My bus plans will cost £100m, admits blundering Boris

Caught out: Boris Johnson's unwitting exchange with a Ken Livingstone campaigner, which was recorded on another Labour supporter's mobile phone

Boris Johnson has admitted the cost of his plans for new Routemasters will be more than £100 million after being caught out in a Labour sting.

The Tory candidate let slip the figure as he was asked by an apparent member of the public exactly how much it would cost to implement his replacement for bendy buses.

As he campaigned in Edgware he told the woman "500 new Routemasters would cost about £100 million" - not realising she was in fact a Labour activist and that their exchange was being filmed by another Ken Livingstone campaigner on mobile phone.

Moments later, anxious aides were asking him what he'd said to the woman and a flustered Mr Johnson admitted that he had used the £100 million figure.

He told aides: "They asked what are the costs of the new buses, and I said it would be about £100 million which is about, you know, 500 times 25. They will now go away and say that I'm going to spend £100 million on new buses."

The Tory candidate had originally only given an £8 million estimate for the cost of conductors on his alternative to Ken Livingstone's "bendy buses". Transport for London put the total cost of his proposals at £112 million and independent analysts said it would be nearer £100 million. Labour claims the funding black hole would mean Mr Johnson would have to raise bus fares.

But Mr Johnson's figures appeared to be mired in confusion. His "500 times 25" remark appears to refer to the cost of 500 buses, each with a conductor cost of £25,000. That would mean a total conductor cost of £12.5 million, as opposed to the £8 million estimate he has made.

The reason for the increased costs is that he now assumes he will have to replace the current 337 bendy bus fleet with 500 of his new vehicles, largely because a bendy bus carries more passengers than a double-decker bus.

The admission is the first evidence of the Livingstone campaign's new "citizen journalism" tactics - where its supporters use US techniques to record embarrassing comments by opponents and then post them on the internet.

Last night, Mr Johnson was forced to issue a statement that clarified his position and claimed his proposals would still be cheaper than the £143 million cost of the 500 hybrid petrol-electric buses Mr Livingstone was planning to introduce.

He said: "I believe Londoners want safer transport. That is why I have pledged to introduce a new Routemaster bus with conductors. When asked, I explained the cost of conductors would be £8 million. I am confident that new Routemaster buses and conductors can be delivered for £100 million, saving Londoners money while providing the safer bus network they deserve."

But Minister for London Tessa Jowell said: "Boris Johnson has been caught out admitting that his bus policy would cost £100 million more than he originally told us. For Londoners, that means an extra £2 a week on a weekly bus pass.

"Even Boris Johnson doesn't believe the figures he has been opportunistically touting around for weeks.

"In the era of the camera phone, you can't get away with saying one thing in debates and another on the street. Boris Johnson is finding out that unfunded pledges won't wash with Londoners."

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