Labour's 'PPP control freakery'

Labour's control freakery and stubbornness over the PPP funding row for the Tube has sabotaged the progress of London's new government, according to a key loyalist.

Trevor Phillips, deputy chairman of the London Assembly, has launched an attack on ministers for failing to offer real devolution to the capital. He says they are failing to persuade the public that their Tube improvement plans will bring speedy results.

He has also launched an assault on the Mayor, branding Ken Livingstone an "invisible man" who has damaged the concept by failing to deliver leadership.

In a paper for the Institute for Public Policy Research, obtained by the Evening Standard, Mr Phillips says: "Tony Blair did one of the most unusual - and courageous - things a politician could do: he voluntarily offered to give power away. Eighteen months on, what has actually happened?"

Mr Phillips says ministers retain the last word on everything that happens in London "thus calling into question the value of London government".