Porsche vs. Livingstone: round 2

Porsche is turning up the heat in its battle with London mayor Ken Livingstone's proposed £25-a-day congestion charge, releasing polling data that shows a majority of Londoners think the increased charge is too high - and demanding that Livingstone releases the poll that he conducted on the same topic.The proposed increase in the charge from £8 to £25 for cars that emit over 225 g/km will affect almost every model in Porsche's current line-up, and the company has gone on the offensive in recent weeks to make it's point.According to Porsche's poll, conducted by ICM, 74 per cent of Londoners believe the increase in the Congestion Charge is too high, 62 per cent believe the increase is being brought in to raise revenue rather than protect the environment and 81 percent believe the increase will be bad for business in London.But Porsche is also challenging Livingstone to release data from a poll conducted in December, which the mayor claimed showed support for his proposed plans. In a letter to the mayor, Porsche GB managing director Andy Goss said: “I am requesting that you finally release the full tables of the Ipsos-Mori poll you announced in a news release on 18 December 2007… If you are unwilling, for whatever reason, to authorise Ipsos-Mori to make these tables public, Porsche Cars requests that you remove the 18 December news release from your website and that you make no further references to the polling in your public comments.” It's an area where Livingstone seems to have previous history. He is also accused by the bikers' organisations for holding back a survey that is claimed to show a marked decrease in accidents and injuries if motorbikes are allowed to use bus lanes.