Ken Wont Take No For An Answer (from Ealing Times): "Ken won't take no for an answer
By David Doyle
Comment

MAYOR of London Ken Livingstone is under fire again after it was revealed he has spent more than �1 million repeatedly asking the public if they want the west London tram - and they are still telling him 'no.'

Councillor Jason Stacey has accused Mr Livingstone of ignoring Ealing residents' view by repeatedly ploughing taxpayers' money into consultations even though the public are saying they don't want it.

And now a Capital Radio Freedom of Information Act request has exposed that the cost of these consultations has now topped �1 million.
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Speaking on the radio station Jason Stacey said: 'It does surprise me in terms of the high cost of the consultations, especially as we actually could have told him the outcome probably from the start.

'Mayor Livingstone has continued despite the local election results earlier this year, so it's really no surprise now that he is going to ignore the residents once again and carry on.

'I suspect the only time he'll actually listen is when the electorate kick him out.

'He's had the poll results, the people of the area have spoken quite clearly, yet he's decided to proceed. I don't see how that is a good use of taxpayers' money.'

The most recent polls show 44 per cent of people are against the tram with 40 per cent in favour of it."

London Olympics 'are going exactly to plan': "London Olympics 'are going exactly to plan'

LONDON'S 2012 Olympics are going 'exactly according to plan', mayor Ken Livingstone has said despite the spiralling costs.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell revealed earlier this week that the estimated �2.4bn cost of building the Olympic park had risen by �900m.

At the same time, the costs of regenerating the run-down area of east London where the games are being held has gone up by �1.5bn.
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Mr Livingstone admitted that further costs were 'inevitable' as they had not yet factored in inflation.

But he insisted all the extra money would be recouped and the games would make a profit.

He said: 'It is not Alice In Wonderland.

'Nothing's a mess. Everything's going exactly according to plan.

'These games will make a profit.

'We are buying land now, we are doing it up. It will be sold for the construction of housing and employment immediately after the games so this money will come back in.'"

Transport Briefing — Public transport developments and project news: "Transport for London finance supremo quits
Filed 23/11/06

Transport for London has announced that Jay Walder, the organisation's managing director for finance and planning for the last six years, will leave at the end of February next year to join the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company as a partner.

The departure of one of its most senior staff will come as a blow for TfL. Walder is credited with securing a landmark funding settlement from the government's 2004 Spending Review that has formed the basis of TfL's five-year, �10bn investment plan and allowed TfL to borrow money to undertake projects such as the East London Line extension._

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said: 'Jay has made a huge contribution to transport in London. His financial expertise unlocked the biggest investment in London's transport in the last 50 years. Over his six years at TfL he has identified �1.26bn of efficiency savings through to 2009/10, which we are able to plough back into improving services, and has helped win for TfL the rating of 'excellent' from the Audit Commission.

'He also successfully introduced the Oyster smartcard, which gives millions of Londoners easier, faster journeys. We will be sorry to see him go, but Jay's work at TfL has broken the cycle of short-term stop-start investment and means London's transport system faces the future in a much healthier state.'

Walder's decision to quit follows his failure to secure the top London transport job succeeding transport commissioner Bob Kiley last year. The position was awarded to Peter Hendy.

Hendy said: 'Jay joined TfL just after it was created and has been a key figure in turning it into an organisation that is respected around the world for its record of delivery and innovation. Jay's experience at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York, allied with his experience as an academic and financier, meant he was the perfect person to lead on issues such as transport plans for the Olympics, major investment projects such as Crossrail, and TfL's long-term strategic plans.'

Jay Walder said: 'TfL has been an extremely rewarding experience. I am grateful to the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone for inviting me to join TfL. The last six years have been a fantastic opportunity. I am delighted that I will continue to live in London in my new role at McKinsey and watch as the transport network benefits from the investment now flowing in.'"

MayorWatch� | Ken's Trip Cost 36,000GBP: "Ken's Trip Cost 36,000GBP
First Published: Monday 13 November 2006

Ken Livingstone's trip to Cuba and aborted journey to Venezuela cost Londoners almost �36,000 according to figures released to the Assembly today.

Costs for the the Mayor and four staff to stay in Cuba were approximately �20,000 which included �16,991 for flights. The officials continued on to Venezuela at a cost of �16,000 including �12,948 on flights.

Defending the trips the Livingstone said 'Since I was first elected in 2000, I have spent an average of just ten days a year - less than 3% of the time - on mayoral trips abroad.

'Given that Cuba plays a central role in the international Olympic and sporting movement, particularly in fields like boxing, the costs of my visit to Cuba are modest and in line with the costs incurred on other mayoral trips.'

'Similarly, the costs of the advance trip by key staff to Venezuela to prepare for the visit were also modest.'

The figures were published after demands from the London Assembly to reveal costs of the trip to Cuba and Mr Livingstone's cancelled journey to Venezuela the Mayor's office."

Public sector chiefs pay outrage | Metro.co.uk: "Public sector chiefs pay outrage
Friday, November 3, 2006

Money

Campaigners hit out at 'City salaries' for public sector bosses after revealing the 10 highest earners were paid 40 times the salary of a rookie nurse or police officer.

Figures compiled by the TaxPayers' Alliance showed there were three seven-figure pay packages and 60 more individuals picking up �250,000 or more a year.

And they showed that the top dozen earners in the NHS were getting an average �183,000 a year each - nearly 10 times the starting salary for a nurse.

The Alliance added together details of salary, bonuses, incentive plans, benefits-in-kind and, in certain cases, pension contributions as recorded in official publications.

Top of the rich list was Bob Kiley, who was paid �1,146,425 as Mayor of London Ken Livingstone's transport supremo.

He received a unprecedented public sector settlement worth nearly �2 million when he quit the post in January and remained a �3,200-a-day consultant."

Shortcuts: From Macmillan to Livingstone, a brief history of political snubs | Backbench | Guardian Unlimited Politics: "From Macmillan to Livingstone, a brief history of political snubs


Michael White
Wednesday November 8, 2006
The Guardian

It's more like Old Ken Livingstone, daring tribune of the left, than New Ken, elected mayor of a global hub city, to be wrong-footed in mid-manoeuvre. But here was new, responsible Mayor Ken making a populist gesture of solidarity with Venezuela by buying some of its oil on the cheap, only to have his scheduled meeting with President Hugo Chavez cancelled this week because the prez was too busy electioneering. In fact, campaign rivals had used the deal to embarrass Chavez. London may have poor citizens deserving of cheap fuel, but is by no stretch a poor city. The last thing he wanted was photos.

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Livingstone praises 'Cuba's communist revolution' | 24dash.com - Local Government: "Livingstone praises 'Cuba's communist revolution'

Publisher: Jon Land
Published: 03/11/2006 - 23:36:10 PM print version Printable version
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Ken Livingstone with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
Ken Livingstone with
Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez

London's mayor today praised the Cuban revolution and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in his first stop on a visit to Latin America.

Ken Livingstone called Fidel Castro's communist revolution 'one of the high points of the 20th century', and said he came to Cuba to learn more about its successful programmes, particularly athletic ones.

Cubans 'created the best education and health care system anywhere in the Third World ... and they've done that in the face of an incredible blockade - quite an illegal blockade - by America,' he told journalists, referring to the US's decades-old trade embargo against Cuba.

'And though Cuba's only got a fifth of the population of Britain, it gets as many medals in the Olympics as we do,' Livingstone said after the closing event of a sports congress in Havana. 'So clearly they're doing something right here about engaging their young people in sport, and that's what I'm really interested in finding out about.'

London hosts the 2012 Olympics. In the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Britain and Cuba came in 10th and 11th place, respectively, both with nine gold medals.

The mayor arrived to Cuba last night. He is to attend a cricket match and meet sports officials and the mayor of Havana before leaving on Sunday for Venezuela, where he plans to visit Chavez."

Gulfnews: Livingstone caught in a row over his secret trip to Cuba: "Livingstone caught in a row over his secret trip to Cuba

By Ross Lydall, Evening Standard


London: Ken Livingstone was yesterday at the centre of a foreign junkets furore after planning a secret visit to Cuba. The Mayor is spending five days there before heading to Venezuela to secure a deal to obtain cheap oil for London.

No details had been released of the publicly funded Cuba trip, sparking suspicions that it is an excuse for Livingstone to meet ailing president Fidel Castro.

The Mayor's aide said he had flown to Cuba to attend a sporting conference sponsored by the International Olympic Committee. Accompanied by two aides, he arrived on Friday night.

The 11th World Sport For All conference ended at midday yesterday, giving Livingstone just three hours to attend seminars of little obvious use to Londoners or the capital's hosting of the 2012 Games.

Angie Bray, Tory group leader on the London Assembly, said: 'If he has gone to do the Olympics stuff, why has he arrived on the last day of the conference? It's outrageous that he's charging the taxpayer for what I suspect is a visit to his old comrade who is very ill.'"

BBC NEWS | UK | England | London | Mayor U-turn on Tube 'terrorist': "Mayor U-turn on Tube 'terrorist'
Mohammed Kamel Mostafa
Mostafa was jailed in Yemen in 1999
London's mayor has backed down over comments he made about the employment on the Tube of a convicted terrorist.

Ken Livingstone had earlier said he was 'happy' for Mohammed Kamel Mostafa, son of jailed Islamic cleric Abu Hamza, to be working on the underground.

Mostafa, 25, was jailed for three years in Yemen in 1999 for plotting a bombing campaign.

But the mayor said because Mostafa had failed to declare his convictions, his employers 'are correct to dismiss him'.

'Mr Mostafa has convictions in Yemen,' he said. 'These must be taken into account.


I was not aware of this man's convictions at the time of my press conference this morning, only of his family
Ken Livingstone
'They should have been brought to light by those doing the security checks, the failure to do so must be investigated.

'I was not aware of this man's convictions at the time of my press conference this morning, only of his family.

'It is clear that anyone who has been involved in terrorism in any form cannot be employed on the London Underground.'

Earlier, during a press conference at City Hall, Mr Livingstone appeared to back Mostafa's employment on the London Underground.

'Has he broken any law here in Britain? [No, so] we are happy to have him working for us,' he said.

Mostafa was convicted of plotting to sabotage economic and tourist sites in Yemen in August 1999, when he was 17-years-old.

He has recently been working as a labourer for a company contracted to Tube Lines, one of London Underground's maintenance firms.

'International crime'

It is understood Mostafa's previous convictions were not brought to light during his recruitment and he has since been dismissed.

The Tube's vetting procedures were supposed to have been intensified since the 7 July bombings, but Bob Crow, head of the RMT, has called for a review of the Underground's current recruitment procedures.

Labour MP Andrew Dismore said applicants with terrorism-related convictions anywhere in the world should not be eligible for employment on the Underground.

'The key point here is that terrorism is an international crime,' he said.

'Bearing in mind what happened on 7/7, he should not have been working on the Underground.'

Mostafa's father, Abu Hamza, was jailed for seven years in February for incitement to murder and inciting racial hatred.



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ITV News - Mayor in Hamza Tube storm: "Mayor in Hamza Tube storm
8.24, Tue Oct 31 2006

London mayor Ken Livingstone has caused uproar after saying he was happy for jailed cleric Abu Hamza's son to work on the Tube.

Mohammed Kamel Mostafa, 25, was jailed for three years in Yemen in 1999 for allegedly plotting a bombing campaign.

Mr Livingstone said: 'Has he (Mr Mostafa) broken any law here in Britain? The answer is no and we are happy to have him working for us.'

However he added: 'As he failed to declare these (previous convictions) to the subcontractor they are correct to dismiss him.'

Critics, including those bereaved after the July 7 bombings, expressed anger that Hamza's son should be allowed to work in the London Underground.

Meanwhile, Hamza himself is continuing his appeal against conviction for race hate crimes and soliciting to murder.

Lawyers for the cleric, who is serving a seven-year sentence at Belmarsh prison, are arguing that hate laws do not apply to foreigners killing foreigners.

They claimed that the laws used to convict him only apply to those who incite British citizens to kill."

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