London's Other War

...Ken Livingstone Takes On the Car Culture London's Other War By Norman Gelb London Even those who disapproved of Tony Blair's determination to lead Britain into war against Iraq could scarcely deny that he was sincere, dignified and eloquent in making the case for doing so...

...Although so far the streets are noticeably clearer in the "congestion charge" zone, a number of drivers who habitually travel downtown have already become accustomed to the fee and are paying it—by telephone or through cyberspace—as naturally as they feed coins into parking meters...

...Assessing his Plan for London will of course take years...

...It is conceivable that others will follow suit before long and traffic will rise to its previous levels...

...Throughout Livingstone's political career, a significant segment of the public has seen him as a self-seeking schemer and manipulator...

...The 659member House of Commons, however, already boasted some outspoken gadflies and Livingstone found himself discouragingly lost in the crowd...

...What consequences he will encounter may depend on how things turn out in the Middle East...

...The emphasis is on tall buildings—high density occupation for both residential and commercial structures...

...As expected by all who knew him, though, he ran for mayor anyway as an independent...

...Many who have felt themselves duped by Livingstone in the past still maintain that he cannot be taken seriously...

...Nothing has been heard from Livingstone lately about his campaign promise to serve no more than one term...

...Builders, though, have said his annual target of 10,000 "affordable" housing units is not financially viable...

...I will not," he stated...

...Critics have scorned Livingstone's American-style "edifice complex...

...He has no operational authority with regard to the police, schools, municipal housing, or the like...

...They spoke instead of his egoistic drive, of his lack of interest in following up lofty spoken sentiments with substantive efforts, of his being essentially a capricious loner despite his chirpy facade...

...Municipal officials and environmentalists in such places as New York, Rome, Paris, Tokyo, and Teheran are keeping a close watch on London...

...Livingstone was a booster of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, in the days when the IRA was planting bombs in British cities...

...Outraged commuters point out that public transportation has not yet provided the reliable alternative he promised it would...

...Livingstone, who had once said, "If voting changed anything, they would abolish it," now jumped at the prospect of the 2000 mayoral election...

...To be sure, signs of the old Red Ken remain: He sided with subway workers in a politically motivated walkout that brought chaos to the city, and with striking firemen who demanded a 40 per cent raise at a time when there were 40 applications for every firefighting job vacancy...

...But what he could not anticipate, and what could derail him, is the economic impact on Britain of Tony Blair's decision to join the United States in the war against Iraq...

...As for the buses, there are too few of them...

...So are teachers, firemen, hospital staffers, market workers and others who are not being reimbursed by employers for the cost of getting to their jobs every day...

...Not long afterward, she abolished the GLC...

...Other far-Left legislators were disdainful of him, considering him a reckless poseur...

...His mocking criticism of the central government, which was struggling to manage essential civic services, went over well...

...London would also get a mayor with a modicum of clout—unlike the so-called Lord Mayor of London, a powerless figure concerned exclusively with ceremonial affairs related to the capital's financial district...

...His most enterprising undertaking is the initiation of a 15-year Plan for London that is currently under public review...

...It calls for more schools, a 50 per cent increase in transit capacity and nearly half a million new homes, while preserving the ban on reducing existing green spaces...

...Some also fantasize about the revenue that can be extracted from motorists obliged to shell out for crossing into pay-for-entry enclaves...

...Blair wanted nothing to do with him...

...Livingstone once confessed, "I love meetings and plottings...

...However, complaints have been widely voiced about the congestion charge, and not only from drivers...

...By imposing a daily £5 tax (about $8) on vehicles that enter an eight square mile section of central London—including Piccadilly and Parliament Square—the Mayor has reduced traffic in the area, lessened air pollution and attracted worldwide attention...

...He initially hoped to be the Labor Party candidate, a great advantage in a city where Labor voters predominate...

...Attacking Blair as blithely as he had attacked Thatcher and company would have provoked open hostility from senior Labor figures—and politicians without party support or affiliation have rarely gotten anywhere in Britain...

...For years, the formerly admired London Underground has suffered the consequences of underinvestment...

...Asked later to explain why Londoners elected Livingstone, Tony Banks, who had been his closest colleague on the GLC and then a minister under Blair, replied: "They don't know him like we do...

...His recent bid to rejoin Labor was treated with contempt by Blair and the party's national committee, but he is bound to have more surprises in store...

...Using his customary populist tactics, heavy on class war rhetoric, Livingstone bounced back in 1987 by again topping a moderate Laborite to win a seat in Parliament representing one of London's poorer boroughs...

...Livingstone is not only confident that will not happen but is thinking of extending the daily tax to other parts of London where bumper-to-bumper tie-ups are common...

...Livingstone's experiment has understandably sparked interest, even excitement, in major cities abroad that are plagued by packed roadways...

...They dream of cleaner air and an end to paralyzing gridlock...

...Livingstone is the proverbial "cheeky chappie" the British are so fond of: the man who is shamelessly audacious and willful, yet projects the charming appearance of not being overly bothered if he doesn't get his way...

...They are convinced that his schemes are destined to fizzle out for lack of followthrough...

...And Livingstone, seeking to edge back into daylight, was reluctant to respond in kind to all the scorn coming from the new power structure...

...stand against the party I have spent my whole adult life serving...

...London's city center restaurants, stores and theaters— which have always relied heavily on the carriage trade—have suffered significantly...

...What is more, Livingstone is attempting to rejuvenate the British capital with a program that includes attention to the environment, business stimulation and popular culture...

...For him it represented an opportunity to restore his self-image that he could not pass up...

...Sometimes stations are closed, as passengers only discover while en route...

...His stature declined even further when a Labor government, led by Blair, took over from Thatcher's Conservatives in 1997...

...Former Labor Party head Neil Kinnock bluntly dubbed Livingstone's ideas "half-arsed...

...In fact, since assuming the mayoralty he seems to have undergone a dramatic personality change that has him more focused and less given to trumpery...

...He supported squatters and fringe movements from political and ethnic minorities, but made few efforts to improve the city's atrophying public facilities...

...A numbers of Londoners are dismissive of the Mayor's anti-car campaign simply because they do not trust the man...

...Some businesses may close or relocate, though their owners worry that they could soon face the same problem elsewhere in the capital...

...There can be no doubt about it: He has mounted a serious assault on the car culture, with possibly far-reaching repercussions for the urban environment...

...It is no secret that Livingstone once hoped to lead the Labor Party...

...The nickname "Red Ken" took hold all over Britain...

...It is too early to tell whether the initial success of his scheme will be sustained...

...Of course, Livingstone's relentless ambition and occasional displays of fierce temper show that he does care greatly...

...He has also made a well publicized point of forgoing a chauffeur-driven car and traveling to work by subway (while building a less publicized large expense account for taxi fare...

...But to the astonishment of many here, and the disgust of some, the 57-year-old Mayor of London has become an international celebrity...

...I can do no other...

...But the success or failure of the Mayor's traffic tax should be apparent much sooner, and may well determine his political future...

...The stakes are high, for this initiative is part of his promise to bring about major travel improvements during his tenure in office...

...By then a member of the Greater London Council (GLC), he covertly employed organizational techniques he had honed while belonging to a small Trotskyite group to launch a coup for the chairmanship, upstaging a much respected Labor moderate who had been primed for the post...

...Then came Blair's promise that London would finally have a popularly elected assembly with a greater measure of authority than the old GLC to look after city wide interests...

...After maneuvering into a position of influence as a Labor Party borough councilman in London more than 25 years ago, Livingstone came to national attention in 1981...

...The government can overrule him on many key issues, particularly London's budget...

...The Economist last year called Livingstone "one of the most friendless, least trusted politicians on the planet...

...I didn't get where I am today without plotting...

...Were that to happen, the road to high national office for the ever ambitious Mayor would theoretically be open...

...Despite his reputation as a former smalltime political troublemaker, Livingstone has risen to global prominence...

...On the other hand, there have been far fewer of the frivolous off-the-cuff utterances that used to be Livingstone's trademark...

...He fervently maintained that his decision was just and necessary, no matter what anyone said...

...Thus they chose ex-Health Minister Frank Dobson to be their nominee, running against the candidates of the Conservatives and the smaller Liberal Democratic Party...

...Residents living just outside the designated zone who are used to driving into it as part of their normal way of life—taking kids to school, going shopping, or visiting friends—are angry about now having to pay for the privilege...

...But the Royal Institute of British Architects has praised his recognition of the urgent need to make provisions for the expected population boom in a city with little room for lateral expansion...

...And yet Livingstone has managed to assert himself, most notably by extracting from the government greater responsibility for public transportation—an issue closely linked to the congestion charge...

...Facing bitter opposition from a substantial segment of the British public and the House of Commons, risking a challenge to his leadership from within the Labor Party, and refusing to bow to senior figures in the Church of England, the Prime Minister held firm in his resolve to join the United States in confronting Saddam Hussein...

...He was a shoo-in on election day, easily trouncing the colorless Dobson, who put up a lackluster fight...

...In spite of the highest mass transit prices in the world—$3.30 is a typical subway fare— stations can get so dangerously overcrowded during rush hour that access to them must be restricted...

...The Mayor has flippantly rejected their concerns by saying that "poor people don't own cars...

...At certain busy intersections the timing of the lights has been adjusted to have them stay green a mere 10 seconds and red for much longer...

...Hundreds of new traffic lights have been installed in London for the benefit of pedestrians...

...Fed up with him, Thatcher declared, "It is quite clear that some defense is needed against the reported activities of Mr...

...The Mayor's plan envisions the creation of over 500,000 new jobs, mainly in financial services, hotels and restaurants...

...Tempers have not been calmed, either, by another Livingstone initiative geared against the automobile...

...Livingstone says he intends to make the transportation system function properly again by using the congestion charge revenue to fund reforms—more trains and buses, upgraded facilities, better equipment...

...Most of the lines are built very deep below ground, but the escalators are commonly out of order...

...The problem was that neither Blair nor anyone else in authority in Labor deemed him anything more than a self-serving demagogue...

...He once told the Foreign Press Association here, "I have never heard of a tax I did not like...

...The city's population is projected to grow 10 per cent in the next two decades to 8.1 million, a trend certain to have a big impact on living standards...

...Like Martin Luther in a different set of circumstances, Blair in effect declared, "Here I stand...

...Such matters had been mostly the responsibility of a government minister...

...Norman Gelb reports regularly for The New Leader on British affairs...

...At the popular John Lewis department store on the Oxford Street commercial hub, for example, revenue has dropped by over 10 per cent since the fee was introduced in February...

...Under the prevailing system, it must be said, the Mayor has very limited powers...

...In the run for mayor, he counted on his public persona to sway the voters...

...Livingstone was disappointed, but announced he would not oppose Dobson...

...Drivers trying to get through experience great frustration as no more than two or three cars move ahead with each signal change...

...What elevated his status was not his negative views on the war in the Persian Gul f, but his own declaration of war on cars and the people who drive them...

...he has been accused of promoting irresponsible and often downright mischievous policies and programs...

...Because he backed purportedly disruptive elements of society, the Sun, London's best-selling tabloid, once put him on its front page with the headline "The Most Odious Man in Britain...

...If his crusade against cars and drivers attains its objectives, and if he is again the choice of London's voters, Labor Party leaders may feel obliged to welcome him back into their ranks...

...And though he was expelled for standing against Dobson, few doubt that his goal remains the same...

...It is meant to prepare the British capital for significant demographic changes...

...In effect, his run for re-election has already been launched...

...He also prided himself on clashing with then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, despite London's reliance on the money only her government could provide...

...Among the dissenters berating Blair for his position on Iraq was Ken Livingstone, whose opinions might once have been largely ignored...

...His term at the newly built City Hall on the banks of the Thames expires in 2004...

...His tenure as GLC leader produced little of value for London...

...There can be no better proof of suspicions about Livingstone's character than the failure of his past coworkers to offer a good word for him during the campaign...

...Livingstone was regarded as one of the "loony Left" types whose antics had long damaged Labor's image and almost torn the party apart in ideological squabbles...