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Johnson Scraps Cheap Fares for Income Support Claimants
Some of the poorest transport users in London will see bus fares double after Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced the end of a deal with Venezuela’s state-owned oil company which allowed income support recipients benefit from half price fares.
Under a deal agreed by former Mayor Ken Livingstone London received a payment equivalent to 20 per cent of the price of fuel for the capital’s bus fleet. This saving was passed on to income support recipients - some of the poorest households in London - in the form of reduced bus fares.
A statement issued by City Hall this morning says Mayor Johnson has decided not to renew the current deal when it concludes this August. According to the statement Transport for London will continue to accept applications until August and recognise the discount beyond this date for a maximum period of six months.
The Mayor said “’I think many Londoners felt uncomfortable about the bus operation of one of the world’s financial powerhouses being funded by the people of a country where many people live in extreme poverty. I simply think there are better ways of benefiting Londoners and better ways of benefiting Venezuelans.”
“We will continue to offer the half-priced travel concession to
Londoners on Income Support for the duration for which the deal was
originally planned, and will continue to improve the capital’s
transport system and ensure that it is accessible and able to meet the
needs of all those who rely on it.”
The agreement was a variation of the one in operation between Venezuela and New York where the company supplies reduce prices heating oil.
Speaking at the launch of the scheme last August London’s Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy said the deal “enables us to cut fares even further in support of the least
well off Londoners, who now have even greater access to jobs, leisure
and all this great city has to offer.”
Mr Livingstone said the announcement was “a direct attack on the poorest Londoners” which “gives us a taste of what we can expect from the Johnson administration. Thousands of Londoners are being attacked by the Mayor of their city by this decision.”
The former Mayor said “Regardless of Boris Johnson’s objections to the oil agreement with Venezuela he has announced no alternative way to provide cheaper travel to the more than 80,000 Londoners on Income Support who benefit from the half price bus and tram fares. It shows that he is more interested in pursuing his right wing ideological agenda than improving the living standards of the most deprived people in the capital.”
Attacking the timing of today’s announcement Livingstone commented: “The fact that the first significant action by Johnson’s Tory regime is against the poorest people in the capital is highly significant as is the cowardly way he has made the announcement on Bank Holiday Sunday without any consultation with the organisations representing the thousands of carers, single parents and others affected and at a time when he can assume there will be less media coverage.”
“It is now clear that the Boris Johnson mayoralty means an attack on the least well-off Londoners. Following his decision to hand most of his Mayoral powers to a vicious trade union busting “slash and burn” expert, we now start to see the face which Boris Johnson was so careful to conceal in his election campaign.”
“The suggestion that Johnson is motivated by any concern about the people of Venezuela is just a lie shown by the fact that he is withdrawing all technical support and advice provided by London under this agreement.”
Related story: Labour On Attack After Johnson Doubles Fares For Poorest Londoners
In-depth: Venezuelan oil deal Discussion
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Just as you’d expect from a Tory administration; jobs for their millionaire friends and a kick in the teeth for the poor.
And what of the ‘greater access to jobs’ Hendy hailed less than a year ago?
Voters who think they’re being smart by voting Tory are in for a nasty shock when Cameron’s in no 10 and mirrors Johnson’s actions on a national scale.
Well done , Boris! Most of those who “qualified” weren’t English in any case..they were mainly migrant workers, AND their Beneficiaries (wives + children ), already claiming state handouts as a way of life. The access to jobs is still there, either walk ,or pay your way. I fail to see where the jobs for the millionaires come from, it just means Employers will have to pay a fair wage , not sweat shop wages,and that British workers will not be priced out of jobs. Now I realise why I used to vote Labour, but now always vote for the British party- the Conservatives!. No more paying foreign poor at the expense of the British poor.
Qunago Alert is right. We’re witnessing the future of GB under Cameron and his trust fund elite.
Just remember it was the tories who said Johnson’s administration would be a taster for what they’ll do in Government.
After the kick they’ve had in the local elections and crewe by election Labour need to start showing people just what Cameron’s tories do once in power.
Can I just say that this article is slightly misleading. From reading the BBC article it says “The mayor of London said half-price bus and tram fares for 250,000 Londoners on income support, which were also funded by the deal, would still be honoured.”
Basically the cheap fares for people on income support will still be available but it will not be funded by the Venezuelan agreement. Correct me if I am wrong though.
Despite what you think of Livingstone, the Venezuelan deal was possibly the most innovative piece of politics that I have seen in the last decade.
It helped the poor in Venezuela and the poor in the London … nobody lost. A policy which HELPED our neighbours both near and far … and nobody lost out.
Similar deals were struck in New York and other US States, so it’s not an anti-US ticket.
So … what does Boris do???? …
Thanks - voters of London. You reap what you sow - but I guess all you want is a tax cut, huh? Whores.
Richard: You’re wrong.
The Mayor’s statement makes it quite clear that the reduced fares will only be honoured for a maximum of 6 months from August (or six months from the date of issue of the individual holder’s card - whichever is sooner).
Or as the International Herald Tribune says: “A spokesman for the mayor said there were no plans to offer low-income residents advantageous bus fares”
If the BBC say otherwise you need to take up the issue of their poor reporting with them.
Next time you hear Cameron and Osbourne’s faux outrage at the 10p tax cut please remember how Boris doubled fares for the very poorest Londoners out of pure dogma and the cowardly way he slipped the announcement out over a bank holiday weekend.
Most of the comments have been on the class war/politics basis. I was the only Assembly Member outside of the Labour/Green group in 04-08 who made clear I would support the former Mayor if this deal really was a win-win for London. However, when I asked a very simple question based upon the Mayor’s own figures, there was no real answer. There is a link to the story on Mayorwatch if you search ‘Venezuela’ but I can’t put it in here as links are not accepted. Our researches showed that there was no guarantee that this deal was what it claimed to be - a self funding subsidy. On that basis, the new Mayor is right to scrap it, as it was unwieldy, uncertain, likely to cost the taxpayer more money (albeit covetly) and not what it claimed to be…but Tories forget the anti-Chavez ideological grounds, please, and Labour supporters the Crewe-cut class war…
And your figures were refuted by Livingstone as being wildly inaccurate, Damien Hockney, but don’t let that stop you from explaining how you arrived at them.
There are no plans to help those on income support who lose out and Ken’s right to point out this is just about ideology. This is not going to endear him to many.
The disaster that is Boris is already unfolding before our eyes. Could it be true that Boris is really Nulab’s secret weapon? If he carries on like this he could bring down his own party.
I searched for the article you mentioned Damian and came out with this one:
“If we take the official estimate that the cost of the half-price fares for those on income support will be £15 million and the cost of the advice to Venezuela will be £1 - £2 million, it’s clear that the whole thing will cost more than the £16 million discount. What about the further costs, like administration of the discounts?”
The uncertainty of how much it would cost was surely based on the uncertainty of how many people would take up the offer. By the estimated figures above, the deal would have ended up costing an extra couple of million max, on top of the subsidy. Not an unreasonable cost given the amount of people it would help.
And how much more will TfL be spending in increased oil prices now that the deal is scrapped?
The disability Freedom Pass will be next.
After all, wheelchair users who earn a salary should buy a car like everyone else and not clutter up the mayor’s new vintage routemasters.
‘If he carries on like this he could bring down his own party.’
Only if Labour stop fighting long enough to focus the spotlight on the regressive policies being enacted by the ‘new’ Conservatives when they get inoffice.
Pathetically there’s not been a word of this on Labourhome or any other pro-Labour blog. A golden opportunity missed while they bleat on about Crewe!
Re: DarrentheBold’s comment
If you bothered to check your facts you’d find that migrant workers can not qualify for Income Support and did not therefore get the bus fare reduction.
OK, Adam, the key to this is that when the deal was done, no-one had worked out what the costs would be, or how many people would take it up. Or if they had, they refused to tell us! ‘Im with Stupid’, we had to use the Mayor’s own figures which made clear it COULD cost up to £70 million. These figures were never actually queried when we presented then to him as he had given them in his press release. Our claims that it might in the event cost £70 million were queried, but not the Mayor’s own figures which are clear and allow for very simple arithmetic to arrive at the potential cost. Similarly, we were concerned at the actual costs of providing what were unspecified services (who would do them, how much would they cost, whose services would London be losing to Caracas etc?). Remember the Mayor could not say for some time what these costs might be when challenged by us. It’s very easy for one part of government to say that something costs ‘nothing’ when it suits. The other misconception was that this was an “oil” deal. It was not and was never intended to be. It was a simple cash transfer of US dollars from the Venezuelan State Oil Co in Holland to TfL of an amount which would obviously fluctuate in sterling equivalent. And it was a transfer in return for services. Again we made clear we had no ideological opposition to this and said we would support this deal if we thought it was good for London (and I made a point of meeting with Chavez when invited by the then Mayor, which the Tories and LibDems refused to do), on simple grounds that if it was good for my city, I wanted the cash. Period. Ideological opposition to such things is absurd, imho. In a similar way, I have family in the West Indies and have always suggested to those making decisions there that they do not reject out of hand the Chavez PetroCaribe deals just because of US unease. It was highly unwise of the new Mayor to make this statement over a bank holiday - it has the whiff of “burying bad news” and sends an awkward message about how the new administration will deal with low income/no income Londoners. Why not do a quick cost benefit analysis first before rejecting this deal? And then release the facts. Now as I have most of them, and just need a couple more, I would be delighted to assist…and I wouldn’t even ask for the £1 salary given to Tim Parker…
Adam/Damien - it’s worth reading the original agreement, since it might help get a handle on the various cash flows involved.
In particular, the administrative costs for both the TfL advice to Venezuela and the discount scheme are paid out with the second tranche of monies received, which should have come in by now (the first would have been last year some time).
What’s also clear is that TfL benefits from rising fuel prices, since the cost of the discount scheme is presumably dependent solely on the increased number of people on income support who wish to travel while the money Venezuela remit to pay for it is 20% of the cost of bus fuel for the year, using the net diesel price around the time TfL request the money. There’s a further correction at the end of the year if the actual price paid over the year differs from the amount TfL received.
What’s not clear (to me, anyway, but I confess I haven’t fully researched it yet) is how much has been received or how much discount travel has been used or what happens if the money coming in exceeds the cost of the scheme.
I have read through these comments and the article and it seems very clear to me that the people were on benefits. This means we were giving them yet another reason to stay on benefits - another allowance that would mean the basic wage offered by a new role looked less and less attractive “where’s my free travel allowance?”….
Well done Boris, a brave step in the right dircetion of openness and transparency of pricing and local government.
Betty, my fellow Ealingite, stop idling and get back to work! My family don’t want to support another person on benifits.
Well done Boris. We, the workers are already paying for the people on benefits so why sub their fares also.Please can you now cancel the kids free fares.They get on the buses for 1 stop therefore not getting any exercise and getting fatter.They will not give up their seats and eat,drink and play loud music(not allowed in Las Vegas).You could not pay me enough to be a bus driver or school teacher as there is no respect now.
Just noticed my bad use of grammar and spelling. Sorry. I grew with the Tory state school system…
Oh yeah, Karen (comment No 7) is spot on.
Did Boris Johnson ask the poor in London that he was going to give back the gift Hugo Chavez gave them. And now they would have to pay full fare.
People on income support are the very poor in london, who do all the dirty work, they are not paid enough to live on so to get them out of poverty they get income support. There are one of the hardest working people in London many living in overcrowded sub standard accomadation. The provide a vital service to London keep running. The Chavez deal was - that the Oil righ country would give a gift to London’s poor. rich Eton educated Boris thinks that the poor sould not get this gift -
Cheap fares come to an end in august when the deal is cancelled.
Sunday I was going out went to top up my Oyster card then about to get into a bus when I realized my pass was lost. I rang up TFL and ask if they could block my card from anyone using it. I was told that cheap fare end therefore I won’t need to renew my discount ID at the post office when my Oyster is replaced. I did not vote for Boris Johnson because I know Tory does not care for the poorer class, not saying any government cares, Ken Livingston is the best at least he has an heart for those who are less off. I have already spent £6.00 since Sunday, I am £3.00 short on buying my food now as before traveling two days would be £2.00 £1.00 going and coming back home.
How can someone earn £200 a week live if they have to pay rent, council tax, electricity, gas, telephone. TV License, bus fare £13 a week out of the above. Most time can’t have breakfast, lunch or dinner. One has to compensate for the other. Can’t see my way out of poverty. I can only eat two meal a week then pick around on what I can find to eat. Government speak about eating healthy who can do this living in England?
i cant believe how judgemental people can be yes alot of people on benefit need to get of there back side and get a job and there is nothing stopping half of them just like so many people claiming incapacity benefit and there is nothing wrong with them at all but dont judge all by those few
i am a single mum and have been since she was 10 days old my baby is three now i have no choice but to claim benefit and believe me i would rather not i would love to be out there earning my own money and paying my own rent however i have to try find a job that will pay the rent on a private rented property as i can not get anywhere with the council housing and am looking at ten years waiting list and they do not care that im a single mum and if i had to pay council rents i would have more of a chance to get a job and cover this. I have worked since the day i left school and paid all my taxes for the last 15 years and yes i am on benefits but not because im a lazy person who cant be bothered but also the fact is everyone says tax payers funding me no i am claiming back 15 years work of taxes i have paid.
as i said its so easy to judge but remember some people have no choice and also what seems like something so little to one is alot to another and wth the discount on the travel my little girl was able to the park more i could go see family more etc as it was not so expensive now we are back to how it used to be as we live so far away from everyone i need to get the bus just to get to a shop
i would like to see some people try support there family on what is given believe me being on the dole does not give you a easy life
Very interesting comments - but I’m afraid the same old arguments arising.
I used to be on benefits and now I work in a top tier investment bank (while it still exists!). I currently pay over £2500 a month in tax and I don’t begrudge a penny of it going to the people that need it most, because I understand what it’s like to live on benefits. It’s demoralising and only a very, very small minority actually want to stay on benefits. How callous and uncaring some of you are, and in fact self defeating.
A great man once pointed out that if the low paid are driven out of London, then who is going to do all the service jobs that London requires? The street cleaning, the maintenance jobs etc. These are vital to running the city and it cannot function without these people. I can’t wait to see my CEO don his Marigolds and get cleaning the toilets on Embankment.
This benefit was hardly a state handout, it helped the lowest paid to GET to work. Where is the motivation for them to work now? Why should they bother? It must be easier to go back to the dole rather than struggle through.
If you randomly cut benefits like this (as this administration has on several occassions) - based on political ethics (Chavez + Socialism) then the result will be MORE people on state benfits - not less. The consequences of this change was not well thought out by this administration. True to form they have made a BooBoo in that they have now narrowed their options to a choice of two.
1) Cut the travel subsidy and increase the state burden
2) Increase taxes to retain the benefit.
Had they looked into the deal properly then they could have altered it to fit their political ideals. Maybe the same deal with a ‘politically friendly’ country like Saudi Arabia or Iran. The Tories are happy to get into bed with those oppressive regimes as they are a million miles from the socialist Venezuala. At least the London poor would not have lost out.
With regards to Damian’s comments, the original deal may not have been perfect, and possibly would have cost the taxpayer in the long run - but that was there to be improved upon - not scrapped which is likely to now impact the taxpayer much more (albeit through stealth increases in fares etc.).
Thank you ‘TawkinSenz’.. You’ve summarised everything i wanted to say in defence of those that UNFORTUNATELY have to be a drain on the country and claim benefits as they have no choice!
I am in a similar position to Marie.. I’m a single mum with 2 boys.. My son’s school is only accessible by bus as the walk is a bit too much for a 4 year old.. I think those who are not claiming benefits have absolutely no idea how little income we receive to cover food, bills etc.. We’d be lucky to be left with £10 at the end of the week! .. I do not spend that income on ciggaretes or alcohol as i put my children’s needs first.. I, as someone mentioned above, am lucky to be able to have the ingredients to cook 2 meals a week for the 3 of us! I can’t afford to call for a Take Away or go out to eat like most of the people above.. I’m sure they’ll all jump in now in their defence and tell me to get off my moany backside and get a job to support my family as they as martyrs do!.. Unfortunately i would love to but i simply cannot aford to work! I would not be able to pay my rent let alone Food, Electricity/Gas or Childcare for my 20 month old! Some people really need to stop attacking those of us who have no choice but to live from handouts which, by the way, a mere fraction, if any, comes from your taxes! Why don’t you concentrate on how much of your taxes lines the Fat cats pockets or goes into building plans that are ridiculously high cost and useless!!