Zac Goldsmith blasts Sadiq Khan for ‘fantasy nonsense’ on freezing travel fares

Sadiq Khan's Tory rival Zac Goldsmith
Nigel Howard
Matt Watts5 February 2016

Zac Goldsmith branded Sadiq Khan’s plans to freeze travel fares as “fantasy nonsense” that would be “catastrophic” for London in the pair’s first televised clash of the mayoral campaign.

The Conservative candidate goaded his Labour rival to “tell the truth” about infrastructure projects he would axe to fund his pledged four-year fare freeze.

Mr Khan says keeping fares as they are until 2020 would cost £450 million but Transport for London has stated the cost would be closer to £2 billion.

On ITV’s The Late Debate last night, Mr Goldsmith went on the offensive, saying: “This transport stuff we are hearing from Sadiq Khan is fantasy nonsense, it’s Corbyn madness.

“It simply does not add up and if you were to create the kind of efficiencies in TfL you are talking about it would require you to take on the very unions that are backing, running and controlling your campaign.”

Mr Goldsmith has till now faced some criticism from Tories for the slow start to his campaign and his more relaxed style in debates compared to his more combative rival. He said the funding gap could not be met without axing the Night Tube, the Freedom pass, or cutting network improvements such as the Circle and District line upgrades.

Competition: Labour’s mayoral race candidate Sadiq Khan
Nigel Howard

“No one even remotely interested in transport believes it is possible to take £2 billion out of the transport infrastructure and continue to grow the transport network,” he added.

“If we don’t grow the transport network London grinds to a standstill and we don’t solve the housing crisis. If Sadiq Khan is elected and keeps that project it will be catastrophic for London.”

He told his rival: “You need to be honest with voters. What are you going to cut, which of the programmes?”

Mr Khan defended his “fully funded fares package” and said efficiency savings could be found in TfL to fund the freeze.

“Boris Johnson has increased fares every year for the past eight years and London has suffered,” he added.

“We pay more for fares on our Tubes than any other country in Europe.

“We can make lots of savings. Last year TfL spent £383 million on consultants and agency staff. We can halve that. We can merge engineering functions in Underground and Overground services that can save more than £400 million.

“We can cut down on fare evasion that cost us £61 million last year.”

He also said TfL could bid for transport contracts nationally and internationally, with profits fed back into London’s transport budget.

Today Mr Khan published his clean energy plans for the capital, which included setting up Energy for Londoners, a not-for-profit company that will push green energy across the city. He attacked the Mayor for having “squandered” London’s environmental legacy and leaving it as a middle-ranking global city “at best”.

On a visit to the Bunhill Energy Centre in Islington, a district heating scheme that will draw heat from the Tube to warm more than 1,000 homes, he said: “Energy for Londoners will bring a renewed focus to our drive to make London a cleaner, greener city.

“It will expand the use of solar across the city and support communities who want to set up their own green energy generation schemes. All of this will help London to reduce its carbon emissions and generate more of its own energy in a much cleaner way.”

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