Gareth Thomas, MP for Harrow West is a prospective London Mayor candidate. We spoke exclusively to Asian Voice about the Mayoral candidacy and what changes he would like to make in London.
1. Why do you want to stand for Mayor?
London needs bold leadership with serious solutions to the challenges our city faces. I am that Mayor. I will, for example, champion the devolution of more power to London and more power to Londoners.
2. What are the two most important unsolved challenges in London that you as a Mayor will focus on in your first years?
London is a great city, but it has a higher cost of living than anywhere else in the UK and Londoners are not being given a fair share of their cities success. I see London from the perspective of somebody getting the tube to work everyday and trying to make a home here. That’s why I want to cut fares by 10% on day one and freeze them thereafter – an almost 20% cut in real terms by 2020 which will benefit all Londoners. And it’s why I want to change the way we build homes in this city so that everybody can afford a decent place to live.
3. What distinguishes you from the other candidates?
I am the only candidate to be both pro-business and committed to a greener, more co-operative London, e.g; pro third runway and for extending the Congestion Zone.
If elected Mayor I would also hold a referendum in London in September 2016 asking Londoners to give their consent on giving more powers to the London Mayor, GLA and London Councils. I am also unique for wanting more co-op housing, stronger credit unions and reform of Transport for London to give Londoners more of a say in its big decisions.
4. Why should one vote for you as the Mayor of London?
Londoners should vote for me if they want more of a say in the decisions that shape the future of their city. Westminster can seem as remote to someone living in Southall or Harrow as it does to those living in the Western Isles. I will change that. London should be able to control a little more of the wealth generated here to help tackle London’s housing crisis, stubbornly high levels of child poverty and the need for more investment in public transport.
5. What are you offering that other candidates aren’t?
I am the only candidate suggesting a 10% cut in fares and the only one committed to London bidding for the Commonwealth Games in 2026, and extending London’s parks and ‘green lungs’.
6. How will you be helping small Asian enterprises?
I want to set up a Small Business Bank to help small businesses get access to the capital they need to invest, create jobs and expand. I also want to champion the regeneration of outer London town centres where many excellent Asian businesses are based.
7. What’s your take on the travelling cost in London? What changes will you be making?
I believe Labour needs to stand on the side of Londoners, making it a little easier for people on their way to work. With travel in London so expensive, a cut in fares will make a real difference. That’s why if I were Mayor I would cut fares by 10% on day one of my mayoralty and freeze them for the remaining 3 years – a real term cut of almost 20% by 2020.
8. How will you be addressing the housing challenges in London?
As Mayor, I would set a target of 62,000 new homes per year, which is the number of homes that the charity Shelter concluded we would need to build per year over 10 years to clear the back log, and just over a third of these new homes would be social rents. I would establish a wholly owned Mayoral Housing Company to raise the finance for building new social housing on TFL land and with additional borrowing powers I would also support Council’s investing in new social housing using affordable rental income to offset borrowing costs. I would also issue bonds to enable Londoners to invest in social housing – the better off getting a return for helping other Londoners get a decent home at an affordable rent. The one major difference on housing between me and the other candidates is on co-op housing. I strongly support a wider mix of types of social housing and think tenants should be given much more greater control over the housing they live in.
