In the final vote on Boris Johnson’s 2015/16 Budget this week Joanne McCartney AM joined the majority of London Assembly Members in supporting alternative proposals to fund hundreds more police for London’s streets. Despite securing the support of over half the Assembly Members the proposals were rejected by Mayor Boris Johnson at Monday’s budget meeting at City Hall and did not reach the two thirds support needed to force the Mayor to accept the changes.
If accepted by the Mayor the proposals, backed by Labour, Green and Liberal Democrat Assembly Members would have:
- Funded an additional 874 police officers – the equivalent of 28 for each London borough, including Haringey.
- Earmarked £308m to build new housing for London’s emergency services staff and key workers.
- Fully reversed the Mayor’s decision to scrap the zones 4-6 PAYG cap [for boroughs covering zones 4-6 insert: which has seen increases as high as 38% in fares for some commuters in Haringey.
- Frozen the GLA’s portion of Council Tax
Joanne McCartney AM, Labour London Assembly Member for Enfield and Haringey, said:
“Had he listened to our proposals, the Mayor could have committed to putting hundreds more police officers back on our streets, hugely benefitting areas like Haringey. Instead he has felt it necessary to push on with his empty budget, which is largely lacking in ambition and has all the hall marks of a Mayor who is halfway out the door.
“I do not support Boris Johnson’s empty plan for our capital, nor do the majority of London Assembly Members and we made that crystal clear at Monday’s meeting.
“By rejecting these alternative proposals, not only has the Mayor shown he has no new ideas, he has also turned a blind eye to some of the biggest issues facing Haringey. He has well and truly cemented his abysmal legacy as one of failure after failure.”