Johnson pledges to 'get London moving'

Boris Johnson has officially launched his campaign for the London mayoralty, presenting himself as a candidate for the whole of the capital.

The Conservative MP has stepped down from the frontbench in parliament in order to fight for the Tory nomination to take on Ken Livingstone in next year's poll.

Pitching himself against an often divisive incumbent, Johnson said he wanted to represent all Londoners, appealing to voters of all parties and none.

"As mayor I will work as hard for zone six as I do for zone one," he said. "We forget how vast this city is. We forget that there are 32 boroughs ... and every borough deserves respect."

Policies

Outlining for the first time his policy priorities for the diverse city he "loves", Johnson said he would encourage all Londoners to learn English.

"I believe passionately there is no better way to allow everyone to participate as an equal than make sure that everyone who lives in this city has the chance to speak English," he said.

"I will use the mayor's new powers over adult education to promote the unifying role of our common language, especially among the poorest and neediest in London."

On housing he promised to "work with the boroughs and with locally elected politicians" to "build houses that will still be sought after in a century's time for the quality of design and their architecture" and introduce "more imaginative shared ownership schemes".

Having already attacked the mayor's 'bendy buses', he pledged a "21st century version" of the Routemaster bus which was decommissioned under Livingstone.

The keen cyclist also attacked the effectiveness of the congestion charge but said he would not scrap it unless a "fairer and more flexible" alternative was available.

However he claimed: "It is time we got this city moving and it is time we Londoners got the transport system we deserve."

And he called for a change in "the culture of casual theft and incivility on our streets," which he said encouraged an escalation of more serious offences.

'Take a risk'

He also stood his plea for the public "take a risk" and challenge crimes directly on the streets.

At the weekend he sparked controversy with a call for Londoners to personally tackle thugs.

Amid rising concerns over violent crimes, the Metropolitan Police advise the public to call them if they see criminal or anti-social behaviour, rather than risk "escalating" the situation.

However Johnson said the chances of getting stabbed while challenging troublemakers were "microscopic".

"What drives me mad is when you see some kids behaving badly at the top of a double-decker bus, but no one has the guts to intervene because they're scared," he said in an interview for the News of the World.

"If one person speaks up, they are seen as brave - but everyone else keeps quiet. What if everyone together on that bus were to intervene? We need a bit more willingness."

He added that it drove him "wild" that individuals who did step in often got into trouble with the law themselves.

"You have to stamp out this kind of political correctness, and tilt the balance back in favour of the active citizen taking a risk, not just on their own behalf, but for their whole community," he argued.

A former journalist, Johnson still faces competition for the nomination from three Conservative activists from the capital: Andrew Boff, Victoria Borwick and Warwick Lightfoot.

However the Henley MP is widely expected to win the London-wide primary ballot, in which all registered voters are entitled to take part.

Paddick

The Tories approached a number of high profile and often non-party figures about the candidacy before turning to Johnson, including an attempt to recruit former BBC director general Greg Dyke alongside the Liberal Democrats.

That bid was rebuffed by both Dyke and the Lib Dems. However on Sunday, former police commander Brian Paddick announced his intention to seek the third party's nomination.

He will stand in their internal ballot on a pledge to put more police officers on the streets instead of the more limited community support officers.

"Londoners are frustrated because they [Police Community Support Officers] simply don't have the powers," he told BBC London.

"They don't have the training to be able to deal with whatever incident they come across.

"What we need is police officers who can deal with the incident straight away."

The highest ranking openly gay officer in the Metropolitan force, Paddick attracted previous publicity for his call on officers not to spend time cracking down on cannabis in his borough of Lambeth.