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Congestion Charging
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grufty jim
grufty jim
1978 posts

Re: Steven Norris
Mar 01, 2003, 13:15
Whatever you say about Norris, i was always under the impression that he was a good politician (with all the slimey connotations that has). That he'd say anything (however far from his beliefs) in order to secure or maintain power.

However, he has announced that a central plank of his mayoral campaign will be to scrap the congestion charge. Apparently it's a "silly" scheme; is "technically flawed"; and "doesn't work".

Now, i'm sure there are some technical glitches. However there appear to be far fewer than even the proponents of the scheme expected.

I don't know anyone who thinks it's "silly" other than Norris. Plenty of folks disagree with it; but who really thinks it's "silly" to try *something* to reduce traffic?

Most importantly of all, however, is that it does actually appear to be working. Traffic jams in London have been dramatically reduced, "higher than usual" numbers of cyclists have been recorded on the streets. The extra buses put on by the mayor are all full (and there's plans to add yet more with the first chunk of revenue from CC). The success of the scheme has apparently opened a major line of credit for Transport For London, who will be allowed to borrow against future CC revenue (vital if the tube system is to see increased capacity). And interestingly, NuLabour (after years of condemning the scheme) have hailed it as a success, and plan to roll it out across the country assuming it works over a longer term (Mr. Darling is looking to try and snatch some of the credit for a scheme he refused to back, the git).

Ken Livingstone pledged to make London a better place to live when he ran for mayor. This scheme on it's own would appear to be fulfilling that pledge.

I say we organise a whip-round and buy him a particularly nice newt. Yay to Ken!
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Steven Norris (Merrick)
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