Date archive for February, 2009
-
Losing Tim O’Toole shows things are going badly wrong
Losing Tim O’Toole, the highly respected Managing Director of the London Underground, is the most serious disintegration of the top management of London to date.
There are now some difficult questions for the mayor to answer about the circumstances that led him to lose such a well-liked and effective senior figure. Tim O’Toole’s departure in April will be little more than a month after the announcement of his resignation, yet contracts on this level specify a minimum three months’ notice. This [...] -
Tory London – defending bankers and attacking pensions
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer lorem turpis, lobortis quis, adipiscing vel, aliquet aliquet, enim. Cras gravida, lorem nec sodales tempor, orci mi iaculis ipsum, eget iaculis nisi purus eget eros. Fusce commodo nulla non tellus. In egestas pede quis tellus. Cras turpis libero, pharetra ut, lacinia sit amet, ornare in, augue. Vestibulum diam. Aenean metus diam, semper fermentum, scelerisque sed, accumsan quis, ipsum. Duis pretium pretium urna. Nullam varius nisi eget justo. In hac habitasse platea [...]
-
Labour won’t miss David Freud
It was only to be expected that the defection of David Freud, the government’s welfare adviser, to the Conservatives would be reported as a blow to Gordon Brown.
However I do not think I am the only one to feel less than overwhelmed about the defection of a welfare adviser whose stated position is that Britain should have more recessions.
The real problem is not Freud’s defection but Labour’s over-reliance on such figures in the first place. Private sector gurus and bankers [...] -
Tory London – defending bankers, attacking pensions
What do you do if you are a powerful Tory politician and your friends in the City, whom you’ve resolutely defended throughout the whole period of the financial crisis, are still the subject of trenchant criticism? Answer: try to change the subject and have a go at public sector employees instead.
That’s what Boris Johnson was up to yesterday.
In his Daily Telegraph column the Mayor of London lays into public spending under Labour and complains that public sector pensions are “unsustainable” [...] -
On the economy, voters are ahead of the game
On many issues of the British economy, voters are ahead of the politicians. The latest survey of public opinion shows that Labour can win the argument only if it addresses fears about who will be made to pay for the crisis, and if it takes measures that are equal to the scale of the problem.
The headline figure from Channel 4’s YouGov poll of Labour-Tory marginals on Wednesday night is voting intention, with 43% backing the Conservatives and 36% Labour.
However, the [...] -
Snow chaos – but where is the mayor?
The complete absence of a London bus service this morning – combined with cancellations and delays on rail and tube – meant thousands of Londoners have had an enforced day off or an arduous journey into work.
No one can doubt the extremely hard work of the transport authorities today in trying to resolve these problems and seeking to provide a service in difficult weather conditions, nor underestimate the contribution of transport workers who made it to their workplaces in order [...]
