Siân Berry for Mayor of London

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Latest News:

• 19 Dec 2008

  New design may raise costs and pollution

  Responding to the mayor of London's announcement of the winner for a new generation of Routemasters to replace articulated buses, Darren Johnson said: "The key problem with these bus designs is that fewer people will be able to get on them than the current double deckers and far fewer people than currently use a bendy bus. The extra pollution caused by having to run more buses is the real flaw in the mayor's approach to getting rid of bendy buses. I welcome the eco-friendly features on the design for these new buses, but if you have to run twice as many of them, then the health of Londoners will still suffer from the problems of pollution." "There is also the problem of extra cost, as open access at the back of the bus will mean either employing a conductor, or having fare evasion. Employing conductors and commissioning a new generation of buses will both lead to an increase in costs and almost certainly a further increase in fares." ENDS 1) The Capoco bus design has capacity for 80 passengers. The compares to a maximum of 120 passengers for an articulated bus and 85 for a double deck bus. Figures for the capacity of the Foster/Aston Martin design have not yet been announced. 2) The mayor has still not released a comparison of the pollution caused by articulated buses and that caused by their replacement by conventional buses on routes 38, 507 and 521. The original requests for this information was submitted in late September and is now subject to an Freedom of Information request.

• 17 Dec 2008

  Mayor's recovery plan offers little new for Londoners

  Jenny Jones today challenged the London Mayor for re-announcing existing funding and repackaging previous measures in his Economic Recovery Action Plan. The Plan announces £33 million of new money for business support but £23 million of this was already announced a week ago. Similarly, the Plan claims "the £130 million Targeted Funding Stream" will be used to "help vulnerable householders improve the energy efficiency of their homes" - but much of this funding stream has already been committed for other programmes. Jenny Jones commented: "The Mayor seriously underestimates the scale of the economic crisis facing London. At a time when there is urgent need of concerted action to protect jobs and increase affordability, the Mayor's plan rehashes existing policies and re-announces current funding. "The proposals will do nothing to make ordinary Londoners better off. "Concerted action from the GLA could create thousands of much-needed jobs in low carbon industries - from home insulation fitters to designers and high-tech factory workers. Yet the Mayor's plans in this area remain weak, vague and underfunded. Instead of economic recovery, this is a plan for a missed opportunity."

More news from London Green Party

Siân Blogs for New Statesman:

• 14 Jul 2008

  Berry last blog

  Since newstatesman.com relaunched on 30 November 2006 Sian Berry has been a regular contributor on her blog. Now she heads off to a new role at the Green Party so is stepping down...

  Yes, I know I promised to file a blog on eco-towns a fortnight ago. However, I have to confess I was tempted into moonlighting it away to the Telegraph, who are running a series of stories on what they are calling ‘Gordon’s poll tax’. So, for an update on the impressive number of campaigns that have emerged to oppose the fifteen shortlisted eco-town sites, you’ll have to read my [...]

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