Mayor in 'false statement' row

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 22nd Oct 2002

Mayor Ken Livingstone was slammed by London Assembly member Lynne Featherstone for 'a false statement' after he claimed that Cabinet Minister Tessa Jowell had contacted him offering support for his stand on a bus routing issue in East Dulwich.

Tessa Jowell's Parliamentary office has told us that at no time did they or Ms Jowell contact either the Mayor or Transport for London to support them over the P13 bus route.

Tessa Jowell has issued the following comment to the local press: "My position had been made absolutely clear to TfL ahead of the 'Peoples Question time' last night. I am sorry therefore, that the Mayor appears to have been badly briefed to the extent that he made a false statement".

Lynne Featherstone commented: "Ken Livingstone told several hundred people at a crowded People's Question Time on Thursday that this was the case. It makes Question Time meaningless if Ken is simply going to make up facts as he goes along. If TfL are to blame then it's time he sorted them out."

Local residents in Grove Hill, East Dulwich are campaigning to divert the P13 bus away from narrow residential roads lined with parked cars on to a more suitable route that would serve nearby council flats. Mayor Livingstone dismissed their claims out of hand during angry exchanges at People's Question Time at City Hall.

In a letter to a representative of the residents as their local MP, Tessa Jowell stated: "I can categorically state that no representations were made by myself or my office supporting the retention of the current route. I am very concerned to learn that my views appear to have been misrepresented and I am seeking to take up the matter with Transport for London."

Ms Featherstone added: " Ken could not be more wrong about the bus. It is mad to make bus drivers pick their way through streets crammed with parked cars when the route could be serving hundreds of council tenants on a much more open road."

"This is yet another case of Transport for London getting an idea in its head and refusing to budge in the face of all local opposition."