BAD DAY FOR LONDON

There is no getting away from it - Thursday 1 May was a bad day for the capital. Ken Livingstone has done an extraordinarily good job on our behalf. His most striking achievement, the congestion charge, was one of the boldest moves I have seen in my thirty odd years in politics. It took a very special politician to embark on a course of action which, while beneficial for the city as a whole, upset many vested interests and invited the wrath of the capital's only newspaper, the appalling Evening Standard. Many would say "it was the Standard wot won it" thanks to the paper's relentless and uncritical campaign for Boris Johnson.

As a London representative resident in the capital's centre, I was very aware of the real improvements made by Ken. Since there are many more buses I now use them in a way I did not eight years ago, and I have found my Oyster card immensely helpful. Ken is a true Londoner and worked tirelessly on behalf of the people of London.

My congratulations to the Labour members of the Greater London Assembly who were returned: Nicky Gavron, Murad Qureshi, Val Shawcross, John Biggs, Jennette Arnold, Joanne McCartney, Len Duvall and Navin Shah. I know they will keep up Labour's good work.

THE THREAT FROM THE BNP

Make no mistake, the fascist BNP are out to fight. As we know they will fight dirty, stirring up racism and hatred. We must all fight the BNP at every opportunity. They must not be allowed to gain seats on any elected body. Winning elections will, of course, give the BNP credibility and legitimacy, which would be disastrous for the country.

The first real test are the GLA and Mayoral elections in May. There is talk that the BNP may gain a seat. It is absolutely crucial that we in the Labour Party work in every way we can to stop this happening. The same goes for the European elections next year.

There is a view that UKIP voters may swing to the BNP. I can believe this could well be the case. We therefore also have a duty to warn people about UKIP.