CONSERVATIVE mayoral candidate Steven Norris set out his vision for the capital when he visited Redbridge to address local activists.

Arriving by car 45 minutes late the former transport minister was keen not to let Mayor Livingstone take the rap, blaming a busy day at work rather than traffic hold-ups for the delay.

More than 100 party members at Carlton House in Ilford High Road heard Mr Norris single out crime as his biggest concern.

He said: "If you ask people what the most important issue affecting their quality of life is, it's not living a lot longer or being a lot richer, it's whether they feel safe, and people in London don't feel safe enough.

"Car crime is going down and mobile phone crime is going down but there are too many crimes involving violence.

"A young man was murdered near me about a year ago and what appalled me was that there were no policemen patrolling in that part of town that night. None.

"The police said it was because they believed in 'rapid reaction' but the trouble is that that is a reaction to a crime that has already been committed."

Citing the record of former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Mr Norris called for a policy of zero tolerance for crime in London, claiming that minor crimes often caused as much misery as more serious ones.

He said: "I spoke to people in Barkingside at the time of the council by-election and what they were concerned about was a patch of ground with discarded needles or an old lady whose fence keeps getting ripped down by vandals.

"People say these things don't matter but those vandals will probably end up killing her.

"The Mayor doesn't have any more important job to do than make people feel safe. I want to be able to say that I left the city a safer place for everyone to live in."

Despite polls suggesting that most Londoners support Ken Livingstone's congestion charge scheme, Mr Norris remains committed to abolishing it if he is elected as London Mayor next May.

He said: "I doubt if there are a dozen people in this room who care about the congestion charge, but it has cost a quarter of a billion pounds to make an oasis in the centre of the city for some of the most privileged people who already live there.

"For 30 out of the 33 boroughs it has brought nothing."

Praising the Mayor for attempting to tackle the issue, he said: "It was quite brave of Ken and I was always perfectly aware that it was going to work but it's a scheme that says 'poorer motorists stay out of London.'

"A few of my richer friends have said it's great, but the only people who don't drive in the zone now are those who could only just afford to drive there in the first place."

Mr Norris, who defeated Havering and Redbridge London Assembly Member Roger Evans in the run-off for the Conservative mayoral nomination, said: "The congestion charge has no effect in Ilford town centre.

"What you need are changes to traffic light phasing, a road works strategy, a utilities strategy, a workplace parking tax, and a freight strategy that keeps freight traffic out of the city between 7am and 10am.

"Bus lanes should be enforced and you should give every parent the opportunity to have a safe route to school for their children."

Slamming Livingstone for blaming congestion on parents, Mr Norris said: "I don't know a single parent who takes their child to school because they want to. They do it because it's the only responsible thing they can do."

Disruption on the Central Line was condemned by Mr Norris who served in the Department of Transport in John Major's Government. He said that the Mayor had wasted time and money in fighting the Government's plans when the service was collapsing around him.

He also condemned the workplace culture of the service, saying: "When I was transport minister I asked why all the trains went to Hainault when all the people lived in Epping. They said 'that's easy, minister, all the drivers live in Hainault'.

"It's a service that is being run too much for the benefit of its employees and not enough for the benefit of the people who use it."

Having lost to Ken Livingstone in 2000, Mr Norris is touring the capital to drum up support for his next campaign.

With his defeated rival for the Conservative candidacy looking on Mr Norris said: "The next election is more than a year away but as soon as the candidates are chosen the race starts.

"We are fighting for the right to decide who's going to lead London and where they are going to take it."

May 1, 2003 10:00