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Mayor: London can benefit from recession
Pippa Crerar, City Hall Editor5 Jan 2009
THE Mayor today urges Londoners to see past the gloomy economic outlook for this year.
Boris Johnson suggests that we should look for ways of exploiting the downturn and try to see the "opportunity behind the disaster".
"If London plays to its fundamental strengths, it can come through this recession stronger than before," he says. The upbeat message comes after his New Year address in which he said the recession would not last forever and that the capital is capable of "toughing it out".
Many Londoners are struggling with the grim reality of falling house prices, redundancies, the slump in the pound and falling shares.
But the Mayor set out examples of where the recession could actually benefit the capital, including:
●The fall in house prices would mean London's £5billion housing budget, which will help homeowners avoid recession by taking temporary equity stakes in their property, would go further.
●Tourism and exports would be boosted by the fall of the pound with London representing greater value for money for foreign visitors and investors.
●The brightest graduates, especially scientists, who might otherwise have gone to work in the City, could look for work in the public sector, particularly teaching.
●Workers with more time on their hands because of the downturn could help tackle knife and gun crime among young people by volunteering.
Mr Johnson promised not to act like a "slack-jawed victim of some tsunami" in the face of the downturn and to move on from blaming Gordon Brown for the country's economic woes.
He said London's financial services sector, which has so far felt the brunt of the credit crunch, would recover.
The Mayor said the capital also had cultural, higher education, manufacturing and medical research sectors which would help see it through. He said he would "step up" the pace of investment in transport infrastructure - including the Tube upgrade, the East London line and DLR extensions and Crossrail - to boost the capital's economy longer-term.
"Recession or not, this will be remembered as a new Victorian Age, when we made capital investments that not only helped to deliver thousands of jobs in the downturn, but which boosted competitiveness for generations to come," he said.
He also warned against neglecting the environment during the downturn, saying London should become a world leader in carbon trading and developing new technologies.
Reader views (20)
It appears you cant keep a Ken project down as a notice has appeared at North Greenwich Station regarding plans for Stage 1 of the Greenwich Waterfront Transit. Looks like Boris used a Water pistol to start his bon fire!
Just think how useful it would be if a bridge across the Thames linked the 2 transit systems. Pity Boris thinks Tory London is in West London and Bexley and Bromley dont count.
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 11/01/2009 21:49
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Typical - typical and typical again. These guys make me heave - I doubt Boris will be scrabbling about in the bargain bin at Lidl. No I expect he'll be shopping in Waitrose. I agree get those wretched buses off the road, CUT COUNCIL TAXES, CUT FARES and all the rest of it. Thanks guys
- Grets, london, 07/01/2009 16:33
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Boris,you were elected mayor because Livingstone was THAT awful.Six months into the job and you are believing your own publicity.
Get on with the job,downsize City Hall and reduce council.
And rid London of bendy buses.
- Ex.Londoner, Sunny Essex., 06/01/2009 23:02
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Re:- Ethan Edwards, UK- Firstly when I went to school New was spelt NEW AND NOT NU - must be the benefit gained by going to a Secondary Modern School!!
Anyway I am not New Labouur I am old labour, my father was a trade union branch official and during the war my mother ended up being paid not to come in to work because all the strikes she started "Everyone out."
New Labour was created by another public school twit known as Tony Blair as he knew the total mess the tories were making meant that becoming leader of the Labour party was his best chance at becoming Prime Minister.
Anyway My earler submission mainly consisted of a TFL press release if Boris is doing cartwheels (now there is a type of transport for A Gilligan)thats not my fault.
It just goes to show how incompetent he is playing the part of Mayor of London. He should have taken up Kens offer of on the job training.
If your idea of popularity is based on polls in this paper well they dont say how many voted and so 2 yes and 1 no makes for a big poll lead!!
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 06/01/2009 13:12
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You know Melvyn and Keith (part of Nu Liebours few remaining supporters) must be really cheesed that poll after poll concedes that Boris is doing a great job.
Guy's I understand from Guido's blog that Labour is offering 20,000 (three month contract) to join Derek Drapers 'Instant Rebuttal Unit'. Seems tailor made for Keith and Melvyn.
How sad that Nu Labours popularity is such that they must now PAY people to say nice things about them on the net.
Hope the Nu Liebour post isn't being paid for with PUBLIC money....
- Ethan Edwards, UK, 06/01/2009 09:43
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Boris, It's about time you landed on Planet Earth.
You'll be claiming credit for the Recession at this rate.
- Andrew W1, London, 06/01/2009 02:26
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Tell McBrown to depart for his Yon Bonnie Braes and go do his political things up there. England wants an English PM to do his/her best for London, not Edinburgh where, for example, the "Royal" Bank of Scotland, NatWest's shareholder, not so long ago spent £300,000 (yes - nearly three quarters of a million pounds) in entertaining its directors and their partners - see the Press reports, where said directors & partners were so embarrassed that they felt it necessary to conceal their faces. National Westminster Bank: an apt name for a nationalised bank, would save money on expensive brass name plate changes.
- Annabelle, london, 05/01/2009 22:18
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A strange thing happened to-day Monday 5th January 2009 when work began on one of the schemes Boris said he had abandoned in his Bonfire of Public Transport upgrades at the beginning of November.
A press realease on the TFL website last Friday announced work was starting on the East London Transit!!
Last November Boris threw this on the scrapheap on the press release he say :-
A dramatic improvement
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: 'A huge amount of money has been earmarked to improve transport links in east London and the extra dosh the Government has said we can use to extend the East London Transit is fabulous news for people living or working in the area.
'It will be key to opening up the area to new housing and business developments.
'Transport for London's engineers are all ready to get cracking on a scheme that will dramatically improve services for thousands of local people.'
So much for his bonfire which must have consisted of a damp squib.
Funny how engineers are ready to start a project that has been canceeled!!
The announcement was timed on the day the BORIS SUPPLEMENTARY TFL Fares came into being. Just think had Ken had remained mayor you would not have had to pay more fares as the c-charge on dirty vehicles would have prevented the BORIS Blackhole!
Are well only 3? more annual fare rises to the 2012 Mayoral election. Happy New Fares!
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 05/01/2009 20:16
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Gordon brown is helping people in the uk due to the down turn by borrowing to create new jobs for people who lost it,helping the old people with the winter fuel.
some people dont care about that
Boris Johnson does not care about the london people he care about putting TFL fares up,putting new ugly route master,scrapping TFL projects,lying about protect green spaces.
- Andy, London, 05/01/2009 19:40
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The thing London needs most is a different state government, to stop us being sucked dry from Crash Gordon state taxes and getting NOTHING in return. Nu Labor go away!
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 05/01/2009 19:12
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It's time for the Old Etonian Millionaires Party to take over. No doubt we'll have tax exemption for Public school fees and Private Health Insurance as well as abolition of Super Tax.
- T Cockles, St Albans England, 05/01/2009 18:01
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Typical upper class verbage.
Grim reality he has binned any hope of the Dagenham Dock DLR extension and elbowed 350 million of government sponsored money for the new crossing on the river between Blackwall and Dartford -Thames Gateway Bridge, badly needed in Thamesmead (note not expanding the crossing at Blackwall)... All this is the exact opposite of the necessary fiscal stimulus needed in deprived East London. I see he continues to spend our money on benefits in the affluent areas of London, where his voters reside e.g. tunnel under Hyde Park - scrapping Congestion Charge in West London, which all of us are paying for with higher transport costs.
- George Boyd, Thamesmead, 05/01/2009 17:14
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A Moreno of Luxembourg,
All we have to do here is getting rid of Crash Gordon, the moronic, unelected prime minister.
Then everything will get better here.
- David, London, 05/01/2009 16:06
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The capital investments he talks about wouldn't have happened if he had anything to do with it. He's already scaled back planned transport improvements. If Boris had been in for the last four years, his real policy would be revealed as "You're on your own people" - which is what he is really saying. This chin up nonsense is OK if you have bags of money in reserve but not for those bearing the brunt.
- Tony Mcmahon, London, UK, 05/01/2009 15:20
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So Boris will "step up the pace of investment in transport infrastructure - including (...) DLR extensions"?
Is this the same Boris who has canned the DLR Dagenham Dock extension?
- Mark Lee, Vauxhall, 05/01/2009 14:15
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Not a bad approach to people when times are getting hard. "Pull in your belts and suffer a bit and we'll all come through, etc, etc". Easy to say when you are Boris Johson pulling in a £137,579 per year salary. Not so easy if you are out of work due to the recession.
- Len, Perth, Australia, 05/01/2009 12:44
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It is nice to hear a Tory politician who is not glorying in the pain caused by the credit crunch. Perhaps its time that the Grumpy Old Man, David Cameron handed over to a more positive leader
- E Hearthen, Shepherds Bush England, 05/01/2009 11:55
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Does Mr Moreno of Luxembourg have any connection with Britain at all?
There is no more urgent priority than getting rid of Gordon Brown who caused the drtisis by over-borrowing and is making it worse and last longer by - er - over-borrowing
- Christina Speight, west london, 05/01/2009 11:52
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Obviously Boris isn't listening to Cameron, doesn't he know we're all going to, 'Hell in a handcart'
- David, London UK, 05/01/2009 11:20
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Boris for Prime Minister-I think the sooner the Tories ditch Cameron the better.
- A Moreno, Luxembourg, 05/01/2009 10:24
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