Lib Dems attack Mayor's council tax and transport fare hikes (Islington Liberal Democrats)

Islington Liberal Democrats <Islington_ld@cix.co.uk>

Lib Dems attack Mayor's council tax and transport fare hikes

November 13, 2004 2:49 PM

Bridget Fox: huge fare rises will price Londoners off buses

Liberal Democrats on Islington Council have attacked the Labour London Mayor's announcement this week that council tax, tube and bus fares will have to rise significantly.

In a speech at City Hall last Wednesday, the Mayor warned that fares, the congestion charge and council tax would have to increase to fund transport improvements in the capital.

Liberal Democrats have slammed the announcement for coming so soon after June's elections in London when the Mayor made no mention of possible fare increases and more council tax rises. They have also criticised the Mayor for creating a black hole in the capital's transport budget and asked why the much-hyped Private-Public Partnership for the Tube is not delivering the improvements and funding the Mayor is now seeking. Liberal Democrats appeared before the GLA's Budget Scrutiny Committee in January to raise these concerns.

Islington's Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Resources, councillor Arnie Gibbons, said:

"London's Labour mayor has doubled his share of the council tax since he came to office in 2000. Yet, funnily enough, Islington has only begun to see any benefits from this money in election year.

"This latest proposed council tax hike just adds insult to injury. Labour promised Islington's residents that the PPP would solve all the Tube's problems. The reality has been snail's pace improvements with passengers being left to pick up the tab.

"Now Islington residents can look forward to a double whammy of more of Ken's Tax and inflation-busting tube and bus fare rises thanks to behind the scenes pressure from the Labour government."

Liberal Democrat councillor Bridget Fox, said:

"While the Tube in Islington has continued to crumble around us, buses have been one of the Mayor's few success stories.

"The Mayor promised us that buses could take the strain in Islington and fares were held low to tempt people out of their cars and off the tube and it worked. But now London's Mayor is jeopardising all this by proposing huge fare increases for Islington's public transport users pricing people off tubes and buses again.

"For this announcement to come so soon after the London elections is a cynical abuse of voters' trust."

The Facts

Liberal Democrats on the Greater London Assembly have exposed a Multi- Million pound black hole in the capital's transport budget.The government's Public-Private Partnership was opposed by Mr Livingstone when he stood as an independent in the May 2000. Since he re-joined the Labour Party he has vowed to reform the PPP to get the best possible deal for London. The project is due to deliver £Million of improvements to the Tube network.The Mayor's share of council tax - the GLA precept - has doubled since Mr Livingstone came to power in 2000. He has been criticised in the first three years for using the money on press and publicity. In the final year of his first term (election year), Islington residents finally began to see some benefits such as new buses and more police on the streets.The London Mayor has until now frozen bus fares and created a single bus fare zone across the capital to encourage more people to use buses. There has been a rise in bus passenger numbers.Despite a promise not to raise Tube fares when he was elected in 2000, fares have increased are now to set to rise even further. London's tube fares are the most expensive in Europe.