Mayor caught in a lie

As predicted back on June 18th (see previous posting) when the Mayor announced a partial bus fare cut he is using the summer to electioneer. The August issue of The Londoner – the Mayor’s £3 million a year “freesheet” – has a totally outrageous front page headline and article followed up by a page 5 opinion piece from the Mayor.

As ever the Mayor is lying outrageously. He says:

I am pleased that the strength of London’s economy, and efficiencies achieved by Transport for London, mean that fares can now be reduced with no cut in this investment programme or financial risk to the transport budget.

This economic strength and operating efficiency creates benefits that should be returned to London.

The stuff about London’s economy is meaningless waffle and irrelevant to bus pricing.

The talk about efficiency is a lie. Back in February, after a two month wait, the Mayor wrote to me and admitted that bus subsidies would increase by £65 million in the current financial year. Click to enlarge his letter below:

How is it possible to reconcile a £65 million increase in subsidy with the notion of “efficiency”? Bus costs are out of control and cannot be used as an explanation of why it is possible to cut fares. The Mayor is a liar.