The City of London - Sponsored By Porsche

Once again, we see how easily the Tories defer to the interests of big business, even in the face of their new found passion for the environment. Eager not to upset the bigwigs at Porsche, Boris Johnson has proven that he has no bollocks whatsoever and caved in to the pressure exerted by the gas guzzling manufacturer. As always with the Tories, big business comes first, the environment a very distant last. Whilst the taxpayer is forced to pay compensation to the manufacturing giant, Boris Johnson and his capitalist chums are laughing all the way to the bank. Any chance a sweetener might have been involved? From The Guardian:

London mayor Boris Johnson is to pay about £400,000 to Porsche after agreeing to scrap a plan to levy a £25 charge on the most polluting vehicles in the capital, it emerged last night.

The luxury sports car specialist had begun a legal challenge to the proposal, put forward by the former mayor, Ken Livingstone, earlier this year.

Yesterday Johnson withdrew the proposal, and a court ruled that the Greater London Authority should pay Porsche's legal costs. The company says that it will give the money to Skidz - a charity which offers youngsters training in mechanical skills and maintenance.

Last night Jenny Jones, Green party assembly member, said she was appalled by the decision. "This is a mayor who is telling us he wants to see value for money, and to account for every penny, and here he is paying one of the richest car companies in the world hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money."

And how many green initiatives will be cut by the Tories when they come to power? Leaders of big business must be dropping to their knees and praying to the Almighty for a Tory victory. For the rest of us, Johnson's regime in London has shown has just how far they are prepared to go to protect the giants of capitalism. And you thought Labour were a bunch of right-wing economic extremists, Cameron's mob just might have the edge on them and that's no mean feat.