Recently in Tax increases Category

The Daily Telegraph has published a listing of some, but not all, of Ken Livingstone's waste of public money:

"Can London afford Mayor Livingstone's lavish empire? By Leo McKinstry (Filed: 06/10/2005)

A bad day for London, now that the International Olympic Committee has inflicted the 2012 Olympic Games on us.

No doubt the NuLabour politicians like Ken Livingstone and Tony Blair will try to claim some credit, even though neither of them are likely to be still in power in 2012, so they will not have to pay the political price for the inevitable cost overruns, which we the taxpayers of London and the rest of the UK will have to fund.

Livingstone has already announced that each London Council Tax payer will have to pay £20 a year for 12 years i.e. £240, even if the Games do not make a loss , which is extremely unlikely.

The West End Final print edition of today's Evening Standard reports:

"Convoy brings chaos in demo over C-charge - stars join motorists' go -slow over West London extension":

"Protest organiser Gordon Taylor, of the West London Residents Association, said "This is a protest to demonstrate to Mayor Ken Livingstone that we're not going away. We are going on to the streets because we can't have a sensible dialogue with him or Transport for London... a Berlin Wall is being constructed across parts of London"


There is a slightly different version of the story in the Evening Standard online archive, which reports:

"C-charge protest to cause chaos
By Bo Wilson And Elizabeth Hopkirk, Evening Standard
27 April 2005

Motorists were today trying to disrupt traffic in central London in protest at plans to extend the congestion charge zone. About 100 cars and vans were expected to drive in a slow convoy from Holland Park to the West End and back. Millionaire interior designer Kelly Hoppen was among residents and business people taking part.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Tory candidate for Kensington and Chelsea, was waving the convoy on its way from Addison Road to Hyde Park Corner, the Strand, Trafalgar Square, Marylebone Road and Marble Arch.

Sir Malcolm said: "It will go straight down the middle of Earl's Court Road, dividing the community. Mums dropping children at school will have to pay."

Michele Weininger, standing as a candidate in Brent East under the banner of Justice For Motorists, says the Mayor's old constituency will be badly hit by the C-charge as it is just outside the proposed extension."

The Register follows up a report in The Times about Transport for London and, presumably Mayor Ken Livingstone's "pie in the sky" plans for satellite technology road tolls within the whole of the M25 area.

The Forum of Private Business has an online petition against the Mayor's planned expansion of the Congestion Charge Zone.

The existing Congestion Charge Zone has resulted in a loss of individual privacy, a loss of trade and massive profits for Capita PLC. Capita have not bothered to deliver an efficient and courteous public service, since they have the Mayor over a barrel, and have extracted millions from the public purse to fix technical problems which were their responsibility.

There seem to have been some marginal effects on air pollution in the central zone, but no evidence of any resultant improvement in the health of Londoners overall, and no overall reduction in traffic congestion in the rest of London.

On top of all these failings, the Mayor is increasing the Congestion Charge by a massive ammount from £5 to £8 a day, with no justification.

To expand the Congestion Charge Zone westwards, and, even around Heathrow seems to be utter folly.

Perhaps Londoners will take heart from the people of Edinburgh who recently voted against having a Congestion Charge.

Why are Londoners not being given a referendum on the same issue ?

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There are many good people trapped in the bureaucracies which run London. If you are thinking about blowing the whistle on shadowy and powerful people in Government or commerce, and their dubious policies then you need be very careful these days. The mainstream media and bloggers also need to take simple precautions to help preserve the anonymity of their sources e.g.

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