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Ken's promise to slash public transport fares is fraudulent, says Boris
Peter Dominiczak, City Hall Correspondent24 Jan 2012
Boris Johnson today accused Ken Livingstone of making "fraudulent" promises to slash bus and Tube fares if he is elected mayor.
A day after a Standard poll revealed that this year's mayoral contest is on a knife edge, Mr Johnson said London must not go back to the "era of waste and divisiveness" seen during his Labour rival's time in City Hall.
Mr Johnson, who has lost an eight-point lead over Mr Livingstone since November, said he will work "flat out" to win back votes over the 100 days until the election on May 3.
A ComRes poll yesterday put Mr Livingstone on a 51 to 49 lead overall following a battle over transport which saw him pledge to cut fares by seven per cent. The Tory Mayor claimed Mr Livingstone had broken two past promises to freeze or cut fares.
"This is essentially a fraudulent prospectus that he has tried several times before and I don't think it will wash," he told Nick Ferrari on LBC radio.
"He would either have to whack up council tax... or he'd have to whack in another congestion charge... or he'd have to cut a bus route or a major upgrade of the Tube."
Criticised over crime, the Mayor admitted police numbers have fallen in the past two years. But he maintained there will be about 1,000 more officers on the streets in May than when he took office in 2008. He said: "We've done that by negotiating very hard with the Government to get the funding."
Mr Johnson said crime had fallen by more than 10 per cent overall during his term, but admitted there had been a spike in robberies over the past year.
A spokesman for Mr Livingstone said: "Boris Johnson has finally confessed that 1,700 police officers have been cut whilst robbery, knife crime and burglary were all rising in London."
Referring to yesterday's Standard poll Mr Johnson said: "I really don't want to go back to an era of waste and divisiveness that characterised the last administration."
Meanwhile, he has written to London's council leaders, urging them to freeze council tax. The Mayor announced last month that he planned to freeze his share of council tax bills for the fourth year in a row to help "protect" Londoners from the high cost of living.
Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles this week warned town halls they have "a moral duty" to freeze council tax as families struggle.
Reader views (44)
Boris' transport policy has been dire.
New vanity bus - massive outlay for v little environmental improvement.
Abolished western congestion charge - west London has huge congestion & air quality problem.
Train - increased prices.
Cycling - stuck some blue paint on road. Called it a highway.
Walking - removed 6 pedestrian crossings in order to prioritise the motor car. A further 60 being considered for removal.
The crux is that Boris values you if you have an engine. Screw everyone else that takes public transport, walks or cycles around the city. Because in London, the vehicle rules, and 4,000 people die prematurely every year because of them.
- Matthew, Brockley, 24/01/2012 22:07
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I think Boris's problem is he neglected the suffering Londoners, many in the OccupyLSE, broadsided them as crusties and is a bit too partial towards the City financial corporation versus the ordinary Londoner. He has the advantage over Ken that he can take executive actions to make up for this lack of sensitivity.
- Sal20111, London, 24/01/2012 21:25
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Says Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson our current idle rich pretend mayor. What does his spokesman say? What does "Boris" actually do? And who are you really voting for if you vote for "Boris"
- snidely, london, 24/01/2012 21:07
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Boris is running scared! Ken has got him by the short and curlies - the Public Transport issue. It is Ken's forte. He introduced Mercedes bendy busses; bus lanes, and even tried a tram link in west London - all good ideas if you ask me. EVERYONE VOTE FOR MAYOR KEN !
- Sajeel Nasar, Oxford, UK, 24/01/2012 20:52
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“Ken when he was Mayor got some american from the New York to help with the Tube. What happened to that?.” - P.L., London, 24/01/2012 15:15
Tim O'Toole? Less than a year after Boris was elected he quit saying that he wanted to go back to the USA to spend more time with his family then after a year he moved to First Group where he is now Chief Executive.
Hopefully if Ken wins he can tempt him back to LUL and he can carry on the good work he started kicking our moronic, complacent management into shape.
- ASLEF shrugged, East London, 24/01/2012 20:30
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"...At least Ken cares about Londoners..." Dear Bob, Enfield, where on earth did you get that naive idea from?
- Sir Notso Stu Pidfool, London, 24/01/2012 19:56
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I thought all the Ken-loving idiots with memories like goldfish had disappeared until I saw this story. You really want Comrade Crony back because he's offering to lower fares? How gullible are you? Will he ask his tube union pals to take a pay cut? Don't think so.
He will raise council tax straight after he is elected. He will also waste mountains of OUR money on vanity projects, six figure salaries for his army of useless hangers-on (ie.'consultants' like his wife), try to bring back the things Boris has spent the last four years removing and will invite dictators and terrorists to visit.
And even if he does lower fares, he'll only increase them substantially 2 years later and the same fools who re-elected him will be questioning how he won. Don't be fooled, this man needs to be out of politics for good. Re-electing will be a total disaster for London.
- Mike S, London, 24/01/2012 19:54
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Actually Boris has made it much easier for Ken to both save money and earn more at the same time:-
1) Bring back Artic buses that would mean routes like the 38 would be operated by 50 buses instead of 80 - thats right eight 0 buses (it only had 47 RMs!!!) do this across most heavily used routes and you will end up with about 200 spare double deckers!!
2)Use these Double Deckers to double deck routes like the 214 and 316 that need bigger buses and also to increase capacity on other routes thus earning more fare income.
3)SCRAP WASTEMASTER - oh you won the election so you have already done that!!!
4)Re-introduce 1 day bus pass that Boris scrapped!!!
5)Look into making tube cash fares cheaper when bought using debit cards instead of cash - (cash fares are higher because of the cost of handleing money so with cards no money is used.)
6)Extend bus pre-pay zone to all zones 1 and 2 and bring back RTMs at main bus stops thus removing cash from buses and the costs garages have in handleing small amounts of cash fares.
7) With a pro tram government get Tramlink extensions and Cross River Tram back on track and look at converting Ealing branch to tram or light railway as part of West London Tram/light railway.
And thats before Ken gets on to expansion of Overground network.
And all Boris says he will build a thames tunnel within 10 years and no doubt the tunnel will still not be built come 2016 or 2020 elections but neither will Boris be Mayoral candidate!
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, essex, 24/01/2012 19:00
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Those even thinking of voting for Ken have very short memories. If you are a minority group you'll do very nicely while the rest of us suffer. He can't and London can't afford these cuts that he says he will do. DO NOT BELIEVE KEN. He is power hungry and will say anything to be re-elected. Red. Ken cannot be trusted.
- Jane, London, 24/01/2012 18:48
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In 2007 Red Ken increased the standard Oyster Card fare by 42%. Strange how his followers so quickly forget.
- Guy Fawkes, Westminster - looking to voteEnglish.org, 24/01/2012 18:28
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And get rid of Pigeons I hope.
- Bazza, London, 24/01/2012 17:57
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Of course I'm being rather flexible with the truth, this is politics. But I do promise that when I get back in I'll replace all of the marble toilets in the TFL buildings with even more expensive marble toilets, I'll pay all of my staff about 3 times the going market rate for their services, I'll raise council tax consistently to the tune of around 20% per year (which is more than Boris has done, the fascist has never put it up at all), I'll make sure that minority groups are given more of a say than the majority of Londoners and we'll be doing deals with shady South American's for cheap fuel so that my exploding transportation devices burn with a lovely RED flame. ¡Viva la revolución champagne !!!!!
- Ken Deathingstone, A very large house that none of you paupers can afford, London, 24/01/2012 13:37
Fantastic post! Vote Boris
- Kali, London, 24/01/2012 17:41
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Jimmy London.Ken got us a deal with Hugo Chavez for cheap oil,is that not better than Cameron over in Saudi making deals with a real repressive king.
- Bazza, London, 24/01/2012 17:39
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Sounds like Boris is clutching at straws. He knows he is unpopular and on the way out. At least Ken cares about Londoners. The sooner Ken gets back in, the better for us all
- Bob, Enfield, 24/01/2012 17:23
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At last, the people of London are begining to see through Boris's waffle and gimmicks. Get ready for the evening standard and the rest of the right wing press to start their anti livingstone dirty tricks campaigns. Laughing off serious questions and treating them as a joke isn't going to work for Boris anymore. Spare a thought for the Libdem mayoral candidate, he is going to have to take the flak for the broken manifesto promises of Clegg, Cable, Hughes & Co. Most of the libdem votes will probably go to Livingstone.
- jimmy, Camden Town, 24/01/2012 17:22
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Well i have to say that there are an enormous amount of Red Ken's campaign staff writing in today.
But the one thing they will never write about is that Red Ken raised taxes on working Londoners 8 years in a row.
And at the end of the day that is what counts.
Red Ken has a record of bare faced lies so if you want to believe he will cut your fares go ahead.
The facts will be somewhat different.
He will raise your taxes again and again and again and at the end of his term there will be nothing to show for it.
Apart from Mrs Red Ken being half a million pounds better off and Lee Jasper a lifelong socialist driving a Bentley.
Well maybe the odd office in North Korea.
A vote for RED KEN is a vote for less cash in your pocket.
RED KEN WILL RAISE YOUR TAXES
- the pigeons, Muswell hill, 24/01/2012 17:17
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"He would either have to whack up council tax... or he'd have to whack in another congestion charge... or he'd have to cut a bus route or a major upgrade of the Tube."
What do you mean either? I'm sure ken would do all those things in addition to putting fares up.
He'd probably admit it too.
- John, London, 24/01/2012 17:10
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George
As a OAP I am quite happy with council tax to be frozen,I hope Boris will not raise it for another 4 years,it affects more people than a few pence on fares!
- peter, london, 24/01/2012 17:07
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Boris..."said he will work "flat out""
"flat out"!- hahahahahahahaha!
"Boris" "Work" "Flat Out" - words never before found in the same sentence.
Boris old chap, when you're not oafing you're loafing.
Word has it that he's been relying on the delivery of the first shiny open-deck-but-actually-closed bus to arrive in time for polling day. A shiny bauble to charm/ con the voting public into re-electing him.
Shiny baubles may work for the ladies you "know" Boris, but you know what they say- "Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you".
"Work flat out..." that's made my day!
- Fresh, London, 24/01/2012 16:54
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If the morons on this thread really believe that Ken Livingstone is going to cut fares then I really do fear for the quality of this city's intellect. This is a man who promised to do just that at every election, then put them up, without reason, way above inflation. At least Boris has justified the rises in terms of the TFL black hole that Ken left behind, and Boris securing crossrail and the tube upgrade program against government cuts.
- Adam, London, 24/01/2012 16:50
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How on earth could anyone contemplate bringing Weasel-Faced Ken back again? The man has nothing but contempt for us Londoners and will tell us what we want to hear until he gets back in when he will whack up fares (despite what he's saying now), bring back the proposed and hated Western Extension to the C-Charge and raise Council Tax! No...No...No...!!!
- Someone with a Memory...., London, 24/01/2012 16:48
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George is wearing rose coloured spectacles and seems to have a selective memory as far as Ken Livingstone is concerned. He did care, no doubt about that but it was mainly regarding benefitting his favoured few and not the majority of voters in the outlying London boroughs. If you want Ken's supposed low fares policy be prepared to take all the other grief that will undoubtably come with it!
- Edwin Sheppard, Pinner, 24/01/2012 16:24
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Actually, Ken has spent a long time running London and caring about London issues - that's the kind of experience and commitment we need in London again. We tried Boris Johnson, but he wasn't up to it. Nuff said.
- George, London, 24/01/2012 15:36
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Many thanks to my loyal supporters for sticking up for me. If I get elected I won't let you down. I promise to work at least a day a week as mayor and only take 12 holidays a year. I'll only increase tube and bus fares by 10% a year. I'll bring in driverless trains and ensure that we have only 5 train crashes a year but will pay the train captains £70000 p.a. I'll scrap the congestion charge for all Chelsea tractors and for asnyone that earns over £1million a year i.e. all my pals.
Vote for me so that I can take London back to Victorian times
- Boris Conman, An even larger house than Ken, London, 24/01/2012 15:36
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More Benefits for Immigrants Livingstone, we can't afford you!
- Vince London, West London, 24/01/2012 15:36
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Anyone who believes Red Ken is as cracked as he is.
- Vince London, West London, 24/01/2012 15:27
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Ken is 66 years old. he is at the end of his political careers, so he can make any claims without having to live with consequences of not delivering them.
Ken when he was Mayor got some american from the New York to help with the Tube. What happened to that?.
New York metro used to charge $1 per journey. But he did not bring that in, during his time in office.
- P.L., London, 24/01/2012 15:15
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Ken has challenged Boris to a public debate on transport fares repeatedly if I'm not mistaken and Boris Johnson has refused - what's he got to hide?
The point about freezing council tax is ridiculous, because any benefit from it is more than wiped out by the enormous fare rises.
As soon as we get a Mayor who knows what they're doing, the better.
- George, London, 24/01/2012 15:07
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I remember Ken last time around when he appointed black activists in key seats to squander shedfalls of our money relentlessly in to causes that were not benefitting the main stream of voters and worst of all they did not seem to be accountable to anybody.I hope voters will remember this in 100 days time.
- Edwin Sheppard, Pinner, 24/01/2012 14:51
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I have to agree, Ken when he was there, always tended to tell a few porkies too many. Spend way too much money, and didn't do much for London.
Why on earth he had links to Hugo Chavez and various other communists, i'll never know.
But reality is, Ken is yesterdays news. Most Londoners want a bright future, not regressiveness.
- Jimmy, London, 24/01/2012 14:36
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Boris is getting worried!
- Kunle Sotunde, London, 24/01/2012 14:27
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If you just want Bulls*t vote for Boris,if you want something done vote for Ken its really that simple
- Honest John, London, 24/01/2012 14:27
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Boris's public transport record so far has been massive fare rises, project cancellations, strikes and a horrendously expensive new bus which isn't needed. Hardly a glowing record.
- John, London, 24/01/2012 14:20
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Ken's fare cut will benefit a lot of people who do not live in London,so will not have to pay the increases in council tax etc> Someone once said "If it looks to good to be true, it most probably is not" look @ the whole package,find out what is going up you might have a shock.
- peter, london, 24/01/2012 14:07
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I trust Ken to keep fares low a lot more than I trust Boris. Who has shown he cares not a jot about fare rises. London relies on good, cheap public transport to remain competitive. Boris is happily killing the goose laying the golden egg.
- John, London, 24/01/2012 13:49
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Boris - the man who has increased public transport cost on the suffering public year on year without any real improvement in services. I can't wait to see the back of the clown.
- John David, London, 24/01/2012 13:41
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Of course I'm being rather flexible with the truth, this is politics. But I do promise that when I get back in I'll replace all of the marble toilets in the TFL buildings with even more expensive marble toilets, I'll pay all of my staff about 3 times the going market rate for their services, I'll raise council tax consistently to the tune of around 20% per year (which is more than Boris has done, the fascist has never put it up at all), I'll make sure that minority groups are given more of a say than the majority of Londoners and we'll be doing deals with shady South American's for cheap fuel so that my exploding transportation devices burn with a lovely RED flame. ¡Viva la revolución champagne !!!!!
- Ken Deathingstone, A very large house that none of you paupers can afford, London, 24/01/2012 13:37
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So Livingstone how are you going to pay for reducing the fares in London when your commie chum Bob Crow keeps raising the anti by threating strikes if the tube workers dont get ven more money. Probably you will do thid by increasing your share opf the Londoners council tax, whack up the congestion charge and all sorts of other sleights of hand just so you can say you have reduced the fares, thn after a year or so you will raise them again.
- strongbow sullivan, Paris, France, 24/01/2012 13:29
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Boris is not the sharpest pencil in the box, however he must have some very intellegent people working for him as advisors - everything he has promised hasn't come to fruition and any project he has championed was started by Ken, but he STILL has the front to parade around like he has won WW3. Must be the money/rich friends/girlfriends keeping his confidence sky high...AS YOU AIN'T GONNA WIN BUMBLES!!
BORIS LIES AND PUTS UP FARES - VOTE FOR HIM AND BE POORER.
- Rod, Epping, UK, 24/01/2012 13:26
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What has Boris done with all the ticket machines at all the bus stops that were to purchase in advance tickets to travel on the Bendy Buses that have now been withdrawn. Every bus stop had them.Boris should keep his mouth shut when it comes to wasting money.He has replaced the bendy bus on route 207 with a double decker, yet the bus now able to travel to Uxbridge and turn around only goes half way from White City to Hayes.Its time Boris realised that he hasn't a clue and has done nothing for London other than waste money. Its time for him to go to the Job centre and make it quick.
- Hamilton Straker, Ealing West London, 24/01/2012 13:16
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Well, I'll be voting Boris. No way am I gonna vote for someone devisive man with the ego the size of St.Paul's Cathedral. How we really forgotten what his terms were like.
- Jock S. Trap, London, 24/01/2012 13:15
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He would say that.
- Arfur Towcrate, Staffycher, 24/01/2012 12:55
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..Running scared are we Boris, time to wheel out the lies as you are starting to trail in the polls! Bring back Ken, Fares Fair....
- boris the bofoon, chelsea tractor land, 24/01/2012 12:42
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Like we care .Boris has increased fares by 50 percent since jetting around the world as Mayor and the service has got worse.We know it will never improve so we might as well pay as little as possible.
- dave, london, 24/01/2012 12:42
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