Mayor 'ensnared' Olympics cash

The candidates appeared at a Christian-organised hustings

London mayor Ken Livingstone has said he "ensnared" ministers over the bid to host the 2012 Olympics in an effort to get money for East End redevelopment.

He said he was not interested in "three weeks of sport" but wanted to get "the billions of pounds" from government.

At a campaign event organised by Christian groups, his Tory rival Boris Johnson said work by faith groups had been "neglected".

Earlier Lib Dem Brian Paddick pledged to provide free Wi-Fi in public places.

At the hustings event, a week ahead of the election, Mr Livingstone - who has been mayor since 2000 - said winning the Olympics had been a method of getting funding for one of London's poorest areas.

More churches

"I didn't bid for the Olympics because I wanted three weeks of sport," he told an audience at St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square.

"I bid for the Olympics because it's the only way to get the billions of pounds out of the government to develop the East End.

I think we have completely neglected the revolutionary work being done in society by faith-based groups Boris Johnson Olympic cost plans 'unrealistic'

"It's exactly how I played it to ensnare the government to put money into an area it has neglected for 30 years."

Earlier this week the public accounts committee accused the government of "wishful thinking" in its initial assessment of the costs involved in hosting the Olympics. It said people still did not know whether the current £9.325bn budget would be stuck to.

At the hustings, the candidates were asked about issues of faith.

Wi-Fi London

Both Mr Johnson and Mr Livingstone pledged to allow more churches to be built.

Mr Paddick also agreed there was a "desperate need" for bigger places of worship.

Alan Craig, who is the Christian Choice candidate for mayor, said society was neglecting its Christian heritage.

And Mr Johnson said Christian groups' work had been overlooked by the current mayor.

"I think we have completely neglected the revolutionary work being done in society by faith-based groups," he said.

"These days politics is about what we are going to do to fix our society."

"We have this amazing utensil, the faith-based community, and they deserve every possible support."

Earlier Mr Paddick said if he was elected mayor he would provide free Wi-Fi access in 10 inner London boroughs, to be rolled out across greater London after consultation.

He also pledged to work with computer recycling charities, private firms, job centres and local authorities to help poorer people get access to a computer.

"Access to the internet is access to knowledge, jobs and education and I will do all I can as mayor to close the gap between the digital 'haves' and digital 'have nots'," he said.

A poll in the Sunday Times suggested the mayoral race remains very close - putting Mr Livingstone on 45%, just ahead of Mr Johnson on 44% and Mr Paddick on 9%.