Tuesday, December 1, 2009

KHOODEELAAR! Telling you again: when it comes to Big Business CRASSrail, the allagedly skeptical Guardian drops its 'stance' & adopts Boris as 'Ken'!

2345 GMT
London
Tuesday
01 December 2009

Editor © Muhammad Haque



The Guardian is floating the CRASS idea of over-taxing ‘Londoners’ [more on this concept including an update here shortly of the term which was almost made disreputable by its overuse by the nasal bytes of CRASSrole player Ken Livingstone] for the sake of funding Big Business CRASSrail. When it comes to 'Crossrail' the Guardian drops its alleged skepticism about Boris Johnson and adopts him as if he were a re-installed City of London interests tout Ken Livingstone all over again...

For evidential purposes, we reproduce [below] the latest Guardian plug for 'Crossrail project champion' Borisken as promoted by the Guardian and one of their peddling 'writers' Hélène Mulholland.

[To be continued]

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/30/boris-johnson-london-funding

Boris Johnson wants US-style funding for London projects
Capital's mayor calls for tax increment financing to boost schemes during economic downturn
Buzz up!
Digg it
Hélène Mulholland
guardian.co.uk, Monday 30 November 2009 11.53 GMT
Article history

Boris Johnson wants London to introduce tax increment funding. Photograph: Jon Furniss/Jon Furniss/WireImage.com

Boris Johnson today called on the government to allow London to adopt a US-style scheme to raise money for projects, increasing his financial independence from the government.

In a report published today, the Conservative London mayor and Merrick Cockell, the Tory leader of the umbrella group for London councils, included the idea of tax increment financing (Tif) to help fund projects in the capital during the economic downturn.

The document, Investing for Recovery, highlighted London's special needs as "the engine room of the UK economy" with the biggest gap between rich and poor.

Its publication comes as Johnson seeks to ward off the threat of budget cuts ahead of Alistair Darling's pre-budget report next week.

The mayor, who also faces the threat of cuts under a future Conservative government, said the capital required cash from the state and "something that won't cost a penny ... a bit more financial freedom".

Tif, which relies on future tax revenue to fund schemes, has been widely used for redevelopment and community improvement projects in the US as an alternative to state investment, and Johnson said it would allow London to bring in more private investment.

The report said the capital was "far more dependent" on government funding than cities such as New York and Tokyo.

Johnson, who is in advanced talks with Conservative central office over a beefed-up mayoral role, said Tif was the "beautiful idea" he had in mind to give him more financial freedom.

It is a potential model for the devolved London government and London boroughs if central government considers centrally collected taxes for local purposes, the report said.

"This is not about raising new taxes or having new tax-raising powers, but about earmarking future tax income raised in a local area to finance local regeneration," the report said.

"This would enable boroughs to boost economic development by investing upfront in enabling infrastructure.

"The freedom and responsibility to generate and manage local revenue streams will provide a significant incentive to investment, leveraging private sector funding.

"Tif would be a timely and proportionate response to the impact of the recession. The payback would be substantial.

"Introducing Tif would ensure that London can lead the way out of recession by generating and sharing in the 'growth dividend'."

The report also called for a fairer funding model that takes into consideration London's high turnover of population, the resulting strains on public services and the capital's "intractable social problems", which include poverty and insufficient housing.

Johnson, concerned that a Tory government could pull the plug on the long-awaited Crossrail project, said it was critical that this investment was kept alongside funding for improvements to the London Underground.

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