've got people on.
Speaker 2: Social media spreading misinformation, disinformation and lies about London and
Speaker 2: not any metrics. Not we're not perfect, but we are
Speaker 2: the greatest city in the world in terms of culture, tourism, music. Uh,
Speaker 2: thank thank you, Mom. You know a number of metrics
Speaker 2: we're doing, you know, remarkably well. So you know, I'm
Speaker 2: not surprised that there are people, you know, spreading misinformation.
Speaker 2: And I'm hoping those who are visiting London this week
Speaker 2: from across the country, across Europe, across the world will
Speaker 2: sample there, will rule London and then go back and
Speaker 2: talk about this to friends, colleagues, neighbors, and even do
Speaker 2: a sale on social media.
Speaker 1: So is that the biggest myth about London that drives
Speaker 1: you absolutely mad?
Speaker 2: Well, there are a number of things, but one of
Speaker 2: the things that I think that frustrates me is this
Speaker 2: idea that it's not possible to be diverse and successful,
Speaker 2: that in some way diversity is a weakness sort of
Speaker 2: strength that makes us poor, lot richer, you know, weak
Speaker 2: are not stronger. I know, I know the opposite is
Speaker 2: the truth. But actually, if it's somebody who's a nativist,
Speaker 2: you're somebody whose populism grows from nativism. If it's somebody
Speaker 2: believes in mono ethnism or believes in you know, nationalism,
Speaker 2: then nuners a problem for you because.
Speaker 3: We're the opposite of all that. You know.
Speaker 2: South By Southwest London coming back for a second time.
Speaker 2: It shows you know, were those that experienced this last
Speaker 2: year feel about London. I'm really proud and please you're
Speaker 2: back and I hope you make the most of this week.
Speaker 1: So may every generation or most generations get a technology
Speaker 1: that could change everything. I mean, when creatives here, AI,
Speaker 1: many here threats, what do you hear?
Speaker 2: But when it comes to AI, which is which is
Speaker 2: the which is the technology that I think it will
Speaker 2: be the biggest game changer in my lifetime. I think
Speaker 2: there's a number of ways, number ways looking at this.
Speaker 2: Look if you look about it, look at the three
Speaker 2: biggest disruptors and the last two or a year, There's
Speaker 2: been the Industrial revolution, there's been globalization, and there's now
Speaker 2: been AI. And why AI is fascinating for a number
Speaker 2: of reasons is the speed in which AI is going
Speaker 2: to transform our societies compared to globalization and industrial revolution.
Speaker 3: But also I think, unlike the previous two.
Speaker 2: This will impact white collar jobs, this will impact global cities.
Speaker 2: And I'm not an AI evangelist, I'm not an AI alarmist.
Speaker 3: I'm an AI realist. And so what.
Speaker 2: I've done is work with experts across the different sectors
Speaker 2: and asked, you know, Martha Lane Fox, so need a
Speaker 2: task force into what is the future of work, what
Speaker 2: is the future of work in London and also at
Speaker 2: the same time set up for everyone.
Speaker 3: In the city free training in AI.
Speaker 2: I think there's going to be those jobs where it
Speaker 2: dougments and I think it's important that we understand this
Speaker 2: thing is coming. The genie's out of the bottle. It
Speaker 2: can be transformative, mainly for good. There are some challenges.
Speaker 2: I'm a believer in guardra else I've seen the downside
Speaker 2: of social media without proper guardrails. I don't think we
Speaker 2: should repeat that when it comes to AI. But the
Speaker 2: potentially is huge in terms of benefits to public services.
Speaker 2: Benef it's the private sector. But there are challenges that
Speaker 2: we shouldn't put ahead in the sunds. I think we
Speaker 2: acknowledge that and address them.
Speaker 1: Mayor and national politics has felt increasingly unstable, and that's
Speaker 1: probably the understatement of today. Are mayors becoming the most
Speaker 1: trusted politicians because people can actually see what's what gets
Speaker 1: done in their cities.
Speaker 2: Well, we've one of the things you talking about AI.
Speaker 2: Whilst national governments have sort of sort of been sort
Speaker 2: of sleepwalking into this mayster across the globe. We've set
Speaker 2: up a World Mayor's AI Forum. Seven cities across five
Speaker 2: continents were represent one hundredllion people are working together. Look
Speaker 2: at the opportunities and challenges of a I've talked about
Speaker 2: the task force in London.
Speaker 3: I think I think I.
Speaker 2: See mayors as doers, and I see say in respect
Speaker 2: for way. Some of our best friends are prime ministers
Speaker 2: and national politicians and national government, says Delayers, ditherers. Whether
Speaker 2: it's climate change, whether it's AI, whether it's social media,
Speaker 2: and whole host of issues. And you're seeing across the
Speaker 2: globe Mays doing stuff. Meres getting stuff done because we're
Speaker 2: close to the people. We're dexterous, we're flexible, we pop
Speaker 2: the ideology by a large degree.
Speaker 3: We're pragmatic.
Speaker 2: And I think you're seen across the globe Mays leading
Speaker 2: the way in reducing carbon emissions, leading the way and
Speaker 2: making just transition, leading the way and using AI, but
Speaker 2: also addressing the challenges, leading the way in creating green jobs,
Speaker 2: but also a place where people want to move to.
Speaker 2: We're seeing across the globe, not just in the UK,
Speaker 2: people wanted to move to cities. Urbanization is a phenomenon
Speaker 2: we've not seen for some time. And I think it's
Speaker 2: one of the reasons is because you've got mayors across
Speaker 2: the globe, whether it's Paris, New York, at Los Angeles, Laca, Freetown,
Speaker 2: Deli leading the way.
Speaker 1: You've spent years telling London story to the world. Does
Speaker 1: Labor need to be stronger about telling Britain story to
Speaker 1: the world.
Speaker 2: But when I when I when I speak to colleagues,
Speaker 2: including the colleagues here from across the globe, they see
Speaker 2: one of the huge strengths of the UK. We've got
Speaker 2: We've got certain two, we've got stability because you know,
Speaker 2: the Labor Party won a massive majority of the last
Speaker 2: general election. That is not the case and other countries
Speaker 2: across the globe. That's one of the reasons people want
Speaker 2: to invest here and want to want to come here
Speaker 2: and so forth. And I think, you know, we Labor
Speaker 2: needs to just be cognizant of the downsize of instability
Speaker 2: the impact that can create. That's not to say that
Speaker 2: the results on made the seventh gen local elections in
Speaker 2: the in the UK elections in Scotland and Welles weren't
Speaker 2: catastrophic for Labor. They were and we've got to acknowledge
Speaker 2: that and respond to that. But I think we're going
Speaker 2: to be quite careful about how we respond to that.
Speaker 2: I think we've got a fragmentation of politics in the UK.
Speaker 2: We've got five parties now via for votes, where previously
Speaker 2: only two parties really vote for those votes. I think
Speaker 2: competition is a good thing if you're good at your game.
Speaker 2: Competitions should make you raise your game, whether it's football,
Speaker 2: whether it's politics, whether it's a business, and you shouldn't
Speaker 2: be fair of competition. I think how we respond to
Speaker 2: competition is the exam question, and I fear the National
Speaker 2: Party may not respond in a way we've responded in London.
Speaker 2: In London, I've tried to be a mare for all
Speaker 2: london As. I've asked people who vote Green to lend
Speaker 2: me their votes. I've asked pep who vote Libdemps to
Speaker 2: lend me their votes. I've asked people who are Conservatives
Speaker 2: lend me their votes, and people who labor to leave
Speaker 2: their homes and vote for me. And I think that
Speaker 2: coalition is incredibly important. People who are thinking about voting
Speaker 2: in reform to lend me their vote. And I think
Speaker 2: the idea that somebody is a lifelong Democrat or a
Speaker 2: lifelong labor voter. Those days are gone, and that's why
Speaker 2: we've got to earn people's vote every election. You can't
Speaker 2: take it for granted. That means we should raise our games.
Speaker 2: That's saying I relish.
Speaker 1: You mentioned football, and sure we have Arsenal fans in
Speaker 1: the room. I'm sure we have many Arsenal fans. It's
Speaker 1: been quite a couple of weeks for London.
Speaker 2: Listen, so London now has six Premier League clubs. I
Speaker 2: sport a club outside London, I sport Liverpool.
Speaker 3: We've had.
Speaker 2: We've had a difficult season, but it's been a great,
Speaker 2: great week for London. We had Crystal Palace winning the
Speaker 2: European Trophy, Arsenal win the Premier League, didn't quite win
Speaker 2: the Champions League. But sport is really important lor London
Speaker 2: now is the sporting capital of the world. We don't
Speaker 2: just have a great you know, English teams doing well.
Speaker 2: We've got American sport coming there with you know, American football, baseball,
Speaker 2: basketball and so forth, boxing and so forth, and so
Speaker 2: it's really important, not just for the elite sports people,
Speaker 2: for all three people to get involved in sports and stuff,
Speaker 2: but it's been a great, you know, great few years
Speaker 2: of sports for London.
Speaker 1: So ten years on from Brexit, are we finally kind
Speaker 1: of moving on from argument to practicality. What do you
Speaker 1: see that meeting for the creative world?
Speaker 2: Well, I think Look, I think Brexit was the biggest
Speaker 2: acts of economic self harm any country's ever done. It's
Speaker 2: also been devastating for US socially and culturally as well.
Speaker 2: London itself has done remarkable We are not understanding in Brexit,
Speaker 2: but I'm really optimistic about the future. You know, I
Speaker 2: tease the mention of London maxin. You know, we are
Speaker 2: humming in terms of, you know, making the most of
Speaker 2: the bad hand we were getting with Brexit. You know,
Speaker 2: the AI capital of Europe, number two, number three in
Speaker 2: the world when it comes to tech, when it comes
Speaker 2: to finance, when it comes to professional service, when it.
Speaker 3: Comes to culture, music, sports. We are humming. But Brexit
Speaker 3: has caused a big challenge.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, our GDP's done a BYuT like
Speaker 2: ten percent impacted business, impact of trade, impacted investment, and
Speaker 2: I'd be quite trained by this. I think we should
Speaker 2: rejoin the European Union.
Speaker 1: So Europe feels much closer than it did five years ago.
Speaker 2: Well, one of the things I think this government's done
Speaker 2: really well is to resettle relations with the European Union.
Speaker 2: It's just a fact that you know, Kase Armer is
Speaker 2: much for any terms with President macarn with the Chancellor
Speaker 2: of Germany, with those in the European Union, and.
Speaker 3: That's really important.
Speaker 2: There are nearest trading partners, our biggest trading partners, and
Speaker 2: we should have close for alignment. And I think, you know,
Speaker 2: the Prime minist and resetting relations was incredibly important. I
Speaker 2: think the youth and Bitty scheme is going to be
Speaker 2: incredibly important. I've done us to go further to rejoin
Speaker 2: the Customers Union, to rejoin the Single Market, and then
Speaker 2: to rejoin the European Union.
Speaker 1: Mayor, it's so nice actually to see a very young,
Speaker 1: creative crowd. If you're eighteen in London today, where do
Speaker 1: you think the biggest opportunities are that maybe weren't here
Speaker 1: ten years ago.
Speaker 2: I think other Londoners are the greatest opportunity, genuinely. I
Speaker 2: mean I said in my speech and Patrick said this,
Speaker 2: it's the different backgrounds, the diversity in terms of what
Speaker 2: people's interests are, what their backgrounds are, what their beliefs are.
Speaker 2: That multi faceting human being you don't see anywhere else.
Speaker 2: And that's the most exciting thing about being an eighteen
Speaker 2: year old in London that still.
Speaker 3: Exists a different face.
Speaker 2: I've just returned from the Hudge pilgrimage and was speaking
Speaker 2: to Laura backstage, who's just come back from Lords. I mean,
Speaker 2: you know, a Catholic and a Muslim talking backstage. A
Speaker 2: good example in London. You could be Jewish, you could
Speaker 2: be Christian, you could be a Hindu, Buddhist. We talked
Speaker 2: about you know, Butler House, somebody who's not a member
Speaker 2: of an organized faith. You could be rich, could be poor.
Speaker 2: You can be a sports person. You cannot be sports puging, sport,
Speaker 2: Arsenal or even Spurs, whatever team you support, You're welcome
Speaker 2: in London, even Man United.
Speaker 1: Fans, even Man United. Okay, Mayor, it's twenty thirty six.
Speaker 1: South By Southwest London is celebrating its twelfth edition. Can
Speaker 1: everyone picture that? What's the headline you'd frame and put
Speaker 1: on your wall.
Speaker 2: We managed to make the most of ai. We managed
Speaker 2: to still have a Mayor's human being and a blue
Speaker 2: represented as a human being on stage here as we
Speaker 2: open south by Southwest and they're both called Francied and
Speaker 2: Saday is success to me, but genuinely, but genuinely think
Speaker 2: I think this air revolution is really exciting, but it's
Speaker 2: really scary as well. And I think the energy here
Speaker 2: and the expertise here is what's needed to make sure
Speaker 2: we navigate ourselves successfully over the next ten years. Because
Speaker 2: I think some cities will get it wrong. I think
Speaker 2: some regulators will get it wrong, and I'm confident in
Speaker 2: London will get it right. I think mayors across the
Speaker 2: global working together to make sure we get it right
Speaker 2: here in London. The task was said by you know,
Speaker 2: Marthline Fox is working really hard to make sure we
Speaker 2: get it right. And it's really important to get it right.
Speaker 2: Why because we could see in ten years what it
Speaker 2: took one hundred years for the Industrial Revolution to see,
Speaker 2: what it took fifty years for globalization to see. But
Speaker 2: I want it to be a positive, not a negative.
Speaker 2: And that's why it's really important in ten years time
Speaker 2: for Southwest, Southwest Southeast London still exist, but also for
Speaker 2: us to see the fruits of this, you know, transformative
Speaker 2: technology rather than the perils.
Speaker 1: It's really important I'll offering that too. We're staying human. Mayor,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for your dudgment. I thank you
Speaker 1: so much.
Speaker 3: A great week. Thank