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| Ken Livingstone live Q&A from 4pm | Ken Livingstone live Q&A from 4pm |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| 10am: Please keep your questions for Ken Livingstone coming below. | |
| In the meantime this blog will also be following news from the campaign. | |
| In what he partly sees as an answer to seemingly constant disputes with tube unions, Boris Johnson (left) has promised today to introduce "the first driverless trains" on the London Underground within a decade. | |
| Trains already run without drivers on the Docklands Light Railway routes in east and south-east London. | |
| The Conservative mayor also promised to lobby the government to change strike laws to mandate a minimum turnout in strike ballots. | |
| And he said there would be 600 of his new Routemaster buses on the streets by the end of his term. The mayor has been criticised because only eight are so far in service. | |
| Johnson is publishing the transport section of his manifesto today. | |
| Johnson said today: | |
| I want a new mandate from Londoners to automate the tube network - to improve journeys, cut delays, drive down costs and keep fares low. | |
| Over the next four years I will no longer buy a tube train with an old-fashioned driver's cab. By 2014 we will have capacity for automatic trains on 48% of the network - and now is the time to take that programme further. | |
| It is time for London to learn from other metro networks and get the benefits of automatic train control. It is time to move forward with "train captains" - along the lines of the DLR - with all the efficiency benefits at will bring, and absolutely no loss of safety. | |
| With automatic trains, we will be able to expand and improve the service - and that will be good for London Underground employees as well as for passengers. | |
| Under my leadership, TfL will rapidly establish a timetable for introducing the first driverless trains to become operational on the London Underground network within a decade ... | |
| It may be that some hardline union barons will object, as they have traditionally objected to many technological improvements. But I am convinced that most members of London Underground's workforce will see the merit of what we are doing. | |
| We have already begun the process of explaining the plan to staff - and once certain myths are exploded the response is positive. And I am requesting a mandate from Londoners to push again for changes to national strike law, so that industrial action can no longer be triggered by a small minority of union members. | |
| He also warned today that further expansion of Heathrow would be "an environmental disaster " and made clear his ongoing opposition to the idea of a third runway at Heathrow, insisting that "it will not be built as long as I am mayor". Hélène Mulholland has the full story here. | |
| 9.03am: Ken Livingstone will be live online today from 4pm to 5pm to answer your questions. | 9.03am: Ken Livingstone will be live online today from 4pm to 5pm to answer your questions. |
| I put up a blogpost calling for questions for Labour's mayoral candidate on Friday, and they have been flooding in – please keep them coming below. Livingstone will be here for an hour and will answer as many of your questions as he can – those posted underneath that blogpost and this one. | I put up a blogpost calling for questions for Labour's mayoral candidate on Friday, and they have been flooding in – please keep them coming below. Livingstone will be here for an hour and will answer as many of your questions as he can – those posted underneath that blogpost and this one. |
| The questions: click here to see what readers have asked so far | The questions: click here to see what readers have asked so far |
| Livingstone was the first directly-elected mayor of London following the establishment of the post in 2000. He left Labour to run successfully as in independent in 2000 and then rejoined the party to win again in 2004. | Livingstone was the first directly-elected mayor of London following the establishment of the post in 2000. He left Labour to run successfully as in independent in 2000 and then rejoined the party to win again in 2004. |
| It was his second stint at the helm in London. He had been leader of the Greater London council during the 1980s until the position was abolished by his staunch political opponent Margaret Thatcher. | It was his second stint at the helm in London. He had been leader of the Greater London council during the 1980s until the position was abolished by his staunch political opponent Margaret Thatcher. |
| Both in the 1980s and 2000s Livingstone's intense personalisation of the post was a huge electoral asset – Kate Bush even wrote a comic song about him – until a candidate emerged whose personal appeal was evidently greater than his own: Boris Johnson. | Both in the 1980s and 2000s Livingstone's intense personalisation of the post was a huge electoral asset – Kate Bush even wrote a comic song about him – until a candidate emerged whose personal appeal was evidently greater than his own: Boris Johnson. |
| During his eight years in power Livingstone's most high profile and radical policy was introducing a congestion charge for vehicles entering the city centre. (An extension to the original charging zone was abolished by Johnson when he took over after the 2008 election.) Livingstone oversaw a modernisation of the transport system, especially the bus network, and introduced the Oyster pre-pay travelcard. A two-tier payment system evolved, with fares for those using Oyster kept relatively low while cash fares increased hugely, in a move which targeted tourists instead of locals and pushed more people into the arms of the quicker Oyster system. | During his eight years in power Livingstone's most high profile and radical policy was introducing a congestion charge for vehicles entering the city centre. (An extension to the original charging zone was abolished by Johnson when he took over after the 2008 election.) Livingstone oversaw a modernisation of the transport system, especially the bus network, and introduced the Oyster pre-pay travelcard. A two-tier payment system evolved, with fares for those using Oyster kept relatively low while cash fares increased hugely, in a move which targeted tourists instead of locals and pushed more people into the arms of the quicker Oyster system. |
| Livingstone espoused multiculturalism, anti-racism and environmentalism, although he took an untypically moderate attitude towards the City during his two terms as mayor. His reputation for controversy – something he shares with his successor – reached a low point when he criticised a Jewish London Evening Standard reporter for working for a paper whose then-owners supported fascism in the 1930s by comparing him to a "German war criminal". He was given a four-week suspension from office, although this was quashed by the high court. There was more controversy when Livingstone left City Hall and was criticised for having changed the rules so that eight political advisers forced to step down when Johnson took over received an average of £200,000 in severance payments. | Livingstone espoused multiculturalism, anti-racism and environmentalism, although he took an untypically moderate attitude towards the City during his two terms as mayor. His reputation for controversy – something he shares with his successor – reached a low point when he criticised a Jewish London Evening Standard reporter for working for a paper whose then-owners supported fascism in the 1930s by comparing him to a "German war criminal". He was given a four-week suspension from office, although this was quashed by the high court. There was more controversy when Livingstone left City Hall and was criticised for having changed the rules so that eight political advisers forced to step down when Johnson took over received an average of £200,000 in severance payments. |
| This habit of causing controversy has continued into the current campaign. Livingstone was criticised for describing the Tory party as being "riddled" with gay people, although a spokesperson said he didn't mean it it pejoratively. The next day Livingstone said a gay banker would "get his penis cut off in Dubai" and a week later he suggested solving the financial crisis by hanging a banker a week "until the others improve". | This habit of causing controversy has continued into the current campaign. Livingstone was criticised for describing the Tory party as being "riddled" with gay people, although a spokesperson said he didn't mean it it pejoratively. The next day Livingstone said a gay banker would "get his penis cut off in Dubai" and a week later he suggested solving the financial crisis by hanging a banker a week "until the others improve". |
| Last week the Jewish Chronicle published a letter a number of Labour-supporting Jewish Londoners had written to Ed Miliband to share their concerns about Livingstone. In the letter they wrote that at a private meeting Livingstone had said "he did not expect the Jewish community to vote Labour as votes for the left are inversely proportional to wealth levels, and suggested that as the Jewish community is rich, we simply wouldn't vote for him". Asked whether he made the comments, Livingstone replied: "Absolutely not." The Guardian's Jonathan Freedland, who was at the meeting, said that Livingstone did make this point, though he did not use the exact words suggested in the letter. The letter also said Livingstone used the words Zionist, Jewish and Israeli interchangeably "in a pejorative manner". | Last week the Jewish Chronicle published a letter a number of Labour-supporting Jewish Londoners had written to Ed Miliband to share their concerns about Livingstone. In the letter they wrote that at a private meeting Livingstone had said "he did not expect the Jewish community to vote Labour as votes for the left are inversely proportional to wealth levels, and suggested that as the Jewish community is rich, we simply wouldn't vote for him". Asked whether he made the comments, Livingstone replied: "Absolutely not." The Guardian's Jonathan Freedland, who was at the meeting, said that Livingstone did make this point, though he did not use the exact words suggested in the letter. The letter also said Livingstone used the words Zionist, Jewish and Israeli interchangeably "in a pejorative manner". |
| Livingstone has also been criticised for paying money he received from media engagements into a limited company, making him liable for corporation tax of 20% rather than an income tax of up to 50%. Livingstone said the money was used to pay people he employed and he made no financial gain by the arrangement. Although perfectly legal, the move has left him open to accusations of hypocrisy because he has attacked tax avoidance by others. A YouGov poll earlier this week found that Livingstone's ratings for "sticking to what he believed in" and being "in touch with ordinary people's concerns" had both dropped since last month, something the polling organisation ascribed to the controversy surrounding his tax affairs. | Livingstone has also been criticised for paying money he received from media engagements into a limited company, making him liable for corporation tax of 20% rather than an income tax of up to 50%. Livingstone said the money was used to pay people he employed and he made no financial gain by the arrangement. Although perfectly legal, the move has left him open to accusations of hypocrisy because he has attacked tax avoidance by others. A YouGov poll earlier this week found that Livingstone's ratings for "sticking to what he believed in" and being "in touch with ordinary people's concerns" had both dropped since last month, something the polling organisation ascribed to the controversy surrounding his tax affairs. |
| So far Livingstone has made the major theme of his campaign the rising cost of living in the capital. Earlier this month he made six key policy pledges: • To cut transport fares by 7% this year and freeze them throughout 2013. | So far Livingstone has made the major theme of his campaign the rising cost of living in the capital. Earlier this month he made six key policy pledges: • To cut transport fares by 7% this year and freeze them throughout 2013. |
| • To reverse Johnson's police cuts and restore local sergeants. | • To reverse Johnson's police cuts and restore local sergeants. |
| • To help reduce rents and improve homes with an all-London non-profit lettings agency. | • To help reduce rents and improve homes with an all-London non-profit lettings agency. |
| • To tackle heating bills through insulation and an energy co-operative. | • To tackle heating bills through insulation and an energy co-operative. |
| • To introduce a London education maintenance allowance of up to £30 a week. | • To introduce a London education maintenance allowance of up to £30 a week. |
| • And to introduce support for childcare with grants of up to £700 for low-income families and interest-free loans. | • And to introduce support for childcare with grants of up to £700 for low-income families and interest-free loans. |
| That YouGov poll mentioned above seemed to show Johnson pulling ahead. In a two-horse race, respondents backed Boris over Ken by 54% to 46%, an eight-point lead for the Conservative. The equivalent figures for last month were Boris 51%, Ken 49%. | That YouGov poll mentioned above seemed to show Johnson pulling ahead. In a two-horse race, respondents backed Boris over Ken by 54% to 46%, an eight-point lead for the Conservative. The equivalent figures for last month were Boris 51%, Ken 49%. |
| Post your questions for the former – and perhaps future – mayor in the comments below. | Post your questions for the former – and perhaps future – mayor in the comments below. |