Having been in the ‘set’ position for some time now, the starting pistol has fired and the candidates for Mayor are away. Unfortunately, Dave Hill – a blogger that I like and have a lot of time for – makes the mistake of thinking that Boris and Ken are somehow close on policies:
as a battleground of ideas it’s fairly small.
There is much more at stake here than emphasis, nuance and weighting.
Transport is a real issue that differentiates Ken and Boris.
The big divide so far has been over bus conductors; Boris wants them reintroduced, Ken thinks putting £100m on bus fares is not a good idea, particularly for those suffering from transport poverty. Ken has the vision and track record of pushing forward new, innovative transport policies – like the C-charge and London Overground – that will continue to improve London’s transport.
Affordable housing is a real issue that differentiates Ken and Boris.
The issue on housing is, essentially, how to deal with recalcitrant boroughs that don’t want to build affordable housing. Where Ken would compel, Boris wants to ask nicely and hope. That doesn’t mean riding rough-shod over local views, but accepting that the interests of the city as a whole have to before those of a given borough.
Carbon charging is a real issue that differentiates Ken and Boris.
Where Ken has made concrete improvements on London’s carbon output by promoting hybrid-drive and fuel-cell buses, the LEZ and congestion charging, Boris Johnson praised bush for “scrumpling up” the Kyoto protocol, has called ken’s low emission zone “punitive and draconian” and would scrap the western extenson zone of the C-charge itself.
Competence is a real issue that differentiates Ken and Boris.
The hole in Boris’ budget is important in how the mistake came about. He assumed that every bus route in London was similar to the two heritage routes that have conductors. They are not; it is fairly obviously a wrong assumption that shows a lack of understanding of London. Boris’ tendency towards gaffes could also damage London; a repeat of the Liverpool incident on a trade mission could do real damage to London plc.
What similarities there are between Ken and Boris are in no small part due to the manifest successes of Ken’s programme over the last eight years. The C-charge was met with howls of protests but, now, Boris cannot say that he will scrap it (although he would reduce its size, as I mentioned). It is completely wrong to think that a vote for Ken and a vote for Boris will make no difference four years down the line. There are concrete, policy differences that will make a big difference; equally, the tone of the Mayor can make a difference to London, both in terms of promoting cohesiveness within the city and promoting the city overseas as a place to visit, work and invest.
xD.