PJC Journal – Original

London Mayor Ken
Livingston is going to be introducing new legislation. 

In the first move
to use the IPCC report and the Stern Review to raise money on ‘green taxes’ the
London Mayor Ken Livingston has prepared a bill for parliament to start
charging based upon exhaust emissions in London.

The scheme will allow
TfL to charge drivers £25 per day, will cost £600million to set up, but deliver
just a 0.3% improvement on air quality, and is clearly seen as again using
motorists as a cash cow by imposing yet another stealth tax and hiding it
behind a green issue.

The
Consultation period is now closed (9^th Feb), but so confident is
Ken Livingston’s team that the are advertising for the Project Managers to
begin putting it in place already, with a start date of 19^th Feb.

TFL Project
Manager

Our
client is the integrated body responsible for the Capital's transport system,
which includes Transport for London Street Management and is responsible for
improving London's roads and reducing
congestion for all road users. This includes enabling more sustainable modes
such as walking and cycling through the optimisation of all of London's traffic signals and by
focusing on safety, the environment and the use of cutting edge urban design
techniques to get London's traffic moving.

A 5-year Investment Programme (reviewed in 2006), including circa. £600m
(Surface Operations) per annum over the next 3-years, is in place to enable
over 18 million journey's to take place each and every day.

An opportunity has arisen for a number of experienced Project Managers, working
within the Programme Management Office of the Road Network Development
division, to manage and develop London's road network.

See full advert here

 

So
it looks as though no matter what your argument, whatever was in the
consultation, the decision has already been made.

It
is interesting to note at this stage that TfL is in serious financial
trouble.  It will require a huge subsidy
from the GLA in order to keep functioning next year, or a method to raise new
revenue. 

Further,
that the single highest group of vehicle contributors of air pollution in London is caused by TfL buses,
70pct of which fail to meet the basic exhaust emissions regulations, and all of
which are exempt from the above legislation.

The argument for the proposal
is put forward by the Energy
Saving Trust (another government funded web site in the new sickly but
disarming blue and green NuLab corporate colours).

The argument against is highlighted
by the ABD This week, in which the government
has been accused of suppressing a report prepared by Imperial College London
for the Department of Health.

In a
BBC interview Prof. Stephen
Glaistor of Imperial College London, who have just released the results of study
into London's air quality said.

“London has the cleanest air of most
of the world's capital cities and the environmentalist lobby are painting an
untrue picture. Car emissions are not doing us any harm and we would all get
healthier if we gave up smoking and did more walking, especially in central London.”

Is
this a serious attempt at reducing air pollution, or a scheming devious way to
raise more money, your hard earned cash, you decide.

 

 

This blog has been quiet for a few days.

I have been in London on what should have been a single day trip, only to find that I could not return home as my village in the Brecon Beacons had been snowed in, and me out.

This did however mean that I could spend more time with friends and contacts that I had originally envisaged, and spent the time usefully digging up and verifying a few facts with Westminster insiders for my next story, as well a quaffing a few well earned beers.

Still took me many more hours than expected to get home, at one stage having had to dig myself out of the ever present snow in the mountains in order to get the last 2 miles in.

All will be back to normal tomorrow morning, after I have read and digested most of the news items, ignoring the raft of political assasinations that appear to be going on at present. (more on that too).