Red Ken's Big Green & Yellow Tent
Paul Waugh, now writing the Standard's blog:
"In a deliberate strategy, the Livingstone camp is trying to drive a wedge between Brian Paddick and the Lib Dem party in London. It claims that Lib Dem members of the Assembly like the idea of a £25 c-charge on gas guzzlers and the Low Emission Zone - both of which are opposed by Mr Paddick. It also points to his little-noticed plans to hand all Tube trains over to a private firm. Although this is not the 'privatisation' that Ken claims, it would be a big change for the Underground, leaving TfL in charge but contracting work to companies like the one that runs the DLR. The overall love letter from the Mayor is clear - 'Dear Lib Dem voter, your candidate is not in tune with your own radical green views - he wasn't even a member of the party until recently - so back me instead, Yours ever (at election time) Ken x'."
Well spotted, that man. Makes re-reading the now famous thread under Ken's last Cif piece even more interesting. This bit from Ken himself, for instance:
"It was...a surprise to see a Liberal Democrat supporting privatisation on the Tube and that is why I drew attention to it. But, unfortunately, Tube privatisation is not the only progressive Lib Dem policy you have reversed. Take first the £25 a day CO2 charge for gas guzzlers to enter the central London congestion charging zone. When I announced this policy in December 2006 Geoff Pope, Lib-Dem deputy chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, said in the London Assembly: 'It's great to see the Mayor following in the footsteps of [Lib Dem controlled] Richmond Council and bearing down on gas-guzzlers. Urgent action is needed to tackle the growing number of Chelsea tractors coming into central London. They are damaging and unnecessary vehicles in a densely urbanised 21st century city. I am glad the Green Party are catching up with us on this side. After all, it was my predecessor some two years ago who proposed that there should be an additional charge in the central zone for 4x4s and sports utility vehicles (SUVs).' You have now overturned this policy and sided with Boris Johnson in opposing the £25 charge."
He goes on to say the same about the LEZ. So there we have it: Greens and true Lib Dems are all welcome inside Ken's "progressive" big tent. So too are floaters fretting about Boris's competence. Add to that the Ass Factor and we can see that - contra Cohen and other wishful thinkers - Livingstone's not beaten yet.
What is hard to work out from Livingstone's attack on Brian's plans for the Tube, is why Ken Livingstone is happy to see the bus system and the parts of the overground rail network that Transport for London control operate under the system Brian proposes, but doesn't want to see this successful model used on the Tube.
Under Brian's proposals, fares, service levels and frequency would all remain under the direct control of the Mayor and Transport for London.
It is a model the Liberal Democrats have argued for as soon as it became apparent that this Labour government wasn't going to deal with a failing PPP.
Turning to the other point: the Low Emission Zone will, as Transport for London itself admits, only deliver a 0.3% increase in air quality - which ain't very impressive!
What we need is a proper charging scheme - which is what Brian is arguing for.
Posted by: Mark Pack | March 26, 2008 at 06:03 PM