I don't think people living outside London, realise just how awful Red Ken really is, and what a disaster he has always been for London.
Years ago when he ran County Hall, he cost Londoners so much money that he was eventually forced out, but even when faced with this, he still couldn't resist dishing out more of OUR money to his pals. People who had worked for him in County Hall, were given free cars, and computers. All office equipment was given away to firms that he had worked with. This was our money this creep was giving away, yet no one challenged him (as usual) and I know these FACTS, because my wife, who has always worked in the charity sector, was told and shown, first hand, details of his illegal transactions.
And since he has been our so called Mayor, what has he done? His first job was to kill all the pigeons in Trafalgar Square, now I am not some silly animal rights type of person, but please tell me, who else could have got away with that one, especially in the lefty fraternity?
He then built himself an imposing fortress, named City Hall, on the banks of the Thames, directly opposite the Tower of London, at a cost to us Londoners of around 100 million pounds. At the time of building this monstrosity, he himself admitted, that there were far too many empty office building around London, which should be taken up by businesses, rather than building more new.
His staff has increased a 100 fold since he came to power, and as we all know, he even took 80 of them on his recent jaunt to India, again at our expense.
Then we had the big C, and I am not directly referring to Ken, I am referring to the dreaded congestion charge, which again has increased, and now also encompasses certain types of vehicles being able to enter the zone cheaper, while bigger vehicles have had their charges increased as much as 10 times. What the hell has that got to do with congestion? And more to the point, why is the level of congestion in London, now increased, since the tax came in?
Next, comes his ridiculous bendy busses, which tend to catch on fire at the blink of an eye, and get involved in more road accidents than any other vehicle on the road. They also belch out tons of toxic emissions, and clog our roads up even more, and if that is not all, hardly anyone travels on the damn things.
In 2000/01, the average cost of the Mayor to a Band D council taxpayer was £123 a year for each household. This year, it is £289 (an increase in cash terms of 135%). Next year, it will be over £300.
There is already much evidence of waste: spending on publicity by the Mayor and his various quangos has been estimated at over £100 million a year (nearly as much as was spent by the Labour Government in its first year in office); staffing costs at City Hall have nearly trebled from £12 million in 2000/01 to £33 million in 2005/06.
Spending by the Mayor' various quangos on advertising, publicity and communications has been estimated at £100 million a year. Pride of place goes to Transport for London. Officially, it admits to a communications budget of £5.2 million. However, after numerous Freedom of Information requests made by Ealing Councillor Phil Taylor, it has admitted that items such as invitations to tender and promoting timetables took the bill to £78 million. Spending by other quangos, such as the Olympics Delivery Authority and the London Speed Safety Camera Partnership takes the bill to £100 million a year – nearly as much as the Labour Government spent on publicity in its first year in office. Out of this Livingstone maintains his "" newspaper, The Londoner, which is delivered to homes in the capital ten times a year at a cost to the taxpayer of £3 million.
Furthermore, the Mayor remains adamant that his budget will not be subject to negotiation, a statement that says much about his attitude towards democratic accountability. It is hard to justify giving the office of Mayor further powers when its current occupant shows such lofty disdain for the few checks and balances he currently faces.
I forgot to mention, that Red Ken has also been accused of anti Semitism, and also of being a friend of known terrorists, as well as a drunk and a bully, who at one time, allegedly knocked a man down his stairs.
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