BUDGET CRISIS TALKS LOOM AS LIB DEMS QUIZ MAYOR ON 'DISHONEST' FARE RATE HIKE

12.01.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 15th Sep 2004

At Mayor's Question Time later today, Liberal Democrats will accuse Mr Livingstone of being dishonest with Londoners, as new figures show that up to £100 per Londoner will be needed to dig the Mayor out of his transport budget black hole. Mr Livingstone is set to hold emergency budget crisis talks next Wednesday (22nd September).

The Lib Dems seized on the Mayor's admission that only 50% of the estimated £1.3bn funding gap had been filled following the Governments' transport White Paper published in July. In the run up to the election in June, Mr Livingstone promised that he would not put up fares above inflation. Just 3 months into his second term he has already made a dramatic U-turn and admitted fares will have to rocket to cover the budget deficit.

Mr Livingstone estimates that the shortfall between his spending and what the Government gave the capital equates to £675million, and with approximately 7.1million people in London, around £95.07 will have to be charged to each Londoner to make up the shortfall. This will have to be done either through increases in fares or by scrapping major transport projects.

Lynne Featherstone said:-

"The failure to tackle the transport funding black hole shows that leaving the Mayor to manage a budget is like leaving a goat to tend the cabbages. The failure in his accounting has led to emergency budget talks to stave of the funding crisis.

"Mr Livingstone's dishonesty with Londoners in the run up to the June elections will leave many people wondering if they can ever trust his promises. Time and again he told the public that fares would only increase in line with inflation. Just three months after re-election he has already broken one his most important pledges.

"Unfortunately Londoners are set to reap what Mr Livingstone has sown. Over the last 4 years his, 'I spend now, you pay later', attitude to getting his pet projects off the ground has left a legacy of debt the less well off in the capital will struggle to afford."

ENDS

The Lib Dems will quiz the Mayor at Mayor's Question Tim eon Wednesday 15th September 2004 from 09.00hrs

• Fare Increases

Question No: 1197 / 2004

Lynne Featherstone

Can you explain why you are now saying that the congestion charge and Tube and bus fares will have to rise above the level of inflation, and that there may have to be significant rises in Council tax, in order to pay for an improved public transport system, including Crossrail ? Does this not confirm what we have said many times about a Black Hole in Transport for London's finances, and should not voters feel outraged that these plans for higher charges were not advertised in your election material?

• In his press conference of 7th September 2004, Ken Livingstone said that the budget black hole was £1.3billion when taking into consideration the East London Line. He admitted that he had got 50% of what he asked for leaving difficult choices, and that we would 'clearly have to have fare increases above the rate of inflation'.