KENNEDY SAYS HUGHES IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN BEAT LIVINGSTONE IN LONDON

7.43.12pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 3rd Jun 2004

Charles and Simon at this morning's press conference

Charles Kennedy, leader of the Liberal Democrats issued a stark warning to Londoners as they approach election day on June 10th. He said they want a Mayor who is independent. Ken Livingstone's decision to rejoin Labour makes him Blair's Mayor. There are only two candidates in the race for Mayor - they are Hughes and Livingstone. Londoners can choose an independent voice- a genuine voice of London - and that is Simon Hughes.

Mr Kennedy and Mr Hughes were joined by Lib Dem election strategist Lord Chris Rennard and Lib Dem London Assembly candidate Lynne Featherstone.

Mr Kennedy said:

"Ken Livingstone cannot rejoin the Labour Party and then pretend he is independent. He is Blair's Mayor.

"Londoners want real improvements to tube and train lines, Crossrail, affordable housing, and the unfair Council Tax. But Livingstone can't - and won't - deliver.

"In his four years in office Ken Livingstone has never met the Gordon Brown. How can the Mayor of London champion our Capital's need for greater resources if he has never met the Chancellor?

"In his four years in office Ken Livingstone has never met John Prescott. How can the Mayor of London champion our need for more affordable housing if he has never met the Cabinet minister in charge of housing?

"In his four years in office, Ken Livingstone's spending policies mean that we are paying him twice as much Council Tax as we were before. His policies for the next four years mean Council Tax will have to rise again and again and again.

"When Ken Livingstone was elected four years ago, he said he would be independent and that he would seek to serve only one term. He has broken those promises.

"But Simon Hughes has worked hard for London for over 20 years. As London Mayor, Simon will work hard for all of London and all Londoners. And Simon is the only candidate who can beat Ken Livingstone.

"If the only two top candidates are Livingstone and Norris, Livingstone will win. But if the top two candidates are Livingstone and Simon Hughes - then Simon Hughes could be the next Mayor of London.

"Ken Livingstone knows that Steve Norris cannot win - and he is playing politics when he suggests that his main threat is from the Conservatives. His only real threat is from the Liberal Democrats - who captured his old constituency of Brent East last September.

"Ken Livingstone has been far more expensive to the people of London than many people realise - he has almost doubled his share of council tax bills in the last four years. Simon Hughes and the Liberal Democrats want to scrap the council tax altogether.

"Ken Livingstone employs more press officers than 10 Downing Street and spends too much time promoting himself. Simon Hughes will be a Mayor who promotes London. He has no conflict of interest in serving everyone.

"Steve Norris cannot win. His clear conflict of interest in being Chairman of Jarvis - a company that earns millions of pounds from contracts awarded in connection with the part-privatisation of the London Underground - and competing for a job whose responsibilities include monitoring the performance of the private contractors recruited to maintain the capital's vast transport network and the oversight of contracts for public ­private works projects.

"Londoners have a clear choice. It's between a candidate who will fight for them and a mayor who has promised much but failed to deliver. It's between a party that has opposed the war and a Labour candidate who opposed the war then joined the party that started it.

"A vote on June 10th for Simon Hughes stands for better public transport and fairer congestion charging. It's a vote for minimum police guarantees in every ward. It's a vote for stronger action to protect Londoners against terrorist attack. It's a vote for a strong Mayor of London. Simon Hughes is a great asset to the Liberal Democrats. He will be an even greater asset to the people of London as their Mayor."

Simon Hughes said:

"Living in London must be a safe, clean, efficient and enjoyable experience. From tackling crime to tackling our transport problems, my job, as Mayor will be to champion the needs of Londoners.

"Londoners want a Mayor who is independent of the unions, independent of Tony Blair, independent of big business. They also want someone who can unite London, bring together the different peoples, faiths and cultures of the people who call themselves 'Londoners'. That is what I can offer the people of Greater London.

"London is one of the great capitals of the world with our history, arts, music, sport and wonderful diversity of culture and language. Above all, Londoners make our city one of the most interesting and exciting places on earth.

"But the aftermath of the war in Iraq has been felt more sharply in London than anywhere else in the country.

"From the increased threat of a terrorist attack, to the dramatic fall in the number of tourists that has hit businesses hard, to a rise in world oil prices that will affect our economy, the war in Iraq has had widespread consequences.

"As London's Mayor, I will immediately appoint an MI5 trained anti-terrorism specialist for the capital. His or her job would be to look at security across London, for all of us. I would set up a London Emergency Volunteer Reserve Force to help the emergency services in case of an attack. And I will make sure London's emergency services have the money, training and resources they need to tackle any attack if it happens.

"1 will also champion London's need for more affordable housing, for a better financial settlement for London from central Government, and a better transport infrastructure ­such as Crossrail."

Lynne Featherstone said:

"Ken Livingstone is no longer the one thing that Londoners wanted - an independent Mayor of London.

"Livingstone now stands for Labour not for London. Labour has in the past claimed to listen to London - now they follow a Mayor who when asked said the only views he was ever interested in were when people voted.

"Ken Livingstone has had some success - congestion charging (our policy) and more buses - although he has no money to pay for the ever widening gap between revenue and rising bus costs. Budgeting is not his strong point and that is an understatement. There are also more police on our streets - although we, Londoners, are paying dearly for them.

"Indeed, Ken Livingstone has doubled the amount of money he takes from our Council Tax bills in just four years. Just imagine what most councils could do to improve services if they could get away with doubling their Council Tax! So yes, he's achieved some things - but at what a cost. Where is the scale of improvements to justify the enormous increase in tax?

"Think how little he has really done across London, particularly in the huge swathes of London where the Mayor's sun doesn't shine - like outside zone one, for the millions he has extracted from us and spent on his pet projects, pet areas of London and his own publicity machine.

"He is no longer cheeky chappy, cuddly Ken. He has signed up to New Labour, warts and all. He now wants us to vote for the party that rushed into war in Iraq at George Bush's request, for the party that spent £500 million on privatising the tube - rather than improving services, and for the party that is ploughing ahead with top-up fees and foundation hospitals.

"Perhaps that is why Ken Livingstone still feels the need to drop the occasional clanger in public with politically incorrect outbursts from time to time - to show the old Ken hasn't died. Labour now has to tolerate his ill-judged remarks like stringing up the Saudi royal family from lamp-posts.

"Ken Livingstone can try and convince us that he is independent. But the truth is that he has signed up to Labour. He is Blair's Mayor. And come June 10th the public will see through his disguise."

ends

Mr Hughes and Mr Kennedy will be at Chapel Street Market, Upper Street, Islington at 11.30am today