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Boris draws fire for confused smoke signals 

The Tory candidate for London mayor, Boris Johnson, drew fire Thursday for apparently contradictory statements about the nationwide ban on people smoking in public.

Current Labour mayor Ken Livingstone and Liberal Democrat hopeful Brian Paddick both issued statements condemning the Conservative candidate after he told The Sun newspaper that he was in favour of local referendums across London to allow boroughs to overturn the ban.

Johnson, already criticised for accepting money from the Tobacco Association in June 2007, had made a series of contradictory statements, they both said, after Johnson followed his statement in the Sun with a clarification which said that he personally supported the ban, but thought that the London boroughs should be able to overturn it.

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