Date archive for September, 2009
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Pickles over-eggs the pudding with his latest defector
I see the Tories are grandly parading the defection of a Brent Labour councillor today. ConservativeHome’s local government blog declares:
“Gordon Brown’s fightback falls flat in Brent as Labour councillor defects to the Conservatives.”
Eric Pickles cannot contain himself:
“It seems like Gordon’s great fightback has already crumbled at its first hurdle. People are deserting Labour in droves as they realise the only real way of achieving positive change for the country is through a Conservative government. The Prime Minister should do everyone [...] -
The Standard’s thirst for a story on Boris Johnson’s broken promises and inaction
I’m very struck by a section of the Standard’s report today into Boris Johnson’s failure to deliver his drinking fountain pledge.
Darren Johnson, the Green Assembly member, had raised the issue.
The Standard first reports:
The Mayor ordered Sir Simon Milton, his chief of staff, to investigate sites [for drinking fountains] and potential costs in June last year, saying: “If this place is generally getting hotter and people are going off buying bottled water I think we should have a new era of [...] -
At Labourlist – Eric Pickles over-eggs the pudding
I have a new post on the new-look Labourlist today.
It follows Eric Pickles grandly parading the defection of a Brent Labour councillor, Francis Eniola, to the Tories. Pickles pontificates:
“It seems like Gordon’s great fightback has already crumbled at its first hurdle. People are deserting Labour in droves as they realise the only real way of achieving positive change for the country is through a Conservative government. The Prime Minister should do everyone a favour and spare us another eight [...] -
Service to be resumed
There’s been a brief break in transmission. As some of you will know, I have had other pressing engagements…
More frequent service will be resumed shortly. -
Boris’s transport policy breaks down
One minute it’s off, then it’s on, then … well, what exactly? Boris Johnson’s administration was rocked by the Evening Standard’s report – based on comments from the mayor’s own transport adviser – that Johnson may abandon his plan to axe the western extension of the congestion charge zone.
Rumours have been circulating for days that the mayor’s team was being forced to think the unthinkable: to abandon its policy of getting rid of the western extension.
Then the Standard’s Katharine Barney [...] -
New at Comment is Free – on yesterday’s c-charge fiasco, and protecting the fare payer
I have a new post on Guardian Comment is Free on yesterday’s fiasco over whether the western extension of the congestion charge will stay.
The mayor is facing a backlash from his own base over delays to his policy of axing the western half of the zone.
Yesterday began with a report in the Standard that retention of the western extension was even under consideration, following remarks to the paper from the mayor’s transport adviser Kulveer Ranger. Stories that Johnson’s administration was [...] -
Spike Lee – “I never drank that post-racial Kool Aid”
Director Spike Lee always gives good interview, and he didn’t disappoint with Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight last night.
When Obama won the election last year you could have been forgiven for thinking from some of the media coverage that Martin Luther King’s objectives had all been achieved, the dream realised.
But however significant Obama’s victory was – and it was – it did not eliminate racism and discrimination in America.
Talking to Paxman, Spike Lee reasserted the historic nature of Obama’s victory, [...] -
Preparing the media terrain for an above-inflation fare increase
The release of tube ridership figures today, showing journeys down, is an attempt to shape the debate about the forthcoming announcement of next January’s fares package, in such a way as to justify a big increase.
The mayor is trying to soften the blow – not financially to Londoners, but to his reputation.
Boris Johnson already announced last year that he is committed to above-inflation fare increases year-on-year.
This January Boris Johnson whacked up fares by six per cent overall, despite Londoners feeling [...] -
Air quality row – how drivers are put first at the expense of London’s overall interests
The London Evening Standard today has the story that there has been a bust-up between the mayor and the government over Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend the next stage of the Low Emission Zone and abolish the western half of the congestion charge zone.
Greater London was made into Europe’s largest low emission zone under Ken Livingstone. The zone imposes stricter pollution standards on lorries.
During the mayoral election Johnson’s campaign team sought to hide his real view on the issue, but [...] -
Tim O’Toole on the problems and lessons of the tube PPP
The former Managing Director of London Underground, Tim O’Toole, has written an article well worth reading on the weaknesses of the public-private partnership for the Tube.
Tim writes:
The infamous PPP, the Public Private Partnership, for the maintenance and rebuilding of London Underground is a well-intentioned mess…
…The problem is, that improvement has cost an outrageous premium and is less than what it should have been. Indeed, the premium may be so high that it could become an excuse to curtail the rebuilding [...]
