Boris Johnson was joined by Tory leader David Cameron this morning for the formal launch of his Mayoral bid.
In a speech delivered at this morning’s launch Mr Johnson sought to portray the Livingstone administration as a missed opportunity which had demoralised Londoners.
Johnson said that the faces of fellow commuters on their way to work showed “a blank conviction that this is as good as it gets and that there is no power on earth that is going to get this Tube train going in time or make it less crowded, or introduce air conditioning”.
Seeking to win over Londoners with “fresh thinking” on housing, crime and transport Mr Johnson promised an end to bullying the boroughs and raving about quotas and targets” and repeated a promise to release Greater London Authority land to enable community housing trusts to build affordable homes.
Mr Johnson also used his launch to attack incumbent Mayor Ken Livingstone over crime levels in London and pledged to work with “the wealth creators of this city” to create Mayor’s Fund for London to support the voluntary sector.
Ahead of Mr Johnson’s Ken Livingstone’s campaign challenged David Cameron to say whether he supported Mr Johnson’s bus policy which independent expert have suggested is underfunded by £100million.
Mr Livinstone said “David Cameron must either publicly defend Boris Johnson’s claimed costs of his transport policies, and stand exposed as being as incompetent as his candidate for Mayor of London, or state that Boris Johnson must present honestly-costed policies to Londoners.”
Responding to Mr Johnson’s attack on crime in London a spokesman Mr Livingstone’s campaign said “The Tories have always refused to take the hard decisions on crime in London – Ken Livingstone was adding 1,000 police a year in London while Boris Johnson was asking three questions a year on crime and his only speech in Parliament mentioning London was on foot and mouth.
