says London Mayor Boris Johnson
says London Mayor Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson set out his plans today for a “golden age” of transport
to take London into the next decade and beyond.
The Mayor put Crossrail 2 — linking north and south London — at the
heart of his vision for the future of the capital. It was “critical” to begin
construction on the £12 billion project in 2019 to prevent London falling
behind its major rivals.
In “The Greatest City on Earth”, an upbeat 82-page document written by
the Mayor himself, he argued the capital’s growth was a key driver of the UK
economy.
His call for a “long-term and stable” funding settlement comes just two
weeks before the Government spending review which could include potentially
“catastrophic” cuts of 15 per cent of London’s transport budget.
Mr Johnson said: “After the wretched decades of the mid-20th century —
when investment in transport was stifled — we are now back in what some (the
optimists) would call a Golden Age. We are in the throes of a neo-Victorian
surge of investment in mass transit. It is absolutely vital that we do not
stop.”
He added: “The question about Crossrail 2 is not whether it should
happen, but how quickly we can get it moving.”
Mr Johnson denied his 2020 Vision was "fantasy politics" and
said he would now commission a study into funding his infrastructure proposals.
He claimed George Osborne recognised the importance of capital spending
in London for the whole UK economy but admitted there was still "a
discussion" going on for the next spending round.
"The important thing to get over is we can't cut too drastically
without jeopardising our ability to deliver the absolutely vital improvements
London's transport infrastructure needs," he said.
Pressed on what it would mean for his vision if TfL's funding was cut
he said: "Let's cross that bridge when we build it".
The Mayor, brushing aside questions about his future ambitions, said:
"I'm not going to be around to cut the ribbon on Crossrail 2 - in any
incarnation".
Labour said the Mayor's report was the "beginning of his long
goodbye" to London and a sign he was panicking over the legacy he would
leave behind.
Mr Johnson confirmed his support for projects including a new Thames
Estuary airport, extending his bike scheme, continuing the Tube upgrade and
putting 2,000 new Routemaster buses on London’s streets.
However, there were also some new proposals like extending the Bakerloo
line to Camberwell and Peckham and replacing the Hammersmith flyover with
a tunnel.
Mr Johnson said the “gravest crisis” was building the 400,000 new homes
that will be needed in the next decade.He pledged to accelerate the release of
City Hall land for development and lobby ministers to remove the cap on
councils’ borrowing power, so they can build more affordable homes, as well as
bringing in ‘use it or lose it’ planning permission for developers.
Mr Johnson repeated his demand for London to get more control over
property taxes — including stamp duty — to provide the certainty needed for
housing investment.
And he insisted there was no point “bashing or vindictively regulating”
the financial sector.
In a pointed message to those who oppose more immigration, the Mayor
said London “must be even more open” than the rest of the country.
The Mayor, who has been in power since 2008, will face some criticism
that it has taken him until now to come up with a masterplan for the capital.
Labour former transport minister Lord Adonis criticised the progress on
transport infrastructure schemes, saying: “What is needed is action not
waffle”.
Willie Walsh, president of the London Chamber of Commerce, has warned
that cuts to London’s public transport spending would be a “major own goal”. He
added: “We believe that investment in infrastructure is essential to the growth
of United Kingdom’s economy.”
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