How Boris is over-spending and borrowing too much at City Hall
Boris Johnson has frequently complained of Labour’s “over-spending” in his columns for the Telegraph. He has supported this government’s austerity measures in the name of reducing the deficit.
But the media has consistently given him an easy ride over his own over-spending and borrowing for pet projects.
And figures out this week reveal that Boris will borrow over £100 million for his projects.
In June this year Boris unveiled the new Routemaster buses, after running a crusade against the bendy buses. How much did they cost? £7.8 million for just five of them.
Worse, Boris is obsessed by a plan to have a cable car linking the Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Victoria Dock. The project was originally projected at ‘no cost to the taxpayer’.
But its cost has ballooned to £60m and Boris hasn’t found a way to cover them. So taxpayers will have to bail him out.
Boris has another pet project called the Outer London Fund, which helps constituents to came out to vote for him.
And where does the money for all this extra spending come from? Increased borrowing.
This week, City Hall’s pre-budget report found that: “the business case for borrowing £40 million for the Outer London Fund has not yet been made.”
So what’s the total?
Boris Johnson’s administration plans to borrow £110 million, using up all the GLA’s current borrowing capabilities.
This will lead to an annual cost of £10 million in interest and loan repayments.
How can Boris preach to others about fiscal responsibility while he maxes out London’s credit card for his own pet projects, instead of reducing travel fares?
---------------------------
| Tweet |
Sunny Hundal is editor of LC. Also: on Twitter, at Pickled Politics and Guardian CIF.
· Other posts by Sunny Hundal
Filed under
News
53 Comments || Add yours below
Reader comments
The cycle hire scheme was originally supposed to be taxpayer-cost-neutral, but that got dropped a while back. You just can’t trust what he says, really.
Shocking – i read he borrowed 3 million to spend on top hats for bus drivers.
No -it was 4 million on champagne for his butler’s cat.
We should borrow more money – we can’t afford to pay back what Labour borrowed to pay for lavish welfare anyway so we might as well go the whole hog and go down the tubes in style.
I have never heard such rubbish – his butler’s cat doesn’t like champagne. Little Peepoo prefers Port.
Bozza still wants his new airport, too, despite the potentially explosive problem out there in the Thames estuary:
So that’s another 40 billion.
@3 – Lavish, so lavish that the rates are miserly compared to civilised countries. Oh, wait…
So he is, erm, doing the kind of Keynsian stuff you like…?
Vote Boris!!
So he is, erm, doing the kind of Keynsian stuff you like…?
Err no, I’d rather travel fares were lower for Londoners than spending money on silly cable cars.
@7 – No, there has to be a benefit from it, not spent on pork-barrel projects to ensure relection!
@ 9:
Actually I was under the impression that Keynes thought anything was OK as long as it kept people in employment. Paying people to dig ditches and then fill them in being one example that springs to mind.
@7. Boris clearly practices Keynes which is all well and good but then to preach austerity in the same breath is just rank hypocracy .. Then again Boris is about as deep as puddle!!
The fares for transport in London have been astronomical for decades and I heard Ken justifying his increases all the time when he was mayor. This is something that needs some serious graphs to see the actual differences between KL’s time and what Borris has been doing and proposing. If the difference is only small percentage points then the headline of this article is a distraction. London is faced with masive population growth, and these days, everything costs billions. I don’t like the ”user pays” concept myself.
They run their train services differently in Greece, where fares are about half of what it costs the trains to run.
Reactions: Twitter, blogs
- Boris Watch
How Boris is overspending and borrowing money at City Hall http://t.co/YCYdmyBH
- MayorWatch
How Boris is overspending and borrowing money at City Hall http://t.co/YCYdmyBH
- sunny hundal
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- sunny hundal
Boris is borrowing £40m alone for 'Outer London fund', which makes no business sense. Why doesn't media question him? http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- Claudio Procida
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- Claudio Procida
Boris is borrowing £40m alone for 'Outer London fund', which makes no business sense. Why doesn't media question him? http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- Gods & Monsters
Boris is borrowing £40m alone for 'Outer London fund', which makes no business sense. Why doesn't media question him? http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- Gael
Boris is borrowing £40m alone for 'Outer London fund', which makes no business sense. Why doesn't media question him? http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- richardbrennan
How #Boris is overspending and borrowing money at City Hall | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/wacWlsNJ via @libcon
- Barnet Mags
How Boris is overspending and borrowing money at City Hall http://t.co/YCYdmyBH
- Owen Blacker
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- Christopher Jennings
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- malcolm
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- malcolm
Boris is borrowing £40m alone for 'Outer London fund', which makes no business sense. Why doesn't media question him? http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- Kayleigh Anne
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- Alex Braithwaite
How Boris is overspending and borrowing money at City Hall | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/91Vin8Zd via @libcon
- Lynda Constable
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- M Francois-Cerrah
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- Mark Jasper
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- Anna Jay
Fuck Boris Johnson right in the ear http://t.co/h6nKhBN9
- One Eye Grey
@mondoagogo Fuck Boris Johnson right in the ear http://t.co/c4Ty1cHa – rt's on general principles. IN THE EAR!
- Janet Graham
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- Janet Graham
Boris is borrowing £40m alone for 'Outer London fund', which makes no business sense. Why doesn't media question him? http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- Guy Manchester
I find this particularly irksome & I dont even live in London: "How Boris is overspending and borrowing money". http://t.co/mBA3y5c1
- ross ofcourse
I find this particularly irksome & I dont even live in London: "How Boris is overspending and borrowing money". http://t.co/mBA3y5c1
- David Stockdale
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- bee hive
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- Ged Bell
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- Annette Carter
How Boris is over-spending and borrowing too much at City Hall …: Err no, I'd rather travel fares were lower f… http://t.co/qm7xXElk
- leejasper
bee hive
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/IY2BuaJx - leejasper
Boris borrows to fund his Mayoral vanity projects but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/IY2BuaJx
- Demsey
Boris borrows to fund his Mayoral vanity projects but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/IY2BuaJx
- Soton_Unite
How Boris is over-spending and borrowing too much at City Hall | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/6rHYEFEr Boris and Royston. Maxing out
- koreen maxim
bee hive
Boris Johnson lectures on "Labour's mess" but will borrow over £100m for his pet projects http://t.co/IY2BuaJx - Politics Live blog: Thursday 20 October | Letter Format
[...] • Sunny Hundal during LiberalConspiracy says Boris Johnson is regulating borrowing to criticism in… Boris Johnson has frequently complained of Labour’s “over-spending” in his columns for a Telegraph. He has upheld this government’s purgation measures in a name of shortening a deficit. [...]
- Politics Live blog: Thursday 20 October | | RESUME PORTALRESUME PORTAL
[...] • Sunny Hundal during LiberalConspiracy says Boris Johnson is regulating borrowing to criticism in… Boris Johnson has frequently complained of Labour’s “over-spending” in his columns for a Telegraph. He has upheld this government’s purgation measures in a name of shortening a deficit. [...]
- Politics Live blog: Thursday 20 October | Nurses Aide
[...] • Sunny Hundal at LiberalConspiracy says Boris Johnson is using borrowing to fund lavish spending … Boris Johnson has frequently complained of Labour’s “over-spending” in his columns for the Telegraph. He has supported this government’s austerity measures in the name of reducing the deficit. [...]
- sunny hundal
@timmontgomerie @MayorWatch It comes down to how we define competent. You're awfully quiet about his massive deficits http://t.co/0ZMCtX4K
- Three months later, Boris fails riot-hit businesses after offer | Liberal Conspiracy
[...] the Mayor’s growing reputation for money mismanagement is showing itself [...]
- Round-the-world ticket now cheaper than a London travelcard | Liberal Conspiracy
[...] than focus on reducing transport fares however – Boris is instead spending millions on his expensive pet projects. [...]
- sunny hundal
@chadnoble you should put that point to Boris! http://t.co/Kz0MhjOc
You can read articles through the front page, via Twitter or RSS feed. You can also get them by email and through our Facebook group.
» The real agenda behind Telegraph’s abortion investigation
» How Scotland Yard monitors prying bloggers and journalists
» When disabled people want to work – employers can hold the back
» Revealed: the reality behind Workfare and why it doesn’t work
» Job snob? No, I’ve got the T-shirt
» Why country-by-country reporting matters to our wellbeing
» If Unions want to become stronger, they need to modernise
» Why work “reforms” in Spain are a warning for workers across Europe
» Five things you need to know about the NHS bill
» Bigger. Fatter. Gypsier. More Racist.
» Laziness levels in Britain getting lazier, wails government
|
62 Comments 15 Comments 23 Comments 8 Comments 24 Comments 19 Comments 16 Comments 83 Comments 203 Comments 85 Comments |
 |
LATEST COMMENTS » Robin Levett posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » TimJ posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Chaise Guevara posted on Bigger. Fatter. Gypsier. More Racist. » pjt posted on Workfare - what does the evidence show? » the a&e charge nurse posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » the a&e charge nurse posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Chaise Guevara posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Chaise Guevara posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Oliver posted on Job snob? No, I've got the T-shirt » Brummie Protestor posted on Workfare - what does the evidence show? » the a&e charge nurse posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Hannah posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » mr_hopkinson posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » Amy Finlayson posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation » the a&e charge nurse posted on The real agenda behind Telegraph's abortion investigation |
