Caroline Pidgeon AM, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group and transport spokesperson, commenting on the news that a 48-hour Tube strike will now almost certainly go ahead from 9.00 pm tonight after talks broke down between London Underground and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, said:
Residents and local Liberal Democrats have hit out at the controversial bus lane on Hartfield Road during a visit to the area by chair of the London Assembly Transport committee, Caroline Pidgeon.
After investigating the bus lane on Hartfield Road, Lib Dem London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon said:
As Transport for London released figures showing that traffic congestion in central London is on track to rise 60% based on current policies and strategies, Caroline Pidgeon said:
"The new congestion forecasts are simply horrific. The Mayor should prioritise buses and cyclists in the centre of the capital instead of pandering to everyone and ultimately failing everyone.
"The congestion charge should be updated annually, as public transport fares are, and levied at different levels at different times of day."
Read more at Dave Hill's blog in the Guardian.
Figures obtained by Caroline Pidgeon have shown that the cost of security at Woolwich and Downham fire stations - which were closed in January as part of the Mayor's fire service cuts - will total £138,000 until the end of 2015.
Lewisham Lib Dem councillor Julia Fletcher commented:
“Downham fire station should never have closed. We were told the reason it and other stations across London had to go was to save money, yet now the taxpayer has to fork out £69,000 just to protect an empty building.”
As figures from the Met revealed that in 2013, 19 officers were investigated for possession or distribution of obscene images, Caroline Pidgeon commented:
“Even allowing for the fact that these cases represent a very tiny fraction of the vast number of officers employed by the Met, these figures are still disturbing, especially the steep increase in cases that took place in 2013.
“We need a full explanation as to why this problem appears to be getting worse in the Met.”