What would I do as Mayor with the tube strikes?

This strike is unnecessary and disruptive. The underground workers have been assured that their jobs are safe and that their pensions are secure – how many people have that job security?

Livingstone should be saying “you strike if you want to, but as Mayor I am going to keep London moving”. I am not going to be held to ransom.

I would suspend the congestion charge, I would open up the parks for parking of additional cars (as happened in the past with transport strikes); I would look at suspending some of the parking restrictions and I would work with the London Boroughs to ensure that Londoners could still get to work, and go about their daily lives. As your Mayor, I would stand up for the rights of Londoners.

Yes, we would have some chaos and inconvenience but this is better than Londoners being held to ransom at short notice. What about all the people who have not been able to get to work and thus have not been paid, or the extra inconvenience that Londoners have suffered – they don’t all have the secure pensions that these strikers can look forward to.

I would take a strong line. It is not about talk, it is about doing something positive to help Londoners get on with their lives and knowing that this Mayor would be on their side.

Tube strikes

In the papers over the weekend, yet another young Londoner stabbed to death – what is happening to our great city?

Caught the circle line, but learned with dismay that as of this evening there would be strikes. Yet again hard working Londoners held to ransom by the underground workers – Livingstone has said they will keep their jobs, he has said their pensions are safe, I have no doubt he will tell us it is nothing to do with him – don’t forget this is all our money that was poured into this Metronet partnership in the beginning, and now – guess what it is Londoners who are going to pay to put it right – no change there then.

London is the powerhouse of the British economy, the Mayor should be out there selling London and its advantages for business, not selling us down the river to the unions – just like the bad old days of the GLC