Patrolling the beat

As you are aware I am keen to make London's streets safer, so as part of this campaign I went out with the local police this week and was shown damage to Peugeot cars – thieves had gained access through the side doors. The police observed that small Peugeot cars come up more frequently on their lists – so beware – do not leave anything on view in your car that can attract theft. Has your car been vandalised recently?

In this hot weather, there have been an increase in burglaries as we are leaving our windows open and making it easy for thieves to gain access to our homes.

We then continued our patrol to visit local shops and to talk to residents about the disturbance from late night street drinking, as a result of the longer licensing hours brought in by this Labour govt. This has made it very difficult for families living in residential streets next to bars and clubs.

The other issue was our small local shops are under threat from over vigilant traffic wardens!

British Transport Police

The British Transport Police are their own force, however Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has wanted to take over transport policing in London. In his view, this would lead to better co-ordination between what happens on the stations and what happens on our streets.

The Conservatives on the GLA have long campaigned for more British Transport Police, and I support the Evening Standard campaign to make un-manned stations a thing of the past.
What is your view?

London Motor Show

We went on a family trip to the London Motor Show, at Excel. The Docklands Light Railway was even hotter than the tube, if possible, but as none of the windows open, it is very airless.

We went to see which cars will be lowest rated under the “Ken Tax” – now that the Congestion Charge is going to vary according to the emission levels. If you are charging on emission then this is a pollution tax, rather than a congestion charge. However from the Transport for London survey we know that traffic speeds have not increased. Slower idling traffic pumps out more fumes, and the congestion charge has not increased the free flow of traffic.

All the cars at the show were clearly labelled into bands A – G, sometimes cars you expected to be a C were in higher bands, so beware!

If you want no congestion charge and no road tax; there was a choice of electric cars at the show, the Mercedes Benz Smart which I have driven and is excellent, very handy town driving, silent and smart! I know others have been tempted by the G-Whizz, however there was no-one on their stand when we visited. G-Whizz’s show model was decorated to look like a wild animal, so not everyone’s taste! There was a company I had not seen before, The Nice Car company who are selling electric cars to the London market.

London could soon be more silent and fume free if we cut out the noise of the internal combustion engine, However until then families need to travel around, so I am not in favour of penalising family vehicles.
What’s your view

London Crime Figures soar

Robbery is rising faster on the tube that anywhere else in London, 42% rise in crimes on the underground - and 16% increase in street robbery. London is not any safer in spite of Ken's promises - He has failed to deliver on what is the most important role of the mayor - to keep Londoners safe.
Yes I have promoted the proposal that, where possible, that Police should patrol singly, rather than in pairs, so that we see more police on the streets, after all if it is not safe for the police on their own, how can it be safe for us? What's your view

Calling all Shopkeepers on Red Routes

I am getting poor feedback about TfL and ticketing on red routes. Customers can stop in Loading bays, but they they get photographed and automatically ticketed by the TfL cameras who shoot off a fine. Your customer is unhappy and just never comes back.
Leyland the decorators merchants are have been suffering from this problem over recent months - anyone else found a way of getting TfL to be more flexible?

Chaos on the tube and bus

Ken has forced us out of our cars into a living oven - Evening Standard reports that it is 52 degrees on the bus and 47 degrees on the tube – When it is cold, the tubes can’t run because it is the wrong type of snow, and now when it is hot the lines buckle and the conditions are unbearable.
The new buses have small windows which you either can’t open or are very difficult to open – at least the old Routemaster had all that space at the back!

“Hermetically sealed cattle pens” is how our underground trains have been described today – is this the living hell we are going to subject our guests for the 2012 Olympics, or will they be whisked around in air conditioned coaches, congesting the roads whilst we suffer underground?

We are not the only country with high temperatures - we must improve the air circulation. What's your view?

Ken becomes President of the Venezuela Information Centre

At Mayor’s Question time yesterday, Ken confirmed that he has been appointed as “President of the Venezuela Information Centre”. This is not a joke, he is seriously using his office and his time to continue to promote President Chavez. Do you think that London’s Mayor should be President of the Venezuela Information Centre?

Congestion Charge

I was listening to Ken Livingstone today at Mayor’s question time at City Hall, when he announced that he was going to alter the rate of the congestion charge depending on the size of the engine – in line with the vehicle excise rates. This would mean large jeeps paying about £25.00 per day, down to electric vehicles paying nothing.
Ken is determined to continue to tax Londoners and to tax small businesses.

We need his assurance that residents in the extended area in Kensington and Chelsea will still be eligible for a discount. What if you just keep your car in London during the week and drive it to the Country at the weekend, will you be penalised?
Ken is organising another one of his consultations in the autumn – so look out for your opportunity to have your say! How would you solve London's congestion?