PRESS RELEASE

22 July 2002

FIND THE GUILTY PARTIES SAYS OTTAWAY

Richard Ottaway, Conservative Member of Parliament for Croydon South and former Shadow Minister for London, has written to Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, asking him to investigate who is responsible for bringing London to a standstill when the Mayor's brief is to get London moving (see letter below).

Richard Ottaway says:-

"Someone is deliberately ignoring the Mayor's brief. No-one in their right minds would deliberately slow down London's traffic - the Mayor must conduct an immediate and urgent enquiry and expose the guilty parties."

"It is obvious to anyone who drives in London that congestion on the Capital's roads has become worse in recent months. Many traffic lights appear to have been re-programmed to have shorter green phases and longer red phases."

"Some have accused the Mayor of using this as ploy to exaggerate the success of congestion charging - when charging is introduced, lights can be reprogrammed to extend green phases which will reduce congestion. However, the Mayor has dismissed such suggestions as cynical, arguing that the re-phasing has got nothing whatever to do with the introduction of the congestion charge."

"Why, then is traffic being deliberately slowed by the man whose brief is to get London moving again? On behalf of my constituents I call on the Mayor to conduct an urgent enquiry into the matter."

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Mr K Livingstone
Mayor of London
City Hall
The Queen's Walk
LONDON
SE1 2AA

22 July 2002

Dear Ken

I am writing to invite you to dismiss from the GLA those responsible for the present state of traffic congestion in London.

As I am sure you are well aware, London's traffic has markedly slowed in recent weeks with journey times taking dramatically longer than they have in the past. This is due to re-phasing of traffic lights.

I understand that you have intimated that this is nothing to do with your preparations for road user charging. Under the circumstances, one can only conclude that the re-phasing being conducted is being done contrary to your wishes - no-one in their right mind would deliberately slow down London's traffic, if his brief is to get London moving.

On behalf of my constituents I would be grateful if you could conduct an urgent enquiry into the matter and take immediate steps to reverse this trend.

Yours sincerely