They have been political enemies for years and both have served as Mayor of London. However, it’s clear that there’s no love lost between Red Kenneth and our Bozza.

This week saw the rivalry between the men boil over after the two went head to head on a London radio station. The row began during hustings on the radio station LBC when Ken accused the Mayor of using the same tax arrangements as him so he could avoid paying income tax on his media earnings.

According to the Daily Mail, Boris was left ‘red-faced’ and ‘utterly furious’ by the allegations, which he called ‘bare-faced lies’. On the radio show, Boris said: “I have never used a company to minimise my tax” and, later in the day, took the unprecedented step of releasing a statement and a letter from his accountants rubbishing Ken’s claims.

The statement read: “The real point is not about my tax arrangements. It is about the hypocrisy of a man who for years has railed against those who use special arrangements to reduce their tax and who has then been caught – bang to rights – doing the very same thing himself.”

The letter from his accountant Robert Maples, clearly stated: ‘My firm has acted as Boris’s accountants since the 1990s. All of his freelance earnings have been included in his tax returns and subjected to income tax at the appropriate rates.’

Bozza was apparently so incensed by Ken’s claims on the LBC show that he confronted his rival in a lift and repeatedly called him a ‘f*@%ing liar’. Sources reported in the Mail state that ‘Mr Johnson was ‘visibly shaking with anger’ and was ‘right up in Mr Livingstone’s face’ when he began swearing.’

The whole thing could, of course, prove to be a huge own goal for the Labour candidate. With Bozza now proving that he pays all the tax he owes he’s clearly won this particular debate. Indeed Ken has previously called tax avoiders ‘rich b******s’ which rather suggests his election policy is based on the old motto ‘do what I say, not what I do…’

If you’re a Granny who delivers pasties by mail, this week has not been the best for you.  VAT on a Steak Bake, the intended removal of age related Personal Allowances and a massive hike in the price of a stamp have meant it’s been another PR nightmare for the government.

However, in a week where the cost of all life’s essentials rose, the British public didn’t panic buy books of first class or sausage rolls.  No: we bought petrol.

According to City AM, we now have an ‘escalating fuel crisis’.  This is despite no strikes being announced, no shortages of petrol and deliveries continuing as normal.  Lord only knows what the situation would be if the tanker drivers did walk out.  “FUEL APOCALYPSE!”, presumably.

Still, the Mayor doesn’t think that the Government are taking the situation seriously enough.  In a letter to Eric Pickles [Really? Pickles is in charge of the fuel? Lord help us - Boriswatch Community Ed] Bozza said: “It is clear that the circumstances of Level 2 (Potential Fuel Emergency) have been reached and yet we are still at Level One (Situation Normal),” referring to the National Emergency Plan for Fuel.

Treating a LEVEL 2 PETROL SITUATION as a Level 1.  Tsk.

According to City AM, ‘The Mayor, who sent a copy of the letter to home secretary Theresa May as well as other senior cabinet ministers, warned there would need to be appropriate policing of picket lines to keep fuel depots open and said the Met was prepared to help other forces so that “supply can be maintained”.’

Apparently, City Hall have enough jerrycans in the basement to keep essential services such as police and the ambulance service running for up to two weeks in the event of a FUEL MELTDOWN although, apparently, Dial-a-Ride buses may be at risk.  BUS CANCELLATION DISASTER.  DIESEL ARMAGEDDON. BLACK CAB CATASTROPHE. [Have a  lie down - Boriswatch Ed]

A third runway at Heathrow Airport ‘will not be built’ whilst Boris Johnson is Mayor.  The Tory Mayor of London has made his position very clear this week after speculation that his party were set to do a U-turn.

[Incidentally, this could mean that work on a third runway is only postponed for 6 weeks or so as Boris could cease to become Mayor in early May - Boriswatch Ed]

Here’s a question for you.  If I asked you to name a price for removing the insides of a telephone box, tidying it up, giving it a new lick of paint and filling it with pretty flowers, what would you say?  £500?  £1,000?  £2,000?

Last time we got a painter into Boriswatch Towers to repaint our meeting room and to leave a nice bunch of lilies on the table (we had an important meeting that day) it cost us £450 + VAT.  I reckon it should cost no more than that for a quick phone box job.

The reason I ask is that a green project that saw two old telephone  being transformed into flower displays thanks to Government money has been welcomed by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson.  At a total cost of £92,500.  £92,500!

24dash.com reports that ‘Miniature ivy, pansies, narcissus and polyanthus are among the blooms now growing in the two traditional red phone kiosks, which were stripped down and repainted by Islington Council staff thanks to Government cash.’

By my reckoning, even taking into account the hanging baskets and barrier baskets that have been installed as part of the project, each phone box cost tens of thousands of pounds.  You could have bought a garden at the Chelsea Flower Show for that!  Cllr Catherine West, leader of Islington Council, said: “These telephone kiosks bring a bit of extra colour and sparkle to the streets and have helped give the area a lift.”

A lift? For £92,500 they’d better cut crime by the equivalent of four policeman or give people enough of a lift that the council can sack five nurses.  Dear oh dear.

Boris said: “London’s local town centres and high streets have a hugely important part to play in the capital’s economy so it’s vital we pull out all the stops to make them attractive places to visit, work and do business.

“It’s great to see how my Outer London Fund is helping to deliver such great results in Archway.”

Sheesh. We’re in the wrong job.  We should be painting phone boxes and growing ivy for a living…

The Mayoral election campaign hasn’t been going long but already the fight seems to have got dirty.  Ed Miliband has been forced to come out in defence of Red Kenneth after accusations that the former Labour Mayor operates all sorts of unethical and sly tax-dodging arrangements.

According to the Guardian, Livingstone ‘paid money he received from various media engagements directly into a limited company owned by himself and his wife, Emma Beal, allowed him to avoid paying the full rate of income tax on his earnings.

‘By directing earnings into the company, Silveta Limited, Livingstone is liable for corporation tax of 20% rather than income tax of up to 50%.’

At the same time, Bozza’s office was forced to confirm that the current Mayor doesn’t operate any similar arrangements.  A spokesperson said: “The mayor pays tax on all earnings and declares his outside interests. The mayor does not use private companies to process payments.”

Of course, Livingstone and Miliband have shrieked loudly that the whole thing is a dirty tricks campaign dreamed up by Bozza’s advisor, but the Labour candidate was forced to defend his actions on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show last weekend.

Particularly telling is Miliband’s claim that ‘Ken Livingstone has paid every pound of tax he is required to by law.’  If that’s not an admission that the former Mayor uses lots of legal loopholes and schemes to dodge tax, I’m not sure what is…

(Picture: PA)

With less than two months to go until the Mayoral election, campaigning has begun in earnest.

This weekend, Bozza has launched his ‘nine point plan’ for London whilst promoting himself on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show. The Mayor’s commitments include cutting waste, reducing Council Tax bills, getting a better deal for Londonders nationally and extending the popular ‘Boris Bike’ scheme.

The Metro reports that Boris has given voters a stark choice. “Londoners were faced with a clear choice ‘to go forward with a programme of investment and modernisation or go back to the irresponsible and unaffordable approach of 1970s Labour”, the Mayor said.

Boris told Old Jug Ears Andrew Marr that “I intend to do my best to retain the reins of power.”

Boris’ nemesis and Labour rival, Red Kenneth, said that his Conservative opponent was ‘stuck fighting the stale arguments of the last election’. A spokeswoman added: “There is a clear choice on offer – between Boris Johnson’s high fares policy and Ken’s fares cut.”

If the current Mayor ends up with a legacy, it will be that various forms of transport will be named after him long after he’s finished at City Hall.  We already have Boris Bikes, we now have the Boris Bus and, no doubt, if he’s re-elected there will be a Boris tube line before 2016.

This week has seen the launch of the Boris Bus: the new Routemaster to replace the old bendy buses.  However, the first journey of the sleek new double decker didn’t go exactly as planned…

Boris boasted that the new bus “represents the very best in British design, engineering and manufacture and is a demonstration of what can be done given imagination and determination.”

Not entirely the case, though, with the Metro reporting that ‘the inaugural journey of the ‘Boris bus’, named after mayor of London Boris Johnson, saw it stall in Islington, north London, and experience a door that would not close – despite the driver turning it off and on again.

‘ITV London Tonight correspondent Simon Harris – who was on the first bus journey – tweeted that a sticking rear brake was behind some of the bus’ problems, possibly caused by overcrowding.’

Whilst many people have been critical of this ‘vanity project’, Boris championed the new vehicle which began service on route 28 between Hackney and Victoria Station this week.  The Mayor said: “From today Londoners will have the chance to jump aboard this stunning piece of automotive architecture on which every feature is tailored to the London passenger.”  In the sense that it breaks down, is overcrowded and takes you longer than you expected, presumably?

Picture from the Surrey Comet

Interesting photo opportunities are always popular with politicians. Snaps of them kissing babies and standing alongside major celebrities are always a major vote winner. So, it’s no surprise that in a Mayoral election year, Boris agreed to this latest photo opportunity alongside the World’s Biggest Spade.

Bozza and chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee Seb Coe visited Sutton Community Farm this week to launch the Big Dig volunteer gardening weekend. It seems that the plan is for the Olympic to leave a lasting legacy to Londoners who want to grow their own courgettes [Are you sure about this? - Boriswatch Ed]

Boris and Lord Coe took a tour of the farm in Wallington which is London’s only community farm. They demonstrated the benefits of urban food growing, packed vegetable boxes [Not a euphemism - Boriswatch Ed] and had pictures with the record breaking 3.6m high spade.

Bozza said: “It’s excellent, who’d have thought we were here in London – it is testimony to what Sutton does.

“In this historic Olympic year, we are challenging Londoners to create a fantastic crop of new food growing gardens at the heart of their communities.

“Tens of thousands of people have helped us brighten up London in this way, cultivating carrots in Croydon, beetroot in Barnet and lettuce in Lewisham.

“We now want to inspire even more green fingered folk to grab their wellies and have a go.

“The Big Dig is all about making it easy to find out more.”

The Big Dig weekend will be held on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 March and will involve community food gardens opening their doors to those who want to get involved. The campaign supports Capital Growth, a scheme to create 2,012 community food growing spaces by the end of the Olympic year.

Forget the legacy of winning lots of gold medals and kids taking up sport in the capital, eh? As long as we have a good spinach crop in 2013, the Olympics will have been worthwhile.

Let’s face it: Boris has upset a few people in his time.  Never one to mince his words, he’s landed himself in hot water on more than one occasion – not least, famously, with the people of Liverpool.

Now, it’s the Irish that he seems to have insulted. During a recent interview with the New Statesman magazine, Bozza linked the annual St. Patrick’s Day gala dinner to Sinn Fein and called the celebrations “leftie crap.”

The interview included the comment: “I’ll tell you what makes me angry… spending £20,000 on a dinner at the Dorchester (hotel) for Sinn Féin” and his remarks have caused offence to some Irish voters.

Christine Quigley, Irish Secretary for the Labour Party, said: “Boris should get his facts straight. The annual St Patrick’s Day event he refers to was a self-financing community event attended by a wide range of Irish actors, politicians from every party, community figures and celebrities. It did not cost the taxpayer £20,000 and it was not a Sinn Féin event.”

The event was cancelled in 2009 as part of a cost-cutting exercise.

With an estimated 200,000 Irish voters in London, the remarks could be enough to swing the result of the election away from the incumbent Mayor. Is he worried though? Apparently not.

The Mayor’s office has stated that “they have nothing further to add” and stressed the comments were “about the use of public resources.” A further statement stated that Boris “does support London’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations…”

With just a few months left to go to the Olympics, it’s crunch time for participants.  Strict training regimes, diets and fitness programmes are the order of the day as thousands of toned athletes get ready for their shot at a Gold medal.

In North London, one man is also on a mission to get himself in perfect shape for the Games.  A rotund fellow has reportedly been seen running 10 kilometres three mornings a week, doing 100 pushups and riding his famous cycle across the capital.  According to this figure’s personal trainer, he has ‘been urging people to get into sport so I think he’s been keen to be seen to be leading from the front in an Olympic year.’

Yes, Boris is on a fitness drive.  The Mayor hires personal trainer to the stars Jon Denori back in October in an attempt to get slim in time for the Games.  And, it appears to be working.  The Evening Standard reports that ‘the Mayor, who City Hall observers say has “looked much more sprightly in recent weeks”, has now lost more than a stone as well as three inches off his waist-line.’

Perhaps it’s not too late for Boris to make Team GB after all….