Labour's London Assembly Member for Ealing and Hillingdon has said Boris Johnson has an "empty" budget which "lacks ambition".
In the final vote on the London Mayor's 2015/16 budget this week, Dr Onkar Sahota joined support for alternative proposals to fund 874 more police officers for London, the equivalent of 28 for each borough.
However, the proposals were rejected despite being backed by more than half the Assembly Members at Monday’s (February 23) budget meeting at City Hall, and did not reach the two thirds support needed for the Mayor to accept the changes.
Mr Sahota said: “Had he listened to our proposals, the Mayor could have committed to putting hundreds more police officers back on our streets, hugely benefiting areas like Ealing and Hillingdon. Instead he has felt it necessary to push on with his empty budget, which is largely lacking in ambition.
“I do not support Boris Johnson’s empty plan for our capital, nor do the majority of London Assembly Members and we made that crystal clear at Monday’s meeting."
If accepted by the Mayor, the proposals - backed by Labour, Green and Liberal Democrat Assembly Members - would have also earmarked £308m to build new housing for London’s emergency services staff and key workers, fully reversed Boris Johnson’s decision to scrap the zones 4-6 PAYG cap which has seen increases as high as 38% in fares for commuters in Ealing and Hillingdon, and frozen the Greater London Authority's portion of council tax.
