BRITAIN:Boris Johnson yesterday officially launched his campaign to be the Tories' candidate to take on Ken Livingstone in the election for mayor of London, vowing to stand up for the "active citizen and against the thugs".
The Conservative MP for Henley highlighted crime, housing and transport policy as some of the main areas he wished to focus on.
At a colourful launch at County Hall in central London, which was briefly hit by a lack of sound, he told supporters and assembled journalists that he was campaigning for the job because: "I love this city and I want it to be greater still." The Old Etonian reserved the right to "make jokes" during his campaign but added that people should be in no doubt he was "deadly serious".
He called for a change in the culture of "casual theft and incivility on our streets" and said he was examining ways to have more police patrolling 24 hours a day.
He told his audience: "I promise you that, as mayor, I will be wholeheartedly on the side of the active citizen and against the thugs." He wanted to see an improvement in the fight against antisocial behaviour, suggesting that the police could do more to fight crime, hailing policing in New York.
The favourite to become the official Tory candidate stressed that many people often "look studiously away" when faced with aggressive behaviour. He called for Safer Neighbourhood schemes to be firmed up and said people who stand up to criminals should not find themselves in trouble with the police.
Londoners struggling to get on to the housing ladder needed more help and the congestion charge should be "fairer and more flexible".
In a bid to win over "sweltering" commuters, he called for air-conditioning on the London Underground.