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Cara-ckers Ken blows £35,000 on oil trip farce
Last updated at 11:01am on 14.11.06
Ken Livingstone: expensive trip
Ken Livingstone's botched trip to Latin America cost Londoners more than £35,000, he has admitted.
It cost £19,051 in flights and hotel bills for the Mayor and four aides to spend six days in Cuba, during which he spent around 30 minutes at an Olympic conference.
A further £16,491 was spent sending four more aides to Venezuela in advance of the Mayor, where he had hoped to conclude a deal with President Hugo Chavez on providing cheap oil for London buses, a deal first mooted when Chavez came to Britain earlier this year.
This part of the trip had to be abandoned after Chavez said he was too busy electioneering to meet the Mayor.
Mr Livingstone tried to justify the cost of the trips, claiming London had much to learn from Cuba about producing Olympic boxers. He also said he hoped to hold better Cuban festivals in the capital as a result of his visit. He said the price paid by taxpayers for the trip was "modest".
He faces a grilling tomorrow at the London Assembly, which last week passed a cross-party emergency motion demanding the costs be disclosed.
Today, Mike Tuffrey, Liberal Democrat group leader on the Assembly, said: "The Mayor's explanation for his trip does not wash. He should give the Assembly and Londoners a full explanation of why he has wasted council taxpayers-money in this way." Tory group leader Angie Bray said the "entire episode" had been "a disaster from start to finish".
In the last year the Mayor has travelled on business to Boston, New York, Milan, Berlin, Nice, Shanghai, Beijing and Los Angeles.
He said: "The costs of my visit to Cuba are modest and in line with the costs incurred on other Mayoral trips."
Reader views (6)
I thought such a thing only happened in developing countries like Brazil, where I live, but now I see that politicians can be abusive everywhere!
- Tony, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 14/11/2006 16:15
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This man is a liability and is costing Londoners too much. I will have to pay an extra £200 per annum to drive my car as I live in the area soon to be in the Congestion Charge Area.
- Bill, London, 14/11/2006 14:16
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For someone who makes such a point of using public transport when the cameras are on him, just how did our mayor clock up four grand in six days in Cuba? I don't imagine Mr. Castro charging as much as Ken does in London for buses and such. Could it be that Ken goes rather more upmarket when out of sight of those paying his salary? And I look forward to reading his report on London's boxing prospects... but I won't hold my breath for that ever to see the light of day. Unfortunately I believe him when he says it's in line with other mayoral visits. It makes my blood boil!
- Another Keith, Farringdon, 14/11/2006 13:35
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It's good to know my hard earned money is going to good causes.
- Jay, London, UK, 14/11/2006 13:26
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I think the next time the Mayor goes one of his overseas trips, the interests of Londoners would best be served if he went on a one-way ticket.
- Keith, London, 14/11/2006 11:17
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Who does Livingstone think he is? A boxing coach? Why on earth did he jolly off to Latin America to get tips on producing boxing champions? It is not his job. He should be sorting out traffic congestion, not looking for the next Frank Bruno. What an idiot.
If I went off on business trips with no agenda and achieved nothing, I would be sacked. Livingstone should suffer likewise. He is adding zero to Londoners' lives.
- Nobby Clark, London, UK, 14/11/2006 11:11
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