Livingstone claims 'toffs' are jeopardising safety of carnival

Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, claimed yesterday that next week's Notting Hill Carnival will be less safe because "toffs" have refused to have the event re-routed through wealthy areas.

Mr Livingstone said Kensington and Chelsea Council had obstructed plans to change the carnival's route so that it ended in Hyde Park.

The route will remain unchanged this year but the Mayor was joined by Sir John Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and Lord Harris of Haringey, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, in a plea for an overhaul next year.

The proposal for a route-change was made in a report by the Carnival Review Group published in February. Kensington and Chelsea Council, which is Conservative controlled, claimed the change could not be implemented in time.

Mr Livingstone said: "We've had complete opposition from Kensington and Chelsea Council about getting a change of route because they don't want it going through the area where the toffs live. It will be the safest carnival for a decade, but it won't be as safe as if we'd have got agreement for a straight route rather than a circular one. But I have to say the main people obstructing that have been Kensington and Chelsea, who I think don't think a carnival should go through all their posh bits."

Merrick Cockell, leader of the council, said Mr Livingstone was conducting a class war. He said: "For the Mayor to say the council is being obstructive is frankly ludicrous, but then he has a record of making poorly informed statements about the carnival."