“Routemaster” competition not a serious way to make transport policy

Speaking as Boris Johnson announced the winners of his design-a-bus competition, Labour’s transport spokesperson Val Shawcross said:

“The design competition may have been fun and the winning designs are extremely impressive, but this is not a serious way to make policy and not a worthwhile use of public money. If Boris actually used London’s buses or talked to those who do, he would see that London’s existing fleet is modern, accessible and well-designed.

“I have yet to hear one convincing argument for why London needs a new double-decker bus and until Boris comes up with some Londoners will see this as little more than a vanity project. There is understandably a lot of nostalgia for the old Routemaster but nostalgia doesn’t get people to work on time.”

Boris “scrooge” Johnson’s fraud on Londoners

Boris Johnson’s council tax freeze will save the average London household just £6 a year. At the same time the average London couple getting the bus to and from work will be almost £100 a year worse off, the London Assembly Labour group can reveal.

Len Duvall, Labour’s leader on the London Assembly, said: “It is a total fraud from the Mayor when he tells Londoners he is saving them money and is the saviour of their economy. The average couple travelling to and from work on London’s buses will be around £90 a year worse off. Johnson bangs on about providing more for less and making Londoners better off. It is pure and smoke and mirrors…

Another one gone: Departure of adviser raises doubts over Mayor’s judgement

Responding to the resignation of mayoral adviser David Ross, Labour’s deputy leader on the London Assembly John Biggs said:

“Having now lost almost as many advisers as he’s appointed, the serious questions about Boris’s judgement show no signs of going away.

“There’s no doubt this was a serious mistake by Mr Ross. But the greater error was from the Mayor, appointing him to such an important position within his administration. This was obviously not “just the man for the job” to ensure financial probity in the Olympics finances, as Boris claimed when he appointed his friend Mr Ross…

Len Duvall: Boris should re-consider policing role

Leader of the Labour group on the London Assembly Len Duvall says Boris Johnson should consider his position as chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority after the Mayor’s admission that he and his political office have been in contact with arrested MP Damien Green.

Labour group leader Len Duvall said:

“It is astonishing that the Mayor, following a briefing from senior police officers, has been speaking to a suspect under police investigation. He received information as chair of the MPA, then went to his political ally and old friend, who is now under criminal investigation. This is not appropriate behaviour for a chair of the police authority.

Boris’ “foolish” removal of Western extension will cost Londoners £70m

The Labour group on the London Assembly have criticised the Mayor’s decision to scrap the Western extension of the congestion charge as foolish against the interests of Londoners.

Labour’s transport spokesperson Val Shawcross said: “The rolling back of the congestion charge is a foolish and backward step by Boris Johnson. It will lose TfL £70 million a year that could have been spent on improving our public transport system and will increase traffic and air pollution in one of the dirtiest and noisiest areas of central London.

“London’s environment as a whole will suffer and local residents will no longer enjoy having 30,000 fewer cars a day clogging up their streets…

Mayor Boris Johnson cuts half a million from environment budget

The Labour group on the London Assembly today expressed horror as the Mayor slashed almost half a million pounds from his environmental budget. The cuts come on the same day Boris tried to shake-off his negative environmental image in a speech to the Environment Agency.

Labour’s environment spokesman, Murad Qureshi, said: “On the very same day Boris tries to re-invent himself as pro-green and pro-environment, the reality at City Hall is true blue…

Len Duvall: Mayor’s do nothing attitude not the answer

The Labour group on the London Assembly today responded to Boris Johnson’s attack on Prime Minister Gordon Brown, saying that his do nothing approach was not the answer to London’s problems.

Leader of the Labour group on the London Assembly Len Duvall said: “While the rest of the world is taking co-ordinated action to tackle the economic difficulties ahead, Boris Johnson advocates a return to the ‘do nothing’ attitude of the 1980s and 90s when the government stood by as businesses failed and families suffered.

“It is vital that via tax and spending the government supports and stimulates London’s economy while it needs it most. But in spite of what the Mayor says about needing to invest, his actions reveal his instincts are to cut…

Labour slams Boris’s “bonfire of transport projects”

The London Assembly Labour group have slammed Boris Johnson’s decision to drop a series of major transport projects, including the much-needed Thames Gateway Bridge, the private sector funding for which will now be lost.

The Mayor has today abandoned plans for:

* A Brixton/Peckham to Camden cross river tram;
* Extensions to the Docklands Light Railway and Croydon Tramlink;
* An east London river crossing, the Thames Gateway Bridge.

Responding to the news, Labour’s London Assembly transport spokesperson Val Shawcross said the Mayor was showing his utter lack of ambition and abandoning outer London by making a bonfire of vital transport projects…

No vision and no ambition: London shifting into reverse gear

The London Assembly Labour group have slammed Boris Johnson’s transport plans as lacking in any vision or ambition. Labour’s transport spokesperson, Val Shawcross, says this rambling and incoherent document lacks either common sense or future direction.

Speaking as the Mayor launched his transport strategy, ‘Way to Go’, Val said:

“This is a huge disappointment for London’s travelling public. In his six months as Mayor this drivel is all Boris has managed to come up with.

“Any serious transport strategy for London would include a commitment to additional major transport schemes and a clear aim to shift people from private cars to public transport, walking and cycling.

Housing move ‘will let boroughs off the hook’

Responding to the Mayor’s announcement that he will negotiate affordable housing targets with individual London boroughs, Labour’s deputy leader on the London Assembly John Biggs said:
“There is a real risk that this move will simply let boroughs off the hook. How it will reduce the housing waiting list problem is anybody’s guess”