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Sadiq Khan’s campaign to run suburban railways suffered a major blow today when the leader of Kent council withdrew support and accused him of giving mixed messages.

Paul Carter claimed the Mayor of London had given “contradictory” promises to people inside and outside the capital.

In a stinging letter, he told Mr Khan that many Kent councillors “do not trust you to take control of rail services that affect our county”.

The dramatic letter comes a month after Transport Secretary Chris Grayling blocked Mr Khan’s bid to control Southeastern’s services through South East London, which could have been the first stage of a franchise-by-franchise takeover.

Kent is instead supporting Mr Grayling’s offer of a “partnership” which he says would avoid conflicts of interest between Londoners and long-distance commuters.

It weakens Mr Khan’s pitch that his rail plans were backed both in London and Tory-run Kent, Surrey and Hertfordshire.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Mr Carter said Kent’s previous backing for Mr Khan had always been conditional on “red lines” to protect Kent services.

The Mayor promised on January 5 to give Londoners “increased train frequencies” which, he said, was “potentially to the detriment of Kent commuters” because, with stations at full capacity, any extra trains for the suburbs could squeeze out trains from Kent.

In his letter he blamed the mayor for destroying trust, saying: “Unfortunately you gave us and people in London completely different messages about your plans.

"Within London you promised that rail devolution would mean faster, more frequent services for the people you represent.

"In Kent you made a directly contradictory promise that there would be no additional services for people in London, and that you would only seek to increase capacity by lengthening trains and platforms.”

Tube strike chaos 17 show all Tube strike chaos 1/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Crowds of commuters at Liverpool Street station Jeremy Selwyn 2/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Crowds of commuters at Liverpool Street station Jeremy Selwyn 3/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Crowds of commuters at Liverpool Street station Jeremy Selwyn 4/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Crowds of commuters at Liverpool Street station Jeremy Selwyn 5/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters battle to get to work at Clapham Junction station @joeylangran/Twitter 6/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters battle to get to work at Clapham Junction station @toomuchxtoofast/Twitter 7/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters battle to get to work at Clapham Junction station @tomb8man/Twitter 8/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters battle to get to work at Clapham Junction station @al_smyth/Twitter 9/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters at King's Cross station during the Tube strike Alex Hooper 10/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters fail to get on a crowded bus outside King's Cross during the Tube strike @JSavageTweets/Twitter 11/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters at London Bridge during the Tube strike @KrisIngham1/Twitter 12/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters at Stratford during the Tube strike @abigailporterxo/Twitter 13/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters battle to get on the DLR from Stratford to Canary Wharf @bradders_xx/Twitter 14/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike The queue at Wimbledon station as commuters brave the Tube strike @marcelleau/Twitter 15/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike The queue at Hackney Central station as commuters brave the Tube strike @CaramelBear81/Twitter 16/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters wait for a bus in Golders Green @melaniewatts 17/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters queue for taxis at Paddington station @sharon_timms1 1/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Crowds of commuters at Liverpool Street station Jeremy Selwyn 2/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Crowds of commuters at Liverpool Street station Jeremy Selwyn 3/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Crowds of commuters at Liverpool Street station Jeremy Selwyn 4/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Crowds of commuters at Liverpool Street station Jeremy Selwyn 5/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters battle to get to work at Clapham Junction station @joeylangran/Twitter 6/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters battle to get to work at Clapham Junction station @toomuchxtoofast/Twitter 7/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters battle to get to work at Clapham Junction station @tomb8man/Twitter 8/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters battle to get to work at Clapham Junction station @al_smyth/Twitter 9/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters at King's Cross station during the Tube strike Alex Hooper 10/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters fail to get on a crowded bus outside King's Cross during the Tube strike @JSavageTweets/Twitter 11/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters at London Bridge during the Tube strike @KrisIngham1/Twitter 12/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters at Stratford during the Tube strike @abigailporterxo/Twitter 13/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters battle to get on the DLR from Stratford to Canary Wharf @bradders_xx/Twitter 14/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike The queue at Wimbledon station as commuters brave the Tube strike @marcelleau/Twitter 15/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike The queue at Hackney Central station as commuters brave the Tube strike @CaramelBear81/Twitter 16/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters wait for a bus in Golders Green @melaniewatts 17/17 Chaos as commuters battle to get to work during the Tube strike Commuters queue for taxis at Paddington station @sharon_timms1

A spokesman for the Mayor urged Kent to sit down and talk, saying nothing had changed since the council backed a TfL business plan last year.

“We have been working very closely with Kent and have been absolutely consistent that we would honour any concerns Kent have raised,” said Mr Khan’s spokesman. “This includes honouring the ‘red-line’ agreement.”

A City Hall source said the Tory-run council’s U-turn looked designed to help out Mr Grayling. “With Chris Grayling under so much pressure, the timing of this letter is suspicious and very convenient for him,” said the source.

Transport Commissioner Mike Brown wrote to Mr Carter urging him to rethink or risk both London and Kent losing influence over services.

Train drivers on Southern - another franchise Mr Khan hopes to run - are on strike for a second day, forcing 300,000 regular passengers to miss work or find other routes in.

Buses laid on by Southern were said to have some empty seats, suggesting many people are working from home.

Another walkout, the third this week, will take place on Friday in the dispute over driver-only operated (DOO) trains.

Although drivers are not taking strike action tomorrow, Southern warns of extensive disruption due to the on-going overtime ban by drivers and the knock-on effects of stock being out place.

Three more walkouts are planned for the end of the month.

The union says DOO is unsafe – a claim robustly denied by Southern.