Our panel meets Lib-Dem candidate Brian Paddick

 
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16 April 2012

The Evening Standard panel, from all walks of life, pose their most pressing questions to former Scotland Yard deputy assistant commissioner Brian Paddick.

Tim Alford, 30, e-commerce merchandiser, Islington

Question: What do you think are the most important areas of crime that affect people at the moment and where would you apportion the budget?

Brian Paddick: A poll recently showed 25 per cent of Londoners don’t believe police are on their side. I want Safer Neighbourhood Teams to knock on every door in their area to find out what people’s priorities are for policing, and then publish how much time police spend on those.

Verdict: Although crime should have been his strong point, a lot of it felt very lacking in detail. I didn’t feel there was enough substance behind it.

Yvonne Brown, 50, solicitor, Barnet

Question: I know Ken Livingstone says he will re-introduce the Educational Maintenance Allowance in London, what is your view on that?”

Brian Paddick: There is still EMA in another form, more focused on the poorest. Ken Livingstone is going to ask local authorities to pay EMA, but he has no control over them and unless they sign up to it he can’t do it. We want to give as much support as we can to young people in education.

Verdict: Mr Paddick’s strongest issue is policing but I need to know how he is going to restore confidence. He understands the police service and knows how it is delivered.

Spyro Van Leemnen, 28, communications professional and Occupy protester, Hackney

Question: As Mayor would you be willing to boycott casino banks that don’t pay taxes and continue to take risks with people’s wages?

Brian Paddick: We should only do business with banks that support small and medium-sized businesses to create jobs. It is within the power of Mayor to say I am going to put City Hall money with institutions that really support those enterprises.

Verdict: My impression was that whatever we were asking he would say ‘I will do it’, so it was not very convincing.

Lucy Brisbane, 19, student, Blackheath

Question: Transport costs are a massive issue for me, half my spending goes on it. Other than the one-hour bus plans what are you going to do to make it easier for students and people on benefits to have cheaper transport?

Brian Paddick: We are looking at bringing in a part-time workers’ ticket. If you complete your journey before 7.30am you will get a discount on the Tube. We won’t increase fares by more than the rate of inflation.

Verdict: It seems he has very good intentions but I don’t know if he has the ability to do anything about the issues and get anywhere near Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson.

Darryl Cox, 60, cabbie, Brent

Question: What are your views on rickshaws?

Brian Paddick: They are a very important means of transport and should be encouraged — in south-east Asia! They are not tested to make sure they are safe and London roads are far too narrow. We need to explore how we can ban rickshaws from the streets as they are potentially dangerous. I would go to the Government over that.

Verdict: His lack of grasp of detail was quite apparent. He had a lot of quite woolly ideas but nothing to back them up with. On the idea of police knocking on every door in London, he should know what inspires confidence and what doesn’t.

Charlotte Black, 51, corporate affairs director, 51, Lambeth

Question: You have proposed ‘Paddick Patrols’ which clearly is a good thing with the community looking after their own safety. With what we have seen in America recently, have you thought about how you would safeguard against vigilantism?

Brian Paddick: It has to be existing community groups, authorised by police. We are not going to give them weapons. We will give them fluorescent jackets, a torch and a direct line to the police.

Verdict: He was personable enough but I didn’t feel he was going to address any of the issues that I thought were important.

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