My vision for London

As a Liberal Democrat, I'm working to build a great city that is prosperous, sustainable, tolerant and free.

My top three priorities are:

1. To champion London's communities that are poor and disadvantaged, and those that face discrimination; that means tackling the obscenity of our capital's extreme wealth cheek-by-jowl with some of the worst deprivation in Britain.

2. To campaign for a safe, healthy, green environment, one where all Londoners, especially the young, can live, work and play without fear or harm; that means real action on air pollution, transport congestion and the living environment; it also means a police service cracking down on crime and criminals, while treating innocent citizens fairly.

Mike visiting a 'green roof' on a new London Underground depot

3. To fight for London to keep a fair share of the wealth it creates, so we can rebuild our infrastructure, instead of subsidising the national exchequer as at present; that means a public transport system that offers a real alternative to the cars that clog our streets and pollute our environment, and dramatically better schools, housing, skills training and employment opportunities.

Building on strengths

Despite these challenges, London has enormous assets. We must build on the strengths which make us a world-class capital city. Here are just a few of London positive points:

• huge wealth in the City of London, in universities and the health service - in the midst of pockets of the worst poverty in Britain (13 boroughs are in the top 20 most deprived areas in Britain, yet London contributes 17% of the UK's whole GDP);
  
• vast cultural diversity of languages and races, at a time when we are Europe's pre-eminent tourist destination and earn an increasing share of our wealth in the global economy (London is home to 45% of Britain's ethnic minorities and one in five Londoners is a member of a minority ethnic community);
  
• the home of English, now the world language, and at the centre of time zones crucial both to the media's global village and to 24-hour financial trading (45% of children in inner London schools and 27% in outer London schools speak a first language other than English);
  
• an abiding sense of identity as Londoners, built on a long history;
  
• extraordinary creativity in the arts, academia, science and research;
  
• a public transport system , largely inherited from our Victorian forebears and which, despite its all too evident current failings, is still the envy of many newer competitor cities;
  
• a large and growing population (more than seven million, bigger than Scotland) giving us critical mass as a regional economy.

A green and healthy city

The GLA has a specific duty to promote a sustainable approach to economic, social and environmental issues, with the Mayor required to produce strategies for air quality, municipal waste, noise and bio-diversity. Currently, there are huge inequalities in public services - for example, in health rates of premature mortality vary by a factor of 50 between best and worst boroughs, while in housing, London has two-thirds of the nation's most run-down stock, with seven in ten local authority properties either unfit or in disrepair.

Regeneration and transport policies should be focused on minimising the damage to the environment - less need for long travel to work journeys, more walk to school and school bus schemes. London also needs a big expansion of the new information and communication technologies, with help to foster take-up of broadband and more government services available on-line.

Get London moving

Urgently needed are improvements to the public transport system, connecting depressed parts of London to areas of economic growth, combating the environmental menace of the internal combustion engine and unblocking the jams which daily affect so many of us.

We must campaign for an integrated London Transport Authority, combining rail regulation with buses and tubes and with powers to curb road usage and generate new resources for investment. We must continue to call for the GLA to have greater powers (as in other European capital cities) to raise private loan finance, secured on future income, to pump prime better public transport.

Meanwhile road congestion charges must be spent only on specific new investments for the Underground, buses, rail network and key road traffic interchanges - priority for lines to poorly connected areas first. We must continued the tough scrutiny of day-to-day operations and the Transport for London board chaired by the Mayor, with more involvement by ordinary Londoners for example through public hearings.

Opportunity for young people

One in four London residents is under 19 years - 1.8 million in total. Too many, especially in minority ethnic communities, are trapped in the prejudices of others, failed at school (currently only eight London boroughs do better than the national average at GCSE grades A-C), suspected as criminals, deprived of opportunities to show otherwise. We need to create a new vision and a new urgency in developing a real sense of common purpose to rebuild London for the generations ahead. Local boroughs, individual schools and not-for-profit youth agencies need adequate resourcing.

Combating disadvantage

The disparities of wealth are more acute in London than elsewhere in Britain, depriving poorer people of the opportunities and quality of life which others take for granted (London has the highest rate of long-term unemployed in the UK after Merseyside). Meanwhile too much of London's economic surplus is taken out of the capital - up to £20 billion a year more is paid in taxes than is spent on public services. We must make the case to retain a greater share within London.

Meanwhile, we should focus regeneration schemes on links, for example through retraining, with areas of opportunity (45% of London's labour market currently has low or inappropriate skills). Small businesses need more help, with one-stop help and advice from start-up to growth into medium sized companies, especially in the new information and communication technologies - currently 80% of new firms fail within five years. The London Development Agency must do more to tackle inequalities - unemployment in inner London is twice the national average, for example.

Empowering citizens

For too long, citizens have had to endure the 'we know best' attitude from government and those who provide public services. The Metropolitan Police Service was just one longstanding example, now thankfully changing as the Metropolitan Police Authority exercises a positive influence. However the GLA remains fundamentally flawed, as central government retains too much power and responsibility for services. While campaigning to increase regional devolution, we must work to involve Londoners much more in individual decision-making, and support the vitality of the many self-help community groups that operate at grass-roots level in London today.