Ken Livingstone and the Congestion Charge

I haven’t been following the London election for Mayor. I’m actually quite a fan of both Ken Livingston and Boris Johnson. Boris Johnson well he’s quite funny on Have I Got News for You. Politicians tend to be so boring these days that it is good to have someone with a bit of personality.

Ken Livingstone has quite a few good qualities. The Evening Standard is always trying to rubbish his period in office, but, that makes me suspicious. In terms of Economics, I think Ken deserves a lot of credit for having the political courage to introduce the congestion charge. The congestion charge has reduced some of London’s worst traffic problems. People don’t like paying taxes, but neither do people like sitting in a traffic jam. It annoys me how many voters expect solutions to problems without any tax.

Anyway this is a bit of a rant. But, you can see some arguments in favour of congestion charges here:

• Advantages of Congestion Charges