Paper wars
From Ken Livingstone
Sir: I find it bizarre that the editor of the London Evening Standard should labour under the illusion that I am proposing to put a statue of Nelson Mandela ‘on the last empty plinth in Trafalgar Square’ (Diary, 22 January). The fourth plinth, as Veronica Wadley’s own newspaper has regularly reported, will in fact continue to be used for a programme of temporary pieces of public art, whereas I am supporting an application to place a statue of Mr Mandela on the newly pedestrianised north terrace.
Furthermore, Veronica Wadley is quite wrong to suggest that I am borrowing £3.3 billion in order to balance my transport books or as a result of ‘financial recklessness’. On the contrary, this borrowing is only possible because of Transport for London’s prudence, which has led to TfL being given an ‘AA/Stable’ credit rating by Standard and Poor’s, and to the Audit Commission giving TfL an ‘excellent’ rating. In turn the government has given us permission to borrow on the markets under the prudential borrowing regime in order to finance a major expansion of public transport infra-structure in the capital. This is for new infrastructure, not to balance the books, which would not have been permitted.
Ms Wadley seems to have a particularly thin skin when it comes to my announcement that TfL will now seek to bring about the distribution of free afternoon newspapers on the Tube. But it is precisely because I regard the original contract with her sister paper the Metro as such poor value to the London taxand fare-payer that I have acted. The current arrangement is financially inefficient and does not represent a good deal for the public. An additional paper available free on the Tube will provide both more choice and also, crucially, additional revenue — exactly the financially prudent approach that I would have expected, from her other comments, Ms Wadley to endorse.
Ken Livingstone Mayor of London, London SE1
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