September 2007 Archives

The right of centre think tank, the Bow Group has produced a report detailing some of the Ken Livingstone failings and broken promises made as Mayor of London.

London Under Livingstone (.pdf)

by Christopher Mahon & Alastair Sloan

London Under Livingstone An evaluation of Labour's Mayor A new report from the Bow Group examines the track record of Ken Livingstone as London Mayor and uncovers rising taxes and worse public services. The research, released today, sees council taxes £300 higher in London than elsewhere in the UK driven by a 174% increase in the Mayor’s GLA precept. Meanwhile buses, tubes and violent crime have all deteriorated since Ken Livingstone took control.

The report claims that, including Transport for London, the Mayor of London has some 173 press officers on his payroll.

These media spinners have responded in a very NuLabour propaganda like manner, simply repeating their carefully chosen misleading statistics, some of which have been anticipated by the authors of the this report.

Press Release - Mayor's response to the Bow Group report 7-9-2007 546

e.g. on the notorious Congestion Charge

The aim of the charge was never to raise money.

We were promised at least £60 million a year "profit" which could be plouighed back into improving public transport - that was when the charge was "only" £5 a day - it is now £8 a day.

Far from costing London £930m, the first full three years of operation in the central zone produced an income of £591.7 million with an operating cost of £288.6million - giving a net operating income of £303.1million.

Note the misleading spin weasel words "net operating income".

The actual figure quoted in the Bow Group report is a measly £10 million which is available to invest in improving public transport.

That is not even £10 million a year, that is £10 million in total since the inception of the scheme.

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Links

Wikipedia article on the Mayor of London

Wikipedia article on the London Assembly

The Evening Standard newspaper - fulfills its role by scrutinising the Mayor and the GLA etc. rather more effectively than the politicians and bureaucrats do.

Mayor of London press releases

London Assembly press releases

MayorWatch - commercial news site about the Mayor of London etc.

Campaign Button Links

Watching Them, Watching Us, UK Public CCTV Surveillance Regulation Campaign
UK Public CCTV Surveillance Regulation Campaign

NO2ID - opposition to the NuLabour Compulsory Biometric ID Card
NO2ID - opposition to NuLabour's plans for Compulsory Biometric ID Card and National Identity Register centralised database.

asboconcern logo
ASBO Concern - alliance of organisations and individuals who are concerned about the abuse of NuLabour's Anti Social Behaviour Orders.

MI5 encrypted contact web form use 999 or 112 to report immediate threats
Encrypted MI5 web response form NuLabour's "Climate of Fear" is not the same as the real fight against terror.

gamesmonitor_logo_150.gif Games Monitor - "Games Monitor is a network of people raising awareness about issues within the London Olympic development processes. We want to highlight the local, London and international implications of the Olympic industry. We seek to deconstruct the 'fantastic' hype of Olympic boosterism and the eager complicity of the 'urban elites' in politics, business, the media, sport, academia and local institutional 'community stakeholders'. "

Peaceful resistance to the curtailment of our rights to Free Assembly and Free Speech in the SOCPA Designated Area around Parliament Square and beyond
Parliament Protest blog - resistance to the Designated Area resticting peaceful demonstrations or lobbying in the vicinity of Parliament.

Save Parliament: Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill (and other issues)
Save Parliament - Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill Act

Ken Livingstone Links

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