Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group and transport spokesperson, commenting on the publication today of July’s inflation rate, which is used as the benchmark for 2015 Transport for London fares, said:
“The fall in inflation last month is obviously welcome - however, a rise in TfL fares by inflation plus 1 per cent cannot be justified next year.
Writing at Liberal Democrat Voice, Caroline Pidgeon sets out the facts showing how the freeze on gun licence fees effectively means that, at time of huge funding pressure, the police continue to subsidise gun owners:
Since 2001 the cost of a five-year gun licence across the UK has been frozen at £50, which in practice equates to just £10 per year. The cost of renewing a five-year licence gun licence is even lower, at just £40. By way of comparison an annual fishing rod licence costs £27, or £72 to obtain an annual licence to fish for salmon or sea trout.
To get some understanding of the significant expenditure by the police in issuing gun licences I recently asked a Mayoral Question to find out about the situation just in London. The reply from the Mayor of London stated that the Metropolitan Police Service’s total expenditure on carrying out checks and issuing gun licences had been in excess of £20 million since 2008. At the same the Mayor of London has admitted that the total income raised by these fees has raised a mere £1.5 million since 2008.
After co-hosting an event at City Hall to promote the local Scoop open-air theatre, Caroline Pidgeon writes:
The producer of London's Free Open-Air Theatre Season, Suzanna Rosenthal, first approached me last year and I was more than happy to get involved in what is a fantastic project and an asset to the local area and to London. For over ten years Suzanna’s theatre group Gods and Monsters has been performing, and indeed rehearsing, in the Scoop in More London.
As a public consultation began on plans to extend the Bakerloo line to Old Kent Road, Catford, Beckenham and Bromley, Caroline Pidgeon expressed her strong support for the extension and commented:
“Extending the Tube into Southwark, Lewisham and Bromley would unleash huge economic opportunities.
“After decades of being left behind it is time south-east London was given the transport links it needs to truly unleash its potential.”
Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group and transport spokesperson, commenting on Transport for London’s announcement today that daily and weekly capping will start for contactless payments on London’s buses, from the 16th September, said: