Tag archive for ‘Boris Johnson’
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Are the Tories running scared over police cuts?
Conservatives like to present themselves as the party of law and order so it is no surprise that they are sensitive when the unpalatable truth about their record is brought out into the open.
The reaction of City Hall’s Tories to the news that Ken Livingstone is attending the Metropolitan Police Authority tomorrow to oppose police cuts and defend London’s safer neighbourhood police teams suggests they are less than delighted to have these issues raised.
The cut to police numbers of 455 [...] -
Conservatives should be disappointed by the London election results
There’s a very interesting article on Conservative Home by Alex Crowley in which the author concedes “Nowhere should Conservatives be more disappointed with the recent election results than in London.”
Crowley writes:
“On a night of mixed results, Labour got the most votes in London and performed far better than they did in the rest of the country. As a result, the Tories were denied marginal seats, and key councils turned red.
“How did Labour manage such a good result?”
Crowley’s piece hits the [...] -
Crossrail – problems for a Tory mayor
Ongoing speculation about the future of Crossrail is mainly a problem for London. But it is also a problem for London’s mayor.
During the general election campaign Labour highlighted the failure of the Tories to give a clear commitment to complete Crossrail. That issue finally broke open when Justine Greening, then the Shadow London Minister, admitted that it was possible that under the Conservatives Crossrail might be cancelled.
The Tories’ deliberately imprecise formulation of ‘support’ for Crossrail – as opposed to any [...] -
Has Boris Johnson lost his grip? – asks the Spectator
There’s disgruntlement with Boris Johnson’s mayoralty from an unexpected quarter today – the Evening Standard’s property and planning correspondent Mira Bar-Hillel, in the lead article for this week’s Spectator.
Accusing the mayor of having passed his ”Emperor’s New Clothes moment,” Bar-Hillel pulls no punches: “he can’t admit he’s wrong, but he’s a little too lazy to do his homework properly, and that often leaves him intellectually denuded.”
“Just how well-suited is Boris to power?” she asks.
Bar-Hillel characterises Johnson’s administration as “well-meaning enthusiasm, followed by [...] -
Support UpRise
UpRise is the grassroots movement dedicated to bringing back the Rise anti-racist festival. Rise – in its original form, Respect – was initiated by the trade unions and then revived under Ken Livingstone’s mayoralty. It became Europe’s largest anti-racist festival and London’s biggest free gig, standing firmly in the tradition of Rock Against Racism.
Anti-racism isn’t a luxury for a city as diverse as London, it’s a necessity, built on the importance of keeping the city together and promoting understanding and [...] -
Malthouse appointment = broken Boris promise
Dave Hill has a preview of today’s confirmation hearing for Kit Malthouse to become chair of the police authority – a clear cut broken promise by Boris Johnson who pledged to do the job himself.
Dave looks at the recent resignation of Bob Purkiss from the race and faith inquiry, amid questions over Malthouse’s role in that affair.
Meanwhile in the Standard Pippa Crerar reports that the incoming chair has a poor attendance record at MPA meetings, despite being the mayor’s lead on [...] -
Boris Johnson – dodging public accountability
Boris Johnson’s appearance on LBC’s Nick Ferrari show this morning highlights two clear issues with his administration.
The first is broken promises. In his manifesto Boris Johnson gave a commitment [pdf, see page three] that he would reintroduce tidal flow in the Blackwall tunnel. Now he says he can’t do it for legal reasons.
There are two options. Either he was right during the election, in which case it is simply incompetent not to implement his promise. Or he is right now, in which [...] -
More bus strikes confirmed for next week
I’ve blogged before on industrial relations problems across the bus network. Boris Johnson has been explicitly criticised by trade unionists who see fares about to rise but their pay frozen, whilst revenue from the congestion charge will be reduced when the western extension is abolished. Johnson has blocked millions of pounds of potential revenue by axing the £25 c-charge on gas guzzlers.
Steve Hart, the regional secretary of the Unite union, has previously argued that his union believes Londoners are suffering [...] -
Johnson gets twitter guidance over party-political tweet
Boris Johnson will receive guidance by the GLA’s Monitoring Officer over the use of his Mayor of London twitter account after the Greater London Authority’s Standards’ Committee found he could be seen to have breached the Authority’s code of conduct by tweeting on a party political matter.
The three- person sub-committee, with a majority of independent members, investigated a complaint from a member of the public who questioned whether it was appropriate for Johnson to use his mayoral twitter feed to welcome the Sun’s endorsement [...] -
Gas guzzling drivers versus bus users – protecting the few, not the many
It’s not just nationally where the question of whose interests the Conservatives would govern in is posed. In London we are already seeing the impact on ordinary Londoners of an administration committed to defending the interests of the gas guzzling few against the needs of the public transport-using many.
Sir Simon Milton – Boris Johnson’s chief of staff – told viewers of the London segment of the Politics Show today that one of the principal reasons for scrapping the planned £25 [...]
