Ken's tune
From Steven Norris Sir: Ken Livingstone is spot on when he
says that he is running a socialist administration in London (More means better', 16 August). He is spending like a drunken sailor, building up a massive deficit and ensuring that the people of London are getting neither value for money nor effective public services in return for very substantial increases in tax.
This applies as much to policing as it does to transport. Londoners have certainly paid for more police through a doubling of the council tax precept. What Livingstone has, however, demonstrably failed to do is make Londoners feel safer as a result.
Every recent survey has shown that fear of crime is rising in the capital. Unsurprising when, in the last three years, the total number of offences increased by 9 per cent and violent crime is up 15 per cent. Clear-up rates have fallen to just 14 per cent this year. The figures for burglary and criminal damage stand at just 11 per cent and 8 per cent respectively. There may be more police in Livingstone's London, but there is also more crime and fewer criminals are being caught.
The mayor claims the GLA Act prevents him from taking operational control over the police and thus from doing more to improve this parlous situation. But he, rather than the Commissioner or the Home Secretary, sets the budget for the Metropolitan Police. The truth is that dealing with the police is not where Livingstone is at his most comfortable. The Dave Spart de nos jours would sooner hide behind endless layers of political correctness than do something positive to address the most important issue in the capital.
Steven Norris
Conservative candidate for Mayor of London. London W8
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