Tony Travers on Mayor Johnson at Cif:
In a classic Blairite move, he has leaned to the centre-left, supporting the London Living Wage, giving reasonable prominence to the environment, and extolling a Keynesian boost to the capital's soon to be depressed economy. He has not proved to be the wicked racist foreseen by some. Most of the Livingstone multi-cultural events in Trafalgar Square continue unabated. He is backing Barack Obama to win today's US election.
Joshing about "Red Boris" aside, I agree only up to a point. His line on festivals and Obama is partly pragmatic and about positioning, but also an attempt to express a social liberalism that doesn't jar with the economic variety he espouses. I'd call that more centre-right than centre-left and, for me, not yet convincing. But on the London Living Wage, he's way ahead of the Labour government. As David Hencke reports, Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper have criticised it as neither "necessary or appropriate". In response, a statement from the Mayor's office says:
"If the government is serious about tackling the capital's obscene levels of poverty and deprivation, then it would join me in urging all London employers to accept the London living wage as the basic pay rate. London is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live and work and it is not only morally right to pay the living wage but also makes good business sense, contributing to better recruitment and retention of staff, higher productivity and a more loyal workforce with high morale."
Spot the progressive.
