London road budget attacked
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• Healers and other London road users face real problems if last week's London Assembly vote to slash the transport budget goes ahead, warns mayor Ken Livingstone. A combined Labour and Tory group of Greater London Assembly members voted to slash the budget by 2.23.6m.
Road system improvements and maintenance are set to suffer because cash has already been earmarked for public transport.
The mayor is expected to force the matter to a another ballot when the budget is finalised on February 15, says a spokeswoman.
"It's a real blow to improving the infrastructure and we hope they will reconsider its shortsightedness," she adds.
John Biggs, chair of the Transport Operations Scrutiny Committee, which was set up by the assembly to vet mayoral proposals, agrees that this is a further setback.
"It's good to have an impatient mayor," he adds, "but he has a reputation for spending freely and it's natural to look carefully at his proposals."
Transport for London, the statutory group in charge of the capital's major roads, will not be drawn on the freight implications if the members stay firm. it is a political consideration and until the budget is actually agreed, it is for the GLA alone," a spokesman claims.