"Larry Lard" wrote in message
oups.com...

Rich Mallard wrote:
"Dave Arquati" wrote in message
...
Front cover of the Standard family today. Bob Kiley spoke to The
Times
about his desire to introduce tag-based road user charging across
the
whole of London within 4-7 years, way before any nationwide system
comes
to fruition.

...

That would surely lead to a revolt in the outer suburbs, particularly
from
local businesses and the councils. And how would it work for people
outside
Greater London driving inside the area? Take Bexley and its retail
centre
in Bexleyheath - it would take a massive commercial hit if all the
retail
spend from Sevenoaks/Dartford/Gravesend were deterred by road
charging to
reach it. If I remember rightly, about 20% of retail spend in
Bexleyheath
is generated by visitors from the Kent County Council area. The
situation
in Bromley must be similar.

Kiley said "London", so Bromley (which is in Kent - right?) wouldn't be
included.

*ducks and runs*

Well yes, I wouldn't describe myself as living "in London" if someone asked
where Bexley is, as you can gather from the other threads around here ;-) I
suppose if I was talking to someone who was a local government/politics
freak, then I might say "in Greater London".

But, in terms of people like Kiley, Ken Livingstone and others, they appear
to be extraordinarily reluctant to use the term "Greater London", instead
just referring to everything under their control as London (and perhaps they
have an even bigger definition of London than even the GL area). Hence my
comments.