War with Iraq may cost London £1b

A flare up in the conflict with Iraq is likely to cost London £1 billion and threaten up to 46,000 jobs, according to Ken Livingston, London's mayor.

A spokesperson for the mayor told Gulf News yesterday that Livingston warned in a letter he sent out to various government departments, a war with Iraq could cost London's gross domestic product 'very dearly'.

Livingston, a former Labour Member of the Parliament and a leading opponent of the UK Premier's commitment to support potential American military attack on Iraq said: "The facts about the economic impact of a war are not being disclosed by the government."

Responding to public and parliamentarian pressure, Prime Minister Tony Blair has called the parliament session from its summer recess to debate the issue of Iraq on September 24.

"Londoners have the right to know all the consequences of a war" the mayor says, "and these figures show what a serious effect a war would have on the capital's economy."

Economic advisers of the government believe these figures represent only a small fraction of the capital's GDP. They say the estimated reduction of about £1 billion in economic activity, resulting mainly from a forecast reduction in tourism, amounts to about 1 per cent of London's GDP of 120 billion.

Meanwhile, the former British premier John Major has said using the United Nations is the "best way to confront Saddam Hussein, but we should still prepare for possible war with Iraq."

Major, who was the prime minister during the Gulf War, told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: "If the UN is bypassed there would be a price to pay in lost cooperation with other nations, not least in the war against terrorism."