One of the larger items on the Boris taxi bill - a fine old four grand-plus - that, to his discomfort, we found out about yesterday evening is for £200 to Bexleyheath police station on 8 October last year. I remember that day well.
Mayor Johnson chose the suburban location to announce that his previous deployment of dedicated police teams to three transport hubs had produced dramatic decreases in crime and that the programme would be greatly expanded. He added that separate teams fighting bus crime in inner city boroughs would be "made permanent."
Boris didn't mention that these teams had been introduced by Ken Livingstone. He did, though, mention that he'd travelled to Bexleyheath "by car". That was in answer to the first the two questions I asked him that morning (the second was about his amazing conversion to the veracity of the Met's crime stats). It had been quite a trek from Hackney by bus, train and foot. Londoners, I felt sure, would be interested to know how their new leader had reached his Kent-ish destination.
We now know that "by car" did not mean by private vehicle, as might have been inferred from the Mayor's choice of words, but by a hired one that cost the tax-payer two hundred quid. My query also inspired Boris to indulge in a spot of joshing. He revealed that "we" - meaning himself, Kit Malthouse and Guto Harri - had passed me walking down the street and decided against offering me a lift.
I enjoyed the badinage, but did wonder at the time if it betrayed a certain urgency in Boris to change the subject. Now I'm wondering some more.
