Failed TfL Negotiations are Politically Motivated, Says Lib Dem Mayoral Candidate...Two Week Extension Nothing Short Of Failure,

Transport for London’s current funding arrangement with the Government has been extended two weeks. 

Ministers are said to be demanding that London’s congestion charge zone is extended and fares are raised in return for a £1 billion bailout package.

Responding to the news that the Government and Mayor of London have extended the current agreement by two weeks after failing to agree on a new financial package for Transport for London, Luisa Porritt, Lib Dem Candidate for Mayor of London, said:

“The Government and the Mayor have had months to get to a sensible deal. A two-week extension on deadline day is nothing short of a failure.

“Any new deal has to put Londoners first. The public has played by the rules, by avoiding public transport, and do not deserve to be punished for doing as they were told.

“No other rescue package has been subject to such politically motivated negotiations. Perhaps the Prime Minister needs reminding he doesn’t run London anymore.

“It is clear that a new, long-term plan is needed to secure TfL’s future for years to come. Such major changes, like those rumoured, should be decided by the people at the ballot box next May.

“In the meantime, it is the Government’s duty to keep the capital’s transport network running safely during these unprecedented times.”

TfL has relied on Government cash during the coronavirus crisis, after its income from passenger fares fell 90 per cent at the peak of the virus.

If a new deal cannot be agreed with Government, the network will be forced to issue a Section 114 order – the equivalent of bankruptcy for a public body.

The transport authority would then only be allowed to operate services it is required to by law – taxi licensing, free school buses for some children, and the Woolwich Ferry.

Most bus services, the Tube, Overground and Tram network would stop running.

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT 

So even though TfL have been sent skint by this nightmare Khan, we are being advised not to use public transport.

 On GMB this morning even Dr Hillary Jones said we should drive if we can, as that’s much safer than public transport. Yet the council are trying to get you out of your cars and on the tubes and buses. Where’s the safety in that???

 Now, there's the threat of the c.c Zone being extended.

 By the time TFL have finished there will be no form of transport except bikes.

Notice that the councils rolling out the most road blocks are Labour led, and the ones who have seen the light and have listened to their residents and reversed the changes, are conservative led. 

The people most affected by this are the less affluent....it’s as if the Labour Party have stabbed the working classes in the back.