Is It A Done Deal?

Written by Graham Tope on Wed 29th Jan 2003

According to the Mayor, the London Assembly Liberal Democrats entered into an 'unholy' alliance with Tory Assembly members last week after they joined us in condemning his outrageous proposal to increase the council tax precept by 38.4%.

But it is the Mayor who has acted 'sinfully' with his proposal to hammer Londoners with this unjustified hike in their council tax bills.

Despite being in office for a number of years now, the Mayor has failed to deliver improved services as effectively as he should have done, and has failed to achieve a proper balance between spending for the benefit of Londoners and taking from their pockets.

Londoners (who are both taxpayers and voters) are not impressed by undisciplined budgeting, by unnecessary publicity that goes far beyond simple information, or by budgets that are full of re-election gimmicks.

At last week's Assembly meeting, the Lib Dems proposed an increase of just 17.5% which did not cut the Mayor's spending on police at all (enabling him to achieve his target of 1000 more officers by March 2004 and supporting plans to increase the Transport Policing Initiative) but demonstrated that savings in other areas – notably the work of Transport for London – could be made.

London needs more effective policing and better transport – these are priorities that should not be compromised. But the increase in the council tax precept must be fair and justified. The Mayor's proposal is wholly unacceptable.

The Labour Party refused to table any proposals, suggesting instead that the Mayor should look for a slightly lower precept of 30%, but making no suggestions as to how that might be achieved. Assembly Member Nicky Gavron, the Labour Party's candidate for mayor, made no comments throughout the entire day's debate!

The Tories backed our call for a reasonable rise of no more than 58p per week to be added to a typical Band D council tax bill. This co-operation from the Tories was admittedly unusual!

However, in a more typical move, the Mayor has entered into his own 'unholy' alliance with the Labour Party and seems to be devilishly devising a deal with them to get their support for his budget. Such support would prevent the Assembly from getting the 2/3rds majority necessary to force a reduction in his final budget.

The Mayor returns to the Assembly on 12 February. The Liberal Democrats will continue, on behalf of Londoners, to challenge his extravagant plans on spending. If a stitch-up takes place, and the Mayor lands Londoners with a huge hike in their council tax bills, he will not get away scot-free. We will keep a close eye on him to ensure that Londoners receive the public services they have been promised and what they pay for. The Mayor will be held to account: we will expect to see results.