Boris Watch

It’s been common thread of my Boris Watching that the most interesting early conflicts in his Mayoralty would come when the fantasy and exaggeration of the Conservative campaign came up against reality [for a quick primer, try here, here, here and here].  What’s usually happened is that Boris will cursorily welcome  some clear improvement directly resulting from a Ken-era decision, but then say (with rather more vigour) that his priority is to make it even better.  For example:

The Mayor said: ‘The reported cut in crime on the Tube and Docklands Light Railway is very encouraging, and is a trend that I fully intend to build upon as Mayor.

‘Unfortunately many Londoners do not feel as safe as they should do when using the network, which is why we have made tackling transport crime one of our number one priorities.

Note the use of the word ‘reported’, almost as if he doesn’t actually accept the figures.  Well, you’re the boss now, it’s your organisation putting them out, so put up or shut up.  If you don’t think they’re accurate, don’t put your name to press releases containing them.

Of course, the police, as we know, aren’t under Boris control at present - the Met is beholden to the Home Office, while the BTP, interestingly, is under Ruth Kelly at the DfT, who Boris is committed to working with on various things like Thameslink, National Rail smartcard ticketing and the East London Line Extension.  With that in mind, can I draw your attention to a recent TfL/GLA press release?

Chief Constable Ian Johnston said: ‘BTP has always policed these Tube stations but our new teams will now spend even more time in their local area tackling crime.

‘The figures show that crime at Tube stations in nearly every borough has decreased and now we want to make sure that people are not only safe, but also feel safe.

From that it appears that the senior officers charged with policing the Tube network consider it to be a safe, low-crime environment.  As do the Underground management itself:

Howard Collins, Chief Operating Officer of London Underground said: ‘London Underground is a low crime environment but we know there is always more work to be done, and these new Neighbourhood Policing Teams will mean that officers can better get to know their local communities and the issues that are key in their area.

Hardly a ringing endorsement of the idea of a thug-ridden network - again the message is ‘the Tube is a safe, low-crime environment’.  This puts Boris rather at odds with the people he’ll rely on to help deliver his promises, such as this one from May:

Mr Johnson said he had demanded tough action during his meeting with Sir Ian: “I made it very clear I want to see a dramatic reduction in crime, beginning with driving out so-called minor crime, particularly in the areas for which the Mayor has responsibility, and above all on public transport,” he said.

From that it’s clear that the Boris line (whether he believed it or not is immaterial, although he probably did - he believed Ray Lewis was a JP, after all) is that crime on public transport was high enough that it’s possible to see a ‘dramatic reduction’.  In fact, transport crime is specifically included by Boris as the most important area.

Three months on, however, his officials are saying it’s not actual crime on public transport that matters, but how safe the public feel.  That’s a bit of a shift, and begs the question ‘how do you measure it’.  The figures we already have give a clue just how much improvement Boris can expect in this key area:

• Tube stations : 80% (BTP)
• Tube trains : 82% (BTP)
• DLR stations : 98% (BTP) *
• DLR trains : 98% (BTP) *
• Buses : 95% (MPS, via TfL) feel ‘very safe’ or ‘fairly safe’.

So the police and transport management think there’s no major crime problem and it looks very much like there’s no fear of crime problem, either, at least amongst those who actually *use* the system.  So why on earth is Boris still making such a fuss over it?  Surely some public spirited journalist could get a definitive answer on whether Boris wants to be judged on actual crime rates, fear of crime or is just talking tough?  Either way, it looks very much like he’s wasting time and money tackling something that’s not a serious problem and was moving the right direction anyway.  Naturally we’ll be watching for when he starts taking credit for a tough stance.

* in fact the otherwise target-ridden BTP, tellingly, don’t even have a target to improve even the perception of safety on the DLR, implying it’s already considered as high as it’s likely to get.

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