"Congestion charging has been a success. It is good for Londoners, good for the environment and good for tourists. We need to expand congestion charging throughout London, not contemplate ways we can buy votes from the car lobby."
"Nobody is pretending that London’s public transport system is perfect. We all know that the tube needs huge amounts of investment and we know that Capita has done a poor job of running the congestion charge. But that is not a reason to scrap the charge", said Darren Johnson.
London Green Party is calling for the congestion charging to be run in-house and for the current road building programme to be scrapped and the money invested in public transport.
"If we were to invest the amounts of money planned for these ostentatious bridge and road schemes into London public transport, we could have a service that Londoners would be proud of" concluded Darren.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. Darren Johnson is 37 and was selected as the Green Party’s candidate for Mayor of London in May 2003. He was elected to the London Assembly in May 2000 where he is Leader of the Green Party Group. He was also elected to Lewisham Council in May 2002.
2. The Mayoral election will be held on June 10th at the same time as the elections for the London Assembly and the European Parliament. At the last Assembly elections the Greens scored one of their best ever results in the Party’s history, securing 11.1% of the vote across London and winning three seats on the 25-member Assembly.
3. Darren Johnson’s vision for a sustainable Green London can be found on his website www.johnsonformayor.org.uk
ENDS
Further information and interviews contact Penny Kemp 07711 760692