Former Tory London Mayor candidate Steve Norris is out of Ken Livingstone’s big tent! Unceremoniously dumped! Thrown off of the Board of Transport for London! Hurrah!

A radio interviewer asked me whether I thought Ken couldn’t deal with Norris’s criticism of his proposals on congestion charging and cycling and was that was the reason for Steve Norris’s forced exit? Oh please! Ken is a very big boy and I doubt whether the few paid for slings and arrows thrown by Norris were even a minor blip in the scale of criticism Ken meets on a daily basis from a whole range of foes.

Rather, Steve Norris was dumped because his position on the Transport Board had become untenable. You simply cannot take money from as many transport interests as Steve Norris did – and then speak with any credibility whatsoever on the transport issues discussed at board meetings. For example, Norris is on the board of one of the companies in the consortia bidding to take part in the Government’s part-privatisation of the Tube. How could anything he said about the future of the Tube be taken to represent London’s interest rather than those of the company set to make a nice little earner from Tube privatisation?

Another interviewer asked me what difference Norris’s departure would make to London? I think my answer was probably unprintable – suffice to say – b****r all. But what will make a difference to London – well particularly my part of London – is the Muswell Hill to Swiss Cottage bus link. I and others have been campaigning for it for a long time and we are now on the brink of success. The relevant three boroughs – Camden, Haringey and Barnet all now back the scheme, as does Transport for London. The final hurdle is Ken – all he has to do is give it final approval by granting the financial bid and we’re in business. And remember, this new route had Ken’s full backing when he was campaigning to become Mayor – that’s not something I’ll let him forget!

In fact, he recently made the mistake of sitting next to me at a lunch – far too near for me to resist a bit of a lobbying attempt – and he admitted that with all that support it must be in a good position to get the financial bid through. Feel free to deluge the Mayor and with letters of support for the new bus route – it all helps. Ken’s address is Romney House, 43 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 3PY.

So fingers crossed, we will know in December. Just think – all that school run traffic and congestion which is currently caused by the lack of a realistic public transport alternative but which the new bus route will help reduce. And also remember older people and mothers with toddlers who currently have no really choice but to use their cars, because the alternative is to face endless waits and changes. All those car journeys saved because people are given a new public transport alternative – that’s really dealing with congestion. It’s just the sort of bus route improvements we should be seeing all over London.

The other thing that will make far more difference to London than Steve Norris’s exit is Ken making sure that he has another look at some of the boundary issues around the proposed congestion charging areas.

Personally, I am convinced that a sensible congestion charging scheme is an absolute must to help tackle London’s transport problems. However, I am still concerned that the Mayor’s timetable is leaving the boroughs in some distress. I hear tales of woe about lack of discussion, high-handed decision-making by the centre and so on. Two things here: firstly the success of this scheme means that the boroughs, including Camden and Islington where the boundary splits the whole, need to be firmly on board. The Mayor needs to foster a happy relationship with them. So my advice, as it was to Ken at Mayor’s Question Time last week, is be nice to the boroughs. Whilst Steve Norris may not be your partner any more – he was totally dispensable – the boroughs are not.

In the cause of genuine rapprochement, I am hoping to bring all sides together in the near future in the form of a summit. Where angels fear to tread! It’ll be interesting to see what happens …

(c) Lynne Featherstone, 2001