Fares Rise: Ken Says, Boris Says, Ken Says, Boris Says...

Ken says:

"Boris Johnson's claim that his swingeing fare attacks on Londoners are due to Ken Livingstone's 'largesse' is totally false and a transparent attempt to pass the buck for the costs of his own wrong policies and waste, including abandoning the charge on gas-guzzlers costing between £30 million and £50 million a year, abandoning the cheap oil deal with Venezuela worth £16 million a year, and the possible dropping of the congestion charge zone in Kensington and Chelsea which would throw away even more money.

Cavalier future plans of the Boris Johnson administration would cost even more, such as £100 million for a new 'routemaster' bus. London has a Mayor who transfers millions of pounds from ordinary Londoners who use public transport to drivers of gas guzzlers and residents of Kensington and Chelsea."

Boris says:

"Livingstone's claims are an attempt to re-write history to justify his mistakes. We are delivering £1.6 billion of savings from TfL's budget, and ensuring value for money for Londoners. Ken's gimmicks cost over £84 million this year and created a funding gap that threatened investment in London's transport. For him to try to offest this against his derided deal with Chavez or the hated £25 congestion charge, both of which contributed to his downfall, does not stand up.

"The agreement Ken signed with Venezuela stipulated that money given to London that was unspent, as several million was, must be returned. We will be delivering half priced travel for Londoners on income support next year, budgeted at around £7 million and paid for by us, not Venezuela's poor. Under Ken, some £8 million was wasted on the C02 charge that no-one wanted, with a further £10m saved by not going ahead. Then there is the £30 million squandered on the West London Tram that never got built.

"Going forward, this fares package will plug the gap left by the last administration and restore the stability that will enable the upgrade of the transport system to continue. We will be looking at the costs of the transport improvements that the mayor has committed to, including the new Routemaster, in the next budget round and will set out plans for funding at that time."

I predictd a row, but not a day-long brawl. Meanwhile, the Troll has steamed in. Go on, my son.

Comments

[OneHopeOneChoice]

If Ken's gimmicks cost us £84 million and Boris' are costing us £146 million (with potential more millions if the Western Extension goes), then we could make a £62 million saving by impeaching Boris or having a recall election and voting Ken back in.

Even if the mentioned figures for the CO2 charge (I thought the Greens and inner boroughs wanted it?) and the West London Tram were added to Ken's total (I suspect the £84 million included them), we'd still get more value for money under Ken.

Maybe I'm just mean and think that Boris is being arrogant in deciding that the Chavez and £25 charge contributed to Ken's downfall, rather than the Evening Boris and the doughnut strategy.

[Roger Evans]

The budget committee has requested details of the advice given to the previous mayor by TfL and his responses, so all will become clear, although not before the news agenda has moved on, unfortunately.

And it would be nice to see less complaining about the so called 'doughnut strategy'. Some people seem to think that residents of outer London boroughs like mine shouldn't count when it comes to the vote - although they are always appreciated when the bills are sent out.

[angela]

OneHopeOnechoice, the flaw in your plan is Ken wouldn't get back in though. If we add up the salaries of his female friends and partners, how much would that come to? And add on the cost of all the projects that never came to fruition or produced anything.... then there was the cost of the bus to Beijing, the newt project he was going to finance, the general wastefulness and lack of due diligence.....