Ken Livingstone, mayor of London, England, has signed an oil deal with Venezuela, providing cheap fuel for London's public transit systems. The deal will also give price cuts on those traveling on their public transportation system. Obviously the deal appeals to the 250,000 persons in London who live off of low incomes, and the deal will cut prices in half. Livingstone has said "Those on income support will be eligible to receive half price bus and tram travel - a benefit worth at least £280-a-year." Richard Barnes, leader of the London Assembly Conservatives has attacked Livingstone's move, stating "Why does London, one of the richest capitals in the world, need to exploit a developing nation? This money would be better directed at the poor of Venezuela..." Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the Americas, so there is no shortage of oil (at this point).
While Richard Barnes' concerns are well founded, they seem to be rather brash and impetuous, but to a certain degree I agree with him. It has been stated in other articles that president Hugo Chavez approached the London mayer Livingstone with this proposal, so it is hard to say who is at fault here. Luckily there is a great positive to this story as London's poorest will now be able to save their money for other necessities, and to a certain degree could eliminate welfare in London, or at least limit tax dollars going towards welfare.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/6377867.stm
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