Johnson enters policy lockdown
Monday, 1 October 2007 12:00 AM
Boris Johnson's supporters - and critics - were warned not to expect any detailed policy announcements from the cycling MP as he prepares for his mayoral campaign.
The high-profile Conservative MP warned of a "policy lockdown" before he officially launches his campaign to replace Ken Livingstone as the mayor of London.
Addressing the Conservative party conference on Sunday, Mr Johnson promised to restore hope to Londoners, with plans to tackle crime, housing and transport.
As he attempts to discredit Mr Livingstone's record in office, Mr Johnson said he would build on the example set by London's Conservative councils.
He told delegates in Blackpool: "They have kept council tax low while they have created safer, cleaner and greener streets.
"If they can do it, so can I, and over the next few months, that will mean a policy lockdown and crunching the numbers so that when the election begins in 2008 we will have a winning manifesto."
The MP for Henley-on-Thames - who is as well known for his gaffes as speeches in the Commons - has been derided throughout his campaign as a joke candidate.
Today he claimed to be serious about running for mayor, saying he was proud to accept the Conservative candidacy.
He said: "What gives me the greatest pride of all is that from day one I have provoked such gibbering squeals of denunciation from King Newt and his allies that I know they are scared".
Mr Johnson promised to "recapture the capital for common sense government," hinting at policies across a number of areas.
He said Community Support Officers needed to be given "real powers" to make a difference and criticised the current bureaucracy as a disincentive against reporting crime.
As mayor, he said he would take away the right to free travel from young people who commit offences and use buses as "glorified getaway cars."
Mr Johnson promised to "give hope" to Londoners without a home. He advocated "imaginative" shared ownership schemes and raising the stamp duty threshold to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder.
He would use his mayoral powers to "encourage" more social housing and rented housing but attacked the large-scale projects of Mr Livingstone.
A keen cyclist, Mr Johnson said every Londoner should be given the "confidence" to cycle, facilitated by scrapping bendy buses.
He also vowed to commit to Crossrail and to improve the Underground to "give hope to all those who feel they have lost the basic right to get to work on time."
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