"There is no guarantee in life": Labour's extraordinary snub to Portobello traders (Kensington and Chelsea Liberal Democrats)

Kensington and Chelsea Liberal Democrats <info@kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk>

"There is no guarantee in life": Labour's extraordinary snub to Portobello traders

December 3, 2009 3:14 PM

Labour SHAME graphic The Labour Party in Kensington has been strongly criticised for brushing aside complaints from worried local traders and shopkeepers about the effect of the Western Extension of the Congestion Charge on trade in the Portobello area. Referring to the concerns of local traders, one Labour councillor said in the Council Chamber on 2nd December: "Capitalism is a risk game. There's no guarantee in life."

The point was made in a debate about whether to support the scrapping of the Western Extension of the Charge. Local Labour councillors voted to keep the extension. Carol Caruana, Liberal Democrat councillor for the Portobello area of Notting Hill, told councillors: "I have seen first hand the detrimental impact this scheme has had on local traders."

The Liberal Democrats have campaigned for six years to replace the Western Extension, which was introduced by former Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone. The Lib Dems want a system of charging using smart technology for congestion that would target the real congestion hotspots throughout Greater London.

In the most bizarre moment of the debate, another Labour councillor blamed the loss of trade along Portobello Road on a lack of tourists flying from overseas to visit London, claiming the Congestion Charge Extension was only a "tiny, tiny element" of the problem.

After the meeting, Lib Dem Councillor Caruana said: "If further proof were needed that Labour no longer understands what makes people tick around here, just look at how they handle this key local issue. They don't understand that it's not about tourists on jumbo jets. It's about people from nearby local communities who are not willing to drive into the zone if they have to spend £8 in order to spend a fiver in the midweek market.

Councillor Carol Caruana on Portobello Road

"Labour keep going on about the fact that many people in North Kensington don't own cars. It's not about that. I don't own a car myself but all residents in Portobello, whether they own a car or not, are affected the by the Western Extension because it is helping to kill off our unique mix of local stalls and shops. When the stalls go, the shops that support them are damaged too, and vice versa. It's in everyone's interest - driver or not - to push the Mayor of London to hurry up and scrap the Extension."

Robin Meltzer, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Campaigner for Kensington is campaigning for stricter controls on polluting vehicles in London. He said: "The Western Extension of the Congestion Charge is a blunt instrument which has caused misery in Councillor Caruana's ward, without doing enough to mitigate congestion or improve Air Quality in our part of the city. The only solution is for it to be replaced.

"We need a new plan to bring down Nitrogen Dioxide and harmful airborne particles in London. Only smart charging, combined with a stricter inner city low emissions zone, can safeguard our health AND people's livelihoods. We shouldn't have to choose between one and the other. In any sensible congestion charging system, a street like Portobello Road with a historic market would never be caught up in it. It's ridiculous that Labour refuse to accept this.

"It takes a particular type of arrogance to dismiss legitimate concerns from traders with these glib phrases about no guarantees in life. If Labour councillors had bothered to walk down Portobello Road, as I have done on many occasions, talking to stall holders and shop owners, they would know that these business people have traced the decline of their takings to the introduction of the Extension.

"The damage to the midweek market since the introduction of the Congestion Charge Extension is plain. It's real, it's happening and if Labour's loyalty to the previous Mayor means they won't stand up for residents who want to protect their market, the Liberal Democrats will be only too happy to step into the void and do just that."