Ken challenges Boris to TV debate on fares

Ken Livingstone, Labour's London Mayoral candidate, has written to Mayor Boris Johnson today challenging him to hold a TV debate on his fares policy for Transport for London. Ken's letter follows the responses made by Boris Johnson and his aides to Ken's Fare Deal plan announced last week.

Boris Johnson
under pressure from Ken?

Ken has promised if elected next May to cut fares by seven per cent in Autumn 2012, freeze fares in 2013 and subsequently end above-inflation rises as now planned by Boris Johnson. Ken estimates his plan will save Londoners £1,000 on average by 2016.

This compares with Boris Johnson's policy of raising fares by almost six per cent next next month which is in additon to the 34 per cent that fares have already increased since he became Mayor in 2008.

After Ken announced his Fare Deal plan Boris Johnson soon announced a reduction in next month's fare rises from seven per cent to 5.6 per cent. Mayor Johnson's aides admit that fares have already increased by more than by 34 per cent since he became Mayor 2008.

Ken Livingstone

Ken has said he will use a £206 million surplus he had discovered in Transport for London's accounts to fund the seven per cent fares cut and subsequent price freeze.

Ken says in his letter to Boris Johnson "Every year you have an excess operating surplus in your budget and every year you significantly underestimate the amount of revenue you get from fare payers. At the same time you have actually under-spent your capital budget, meaning you have not even invested as much on transport as you could have.

I believe you are significantly over-charging the travelling public, at a point when the state of the economy and the impact of cuts and higher charges such as VAT are making their lives harder."