Johnson's pledge 'to help poor'

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Tory mayoral hopeful Boris Johnson says he wants those who earn "stonking quantities of dosh" in London to give more to poorer communities around them.

He would set up a "mayor's fund" to help people who "do so well out of London" give young people hope, discipline and inspiration, he said.

London Mayor Ken Livingston says people on income support will be required to pay only half the fare on buses.

Lib Dem rival Brian Paddick says he wants to see more affordable housing.

Mr Johnson spoke out about his plans to help the disadvantaged as he answered questions from viewers of the BBC News Channel.

In Canary Wharf you've got these great glittering temples of Mammon, surrounded by some of the poorest and most disadvantaged areas in Europe Boris Johnson

Mr Paddick did the same on Monday and Mr Livingstone is set for the hot seat on Wednesday, ahead of Thursday's London mayoral and local elections.

In his interview, Mr Johnson told how he would enable the rich to help the poor in the capital, which has four of the eight poorest boroughs in the whole of the UK.

"In London there are loads of people who are making stonking quantities of dosh and they are I think well able to make a much more generous contribution to the wider community," he said.

"In Canary Wharf you've got these great glittering temples of Mammon, surrounded by some of the poorest and most disadvantaged areas in Europe.

"I want to set up a 'mayor's fund' for London which will be a streamlined vehicle by which people who do so well out of London can contribute to the voluntary groups."

Giuliani crime-busting?

These would include ballet schools, boxing clubs and reading groups "who are changing the lives of kids, giving them hope, giving them discipline and actually giving them the inspiration to improve themselves".

Mr Johnson said he also planned to clean up crime in London in the same way ex-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani had in that city.

"The way to do it is to make sure we chair the Metropolitan Police Authority and we start to work to lift this huge burden of bureaucracy off the police," he said.

Of the 800 officers who work in Camden, "only 80 are out on the street at any one time", he said.

A person was twice as likely to be mugged in London than they were in New York, he said, adding: "That's a disgrace."