London Mayor Boris Johnson pledged here on Sunday at the annual Conservative Party Conference a safer, cleaner, greener and fairer capital city in the run up to the 2012 Olympics.
A total of 27 teenagers have died this year in knife-related crimes in London alone, up from 26 in 2007 and 15 in 2003.
"I make no apology for the new stop-and-search arrangements that we have brought in since May," said the mayor, adding the move has helped lift 2,000 knives from the streets.
Johnson also noted that when he takes over the Metropolitan Police Authority next month, he wants senior police officers to be focusing on making the streets safer.
To combine with this, efforts will be made to engage with young people in the city so they will help to plant 10,000 trees across parts the inner city London and go into basic literacy, mathematics and vocational training by enrolling in the 10 new City Academies during his term.
He will see more young people join in competitive sports and make a difference by 2012.
In his bid to advocate a green London, the major unveils a new bike hire scheme in London, on top of claiming to transform the 300 hectares of industrial waste land in east London into a vast transport artery.
"We can stage an Olympic games every bit as spectacular as those in Beijing without spending a penny more than the 9.2 billion pounds," he reassured. On the economic front, the mayor attacked Labor government's move to regulate the banks in the City in the face of a financial crisis.
"I do not believe that the best way of protecting the hard-working mortgage-holders of London is to launch a vindictive attack on one of the most successful industries in this country," he noted.
The financial sector in London, according to him, produces 9 percent of GDP and 13 percent of value added.
"The best thing to do when times are tough is to help ordinary people in every way you can," he said, adding Labor government cannot regulate its way out of a recession.
The mayor concluded his speech with a promise that there will be no increase in council tax for London residents next year.
The Labor government had suffered great loss in local elections including mayoral election in London this year. As a new Conservative mayor for London, Johnson has scraped a bunch of policies implemented under the previous Labor mayor.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article