The Guardian: "The 'Paddington Shard' row shines a light on London's mayoral choice"

"The latest outbreak of hostilities over tall buildings in the capital underlines how crucial to the city’s future the next mayor’s planning policies will be"

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"Four days before Christmas, Boris Johnson’s right hand man Sir Edward Lister wrote this for City AM:

"Not for the first time, tall buildings in the capital are attracting media debate and some criticism. But tall buildings in the right places can be part of the solution. Crucially, if we are genuinely serious about preserving our green belt at the same time as managing London’s population explosion, we will need to continue to build upwards.

"Tall buildings can create real value and provide the density so badly needed in a rapidly-growing city. They are not just suitable as bases for the thousands of new companies requiring office space in the capital each year, but as homes for Londoners too."

"The day after that, the Guardian’s Simon Jenkins wrote this for the Evening Standard:

"A plot is afoot to race ahead with a 'second Shard' in Paddington over the New Year. If built, it would be 72 storeys - one floor shorter than its sister tower - overlooking west London between Bayswater and Maida Vale. The developers could be hoping to avoid adverse publicity over the holiday so as to get planning permission at the beginning of March. At that point major planning decisions are suspended in advance of the mayoral elections.

They have the support of the mayor, Boris Johnson, and his tower-hungry deputy, Sir Edward Lister. They cannot trust either of the new mayoral candidates, Zac Goldsmith or Sadiq Khan, to be sympathetic."

"Fight! Fight! Fight! A joust between two of the built environment’s most august knights! A Jedi-esque dust-up over the city’s very soul! Who should we be rooting for, and why?"