Dear Patiricia Kelsey

I am 56 years old and I have lived in London all my life. I have yet to see any evidence of a tradition or culture of celebrating St George's Day as a public festival.

That is no doubt, in part, because there are so many celebrations of British and English culture in the course of the year: at Christmas, at New Year, our bank holidays, through the coming Golden Jubilee celebrations, numerous English food fairs, music and cultural events across London each year.

But London is highly diverse and many other cultures also contribute to London's social and economic life and it is important that these too are recognised.

That is why I have responded positively to requests by London communities to support a number of festivals that allow all Londoners to celebrate the diversity of our city's cultures, for example Chinese New Year, Diwali, the Notting Hill Carnival, St Patrick's Day and others.

In the case of St Patrick's Day more than 90 community groups and businesses co-operated with my office and GLA officers to deliver a wonderful day out not only for the 10 per cent of this city of Irish extraction but for all Londoners. I welcomed the support for the day given by Tony Blair, Iain Duncan Smith and Charles Kennedy.

Obviously, there are some who will perversely misinterpret recognition of London's minority communities and claim it is anti-English - the artificial hue and cry about St George following my support for St Patrick's Day is an example of this. But I do not agree and I am delighted with the vigour with which my manifesto pledges in this regard are being implemented.

I believe that these not only help promote the different cultures that go to make up our great city, but also attract tourism to London and promote economic development.

Yours sincerely

Ken Livingstone
Mayor of London