Boris tells Tories how to cut £5bn
Boris Johnson threw down a tax-and-spend gauntlet to the Tory party today with a plan to slash £5 billion from Tube costs and freeze council tax bills.
The Mayor claims to have found scope for massive savings by cutting waste, keeping a lid on pay and getting rid of consultants, the Standard has learned. In a move guaranteed to electrify the Conservative conference in Manchester, Mr Johnson urged shadow chancellor George Osborne to follow his lead in cutting Whitehall down to size and keeping taxes low.
Just hours after calling for a referendum on whether to pull out of the European Union, Mr Johnson underlined his status as the darling of the Tory rank and file with his own brand of public spending restraint. He confirmed that he would be freezing all Londoners' council tax "precept" again next spring, a marked change from Ken Livingstone's eight years of rises.
The Mayor said he had identified ways of slashing more than a quarter of the non-operational costs of Transport for London, the body that runs the Underground, buses and highways network. Vowing that not a single Tube or bus driver would be lost, he also had a message for Gordon Brown: "Don't tell us that we can't make savings without cutting frontline jobs."
Boris Johnson speech highlights
In a move that was so secret even the shadow cabinet were unaware of its scale, the Mayor's £5 billion savings plan was hatched after months of City Hall staff going through the books. Challenging the party's leadership to copy his approach, he said that "this is how the Tories can cut" — rooting out inefficiency rather than cutting big infrastructure projects such as Crossrail.
The Mayor plans to cut £5 billion over nine years by cutting "back office" costs, restructuring and more efficient working.
He is determined not to cut the investment in London's infrastructure. Big-ticket items such as Crossrail, rebuilding eight Tube lines, the 2012 Olympics, the extension of the DLR and East London Line are all seen as crucial.However, Mr Osborne has made clear that Crossrail will be put under review by an incoming Tory government.
Sources close to the Mayor insist that alleged tensions between him and David Cameron and Mr Osborne are overblown, suggesting he is given special leeway to depart from the party line to speak up for London. But some around the leadership are nervous about Mr Johnson's future leadership ambitions.
