I warn you not to be young

Tom Copley’s London Eye

When I was growing up I always dreamed of moving to London.  Everything about it fascinated me – the vibrancy, diversity and sheer size of the metropolis.  From a very young age I knew that London was where I wanted to live.

For millions of other young people the dream was and is the same.  Yet sadly for many it is becoming more and more difficult to realise.  Whether you’re born in London or whether you want to move here the combination of a lack of jobs, frozen wages, rising prices and in particular rising rents is making life in London increasingly unaffordable.

Unemployment is high across all age groups, but for 16-24 year olds it stands at double the average.  In the last year the number of 16-24 year olds in London claiming Jobseekers Allowance for more than six months increased by 114% to more than 20,000.  We are in danger of seeing a “lost generation” of young people who have given up hope of being able to get a job.

Even for those who can find a job, the cost of living here can be prohibitive.  Last year rents in London, already double the national average, rose by 9.3% at the same time as wages fell in real terms.  Across the country the number of people aged 20-34 living at home has increased by 20% since 1997 to more than 3 million.  A large proportion of those young people will be Londoners.

Sky high rents in many areas of the capital are forcing more and more people to find cheaper places to live further away from their place of work, yet these people are being hit by year on year fare rises.  Fares have risen well above inflation under Boris Johnson, with the cost of a single Oyster bus fare rising from 90p in 2008 to £1.35 in 2012.

At times like this we need a mayor who’ll take action to mitigate against rising prices, frozen or falling wages and a lack of jobs.  But all we’ve seen from Boris Johnson is dangerous complacency.  During the election campaign, Johnson opposed Labour’s pledge to help Londoners by cutting fares, saying that the money to do it wasn’t there.  Yet Transport for London has just recorded another massive surplus in revenue.  Despite signing up with great fanfare to Shelter’s Homes for London pledge, which specifically included a commitment to set up a London-wide lettings agency to deal with rip-off agents’ fees, he now refuses to do so and denies ever making such a pledge.  He has also consistently opposed any measure to get to grips with soaring rents in the private rented sector, saying the mayor has no powers to do so.

Yet a lack of power over aviation policy hasn’t stopped Johnson from lobbying hard for and spending taxpayers’ money on his ludicrous proposal for a Thames Estuary Airport.  Nor has the fact he lacks power over taxation stopped him from lobbying successfully for a cut in taxes for him and his rich mates.  When he really wants something he doesn’t let the restricted powers of his office stand in his way.  But he has steadfastly refused to lobby for policies that would help ordinary people, and particularly young Londoners.

Tom Copley is a member of the London Assembly