Boris Johnson gets away with murder because of his carefully cultivated bumbling eccentric persona, which some people find amusing, and his equally confected image of a maverick politician.

He has a habit of appearing off message on issues such as Heathrow expansion and of making political pledges that turn out to be less substantial than at first sight.

Prime position in this category goes to the London mayor's pre-election stance in 2008 when he signed a petition opposing then mayor Ken Livingstone's plan to close 40 ticket offices.

Following his election, Johnson told the London Assembly: "The first and most important point to make is that no ticket offices will be closed, all right? They're not going to be closed."

Pursued further, he responded: "The answer to the number of ticket office closures is nil."

The now more likely scenario, as part of the 12.5 per cent reduction in the London Underground budget announced on November 21, is that all of them will be shut by next year.

It will take more than a boyish smile, fingers raking through his unkempt hair and a plethora of Cripes, Lumme and other archaic expressions borrowed from Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School to camouflage the scale of his dishonesty and hide his fundamental austerity agenda.

The London mayor makes much of the reality that just 3 per cent of journeys require a visit to the ticket office because of the success of the Oyster card system introduced by Livingstone in 2003.

But even this small percentage equates to around 100,000 passengers every day, which is not to be sniffed at.

It is no surprise that Underground workers are not persuaded by the assertions of Transport for London and the mayor that closure of ticket stations will mean staff being more visible on platforms and around ticket gates.

The visibility argument certainly won't apply to the nearly 1,000 ticket office staff set to lose their jobs as part of Johnson's cost-cutting project.

RMT members wouldn't have voted by an overwhelming 77 per cent majority to go on strike if there remained any trust in the mayor's pronouncements.

The decision of fellow Underground union TSSA to ballot its own members working in ticket offices ought well to see a similar decision for action and open the way for a co-ordinated campaign against this recipe for passenger inconvenience, confusion and lack of safety.

Nor can this simply be an issue for trade union members working on the Underground.

The flash mob action by Disabled People Against Cuts at Euston Tube station dramatises the truth that not all passengers have the same needs.

People who feel vulnerable on unstaffed stations will find alternative ways to travel or will be confined indoors.

Recent greatly enhanced use of the London Overground system is because stations are constantly staffed, with improvements in lighting and CCTV coverage. Safety is of critical importance.

No-one will be fooled by TfL claims of Tube stations continuing to be staffed following these swingeing cuts when what this means is peripatetic supervisors designated to attend up to half a dozen stations when called.

Millions of people, from across Britain and further afield, use the London Underground every day.

It is essential to unite the workers with the passengers to oppose this short-sighted "economy" and insist on no reduction in levels of service, safety and comfort.