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May 18, 2007

Livingstone responds to Gilligan’s environment claims

London Mayor Ken Livingstone has hit back at Evening Standard journalist Andrew Gilligan after he launched a stinging criticism of the Greater London Authority’s environmental policies.

Gilligan’s piece appeared in yesterday’s Evening Standard under the headline: “Has Red Ken really gone green?”

The column criticised GLA green policies including extensions of airport runways, road traffic emissions, and the planned Thames Gateway Bridge, which he called a “motorway”.

In an open letter to the Evening Standard this morning, Livingstone criticised Gilligan’s investigation into London’s environmental policies, claiming it was “riddled with inaccuracies”.

Livingstone, who has been Mayor of London since 2000, said the suggestion that his policies were not breaking new ground “simply does not hold water”.

In the letter, Livingtone also hit back at Gilligan’s branding of the Thames Gateway Bridge as a “motorway”.

“It is profoundly against the interests of East Londoners to block this bridge, which is why there is such crushing support for it – 79 per cent of people back the bridge and just two per cent oppose it.”

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In the letter, the London Mayor did concede to one of Gilligan’s claims, though: “Andrew Gilligan is right about one thing – making London a greener city is no easy matter,” he wrote.

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