Mayor of London’s Role Questioned

Who’s idea was it to launch our Olympic bid? Who’s to blame? I speak as a Londoner, and I do not refer to the project as a whole.* I take issue with the person in government who decided to forge ahead with the whole plan for this simple reason: Ken Livingston.

Surely they knew that Ken Livingstone would stick his oar in? How could they not predict that Livingstone would try to take over the running of the games? And why did nobody think to stop him?

My objection, of course, is not a personal one. I don’t like Ken very much: if I were allowed to vote, I wouldn’t vote for him.** But I feel quite strongly about the role he is playing in the Olympic Games organising. He has a peculiar role, being in charge of certain aspects of running London, but not others. This gives him room to manoeuvre himself ahead of the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport with little effort. Using his GLA podium, he can influence national government decisions.

This is a very dangerous power. Just because he is the Mayor of London, he should not be deciding how the Treasury allocates its budget to a sporting competition. If he is allowed to exercise this power, who knows where it will end. Does he have jurisdiction over every vehicle that travels in London? Does he have the power to demand more money for London transport, policing, manufacturing, etc? Can he ban aeroplanes from flying over London and force the Treasury to pay their compensation?

The powers of the Mayor of London need to be more clearly defined, and more limited. He should not have the ability to control national policy in this way.

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*For the time being, I remain open minded about the games. It is one of those rare issues on which I have no staunchly held opinion. I trust that time will remedy this!

**I am naturally suspicious of anyone who is usually known by just one name: Hitler, Saddam, Madonna, Cher… you get the picture!