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Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
Boris Johnson’s funny money
May 24, 2011 1:47 PM
• [May 24] Mike Tuffrey AM* writes: With a year to go to the London Mayor and London Assembly elections a strange debate is underway about the huge part of London loosely described as "outer London".
Remember the last election? One of the strongest attacks on Ken Livingstone was that he was just a "Zone One Mayor". He was accused of having visited Havana more times than the London Borough of Havering. Three years on and the London Labour Party have decided that no speech, press release, letter or comment can go out without the words "outer London" repeated ad nauseam . .
Truth is, we do need a big boost to outer London, which is suffering escalating housing costs, growing unemployment and increased congestion, just like the rest of London. The mayor's Outer London Commission has sunk without trace, having failed to get consensus on how to encourage growth while preserving what makes the suburbs great places to live and work. In short, we need a new Mayor with a fresh vision for a liveable London.
Meanwhile we have a Mayor who has made a 'glitzy' announcement in the run up to an election, hoping that no one will realise he is passing on the costs to London taxpayers for years to come. Borrowing without regard to the long term cost? Isn't that just the mess the last Labour government got us into?
* Mike Tuffrey is the Liberal Democrat London Assembly spokesperson for finance and deputy chair of the London Assembly budget committee. Mike grew up in the outer London borough of Bromley before moving to Lambeth where he cut his political teeth fighting Ken Livingstone on the GLC.
• Boris Johnson's funny money [Mike Tuffrey Lib Dem Voice May 24]
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