Why I intend to vote for Ken Livingstone

The issue that affects me most on a day-to-day basis that falls within the Mayor’s power is transport. It is my experience that transport – mainly the buses – has improved. There are more buses; they are new and clean; night provision has improved; and there are more routes.¹ The Oyster card has worked brilliantly, the only opposition to it coming from some mainline train operators; apart from being quicker to use, it offers good value, particularly considering daily rate capping.

Beyond that, there is a vision for London’s transport; Crossrail, the Croydon tram, the cross-river tram, support for cycling & walking and the aforementioned Oyster card are examples of a decent, integrated multimodal transport system. London Overgrouns, though, has to be one of the best things to happen to transport in London for some time. When the project is complete, the London Borough of Hackney will actually have tube stattions, for one thing, but it is also a remarkably effective way of loadsharing as the first step towards an orbirail system. By highlighting on the map the existence of these lines and shifting from a timetable to metro system, ridership and accesibility is increased with minimal laying down of track.²

The congestion charge was incredibly controversial when it was brought in; it has been so successful that even Mr Johnson talks in abstract terms of reform and efficiency but not of scrapping it. Again, Mr Livingstone had a positive vision for London that he offered to London and implemented successfully before standing on his record.

The next thing that concerns me is housing. Whatever protestations Boris Johnson may make, boroughs controlled by his party do worst in terms of building affordable housing. Wandsworth successfully built three units in 2007. Where Messrs Johnson and Paddick say they wish to cooperate with the boroughs, Mr Livingstone is rather more in touch with reality by looking at how the boroughs actually behave.

A large reason for me for voting for Ken is ‘equalities’. That covers a multitude of different issues – race, disability, gender, sexuality, religion, income &c. – but it is essentially the answer to the question “what kind of city do I want to live in?” The answer, for me, is one where I can do what I want so long as it doesn’t stop anyone else doing what they want and where anyone else can do what they want so long as they don’t stop me doing what I want. That, after some philosophical studies at LSE, is the best definition of freedom I’ve come up with. It requires not just the absence of racism or the silence of homophobes, but an active recognition that diversity is needed for London to continue as a preeminent cultural and financial centre. It requires, beyond that, an acceptance that diversity is good in and of itself. It also requires practical support for people at the bottom of the pile; the Mayor’s steps to address transport poverty suggest to me that he has a good grasp of what’s going on.

Much of the criticism of Ken, including the Despatches programme, falls, I think, into two categories; criticism of the LA and criticism of the office of the mayor. In the first instance, it refers to the failure of AMs to push their work locally – local papers, groups and so on. Quite a lot of the blame I direct at those AMs who have two full-time jobs. The other criticism is effectively that the Mayor doesn’t have enough power, and so can’t tackle issues like education and waste. I have strong sympathies with both these arguments, as does Mr Livingstone with the second, but they are not the subject of the upcoming election. The irony is that the first criticism would mean a return to the GLC and the second means the same and shows that the Mayor has been effective in persuading people to work together.

The GLA has other competences – fire, development, crime, improving deprived areas, the environment and so on. I may well return to them in future; the above are my, positive reasons for voting first preference for Ken Livingstone.

xD.

1 – the bendy bus and Routemaster are red herrings; there aren’t many
2 – objections around privatisation don’t hold up as the contracts can be unwound and there is no transfer of ownership