This isn’t ‘coping well’ Boris

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

London Mayor Boris Johnson has already caught the eye this year for his promise to fight “Kosovo style social cleansing” and disappearing while huge train fare hikes were announced – but over the weekend he decided to stick his head above the parapet (on Twitter) to announce:

“Vast amount of snow but tube and buses coping well. London open for Christmas shopping.”

On Saturday (when Johnson said that the tube was “coping well”), of the 13 lines under TFL control, only 4 were running normally. There were severe delays on Circle, Hammersmith and City, Jubilee, Piccadilly, Metropolitan and Bakerloo lines, in addition to closures on the Waterloo, DLR and Overground.

That’s an interesting definition of coping well.

Labour’s deputy mayoral candidate Val Shawcross called for Johnson to “get a grip” on the tube, and suggested that he was “delusional”:

“After another weekend of delays and chaos on the tube Londoners are asking; when will the Mayor get a grip on the tube?”

“With less than a third of the network running normally on Saturday, millions of shoppers, tourists and businesses were affected on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.”

“Boris Johnson really doesn’t seem to get it. While millions shivered at bus stops and tube stations across the capital on Saturday the Mayor claimed, ‘Vast amount of snow but tube and buses coping well.”

“We need action to keep London moving, not delusional pronouncements from the Mayor. Boris, it’s time to get a grip.”