Boris Johnson says the Night Tube isn't "critical"

Oh come on guys, this is getting silly now.

We'd foolishly thought those issues over staff pay and working hours raised during the Tube strikes that brought the capital to a grinding halt had been solved. That all was back on for the 24hr tube.

We’d even seen that Owl logo mysteriously crop up across stations over the past month or so, leading us all to believe that a nocturnal London Underground weekend service was to be rolled out by the end of the year.

Imagine that: not having to fork out astronomic sums for a 3am UberXL with you and the posse post Infernos. Or paying over the odds from Heathrow when your flight suffers a delay. Handy doesn't cover it.

Well don’t get your hopes up, as apparently we’re back to square one, with talks between London Underground and the unions said to be in deadlock, with no sign of a deal being struck anytime soon.

This update comes as Mayor of London Boris Johnson told LBC Radio the weekend service was not "absolutely critical”, and that Londoner’s that can "live without it" for now.

"There's a very good deal on the table,” he said, "I just hope that members of the Tube unions will get a chance to look at it. No-one will work more hours than they do today. Drivers have the same number of weekends as now.

"I want you to know that this is something I think we should have but - I hope my attitude is clear - it is not something that I regard as absolutely critical.

"I've got to tell you this is something that the city of London has done without for 150 years. What I won't do is pay an unreasonable price for it, which Londoners would feel in their fares,” added Johnson.

By asking Londoners to suck it up, the mop-haired mayor seems to be playing hardball, which is a noticeably different tact to the one he had back in 2013, when proudly unveiling 24hr tube under plans that involved ticket office closures and up to 750 job cuts.

So, if you are waiting for the night train, you might be waiting a while.

James Brown will be turning in his grave.