London Mayor Debate: Hopefuls In Heated Clash

Ken Livingstone came under renewed attack over his tax affairs from his two main rivals in a bruising London mayoral debate on Sky News.

Mayor Boris Johnson and Liberal Democrat candidate Brian Paddick both turned up the heat on the left-wing former mayor on tax, with polling day just two weeks away.

There were also heated clashes on race, last year's riots and transport in the only major national TV debate between the three leading candidates for mayor, held in the heart of the City of London.

After the debate, frontrunner Mr Johnson told Sky News the debate had been "a bit argumentative", while Mr Livingstone , who is trailing the Tory mayor in the opinion polls, said - ironically - it had been "fun".

But perhaps the main beneficiary of the debate was Mr Paddick, who like Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg during the 2010 general election TV debates, benefited from equal billing with the Labour and Conservative candidates.

The debate, refereed by Anna Botting, had been under way less than 10 minutes when Mr Johnson launched an attack on Mr Livingstone on his tax arrangements.

"He goes bashing me for allegedly calling for tax cuts in the budget, when he campaigns for an 80% tax rate," said Mr Johnson. "And, to the best of my knowledge Ken, you pay a tax rate of 14.5%."

But an angry Mr Livingstone snapped back: "No, 35%, Boris. We've had inequality of wealth double in this city over the last 30 years.

"We need to have a much fairer system. I publish my tax returns... it's 35%. Boris pays 41%, but then he earns half a million pounds, he should pay more than me."

Mr Paddick then turned on both his rivals, saying Mr Johnson benefited from the recent removal of the 50% tax rate and that Mr Livingstone "funnelled money" through a private company to stay out of the top tax bracket.

Mr Livingstone claimed voters were "sick of hearing" about how much tax each candidate paid and were more interested in issues such as youth unemployment and crime.

The trio also clashed on last year's London riots, with all three candidates criticising the police response.

"I think there was an element of criminality there, but there was also an element of anger," said Mr Livingstone.

"I think a lot of people feel no one in power cares about them or has got an agenda for them."

Criticising the Met's "completely fumbled response" to the riots, the former mayor said: "The night after the riots there were only 6,000 police on the streets. The following night, when we had 16,000, it brought it to an end."

After Mr Livingstone reminded voters once again that the mayor had been on holiday during the riots, Mr Johnson said: "Clearly in an ideal world I would not have been... abroad at the time."

But Mr Paddick insisted the riots could have been predicted after the response to the police's fatal shooting of Mark Duggan .

"The police should have known that that situation had that potential," he said. "A lot of the hostility (that caused the riots) was hostility towards the police."

The Lib Dem candidate, a former borough commander and deputy assistant commissioner in the Met, spoke out strongly against racism in the force, clashing with Mr Johnson.

"When young people are treated with disrespect by the police, why on earth would they want to join it?" he challenged the mayor.

On transport, Mr Livingstone repeatedly spelled out his plans to cut fares by 7% in October or resign. Mr Johnson hit back by claiming this would mean slashing investment in the capital.

Mr Paddick angered the Tory mayor by claiming his cycling policy had resulted in the death of more cyclists, a charge angrily rejected by Mr Johnson.

Afterwards, Mr Johnson said: "It was a good debate. There were lively exchanges from the floor. You can't tell the audience everything you want to in the confines of a debate. On cycling, we have a good story to tell."

Asked if he had clashed with Mr Livingstone as he did in a lift after an earlier debate, the mayor said: "I'm a mild-mannered man."

London Mayoral Candidates

:: Siobhan Benita (Independent)
:: Carlos Cortiglia (British National Party)
:: Boris Johnson (Conservative)
:: Jenny Jones (Green)
:: Ken Livingstone (Labour)
:: Brian Paddick (Liberal Democrats)
:: Lawrence Webb (UKIP)