Hughes under fire over Potters Bar leaflet

Simon Hughes has come under fire for a campaign leaflet linking the Potters Bar rail crash to his Conservative rival in the London mayoral elections.

The Tory candidate Steve Norris is chairman of Jarvis, the rail firm that announced it would pay £3 million towards "legally justified" compensation claims from relatives after a report from the Health and Safety Executive concluded that poor maintenance led to a points failure, causing the accident.

While Labour has refused to link Norris to the statement, the Liberal Democrat candidate has published material featuring his photo below that of a body being taken from the crash site.

Speaking on Tuesday, Norris reacted angrily to the leaflet.

"For the Liberal Democrats to resort to such dishonest, cynical tactics shows how desperate they are," he told the Evening Standard newspaper.

"I intend to run a positive campaign on the issues that matter to Londoners, not smears."

But Liberal Democrats denied any wrongdoing.

"Mr Norris has accused the Liberal Democrats of 'dishonest tactics'. It is surprising for him to be making such comments when the newspaper simply points out that Mr Norris is the interim chairman of the company that has accepted joint liability for the Potters Bar rail crash," a spokesman told ePolitix.com.

 

"The election has to be fought on the political records of the candidates and the Jarvis connection is part of this record. Mr Norris has a direct conflict of interest between running for Mayor of London and the head of Jarvis as it is part owner of Tubelines that maintains some of the Underground." 

Police Numbers

Instead, Norris continued his campaign theme of law and order, pledging to increase the numbers of transport police for suburban trains by 500.

"Ken Livingstone may be prepared to accept the relentless rise in violent and sexual crime in London's suburbs as inevitable, but I intend to take action," he said.

"Too many suburban high streets are beginning to resemble run-down parts of the inner city, with gangs of youths hanging around."