TV critic announces plans to join London mayor race

Dubai: One of Britain's most colourful journalists has announced he is standing for Mayor of London on an English nationalist platform.

Garry Bushell, who for many years was the television critic of bestselling tabloid The Sun, will represent the English Democrats in the mayoral election next year.

The English Democrats are campaigning for an English Parliament and are calling for an end to higher public expenditure in Scotland and Wales.

Bushell said he was concerned about crime rates, pollution and poverty in London, which is capital of both the UK and England.

He added: "It angers me that so much of London's tax revenues are siphoned off to pay for better publics services in Scotland and Wales when there is so much to be done here."

Bushell, 52, was born in London and as well as The Sun, has worked for papers such as the Daily Mirror, Evening Standard, The People and the Daily Star. He is currently television critic for the Daily Star on Sunday.

He appears regularly on television, has his own talk show on a sports radio station and has written several books.

Robin Tilbrook, national chairman of the English Democrats, said he was "delighted" at Bushell's selection.

"Garry is a Londoner through and through. He is a witty and thoughtful man with a passion for both his country and her capital city. I know Garry is genuinely serious about London," he said.

The English Democrats were formed in 2002 in the wake of the creation of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly.

The party says that England should have its own Parliament with powers similar to those held by the chambers in other parts of the UK, which are responsible for subjects such as education and health whilst leaving issues including defence and foreign affairs to the UK government.

Tilbrook has in the past said that the House of Commons could become the English Parliament if Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were stripped of their rights to elect Members of Parliament. The House of Lords could then be reformed to become a UK-wide upper chamber.

The English Democrats have also called for the scrapping of the Barnett Formula, which guarantees higher public spending per person in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland than in England.

Bushell will line up alongside Labour mayoral incumbent Ken Livingstone in next year's election. The opposition Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties have yet to select their candidates.