I’ll turn the borough yellow, says Paddick

11:45am Wednesday 27th February 2008

THE Liberal Democrat challenger to be the next Mayor of London says that he is unnerved by the prospect of winning over voters in Enfield - a borough without a single Liberal Democrat councillor or MP.

Brian Paddick, a life-long London resident and former police chief, appeared in confident mood when he visited Enfield last week.

Mr Paddick says that he presents a genuine political alternative, claiming to be an "all-zone" mayoral candidate who can pick up votes from those disillusioned with current mayor Ken Livingstone and uncomfortable about Conservative challenger Boris Johnson.

He said: "Where there's a critical mass of Lib Dems, they are really good at campaigning on the ground - that's where they win.

"Having said that, where Lynne Featherstone is MP (Hornsey and Wood Green) there was no Lib Dem presence there but she managed to win.

"People are looking for a change. They are looking for a serious alternative to Ken Livingstone and whatever Boris Johnson is, he's not serious."

The Lib Dem's mayoral candidate was joined by the party's Greater London Assembly candidate for Enfield and Haringey, Monica Whyte, when he came to the borough last Friday, visiting Southgate police station and a post office in Hadley Wood earmarked for closure.

For someone who describes himself as a non-politician, Mr Paddick has managed to quickly develop the principals of campaigning, from denouncing his rivals to dismissing the policies of the current administration.

He describes the Low Emission Zone as an ineffective, expensive exercise in spin and says new punitive congestion charge policy will be offset by the fact smaller cars go free. As for his own environmental policies, he wants a London-wide traffic strategy.

He said: "We need to have an integrated traffic strategy for London to get traffic moving again and need to control road works so you don't get road works down every road at the same time.

"We're looking at a £10 charge for out-of-towners to bring their cars into the greater London area."

Mr Paddick says that this charge, aimed at long distance commuters, will raise £3.5billion a year for public transport and policing.

He said a band B car, exempt from the new congestion charge. travelling a journey like Brighton to London and back emitted 41/2 times the CO2 that comes from a Chelsea tractor going from Chelsea to Charing Cross.

On gun and knife crime he insists stop-and-search must to be intelligence-led.

He said: "People know who it is that has got the gun or a knife, but the problem is the relationship has broken down between the police and the local community.

"People don't trust police enough to be able to tell the police who the gun and knife criminals are."

And what does he think about the political power enjoyed by the Mayor of London.

He says there is an inbalance of power between the Greater London Assembly and the mayor which is exacerbated by Ken Livingstone's "unpleasant and very confrontational" nature.

He said: "He's shown that by overturning local planning decisions made by the democratically elected local councils. He enjoys a fight rather than working together with local assembly members and working together with local authorities to achieve what's best for London."