HUGHES CALLS FOR END TO SECRECY OVER LONDON'S NEW YEAR CELEBRATION PLANS

12.01.00am GMT Tue 9th Dec 2003

Liberal Democrat London Mayoral candidate, Simon Hughes MP, today set out his disappointment over Mayor Livingstone's plans to ban Londoners from the capital's New Year's Eve celebrations.

In a letter to Mr Livingstone, Mr Hughes outlined his concerns that the plans to celebrate New Year in London have not only been too little; too late, but also exclude Londoners from joining in the party. Despite spending £3.7million on New Year, Mayor Livingstone is yet to publicise the celebrations or tell Londoners the full details of the plans - except that the public is excluded.

Mr Hughes said: -

"It is ridiculously late to start publicising the New Year's Eve events when many tourists and Londoners will have already made their plans.

"Given that Mr Livingstone has already spent £3.7million on these secret plans to hold New Year celebrations in the capital, it is ludicrous that Londoners are not even invited.

"The Mayor has added an extra pound in council tax to every household in London with his New Year plans, so it is just bizarre that he is preventing Londoners from taking part and enjoying the occasion."

ENDS

• The letter to Mr Livingstone is enclosed

Ken Livingstone

Mayor

City Hall

The Queen's Walk

London SE1 2AA

8th December 2003

Dear Mayor Livingstone

NEW YEAR'S EVE

On the 14th October I saw an announcement from your office that you were set to have all night running Tube services in the capital on 31st December but refused to be drawn on whether you intended there to be a London New Year celebration.

Given that we are now less than a month away from the New Year and that according to the answer you gave my colleague Graham Tope, the GLA and your office had spent £3.7million on these plans, and that London will now not be invited along to the festivities, is it not time to plan a celebration that all Londoners can take part in and enjoy to mark the beginning of 2004?

Since the millennium, London has failed to have any proper New Year celebrations. Given that almost every other capital in the world has some sort of participatory celebrations it must be in the best interests of our capital also to do the same? This would encourage tourists and give Londoners a true sense of a London community and a sense of pride.

It would also provide a showcase with which to show off our capital city in the bid for the Olympics in 2012. It is a deep disappointment to all concerned if London were bereft of any festivities on this exciting occasion that allow people to get together and enjoy. So next time you plan some celebrations, for heaven's sake, tell us and invite us - so that we can all make plans accordingly.

SIMON HUGHES MP

Liberal Democrat Spokesman for London

House of Commons

London

SW1A 0AA

• http://www.visitlondon.com/ - is still yet to set out the celebration plans for the capital for New Year.

• According to the 2001 census there are 3,015,997 households in London

• During Mayor Questions Time, Graham Tope asked:

What is the total GLA Group budget for New Year's Eve? Please provide a breakdown of how this money will be spent.

Mayor:

The total confirmed budget for the strategic activity around promoting London over the Christmas and New Year period from the GLA group is £3.7 million

The breakdown of this budget is:

LDA: £1.8m for a promotion of London to visitors over the Christmas and New Year period

Core GLA: £200,000 towards celebrating New Yes's Eve

TfL: £1.7 million to cover the costs in delivering an integrated 24-hour transport system in the capital for the night 31st Dec to 1st Jan.

MPS: expenditure is not yet confirmed.