Potential £25-a-day congestion charge

Ken Livingstone, major of London, today said that within the next month he aimed to approve £25-a-day congestion charge plans for the highest polluting vehicles entering the capital.

Within the pages of the New Statesman, Livingstone made predictions that this policy would be an important issue within the approaching mayoral elections.

Livingstone defended his record as running a left-wing administration that has pursued pioneering policies in areas including equalities, climate change and the congestion charge.

The plans for a higher congestion charge for the heaviest 4 x 4 vehicles were first unveiled a year ago when Livingstone launched a consultation process on the issue.

Yet it seems to have been timed so that firm plans are released as the mayoral contest deepens.

Livingstone’s identification of the plans as a key electoral issue for him allows him to pinpoint differences between him, as a left-wing politician, and the Conservative candidate Boris Johnson.

Although Livingstone did not directly address the accusations made against him last week in a Dispatches documentary, he did state that four days after it’s broadcast, an opinion poll indicated his lead over his rivals had been amplified.