Last night the Evening Standard was nicely angry about Ken Livingstone’s plans to raise the congestion charge. The Standard has been firmly against the charge ever since it was introduced. but as far as I can see the Standard is massively out of step with the majority of Londoners who seem pretty much in favour of the charge.
Of course this isn’t really surprising. The Standard isn’t really read by people who actually live in London. It’s largely read by people commuting out of London, back to their dormitory town in Kent or Berkshire. But I don’t know why the Standard thinks these people are concerned about the congestion charge. They rarely, if ever, drive in London.
What’s odd is that another nasty right-wing rag – albeit a better-written one – The Economist, is rather keen on the congestion charge. It is apparently an “admirably market-based” approach to traffic management.