Johnson says no money for rival’s pledge
BORIS Johnson yesterday attacked Ken Livingstone for making “unfunded” promises on the campaign trail, claiming that the Labour candidate has failed to identify funding for at least £2.7bn worth of pledges.
In a document entitled “Can’t Afford Ken”, Johnson’s team claim to have identified 24 spending commitments made by Livingstone that go beyond the existing funded plan.
They include £1.1bn for a fares cut, £325m for the bad landlords scheme and £220m for EMA.
The Labour candidate has repeatedly rebutted claims that he cannot fund his pledge to cut fares by seven per cent from the TfL surplus.
Yesterday he told City A.M.: “You just need to go back and see that I cut fares in 1981, in 1984 and bus fares in 2007. This will be my fourth fares cut. The idea that you can’t cut fares in a city with the highest fares in the world is just bizarre.”
A spokesman for Boris Johnson said: “Ken Livingstone is making promises to Londoners which he knows he can’t keep.”