Boris Johnson doubles bus fares for poorest Londoners

London-Venezuela oil deal cancelled by new Conservative Mayor

London's Tory mayor, Boris Johnson, today announced that he was scrapping a discounted oil agreement with Venezuela that provides half price bus fares for London's poorest citizens. Fares for those on Income Support are expected to double by the end of the year, causing serious financial hardship for 80,000 Londoners who had taken advantage of the scheme.

The timing of the announcement, coming on the Sunday of a Bank Holiday weekend, is designed to minimise publicity for the move and avoid damaging the electoral prospects of Britain’s resurgent Conservative Party.

The agreement, which was negotiated by Johnson’s predecessor, Ken Livingstone, bartered London's strategic advice on city planning for cheap Venezuelan oil.

In a statement issued today, Ken Livingstone condemned Boris Johnson for ending the agreement. “The fact that the first significant action by Johnson's Tory regime is against the poorest people in the capital is highly significant,” Livingstone said.

“The suggestion that Johnson is motivated by any concern about the people of Venezuela is just a lie shown by the fact that he is withdrawing all technical support and advice provided by London under this agreement.”

Boris Johnson’s claim that the oil deal exploited Venezuela’s poor was also dismissed by the Venezuela Information Centre, a British-based solidarity organisation. VIC Secretary Gordon Hutchinson told 21^st Century Socialism that the deal was “a shining example of city to city co-operation, which cut out the transnational corporations and middle-men and benefited the people of both cities.”

Venezuela’s socialist president, Hugo Chavez, has used the proceeds from record oil revenues to roll out free health and education services across the country. Incomes for the poorest 60% of Venezuelans have risen by 130% in real terms, according to surveys conducted for the Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce.

The Conservative Party has a long history of opposing social and economic justice in Latin America. Former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was a personal friend and advisor to the Chilean dictator, General Pinochet. And in May 2006, the Conservative group on the Greater London Assembly issued an invitation to a Venezuelan oppositionist who advocates the use of “barbaric practices” against supporters of Venezuelan democracy and compares himself to the 13^th century Mongolian warlord Genghis Khan.