Boris Johnson on London funding and tax changes

A bid by London's City Hall and town halls for more power over the capital's finances would not raise any more money, and was not about "snatching lots of taxes from the Treasury" Boris Johnson has said.

He reckoned it would be "entirely fiscally neutral" but would give "certainty and the consistency of finances that has eluded us".

But the mayor said it would "stimulate local democracy" and giving more powers over spending to elected councillors "would electrify politics and it was high time we did it".

The London Finance Commission has published a report calling for the capital to keep all property tax revenues - including council tax, stamp duty and business rates - and the ability to reform them.

It claims only 7% of tax paid by London residents and businesses is redistributed directly by locally-elected bodies, such as the mayor and borough councils, with 74% of funding from the Treasury,

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