Boris for Freedom!

from the Boris Johnson campaign HQ

Dear Paul,

Boris Johnson has today promised, if re-elected, he will extend the Freedom Pass to Londoners aged 60 years or older, reversing the decision taken by Ken Livingstone’s Labour to raise the age at which Londoners are entitled to free travel.

The move rewards those who have worked hard, paid their taxes, done the right thing and were entitled to expect their ticket to free travel on turning sixty.

Boris’s new pledge will mean that any resident of London aged 60 or older will be entitled to free travel on the bus, Tube, DLR and London Overground anywhere, anytime, any place in Greater London.

In 2008, Boris promised Londoners that he would give every 60 year old a 24 hour freedom pass. He delivered on that promise. But he is conscious – and has been increasingly concerned – that his promise of free travel has been eroded by Labour’s decision in 2009 to raise the age where Londoners qualify for free travel.

TfL have already budgeted for this modest cost next year and Boris is confident that his relentless savings drive will deliver the modest sums needed to guarantee it for the duration of the next mayoral term. Unlike Ken Livingstone, Boris only makes promises he can deliver and this promise today means any Londoner over sixty can ride the tube, bus, and overland any time, any place anywhere in greater London as long as he is in City Hall.

In 72 days’ time Londoners decide whether London goes forward under Boris Johnson rather than backwards under Ken