Mayor Feels Heat Over India Jaunt

Ken's been coming under the cosh for his fact-finding trip to Delhi last month. The mayor and his long-time nemesis, Tory councillor Brian Coleman, have been flapping barbs at eachother in the London Assembly, with the Barnet bruiser landing a number of heavy blows on Livingstone, accusing him of taking a "larger entourage than the Queen". He went on to question whether Ken's fellow visitors Myleene Klass and a group of dancers from the musical Stomp were truly necessary (for the trip, we mean, rather than in life generally).

Reeling from the onslaught, Ken retorted that his £740,000 trip, in which he examined Indian methods for keeping cool during sweltering summer temperatures, would be profitable if it led to the creation of just six jobs in the capital - which he immediately claimed would happen.

We think Coleman may have got the better of his opponent in this particular encounter, but it's hardly the first, and unlikely to be the last, time that the Labour and Tory standard-bearers clash. The Mayor slated his Tory tormentor earlier this year over a £10,000 taxi bill, while Coleman has in the past queried Ken's penchant for far-flung foreign travel. This is only one bout in a longer war, but we give the edge here to the Blue corner.

Image of plane ticket to Delhi from DJLoo's Flickrstream