Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, urges David Cameron and his Coalition today (Sunday) to harness the legacy of the Olympics by embarking on a radical agenda of policies to boost economic growth.In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Johnson urges ministers to take bold steps on housing, infrastructure and regulation to take advantage of the confidence and international respect hosting a successful Games has won Britain.For the past two weeks Mr Johnson has been basking in the reflected glory of an Olympic Games almost universally considered a rip-roaring success - at a time when the economy is labouring in recession, five years on from the start of the economic crisis."The most important thing about the Olympics is that they have shown that Britain really can do things," the mayor said. "We have shown the world we are a happy, ambitious, modern, successful economy. We have shown incredible logistical skills. We now have every reason to be confident in ourselves and the future."But Mr Johnson said London - and Britain - remains beset with barriers that stand in the way of economic growth and he seems unimpressed with the pace of the Coalition's reforms."They need to go further," Mr Johnson said of the Government. "London really can be the motor of our economic recovery."The mayor's words cut to the quick of a burgeoning feud within the Conservative Party. Many of the party's right wing - including Liam Fox, the former defence secretary - feel that the Chancellor George Osborne, and his fellow ministers, are failing to deliver the business-friendly policies vital to power out of recession.The Institute of Directors, a leading business lobby group, has attacked the "glacial speed" of Coalition reforms designed to encourage firms to hire and invest.It is a claim denied by Coalition ministers including William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, who argued that the Government has done a great deal to help and that it is up to businesses and individuals to make the recovery happen.Ministers are drawing up an economic regeneration Bill for the autumn that will outline a range of new infrastructure projects and measures to cut business red tape.Sorting out the congestion above London's skies is also a priority, the mayor said. "We need a new airport - whether it is in the Thames Estuary or wherever, I don't care. But we need to address that problem. An extra runway at Heathrow alone won't do it - it would be full in a flash."Justine Greening, the Transport Secretary, was supposed to publish a consultation document setting out the Government's aviation strategy by mid-July, but it has been shelved until the autumn. The delays are infuriating many in the business community who are keen to land deals in fast-growing emerging markets.Mr Johnson also wants more river crossings in London, money to extend tube lines and Crossrail II. The first of these underground railways is to be completed in 2017. As soon as the first Crossrail opens he wants work to begin on a second line between Chelsea and Hackney.The mayor says more needs to be done, and quickly, to streamline Britain's planning system to pave the way for a housing boom. This year the government published its National Planning Policy Framework, which plans to make it is easier for developers to build houses, but official figures suggest house building remains subdued."We need to build hundreds of thousands of new homes. If we invest in a huge building programme, put in a lot of public sector land, de-risk it for the developers and get the construction sector going again it will start to drive the economy," he said.There is already a serious housing shortage in parts of London, but this situation could become acute by the next decade when London is expected to surpass New York's population.However, there need to be jobs for this burgeoning population and the mayor says the Coalition must make it easier for firms to hire and fire, especially businesses with five workers or less.Many on the right of the Conservative Party remain dismayed that the Government failed to implement bold recommendations made by the financier Adrian Beecroft in a Downing Street report on employment law reform.In the past few weeks, about 4,000 businessmen, foreign officials and potential investors have shuffled into the mayor's Thameside offices where he has sold rundown parts of the capital - including Battersea Power Station, Brent Cross, Croydon and Tottenham - as lucrative investment opportunities. Facebook and Amazon are to create jobs in the capital but only time will tell if more follow.The critics may have fallen silent while Team GB was swiping gold medals, but once the Games end the questions about their legacy will begin.The future of two of the venues, including the stadium, remain undecided. Mr Johnson is typically bullish about the prospect of future Olympic champions learning their skills in the aquatic centre. Only time will tell if these buildings remain unused.Mr Johnson speaks vigorously about the army of "games makers", thousands of volunteers across the City. He sees them as the embodiment of Mr Cameron's Big Society. Will they remain on hand to encourage young Londoners to take up sport?Of course, it will be years before it will be possible to say whether the 2012 Games's legacy was a success, by which time Mr Johnson will be doing a very different job. Conservative party leader or even Prime Minister, perhaps?"Nonsense," he roars at speculation that he is destined to replace Mr Cameron. "No serious student of politics could possibly think that."But they do, and the London mayor knows that his part in these Olympics will ensure such speculation continues. He says he will not contest a third term as London mayor, but is uncharacteristically pianissimo when asked about his plans after the 2016 election.He dismisses the tensions within the Coalition as "classic midtermery" and cannot resist joking that the Games presented a good moment to discreetly ditch Lords reform.He describes his past two weeks as a "Himalayan range of exciting peaks". "I've been on my feet absolutely yelling," he says. "I'd never been to a velodrome before. That was great. That sort of ritual the cyclists do like mating pigeons waggling their bottoms - I love it."That's not to say he doesn't have a few regrets. "I won't be trying to get on a zip wire again in a hurry," he says, recalling how he was suspended above a London park."Although in a way that was successful - it massively increased the popularity of the Victoria Park zip wire."He seems abashed that one of his savvy media advisers "quashed" a guest appearance in Twenty Twelve, the BBC spoof documentary about the London Olympics' organisers.Was there any truth in the show's depiction of a gaggle of bumbling bureaucrats, some of whom seemed to be competing for a gold medal in political correctness?"Oh it was absolutely truthful. The endless conversations about inclusivity, sustainability, multiculturality, posterity …" He erupts into giggles. "We had a lot of that. And the makers seemed to know."He uses a typical "BoJo" turn of phrase to describe a meeting with Laura Trott, the double gold-medal winning poster girl of cycling."I've got a date with Laura Trott," he says of the 20 year-old who agreed to front an annual festival of cycling."She's going to teach me how to ride one of those carbon fibre bikes. I watched her win the omnium - wow. She is like a whippet … And she's very charming, blonde and all the rest of it."Charming, blond, all the rest of it - now who else could that be?

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