Questioned by One London Party leader Damian Hockney at today’s Mayor’s Question Time Ken Livingstone admitted he does not know how much yesterday’s Venezuelan oil deal will cost Transport for London in lost fare revenue.
According to figures released yesterday by the Mayor’s office the maximum income from the scheme is £16 million.
The Mayor was unable to counter estimates from Hockney that the scheme will cost at lease a third more – £25 million – in lost fares revenue.
It’s claimed that when the cost of London providing expertise in areas such transport and town planning to the Venezuelan government the loss could be as high as £70 million.
Hockney branded the situation “an outrageous abuse of the Mayor’s position” and accused Livingstone of “grandstanding by promising cheap travel for the poor”.
The One London leader accused the Mayor of failing to do “the most basic arithmetic to check whether he can fulfill this promise without busting TfL’s budget.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor said: “The figures quoted by Damian Hockney stating that the agreement with the Venezuelan government would cost 70m are ludicrous. Transport for London’s calculations show that, taking into account all the effects of the discount, the total cost of the travel concession in terms of fares will be of the order of £15m.”
