Johnson says office story is dirty trick

The fight to be London Mayor reached a new low last night, as Boris Johnson's camp attacked Ken Livingstone over what they said was a dirty tricks campaign to deflect attention from allegations surrounding financial mismanagement in his administration.

This follows reports yesterday that Mr Johnson has received financial support from a Japanese company, Shirayama Shokusan Corporation, which has clashed with the Mayor's office over development plans in the capital.

"This is a donation and has been registered as such," said a spokesperson for the Conservative candidate. "This type of story from Ken's campaign goes to show how low they are prepared to go."

But Mr Livingstone's campaign team accused Mr Johnson's supporters of waging "a vicious campaign of smears against Ken Livingstone in order to avoid addressing Londoners' priorities of housing, transport, and policing, all matters on which Boris Johnson has no policies."

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