City hall rivals to go head-to-head in debate

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The two City Hall front-runners will face off at a mayoral hustings held by charity Age UK London.

The debate, which will include Lib-Dem candidate Brian Paddick, will take place at Friends House in Euston, central London, on February 21.

A YouGov poll for the Standard yesterday showed that Mr Johnson has taken a narrow two-point lead despite his rival's popular promise to cut fares.

The hustings will be watched by around 200 pensioners from across the capital who will have an opportunity to question the candidates.

Labour candidate Mr Livingstone has accused his Tory rival of refusing to debate his proposals to cut fares by seven per cent, saying he has been running "chicken".

A spokesman for Mr Livingstone said: "This first debate has been a long time coming, after months of Boris Johnson running chicken and dodging key debates including those with London's women and business community."

A spokesman for Mr Johnson's re-election campaign said: "Boris Johnson has a very strong record of putting more police on the streets, cutting crime, council tax and protecting the Freedom Pass.

"This will be a good chance to debate all records of office."