Telling Ken: the Livingstone roadshow

Ken Livingstone.

This article titled “Telling Ken: the Livingstone roadshow” was written by Dave Hill, for guardian.co.uk on Friday 1st July 2011 15.19 UTC

The Livingstone tour of London’s boroughs reached my own, Hackney, on Monday, concluding with a public meeting in Stoke Newington’s Abney Public Hall. There were, perhaps, a hundred people in attendance including Meg Hillier, one of Hackney’s two Labour MPs, and Ken’s running mate Val Shawcross who chaired an evening that was intriguing both for its atmosphere and for its pledges and its clues about evolving policies. Here’s a list:

One: Under a Livingstone mayoralty Shawcross, who leads on transport for Labour on the London Assembly, would chair Transport for London. As Mayor, Livingstone had done that job himself.

Two: I quote: “We want to move people away from cars and on to public transport.” This was unachievable unless public transport fares were held down as low as possible. “Val and I will try to make certain that fares do not rise beyond inflation,” he said. He added that he couldn’t guarantee this, because he could know what the level of government grant would be. The budget assumption under Boris has been that fares will rise annually by RPI + 2 percent. Livingstone said that fares had become “a stealth tax, and it’s wrong.”

Three: I quote again: “Crime trends are only down because we’ve had more coppers. After the election police numbers will be cut by 1,800. The guarantee we give is that frontline police numbers will be preserved, and any cuts that have been made will be restored.”

Four: Ken had visited a local youth project, meeting young people whose hopes of employment were miniscule. “We would be fools to think that in this next five to ten years there’s going to be a dynamic upsurge in the Western economies.” Billions in investment would only come from abroad, from fast-growing economies like China, India and Brazil. He’d intended to open an office in Rio had he won in 2008, and if he wins next years would seek to establish a presence of some kind in Brazil.

Five: Sainsbury’s is seeking to open a new store in Stoke Newington, with local consultation just underway. Ken said he was unable to comment on the specific plan, but made the general point that, “When you’ve got something like that coming, why shouldn’t the Mayor and the boroughs be negotiating to say that parking area should be open to people shopping with local traders as well, and not just exclusively for the superstore? We want to try and preserve unique, local shops.”

Six: On the road network: “Red routes are something [we need] to look at again. The whole world’s changed. It might be that there should be more bus and cycle lanes. So I’ve got a very open mind about red routes.” He also declared a general dislike for one-way gyratory systems.

Seven: Shawcross revealed that they were “thinking of doing some local manifestos as well as London-wide ones.”

Eight: On new industries: “We should take a lead in developing green technologies that in a few years everyone would want to be buying. This is an area of huge potential for growth. From the south of the Olympic site to the Thames there’s enough land for 40,000 homes and 50,000 jobs. This is the most important potential development anywhere in Western Europe. It could take 20 years if the economy is slow, it could take a decade if we start to attract inward investment.”

An audience member expressed disappointment at the tiny number of Hackney people who’ve secured work at the Olympic Park. “This is the problem,” Ken replied. “This is where Boris fails. The only way you get what you want from a big development like that is when the Mayor is saying every week, ‘How many local people have you interviewed?’ We’ve lost that opportunity, and it’s a disgrace.”

North Hackney is Ken-friendly territory and the general tone of the occasion was thoughtful, supportive and constructive, with audience members encouraged to contribute ideas as well as ask questions. There was a bit of humour too: a man who’s hearing isn’t great accepted an invitation to move nearer the front and on arriving there asked the Labour candidate if he wanted his autograph.

I left with two strong impressions: one was the familiar sense that if Livingstone walked back into City Hall on Monday morning the machinery of London government would be running twice as fast by the end of the afternoon; the other was that he’s striving to build a voter appeal and a policy platform to catch the mood and practicalities of modern metropolitan times. I don’t know if he will succeed in completing what would be one of the most extraordinary political comebacks of all time, but it is fascinating watching him try.

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