Green Budget amendment tackles real issues facing Londoners

The amendment to the London Mayor's budget proposed by Darren Johnson Green Party Assembly Member & seconded by Jenny Jones AM would help Londoners facing high unemployment, falling real incomes, soaring rents and fares, as well as environmental problems such as dangerous air pollution and cold homes. The Green alternative budget would tackle these problems head on.

It would help low income Londoners, and reduces inequality 

It would protect and improve key services, including safer neighbourhood policing, public transport and cycling infrastructure

It would deliver warm energy efficient homes and cleaner air 

It would keep the council tax the same, reduces the fare rise, and raises extra money from motorists.

Darren Johnson said:

"We will bring down the fare rise below inflation, saving a typical household about £40 a year. Instead we will raise more from motorists and introduce a congestion charge zone around the heavily congested and polluted Heathrow area. Our budget provides funds for a feasibility study of a fairer "pay-as-you-go" road pricing scheme, which would charge a rate per mile driven, with higher charges for more congested roads and times of day. This could provide a significant new income stream of around £1b a year, with cuts to fares ensuring it will be financially neutral for a typical household, and substantially less congested roads with cleaner air through out London."

Our police budget does not change the total amount of money but it does change priorities. We provide more resources for safer neighbourhood policing, road safety, and preventative work with young people and gangs. We are able to achieve this partly through employing (usually cheaper) civilian staff wherever they can do the work as well or better than a warranted officer. Success should be measured by results not by uniformed officer numbers.

London's serious air pollution problem needs radical measures and proper investment. This is provided by the Green budget, which will fund the introduction of a Very Low Emission Zone in central London where only clean vehicles are allowed, replace an additional 100 standard buses with cleaner hybrid models, and help taxi owners replace polluting vehicles.

Without increasing the council tax, the alternative Green budget radically recasts priorities to make real progress in tackling some of London's most long-standing problems."

Pay London Living Wage, supermarkets told

Darren Johnson, Green Party London Assembly Member,  has called on supermarkets, the Mayor and Government to make work pay for all workers in London, following an investigation by the Fair Pay Network into low pay in the four largest supermarket chains.

Last year the National Minimum Wage fell further behind the cost of living in the capital, rising 2.5% while the London Living Wage – calculated to cover basic living costs in the capital – rose by 5.7%. The higher rise in the London rate was attributed to benefit and tax credit cuts, and rises in food costs, average rents and public transport fares.

Darren Johnson commented:

The minimum wage isn’t keeping up with the rising cost of living in London, forcing more parents to work two jobs to make ends meet. The Government needs to ramp the minimum wage up to be a genuine living wage, but instead they are letting the gap grow wider.

The Mayor of London needs to get on his bully pulpit and call for all employers in London to prioritise pay rises for the lowest paid above bonuses for chief executives. In this age of obscene inequality we cannot leave it to employers to make sure they pay their staff enough for a basic standard of living.