The starting pistol has fired and the most hotly-contested London Mayoral election since the role was created eight years ago has begun. Ken Livingstone, gunning for a third term, faces serious competition from the flamboyant Conservative MP Boris Johnson, and Liberal Democrat Brian Paddick, formerly the UK's highest-ranking openly-gay police officer, plus seven other candidates. Children and young people feature highly in all three manifestos. London has a staggeringly high rate of child poverty and is...