Boris Johnson pokes fun at Business Secretary Vince Cable

Mayor of London Boris Johnson poked fun at Business Secretary Vince Cable, suggesting the Liberal Democrat minister could use a new cable car over the Thames to better contemplate the importance of the City.

Mr Johnson had Tory activists roaring with laughter last night as he described Dr Cable, one of the most senior Lib Dem members of the coalition Government, as "the sage of Twickenham".

Dr Cable, the MP for Twickenham, has repeatedly criticised City excess and caused a storm when he attacked the "spivs and gamblers" at his party's conference last month.

The Tory Mayor, addressing a fringe event on the first night of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, joked that the planned new cable car had even been named after the Business Secretary.

"It's proposed to have a cable car running from the O2 all the way across to the Excel, and I think it's a fantastic scheme," he said.

"I've already mentioned the sage of Twickenham and, there we go, we've named this fantastic project in honour of Vince Cable so that he can be conveyed over the river and back, where he can look at the towers of the City and Canary Wharf and meditate on their importance in our national economy."

Mr Johnson also warned of the damage to the City that was being caused by the new 50p top rate of tax.

"I don't think it's in the long-term interests of London to have a top rate of tax considerably higher than France, Germany, America, Australia, just about every relevant competitor. How can it be in the interests of the City?" he said.

"We are nonetheless in very difficult fiscal circumstances and it will be tough for a while, but the instinct to bear down on tax by cutting waste and cutting superfluous spending is very strong and I think you are going to see that amply delivered by the coalition government over the course of the next few years. I certainly hope so."