Over at Dave Hill’s London Blog on the Guardian website, there’s a candid and in-depth interview with John Griffiths, the Lib Dems’ candidate in the contest to become the directly elected Mayor of the London borough of Tower Hamlets. Here’s an excerpt:
… Griffiths knows what he’d do if he won. “The main function the mayor has to perform is to be an advocate, a champion, for the borough,” he says. “In the present situation, with a government of a different political hue from that of the [Labour-dominated] Council, it’s critical that there’s someone there who can really stand up for the borough and have the ear of ministers. We could be isolated at a very critical point. It’s been described as possibly the most difficult job in London for whoever gets it, in terms of minimising the impact of the inevitable cuts. I think the mayor will be judged in terms of not letting the situation getting any worse.”
He’d freeze the Council Tax, but explore ways of raising revenue elsewhere. “The coalition is interested in is freeing up local authorities in terms of what they can do with business rates. Tower Hamlets is actually one of the wealthiest boroughs in London when you look at our business base – Canary Wharf and so on. The long term residents of Tower Hamlets deserve more from the Docklands development.”
You can read the interview in full here.
And you can find out more about John Griffiths, and how you can help the Lib Dem campaign, here.
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