"Mayor trying to gag political opponents" as he rejects LFEPA nominations

10.55.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 15th Jun 2007

Commenting on the decision of the Mayor not to nominate any Liberal Democrats to the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA), Mike Tuffrey Leader of the London Assembly and LFEPA group said:

"This is the Mayor trying to gag his political opponents"

"The law requires the Fire Authority to be politically proportional and it is not for the Mayor to dictate to the other parties who they appoint. The current arrangements have worked well for the past 7 years. At a time when the Fire service is facing major challenges and needs to appoint a new Fire Chief, the Mayor advances no reasonable explanation for his decision to try and prevent other political groups being appointed.

"The Mayor is becoming dictatorial in his manner and attempting to stifle genuine political debate in London. He is far exceeding his powers and needs to understand the errors of his ways."

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Mayor of London is able to nominate nine nominees to LFEPA, five of whom are London Assembly members and four councillors, put forward by the political groups at the London Assembly and London councils.

The Liberal Democrats nominated London Assembly Members Mike Tuffrey and Geoff Pope. The London Councils Liberal Democrat group nominated Ed Butcher after a ballot of all Liberal Democrat councillors in London.

The Mayor has also rejected the Conservative Party's nominations.