Boris Johnson defends London cycling safety record after spate of deaths

Boris Johnson has faced down critics following a spate of cyclist deaths in London by insisting that cycling safety has improved in the last few years.

In often heated exchanges during mayor's question time at the London Assembly, Johnson said he would "not be deflected from the cause of encouraging more cycling in London".

Six London cyclists have died on the capital's roads in the last two weeks, and cycling groups and politicians have urged prompt action from Johnson.

He told assembly members on Wednesday that his thoughts were with those affected by the recent deaths, and it was "difficult but important" to stress that the fatalities "must be seen in the context of an overall decline in deaths".

He said that in the six years from 2008 to 2013 there were 81 cyclist deaths in London, while in the previous six years the figure was 102. And in the five years from 2008 to 2012 there were 68 deaths, while in the five-year period 2003-07 the figure was 82.

The Green party assembly member Lady Jones rounded on the mayor, calling on him to apologise to Londoners for his record on cycling safety.

She said figures showed that in 2008 the killed or seriously injured (KSI) rate for cyclists was one per 400,000 cycling trips, and by 2011 the figure had come down to 364,000 trips.

"You should apologise for your flawed and dangerous policies," she said to Johnson.

As the mayor spoke, Jones said: "Repetition, repetition. I am here to ask the questions, not you. Can you stop being so offensive?"

Johnson responded by saying: "It's time you went off to the House of Lords." To laughter, Jones replied: "You are just jealous [of her peer status]."

Some of the recent deaths have come on London's Cycle Superhighway 2 (CS2). Pressed on whether he would order a review of CS2, Johnson said all the superhighways were under constant review, including CS2.

He also said the question of lorry movement times in London was being looked at, with experiences in other cities taken into account.

Before the meeting, the former Olympic cycling champion Chris Boardman said: "I don't want to join in with this Boris-bashing. Boris is the only person who had the guts to do something about cycling in London.

"Boris said he was actually going to put money into cycling in the capital. He appointed Andrew Gilligan as cycling commissioner. I have a lot of time for Boris and Andrew. Boris has a really tough job.

"Cyclists are vulnerable and it's tough cycling round the capital. All road users must obey the rules of the road. It makes me mad to see cyclists behaving badly on the road."

But Boardman, British Cycling's policy adviser, said he was disappointed that Johnson had not yet acted on a verbal promise he had made to him in March to look at restricting the movements of heavy goods vehicles during peak hours.