Boris Johnson has just unveiled a new high profile backer, Brian Cooke, the chair of TravelWatch, hitherto the ‘independent passengers' watchdog.
But in a shocking election blunder just days before polling day, Cooke used his announcement to launch a blistering attack on Mayor Ken's plan to make the Freedom Pass for older and disabled Londoners 24hour.Ken's plan to let users of the Freedom Pass use the card all day is currently a very popular benefit for seniors across London.
It reduces isolation and allows pensioners to visit their family and friends with no extra charge. This could now all end under the Tories.
Boris Johnson has been telling people that any accusation that he'd put the 24hr Freedom Pass at risk was merely a "Labour smear", but Cooke has revealed the reality of Tory plans if they gain power.
Cooke has called the 24hr Freedom Pass plan "plain daft", "mad", and "totally crazy".
The reality of the Tory view of the 24hr Freedom pass has now been laid bare by Boris Johnson's new high profile endorser.
See for yourself - the press release where this staggering attack on the 24hr Freedom Pass for older and disabled Londoners was on Boris Johnson's website here: http://www.backboris.com/assets/releases/pdf/28_04_08_cooke.pdf
Realising this was a massive gaff - they have now taken the statement down, but I reprint what Cooke said:
"As I will be 60 in about nine months time I can't wait to get my freedom pass but allowing people to use it before 0900 will only make London's very crowded transport system even worse. Many people over 60 still work why should they be subsidised by all other fare payers and at the same time make transport system even more crowded and more uncomfortable for those that will be paying to subsidise the others. I think that plain daft. If current patronage on Tube, Rail and Tram in particular carries on growing at the current rate the planned expansion won't cope anyway and to subsidise more people at the most crowded time seems totally crazy.
"This was another of Mr Livingstone's proposals that he says he will introduce but has failed to have any consultation with those that matter the most, or their representatives - those who put money in the fare box! I also do not believe any research has been undertaken to get passengers views on this. Currently the boroughs fund the freedom pass through local rates. Have they been consulted on this mad idea - not one jot! In fact frankly I doubt that Mr Livingstone can actually deliver this as it will require agreement from the privatised train companies which in my view is unlikely to be forthcoming - why would they want their trains to have even more sardines in the can'."
Monday, April 28, 2008
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9 comments:
I think Cooke is completely right. The freedom pass is a great thing for old people who have earned their perks but extending it to the rush hour as well is madness. People paying over £7 to go a few stops are squashed in in very dangerous and nasty circumstances as it is. Shove a bunch of elderly and handicapped people in as well is madness. Even more people will get hurt and collapse on the tube than do already.
Simple. You can vote for Boris then.
Its a blatant lie to say that the Freedom Pass is under threat. Its guaranteed in Boris' manifesto. Just because Cook has a problem with it doesn't mean its under threat. You need to change this post, its irresponsible.
No. I won't - why? because I don't believe Boris or the Tories on this issue.
Why? the Tories on the Assembly and at a borough level have complained every year about the cost of the freedom pass. An incoming Boris administration, pledged to work more closely with boroughs (dominated by Tories) therefore poses a threat to the Freedom pass in its current form.
Boris Johnson was endorsed by Mr Cooke and allowed his comments attacking the 24hr pass to be published. Only when he realised that this would cause a fuss did he pull it from his website. The qualification he replaced it with gives me no confidence in this context about what he might do on May 2nd.
I live in Camden and have seen Tories cut things they promised to protect before the election, e.g. the voluntary sector.
What does a guarantee on a Freedom pass mean? The same funding? More funding? Something called the Freedom pass but only available to a smaller group of people?
This is all fair comment on a revealing slip of the tongue by the Tories about what their approach to the Freedom pass would be.
Well, if your going to use the 'I don't believe you' line, then you can report anything you want. Surely that not responsible. The whole point of Boris putting it in as guaranteed & extended in his manifesto was to ward of scare tactics from Labour. Obviously not worked.
I just think that if you want these posts to be taken seriously, you need to think about being more responsible. If you want to use the views of people who endorse candidates as evidence of their 'hidden' policies, then Ken is going to ban movement outside London, take all ownership into 'state' ownership, allow 40,000 Londoners to die trying to swim to France to get away and turn the capital into a communist nightmare. Castro supports Ken, must be true.
Er, don't be silly with your arguments - although you do sound like the Evening Stanard in the last para. In any case you've conveniently omitted the second and third paragraphs.
I have direct experience from sitting on London Councils of the Tory stance on the Freedom Pass - I have heard substantial modifications to the scheme in meetings and in briefings.
Just because Boris says he will "guarantee" it, he conveniently doesn't say in which form! If you want Boris' policies to be taken seriously, then I'm afriad he needs to give more detail. At the moment his supporters, Mr. Cooke and Tory borough leaders and Assembly members either attack it or undermine it each year it is debated.
Now, in that context we should debate Boris' stance. Since the disclosure he has only changed his website, but has not taken steps to reassure the public. We need detail and reassurance in this instance - we get nothing of the sort from Boris.
Roll on May 1st.
Well, we'll need to leave it there then. Roll on May 1st indeed. I hope Boris has a chance to show that he can be trusted with the Freedom Pass - and a lot more.
Of course the idea of free travel for the elderly was that it would fill otherwise empty buses and tubes running at off-peak hours.
But extending it to 24 hours will not lead to old or disabled people rushing to board overcrowded transport in the morning rush hours. What kind of
strange people do they think we are? Who wants to squeeze into crowded buses or trains for fun?
Having retired I value my leisure and
not having to rush out in the morning. It is bad enough when
the tubes are crowded
early evening if I have to go up town. (and odd, if the worry is crowding, that the anti-pass brigade have not suggested curtailing its use then).
On the other hand there can be times when the 24-hour freedom is appreciated. Say, if
I need to get to a mainline railway station to catch a train, or if I have to go to hospital.
Also, some old people do part-time low-paid jobs, and have to be in early before
the office staff arrive. The trains or buses they use might not be crowded because it is before the rush, so why
should they have to pay full fare?
The problems with London transport , as with housing, stem from decades of
letting outer London
(and national) industry decline, while expanding the
City finance and
central office
sectors grow, hence everybody is travelling the same direction at the same times of day. I used to take a circuitous route to get from south London to
west London of an early evening, so I could take an empty carriage from Wimbledon, avoiding the city centre, and watching the sardines
packed on the trains
coming home the other way. Now I just try to travel at different times.
But don't take away my freedom or steal my cash.
Re anonymous, first off, if you really believe what you're putting on anyones site at least have the balls to let us know who you are.
Second, I couldn't agree more with you about more people getting hurt on the tubes and buses if us raspberries get a 24hour freedom pass. I'm 61, look forward to getting on the 27 bus before 9 in the morning and duffing wimps like you up.
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