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?