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London mayor responds to Porsche legal attack

 
10 280 views Feb 20, 2008

London mayor responds to Porsche legal attack

London mayor responds to Porsche legal attack

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London Mayor Ken Livingstone has released a scathing response to Porsche's request for a judicial review of London's new £25 ($50) daily fee to drive through central parts of London in a 'high emissions vehicle'.

Yesterday we reported about Porsche's concerns that the move will be detrimental for London as a city and that the scheme is simply a publicity stunt before the mayoral elections to boost Ken Livingstone's status as an environmental crusader. While Porsche's concerns are somewhat legitimate, a spokesperson from Livingstone's office has quite dramatically stated that Porsche's move is "a double attack on Londoners." The press release went on to say that Porsche was attempting to remove the "democratic rights of Londoners", even though the request of a judicial review of government legislation is a fundamental democratic right. The press release concluded with the assertion that "no one is allowed to throw their rubbish in the street and Porsche should not be allowed to impose gas guzzling polluting cars on Londoners who do not want them". On May 1 the upcoming mayoral elections will eventually show whether Londoners are fans of Livingstone's brash attitude towards motorists.

The scheme implemented by Livingstone has been designed with sports cars and SUV's in mind however there have been suggestions that the scheme will have little effect on overall emissions and that a greater focus on commercial pollution is needed. Sports car manufacturers will be hard hit by legislation such as this - especially Porsche, which only produces sports cars in relatively small volumes and thus relies on established markets to maintain profit. While Porsche is working on hybrid versions of the 4-door Panamera and the Cayenne, these vehicles are slated for a 2009 release at the earliest and prospective buyers would think twice about a £25 fee every time they drove through central London.



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Comments (10)

  1. By James Posted: 2/21/2008 12:20am PST

    They don't call him "Red Ken" for nothing. The response smacks of "Don't worry, we know what's best for you." I pity the good people of London who have to live with his brand of tyranny. I predict London will become, sooner than later, a car-free zone if this guy's reign of terror doesn't come to a quick end.
     
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  2. By bambam Posted: 2/21/2008 1:41am PST

    Shouldn't it be the other way around. Instead of punishing people with cars that seriously harm the environment. Why don't he help people with better cars such as hybrid, by allowing them free parking in the city or toll free anywhere else. I say hybrid because it is the best all rounder
    for the environment and the city not considering the performance issue.

    if he wants to seriously change the country, then this should be applied to the whole country.
    Then we wouldn't have this type of complaints. But i guess we leave that to the EU to decide.
     
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  3. By Raptor Posted: 2/21/2008 5:10am PST

    What's wrong with this dude? Is he some kind of communist nazi?
    The only one removing rights from Londoners is he.

    Jesus. Makes me sick.
     
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  4. By HECTOR Posted: 2/21/2008 6:51am PST

    James has it spot on. This is a typical leftist response to criticism. Accuse the critic of every evil imaginable (most of which you're commiting yourself): *if you're against my plans you're a racist, against human rights, a bigot, you oppose women's rights, etc, etc, etc*.

    RED KEN ladies and gentlemen.

    But you miss the point Bambam. Red Ken is not pro lower class as he is against rich people. He's not pro hybrids as much as he is against high performance vehicles. In essense Red Ken is against anything that makes you better than your neighbor, even if you worked really hard to get there and your neighbor is a slacker. In his eyes you should both be the same: you should both have a crappy life.

    Mao, Lenin, Fidel, Kim, Hugo, Mugabe... they all have a pal in Red Ken Livingston.

    But if Londoners wanted him, they got him. Let's see if they elect him again. I'm just sorry for the ones that didn't vote for him.
     
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  5. By scathing Posted: 2/21/2008 8:14am PST

    Nice one Hector. Because the Right doesn't have the same "you're with us or you're a terrorist" or "trust me, violating your basic freedoms is for your own good" response to criticism.

    I don't see myself as pro-Left or pro-Right but anti-idiot, and both Red Ken and Right-wing leaders like Bush trip my bs-meter.
     
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  6. By NaBUru38 Posted: 2/21/2008 2:47pm PST

    Bambam, instead of giving money to people who own low consumption cars, they should improve public transport. Oh, public transport is good enough in most West European countries, but many people don't want to travel with strangers.

    Here in my city (Montevideo), you can't buy bus schedules anywhere, they're secret. So you must go to a bus stop and wait until your bus comes. They're noisy and use high-sulphur gasoil too.
     
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  7. By Sir Yappie Posted: 2/21/2008 5:28pm PST

    soon he will be declaring that only those that are blonde and blue eyed londoners are allowed into the city...all others must pay a fee. This will then lead to people not going into central london and Red Ken will finally have is utopian society...

    heil Ken !! :-(
     
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  8. By James Posted: 3/3/2008 9:02pm PST

    i see "V for Vendetta" becoming a reality for London if this man continues to be mayor. His spokesman is speaking as if he is the voice of the people of london, do all londoners want this tax?
     
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  9. By Paris Posted: 3/13/2008 5:22am PDT

    'no one is allowed to throw their rubbish in the street and Porsche should not be allowed to impose gas guzzling polluting cars on Londoners who do not want them'

    Lets see Ken. Porsche OFFERS their cars and people BUY them BY CHOICE. Porsche's cars emit nothing but CO2... and even that is the lowest possible for their engines capacity and power. In fact the air coming out of the exhaust is probably cleaner than the air in central London anw... Most of the environmental technologies come from expensive cars which are so low in numbers around the world they barely make a difference to the environment!

    Now Ken IMPOSES a £25 DAILY tax...

    WHICH of the two is undemocratic now Kenny? The guy's way over the limit of being stuck up his behind... I hope Porsche succeeds in their legal attack. GO PORSCHE!
     
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  10. By Paris Posted: 3/13/2008 5:23am PDT

    Oh and btw...

    Communists talked about power to the people and the ultimate democratic ways too... just like Red Kenny...
     
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