Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Livingstone, Trams and Peckham

Earlier this month, serf blogged about the failed tram plans from TfL. Well today I've heard of a similar story, but this time it's in Peckham, an area which has rightly seen substantial regeneration investment during the last few years. It appears that Livingstone wants to allow a large area of Peckham’s town centre to be blighted by plans for a Tram Depot on it.

The Depot would form part of the Cross River Tram, which has already cost around £25m. What doesn't make sense is why Livingstone wants to have the tram depot in the middle of a town centre. Croydon, which already has trams, has sensibly located it's depot outside the town centre.

There's now growing opposition to Livignstone's proposals locally which is calling for full public review of the plans. The question is what Livingstone and his TfL politiburo will do. Listen to the locals or whatever he wants with his new "strategic" powers? You know what they say about asking a silly question!

Livingstone, Trams and Peckham

Earlier this month, serf blogged about the failed tram plans from TfL. Well today I've heard of a similar story, but this time it's in Peckham, an area which has rightly seen substantial regeneration investment during the last few years. It appears that Livingstone wants to allow a large area of Peckham’s town centre to be blighted by plans for a Tram Depot on it.

The Depot would form part of the Cross River Tram, which has already cost around £25m. What doesn't make sense is why Livingstone wants to have the tram depot in the middle of a town centre. Croydon, which already has trams, has sensibly located it's depot outside the town centre.

There's now growing opposition to Livignstone's proposals locally which is calling for full public review of the plans. The question is what Livingstone and his TfL politiburo will do. Listen to the locals or whatever he wants with his new "strategic" powers? You know what they say about asking a silly question!

Monday, September 25, 2006

The £550 Million Buses

Subsidies that would make a French farmer blush are being shovelled into the London bus service.
In 2004/05 - the most recent year for which fully validated data is available - the bus network required a subsidy of £550 million.
Streamlined and efficient government I am sure.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

London boroughs to come out fighting against Livingstone?

Apparently the results of a survey by the Association of London Government into the new powers that have been bestowed on Livingstone will be released tomorrow. Word is they're not exactly positive towards the idea of dictator Livingstone.

There are already cross-party supported mutterings against Livingstone's powers in Camden, and these survey results will show a similar backlash across the London boroughs to the concentration of power in the Mayor office.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

'State of the art' solar panels for the Great Glass Eyeball.

City Hall's media centre has a puff piece on how the building has "has been given the go ahead for state-of-the-art photovoltaic solar panels to generate non-polluting energy". The breathless prose does not, however, give any indication as to what percentage of the building's electricity will come from these panels, nor, of course, quite how much these 'state of the art' panels actually cost.

Livingstone commented "I hope that other agencies and firms will now start to copy our lead and install solar panels on their own buildings."

Maybe they will, maybe they won't, but one thing is certain: companies will be answerable for the cost of any action of this sort, whereas we Londoners have the pleasure of paying for this exercise in fashionable tokenism. What chance of flushing out the information via a Freedom of Information request?

Slick Ken's oil deal

In the latest show of anti-Americanism from Ken Livingstone, the news of his deal with ardent George Bush critic, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, is completely wrong in so many ways.

Firstly, the deal itself. Ken has brokered the deal to allow him to get subsidised oil from Venezuela, in return for consultancy advice on transport, CCTV, and finger printing. Sounds like an opportunity for another TfL style quango .

In his speech to the London Assembly on Wednesday he said: "I suspect we are two or three months away from finalising this deal, but it was certainly the case that President Chavez wanted to target the benefit to the very poorest, the unemployed." However, if that was the case wouldn't Chavez want to get full price for his oil to help the poor in his own country first.

In addition, when you considering the fact that Mr Livingstone has criticised the war in Iraq as being an oil grab by the US, isn't he just doing the same?

Also, as has reported in the past, this is the lastest in a string of policies by Ken that destroys his "green" agenda. Instead of looking at alternative fuelled vehicles for use on London's roads, he is simply going to keep the fleet of carbon producing diesel buses.

The deal for more oil, doesn't exactly make much sense, especially when you are supposedly trying to turn London into a low-emissions zone. Or, is this simply a show of solidarity for his socialist, anti-Bush, friend?

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Cash fares to increase by 33% on the Tube

Ken Livingstone yesterday announced his latest move for forcing people on to the Oyster card, and penalise those who still pay for their fares by cash.

In the January fares revision, a zone 1 tube fare is will rise by a staggering 33% from £3 to £4 for a single journey. Cash fares for bus journeys in zone one will also rise from £1.50 to £2 as part of the fares package.

In his speech Livingstone stated: "the big differential between cash and Oyster card fares is designed to speed up the system by getting people to switch from cash to Oyster. I want to see every Londoner paying the lowest possible fares by switching to Oyster".

The move has sparked anger amongst the majority of tube users, as it means the cost of travelling one stop on the Tube will have quadrupled in two years.

Brian Cooke, Chairman of London TravelWatch said: "we are extremely concerned about the rise in cash fares on buses and on the tube if the journey includes Zone 1. Cash fares on buses are rising 33% to two pounds, and cash fares on the tube in zone 1 will also rise 33% to an astronomical four pounds. There are still not adequate facilities for visitors and tourists to buy Oyster cards easily, so this will really hit hard. London is already an expensive city - it has now become even more expensive for visitors to the city.

The fares increase is not what London needs, as it's just Ken's way of taxing the use of public transport even further.

After all he wants to further tax cars in London to force us on to public transport , and then further penalise us until we switch to his oyster card dream by increasing fares by a ludicrous amount to reap the profits.

Ken Doesn't Tell the Truth

I know that readers will be unwilling to believe such slander against the great leader, but I have it on good authority.

Ken claims that better management of the London Transport system has enabled a less than previously expected increase in ticket prices. Unfortunately it seems that most of the money actually came from central government and that cash fairs are going up by a whopping third.

You know what else is whopping? Ken's lies of course.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Livingstone's bid for a brass neck award

The London.gov.uk site contains KL's message of 'good will' for Rosh Hashanah. In the light of his less than sensitive interventions on matters Jewish, it is perhaps not surprising that he is not attending the Simcha to be held in Trafalagar Square on the 17th, but instead sending Nicky Gavron....

Oyster Cards to be sold to tourists before they come to Britain?

A few days ago, Ken Livingstone's monopoly transport provider, TfL, made a press announcement which was heavily picked up around the world saying that Oyster Card are to go on sale in India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain, Portugal and the US via VisitBritain online shops.

Can anyone smell a junket coming on? What exactly is wrong with selling Oyster Cards at the airports and train stations? Why such far flung reaches as well? According to the Office of National Statistics the USA is the only nation in the top five for inbound tourism that is also on TfL's list.

You have to then ask yourself why start issuing Oyster Cards out in places like India, Hong Kong and Singapore? I expect that in the next few months there will be a few "fact-finding missions" to these far flung reaches by TfL staffers at the London taxpayers expense.

However, something else that the reports say is that these pre-pay Oyster cards will be based upon the local currency for where they are purchased. So a card bought in India will have Ruppees put on it and people will not have to worry about "Exchange Rates". What does that imply for pricing?

Ever feel like you've been cheated?

Monday, September 04, 2006

£24.5m spent on tram that may never run

From This is London
TRANSPORT for London has spent £24.5 million on the controversial West London Tram scheme, despite the possibility that it may not go ahead.
Funding depends on the central government providing the money, the residents along the route largely oppose the project and yet they forge ahead.

Mere democracy cannot be allowed to get in the way of Ken's grand vision, nor stop the nice little earner for all those consultants.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Ken attacks Britain's Race Equality Chief

In a live radio interview yesterday, Mayor Ken showed us all why he should not be re-elected in 2008.

During the interview he accused Britain's Racial equality chief, Trevor Phillips, of being so right wing that he could join the BNP.

The mayor, who fell out with Mr Phillips in the fight to lead London, told BBC London radio: “I don’t know where Trevor Phillips is going. I mean I remember when we had the first mayor election . . . he denounced me as racist because I said to him, ‘Would you like to be my deputy?’.”

Ken then went on to say: “Ever since then he’s gone so far over the other side that I expect soon he’ll be joining the BNP. I think exactly what Trevor is doing is trying to move the race agenda away from a celebration of multiculturalism and pandering to the Right, and I have to say it’s absolutely disgraceful.”

It is plain to see that Ken cannot conduct himself professionally in public office. He is simply unable to hold a sensible discussion without degenerating into personal and childish slurs at anyone who disagrees with him.

His list of shame also includes calling a jewish news reporter a "nazi war criminal", and the US ambassador in London a "thieving little crook".

And people wonder why this site was set up.

Pot, Kettle, Black

Ken Livingstone has called Trevor Phillips of the Commission for Racial Equality, a self publicist, who is only interested in getting into the papers.

Note to Ken, take a look in the mirror. He should also take into consideration the fact that Mr Phillips doesn't have a £100 Million self publicity budget.