Archives – March, 2008
The GLA election period finally kicked off proper on Tuesday [18th March] with the formal launch of the Mayor’s re-election campaign at the Royal Festival Hall. As well as describing London’s achievements over the past eight years, Ken Livingstone set out new pledges for transport, housing, crime, the environment and community relations over the next four years. He also said the spirit of London was shown in the events of July 2005 when we won the Olympic Games bid, showing London’s ambition, youth and diversity. And we showed the world how to tackle with pride our worst moments, such as the way the city responded to the terrorist atrocity of 7th July 2005.
London’s opportunities were now greater than ever but he warned that the election would highlight clear choices for Londoners: this election is not Celebrity Big Brother; its about the most serious issues and the future of our city. On Crossrail, the biggest transport scheme in Europe, Ken Livingstone noted that it could transform London’s transport for the better or destroy the finances of the City for many years. However Boris Johnson could not even be bothered to vote on it in Parliament! The Tube refurbishment and the handling of the Metronet contracts can also transform our city’s biggest transport asset – but Boris’s Transport manifesto doesn’t mention what his plans for the Tube were going to be. On affordable homes for Londoners, we have seen the doubling of house building in London with an affordable element in the past 8 years, achieved through the 50 per cent policy which Boris Johnson wants to abolish. On crime and policing, Johnson calls for ‘big ticket savings’ in the Police budget – this when crime has been cut every year for the past five years. This has only been achieved because hard decisions have been taken to pay for increased police numbers. On good community relations we have seen racists attacks down by a half when in other regions in the country they are up. In contrast, Boris Johnson uses right wing dog whistle politics to attack “political correctness”. On road safety, he clearly does not like pedestrians as he wants to re-phase traffic lights to supposedly get traffic flowing. He recently told a Radio show that pedestrians ‘are the most dangerous thing on the roads’. And finally nothing shows the differences between Ken and Boris more than their stand on the environment. Boris Johnson’s anti-green stance led him to oppose the proposal to introduce a £25 charge on gas guzzlers.
Finally, Ken Livingstone quiped that ‘it was said by Dr Samuel Johnson in the 18th century that when you are tired of London you leave for Henley’. Lets certainly hope so for Boris Johnson on the 1st of May.
March 28, 2008
It’s been an eventful week again. After months of allegations which have distracted everyone from the real issues facing London this May, Lee Jasper, the Mayor’s race and equalities adviser resigned. While the London media and politicos have been feverishly following the saga, bread and butter issues like Post Office closures and the launch of the mayoral candidates’ transport manifestos are higher on most people’s agenda.
The Assembly has spent an exorbitant amount of time looking into and discussing the allegations against Lee Jasper, at the expense of further scrutiny of the Olympics and other crucial issues facing capital. Important scheduled meetings have had to make way as opponents of the Mayor have exploited the Evening Standard’s allegations against Lee Jasper to the full.
Out canvassing in the real world, I have yet to hear anyone raise the issue on the doorstep. So while the capital’s political and media classes have been totally consumed by the controversy, it has not arisen on the doorstep. If anything, people are struggling to get to the facts and understand what it is Lee is actually supposed to have done. Now he has stood down we can hopefully get back to addressing the real election issues – improving public transport, tackling climate change, keeping London safe, providing affordable housing, preparing for the Olympics and ensuring the continued success of our economy.
From the macro to the micro, the proposal to close Post Offices in West London has aroused strong feeling in all the neighbourhoods affected. In my home-postal district, W9, we will have no Post Offices if the plans go ahead as written. So a residential population of 32,300 including many elderly people and young families will be expected to travel over a mile to St John’s Wood or Bayswater.
Hopefully the Mayor’s legal challenge will put a stop to these unfair closures on the grounds of the disproportionate effect it will have on London and the short length of the consultation process itself.
And finally, the launch of the Mayor’s transport manifesto saw him promise 24-hour freedom passes; mobile phone oyster card payment; 500 CO2 cutting hybrid buses; automatic congestion charge payment; a central London bike hire scheme; the taking over of the Croydon tram link and free travel for veterans. All this whilst Boris Johnson struggles to budget his bus plans properly and has under-costed to the tune of £100 million! With the £16 billion Crossrail project now in the hands of the mayoralty and about to get underway, who would you entrust to run London?
March 11, 2008
On the campaign trail this last week I saw the dark ugly face of British facism alive and well; going to the main rally of the ‘Stop the Heathrow expansion’ and working with Trade Unions for the ‘London Living Wage’ campaign.
On Sunday afternoon during the League Cup final between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspurs, l saw firsthand British fascism in a long while. Not since my schooldays had l seen Chelsea fans chanting anti-semitic comments at Spurs with real intent and venom. It shocked me to the bone.
The ignorance of the Chelsea fascists could not be more pronounced. The irony being that their team is now managed by an Israeli and owned by a Russia Jewish billionaire. So while it has become a slur to be labelled as a Muslim in the US – see the leaking of a photograph of Senator Barak Obama in traditional Muslim dress – and Islamophobic headlines are a daily occurrence in the UK, we should not lose sight of the fact that anti-semitism is alive and well on our doorsteps in London at the beginning of the 21st century.
The rally on Monday night at Westminster Central Hall highlighted well the deep concerns that many west and south-west Londoners have over the proposed expansion of Heathrow. At times it felt like a rally for the Lib Dems and Tories but thankfully Labour MP John McDonnell stole the show with a brilliant speech. That’s not surprising. The issue is dear to his heart as the expansion of Heathrow would destroy his constituency of Hayes & Harlington.
One of the best things the present government has done was to introduce the minimum wage. But the figure of £3.60 was never enough for London’s workers when it was brought in, and the £5.35 currently paid is not enough now.
Because of the additional housing and living costs in the capital, the London Living Wage campaign has argued for a rate of £7.20 per hour. This would particularly benefit low paid employees such as cleaners. l was delighted to be joined by the trade unions on Saturday lunchtime as we discussed their consultation with central London cleaners from all over the globe.
The meeting took place during the lunch break at a Unite Against Fascism conference – a brilliant event. l was grateful to end the week contributing to two positive campaigns after my depressing brush with the far-right.
March 10, 2008