Mayor's foreign trip was 'modest'

Mayor's foreign trip was 'modest'
The trip by London Mayor Ken Livingstone and officials to Cuba and
Venezuela cost tax payers nearly £36,000, a breakdown of costs reveals.

The mayor's personal visit to Venezuela to sign an oil deal was
cancelled, and he returned from Cuba leaving his officials to go on to
Venezuela.

A preliminary estimate of the total costs was made public after calls by
members of the London Assembly.

Mr Livingstone said the cost of the trip was "modest".

The mayor and four officials stopped in Cuba, at a cost of about
£20,000, including £16,991 in flight tickets.

When Mr Livingstone's plans to go to Venezuela fell through, four other
officials who had travelled from London to Venezuela at a cost of nearly
£16,000, including £12,948 on flights, returned home.

'Modest' expenses

The mayor's office said it had yet to calculate the costs of unused
tickets and other facilities used by the entourage.

Mr Livingstone's political opponents have told BBC London political
editor Tim Donovan the tour raised questions about judgement and was
"humiliating and embarrassing".

They are also asking how Londoners are going to benefit from the visit.

The mayor's office said Mr Livingstone was invited by Lord Moynihan -
chair of the British Olympic Association - to attend a sports congress
in Cuba.

After Cuba, the mayor was scheduled to fly to Venezuela to sign an oil
deal with President Hugo Chavez, which will ensure subsidised Venezuelan
oil for London.

The mayor said: "Since I was first elected in 2000, I have spent an
average of just ten days a year - less than 3% of the time - on mayoral
trips abroad.

"Given that Cuba plays a central role in the international Olympic and
sporting movement, particularly in fields like boxing, the costs of my
visit to Cuba are modest and in line with the costs incurred on other
mayoral trips.

"Similarly, the costs of the advance trip by key staff to Venezuela to
prepare for the visit were also modest."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/6145382.stm

Published: 2006/11/14 08:13:23 GMT

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