Johnson and Jenrick join Bailey in lying about extended congestion charge zone

Boris Johnson has today made statements in the House of Commons to justify extending an increase in council tax in London and an expanded congestion charge zone.

They are complete lies.

He has claimed a fares freeze costing £640 million over four years has “bankrupted” TfL rather than a £2 billion+ reduction in fare income since the pandemic begun and lockdown was enforced.

Operating costs improving – until this year

That £640 million figure over four years is also less than cuts of £700 million a year to TfL that he himself agreed in 2015 as Mayor of London.

It also ignores that when Boris Johnson left the role as Mayor TfL had an annual deficit of £1.4 billion, which had reduced to £200 million.

In addition, Government recently made the decision to retain all taxes from London drivers obtained through Vehicle Excise Duty and NOT permit it to be spent on maintaining London roads.

London is heavily reliant on fares.

Alongside Johnson in lying today is Housing Minister Robert Jenrick, who earlier this year was found to have made an illegal decision which allowed Tory party donor, developer and former publisher of the Daily Express paper Richard Desmond out of paying £45 million. Desmond had gave money to the Conservative party months before.

They’ve both joined Shaun Bailey in issuing lies about funding and who is making decisions on the congestion charge.

The strategy now is clear – hope enough people are completely ignorant of facts and bash cities in the hopes it plays well in rural areas. It doesn’t matter if economic damage results. Power is all that seems to matter.

You may wonder why I’m covering this issue so much. Well, firstly because of the huge impact and second, it’s one of most transparent lies from senior politicians or those looking to stand for office I’ve seen. They are treating the public as complete and utter morons. I don’t care who or what party acts like that – if they do it then it needs highlighting. It’s rotten.

UPDATE: A new poll just out shows the public are not falling for it.

Labour have opened up possibly their biggest ever lead. Murmurs from many Tories are emerging about how unhappy they are with how the top brass are playing this – with a chance cllrs and MPs could lose many seats in future – let alone in next year’s mayoral election.

The more lies are pushed, the worse the numbers get for Bailey and the Conservatives. This helps explain why Government want to strip power. If you can’t win in an election, just take power?

 

 

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I've lived in south east London most of my life growing up in Greenwich borough and working in the area for many years. The site has contributors on occasion and we cover many different topics. Living and working in the area offers an insight into what is happening locally.

17 thoughts on “Johnson and Jenrick join Bailey in lying about extended congestion charge zone

  • These lies will be backed by the Tory press who won’t acknowledge the harm being done to the average reader.

    Reply
  • Time we had a free distribution London newspaper to compete with the Standard which wasn’t owned and controlled editorially by Tories, their donors friends and backers. Then these lies will be quickly exposed. only to be expected though from a party whose very name of ‘Tory’ originated from the Irish meaning outlaw,robber. Exactly what they are trying to do in London.

    Reply
  • **No need to publish this butI’ve really got to say Murky D, you’ve done an amazing job keeping on top of this utter bullshit. It’s better journalism that I’m getting in the nationals….keep it up.

    Reply
    • @Af: citizen journalism is the future and blogs like this and 853 is where you get the real news on local issues. The local press is very much a thing of the past and those that remain, are in the pockets of advertisers and developers as well as being a mouthpiece for the council – News Shopper I’m looking at you.

      Reply
  • I really cannot see what they are doing tactically here. Their untruthful statements are just embarrassing to see. They are not that daft surely? They must know that even the simplest of checks will reveal the truth.

    Why are they doing this? I know Tory councillors read your blog. Perhaps they could provide some sort of answer, although I think they will be as mystified as I am about the methods currently being pursued by their national leadership.

    Reply
    • I don’t think they’re interested in the mayoral, London council, or London Parliamentary elections with these lies. They’re acceptable losses if the rest of the country can be led to believe that Labour couldn’t manage the finances of the wealthiest city in the country. A city full of metropolitan elite remainers, unlike man of the people Brexiter Boris.

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      • Interesting point Tim. But the thing is they’re doing it to many of the metroplitan areas elsewhere and many of the Tory MPs there are appalled as well.

        As I say, mystifying.

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    • It smacks of desperation. This government will lie about anything to hold onto power.

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  • All lies get found out in the end !!. I can understand now why most people say that there is no point in voting as they are all as bad as each other. Which to be fair they really are !!

    However, I am of a generation where I was brought up to vote so will continue to do so at both local and general elections.

    Reply
  • Keep up the focus on this issue. Really outrageous proposals by central government, particularly in the context of bailing out national rail TOCs without conditions.

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  • Maybe then, any Lefty here could explain to me why Khan claims he has run out of money, yet is spending £1bn on a pointless road under the Thames to Silvertown? OR maybe you can explain ti me why Khan has slowed down motorways to 30mph on flyovers because they are in such a poor state of repair? OR maybe you can tell me why he enjoys keeping the Hammersmith Bridge closed – no money again it seems or no will, yet spends millions on pointless cycle lanes and virtue signalling. He has spent millions on supporting terrorist organisations BLM and Islamic Relief. He has closed Vauxhall Bridge too leading to chronic congestion and pollution as well as financial damage. On top of this he wants to keep London shut down. He has cancelled all capital projects. He has no plans for London apart from more taxes yet no new rail lines, no plans for any – NOTHING. That is the man you are defending. No doubt you’ll blame all that on the Tories too. After all, according to Khan, getting your head chopped off and bombed is just ‘part and parcel of living in London’ – well no, not in most of my lifetime it hasn’t. Pathetic.

    Reply
    • Your post sounds more like a pathetic Daily Mail-style rant about things that do not suit your narrative, rather than on the current foolishness in politics going on which affects all of us, whether or not we are lefty or righty. If you are able to provide evidence of the ‘millions’ spent by the Mayor on the organisations you allege to be terrorist, then show it.

      We had expensive ‘new (Boris Bus) Routmasters’ now already being phased out, yet the RT buses ran from the 1940s to the 1970s and the RM buses from the 50s to the late 90s; hire bikes not part of the Oyster scheme with some odd deals with banks; a cable car to nowhere used by tourists in the summer and no-one during the winter, when it could have also gone to Canary Wharf, benefited more people and taken some of the slack from the Jubilee Line; and millions spent on the lesser-spotted Garden Bridge. The clown responsible for all that is now the PM. Work that one out.

      If you RTFA, you would find that the OP is not defending Khan, and I have no time for him myself, but the article is pointing out the outright transparencies in the lies coming from the Tory mayoral candidate and the Prime Minister. So far, we have not seen or heard of such things from the other candidates.

      Bailey has barely even presented what he will do for Londoners as mayor, but instead comes up with lies that many people are seeing through. If he does not have good, solid policies as Mayor, but instead chooses to come up with obvious lies, should ordinary Londoners vote for that? It’s this sort of behaviour from the Tories that could have Khan scrape in for a second term, and it surprises me that the Tories appear not to see that.

      Reply
  • @Richard. You clearly don’t follow Murkey Depths regularly otherwise you’d have answers to your regurgitated bollocks.
    On top of Michael’s comments above, the Hammersmith Bridge closure isn’t just down to Khan.
    The bridge is the local council’s responsibility but some of the damage to the bridge is down to use of HGV’s – including buses on the bridge so TFL have done the right thing and accepted their part of the responsibility for it.

    Also Isn’t Vauxhall bridge closed because of critical repair work to the bridge?
    Oh sorry no it’s better to let it crumble into complete disrepair so people like yourself can blame a “mushlim” for a bridge collapse in London…..Dammed if he does….Dammed if he don’t.

    I’m not even a massive fan of Sadiq Khan but I find myself sticking up for him more and more because there is so much utter bullshit flying about.
    That’s something you and your right wing mates should consider. The more lies you propagate the more you will have people calling you out on it. You lot melt at facts.

    Reply
  • Its amazing how toxic and infectious the culture of lying in politics had become. These have always been a thing of developing economies that are fraught with corruption, but not in more developed economies with strong institutions and expected integrity of politicians.

    Unfortunately with the example of Trump coming into power, more and more of our own politicians are taking up this ‘scum of the earth’ techniques to somehow come to power.

    Reply
  • I was listening to a commercial radio station last night on the car radio. The presenter was talking to a representative from TFL as part of a news show.

    The representative stated a few times that it is the extension of current Mayor for London ULEZ scheme that is coming to the North and South Circular which is due to start in October 2021 that the Government as asked to be brought forward as part of the TFL Bail out from the Government.

    He stated again when asked that ULEZ charges are coming in to force in October 2021 anyway. It just means the ULEZ scheme may have to come in operation a lot sooner.

    So if TFL Representatives do not know what is happening who the hell does ???

    To be honest knowing Politicians lies have been told on all sides. This is politics and will never change !!

    Reply

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