London Tube workers vote to strike April 17, 2012 London Underground staff are set to walk out for 72 hours next week after they voted “four to one” in favour of strike action. The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union (RMT) said its workers would cease work at 4pm on 24 April and not return until after 4pm on 27 April. The dispute is [...]
Ken insists he can get cash from coalition April 16, 2012 KEN Livingstone yesterday rubbished Conservative claims he would struggle to secure central government funds for the capital, telling City A.M.: “George Osborne will be no problem – I’ll just tickle his tummy.” The Labour mayoral candidate added that he had a successful track record of lobbying for money in the face of Treasury opposition: “I [...]
Ken makes a pledge of new Tramlink route April 15, 2012 KEN Livingstone has today promised to extend the Croydon Tramlink if elected mayor of London on 3 May. Labour’s Livingstone, who has made cutting travel costs a cornerstone of his manifesto, said the “sheer size of the surpluses at Transport for London” will make the extension possible if he returns to City Hall. He claimed [...]
Mayor blocks anti-gay adverts appearing on London transport April 12, 2012 BORIS Johnson yesterday blocked a Christian advertising campaign that promoted “gay conversion”, saying that London should be “intolerant of intolerance”. The advert, funded by religious groups opposed to gay marriage, was due to appear on public buses during the next two weeks and declared: “Not gay! Ex-gay, post-gay and proud. Get over it!” Johnson used [...]
Johnson says no money for rival’s pledge April 11, 2012 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 [...]
Boris promises £35m fund for London firms April 9, 2012 BORIS Johnson will today announce plans for a new £35m fund for London that would provide low-cost loans to the capital’s small and medium–sized businesses, City A.M. can reveal. “The fund would provide average loans of around £100,000 for each company, and if successful in attracting other funds, could drive growth for around 500 companies,” [...]
Boris warns of fuel strike emergency March 29, 2012 BORIS Johnson has warned the government is not taking the escalating fuel crisis seriously enough, City A.M. has learned, and has instructed London officials to start planning for an emergency. In a letter to communities secretary Eric Pickles, seen by City A.M., the Mayor of London said the UK was facing a “potential fuel emergency” [...]
Ken offers a fare cut as Boris pushes investment March 26, 2012 Transport has become the defining issue of this mayoral campaign, with voters facing the choice between one candidate that promises a fare cut and another that says fare rises are a necessary evil to fund investment. Ken Livingstone’s campaign experienced a surge in support after he set out the “Fare Deal” pledge to cut the [...]
Upgrades for road, rail and IT take shape March 21, 2012 THE COALITION’S multi-billion pound plans for sweeping infrastructure upgrades are starting to take shape, with £2bn of pension involvement revealed yesterday and new plans to upgrade London’s transport and technology networks. George Osborne said British pension funds have pledged the first £2bn towards a new Pension Infrastructure Platform, first trailed in autumn, with more firms [...]
Tube stops to have Wi-Fi March 14, 2012 London’s commuters will be able to connect to the internet while underground from July when a Wi-Fi network is rolled out across the Tube. Virgin Media will sponsor free Wi-Fi during the Olympics at 80 of the London Underground’s 270 stops. A further 40 stations will be added to the network after the summer, when [...]