Has BoJo done a U-turn on the Western Extension Zone

[Flyboy]

I saw a report on the BBC London news this morning, about BoJo being criticised for not abolishing the Western Extension Congestion Charging Zone. As this was his top priority on his election manifesto, it does seem as though he is dragging his heels on this one. Has he changed his mind?

Also, perhaps just as concerning, is the lack of coverage on this. Has everyone accepted that he won't do anything, or has this story fallen down the back of the sofa?

[Kymmy]

Here's the official webpage regarding the removal

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/...n/default.aspx

---------- Post added at 14:06 ---------- Previous post was at 14:03 ----------

Also this "Conservative article" suggests that the removal will be next year

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/lo...next-year.html

[Flyboy]

But that is all old stuff, I was concerned about the reports from today.

[Wayfair]

I think I have lost touch with reality as I had to look up who BoJo was...


Hmmmm maybe I was just happy being all simple like: note to self : stop looking stuff up..

[BBKing]

As this was his top priority on his election manifesto

No it wasn't. Trust me on this. He merely promised to consult on the retention of the scheme, which he did, via TfL, and there was a slight majority in favour of retaining it or modifying it. At the same time various Tory councils held a completely unscientific write-in poll which found, surprise surprise, a majority in favour of abolition, which has been spun as 'widespread public support for abolition'. On the other hand there was a public Mayor's Question Time the other day where 66% supported retaining it, but that was in Brixton and thus a tough gig for the blond buffoon.

Boris would actually be advised to keep it, since abolishing it conflicts with a number of his other manifesto commitments around 'smoothing traffic flow', encouraging walking and cycling, making the streets more pleasant, not to mention the extremely hot issue of London's worsening air quality, which is hardly helped by blowing a hole in TfL's budget and allowing lots of 4x4s to jam up the streets.

Finally Boris has said on numerous occasions that he actually supports the concept of road pricing on ideological grounds, since he opposes the state handing things out for free, including road space, plus he has severe budget issues at TfL already owing to the recession and other costly schemes he's put in.

What's actually happening is that, since the CC is a political hot potato, there are checks and balances in place to assure the public that any changes to it are statutorily consulted on. The Tory la-la land position is that they don't exist, and therefore you don't have to follow them, but Boris's position, having regard to the legalities, is that they do exist and he does have to follow them. He's also already taken the PR boost from his consultation, so it's hard for him to turn round and say 'actually, that wasn't the real consultation we have to do legally, we've got to do another one'.

Basically it's the usual Boris cockup. He's also getting to be very unpopular with journalists due to his constant media manipulation (his spin doctor Guto Harri gets £125k a year and is one of the top four members of his team and also does Boris's Twitter for him) and refusal to hold press conferences, forcing the likes of Tim Donovan to chase him all over London trying to get a quote. Accusing the Evening Standard's City Hall reporter Kath Barney of effectively lying over the WEZ will-he-won't-he hardly helped - since her source was the Mayor's own transport adviser this went down very badly and she's been getting her own back with a series of damaging articles. There's also been quite a bit of leaking from senior sources. Not a particularly happy ship, but that's what happens when you elect idiots off the telly.

[Flyboy]

Thank you for clearing that up BBKing. However, although his manifesto does say that he would hold a consultation about it, he clearly indicated to the electorate that he would abolish it it. I suspect that he knew it wouldn't be easy and used his manifesto as a safety net (or perhaps that's just my cynical nature )

He does seem to have an uncanny knack of backing the wrong horse when it comes to spending Londoners' money. Building a street crossing, that nobody really wanted or needed, at a cost of five million pounds, when the rest of the city is struggling to keep essential services going was an unmitigated disaster, in my opinion.

I summise by your precise, it would appear that perhaps both the Evening Standard and BoJo's team are regretting their unholy alliance and are maybe wishing they hadn't got into bed with each other two years ago to oust Ken Livingstone.

[Kymmy]

Now I am confused (which isn't difficult)

If though he indicated he would abolish it then why hold a consultation on the matter which dealt with the feasability of removing it????

[Flyboy]

Perhaps he was counting on the short memories of the public.

[Hom3r]

Originally Posted by Flyboy

Perhaps he was counting on the short memories of the public.

I would have said it was the other way round.

After all he went on HIGNFY twice and got major abuse for Hislop & Merton.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Wayfair

I think I have lost touch with reality as I had to look up who BoJo was...

Your fine Flyboy didn't spell it right, it's Bozo

[BBKing]

If though he indicated he would abolish it then why hold a consultation on the matter which dealt with the feasability of removing it????

He held a flawed consultation which supported scrapping it (the flaws amazingly end up biasing it towards this, which I'm *sure* was coincidental, not) and therefore has to, even though he now realises it's a mistake as far as the city is concerned. That's the problem with direct democracy, it shifts the problem from politicians taking decisions without properly taking into account the public view to politicians setting the questions to get a particular answer.