Ken Livingstone - Darling of the Right
I voted for Ken Livingstone in 2000 and 2004 and, barring something astonishing happening, will vote for him again this year, despite holding my nose to keep out the stench of his opportunistic support for Killer of the Yard and his gun goons. Mind you, I'm a crotchety left-of-centre sod who's keen on public transport, likes a drink and hates neocons. So far, then a perfect fit. However, this discussion came up twice recently while talking with a couple of friends who don't exactly fit that image.
First, an old, old friend who works in the oil industry, previously worked in the defence industry, nearly went into the Navy and supported the Iraq War (although he's changed his mind on that one now). 'I'm voting for Ken', he said, 'I love Oyster , I don't drive a 4x4 into central London and Boris is an idiot'. Strike one.
Second, a hugely intelligent City guy, spends his life surrounded by money and bankers, well versed in British and Irish politics, big fan of Michael Portillo (coincidentally separately recommended to me in the last week as a 'very nice man') very well paid. Ken voter, obviously - 'Boris is an idiot'. Strike two.
What this tells me is that the Boris camp's tactics of smearing Ken down to his level aren't going to work very well (is it true that they're nuts enough to use Lynton 'Loser' Crosby as an advisor?). Boris was, is and will remain the problem, as his image is entirely wrong for the city. London is noisy, brash, flash, almost totally unlike the rest of the UK and requires a big personality in charge, not a stroppy toff with a blatantly fake front who keeps tripping over his own tongue and pissing entire cities off. Livingstone's biggest enemy is probably himself, he has to realise he's not fresh and new and the underdog candidate any more and show a bit more humility, point to his record, demonstrate that he is the only English politician of his generation who doesn't let the cancer of ideology eat away at his ability to do the job. Oh, he has done.
Well, this is just a wild
Well, this is just a wild guess, but I imagine that uncritical support for policemen who shoot innocent foreigners in the face has given Ken new kudos with the financial and corporate classes.
Political respectability comes at a high price, but thankfully for Ken and his advisors somebody else picked up the tab.
Regarding Michael Portillo,
Regarding Michael Portillo, the man was exceptionally rude to my grandmother. Aged over 80, a couple of months before she died, she saw him handshaking on her first ever trip to London. She went over and told him that all her life she had voted for the Tories and that she was in Michael Ancram's constituency; he realised that it wasn't a vote in his constituency and he completely blanked her and walked off, devastating the poor woman.
Thus ever was the fate of Daily Mail readers...
No views then on the Lee
No views then on the Lee Jasper coterie? Perhaps you remain content to see your cash being re-distributed in such a direct manner to the poor and needy?
And you are content to see Livingstone wielding his quite unprecedented powers for another four years?
Some may disagree. There's a great deal more to come out yet. Livingstone has been rumbled. Frankly I'd prefer to see incompetence rather than mendacity at City Hall. One is excusable and possibly rectifiable, the other is not.
I'm no fan of Ken. Â But
I'm no fan of Ken.
But yeah, Boris is an - affable - idiot. I asked a few Tories why, if they're all for merit, they are backing someone with no relevant experience with a penchant for silly gaffs. They screamed abuse and called Boris a very nice chap. Go figure.
"And you are content to see
"And you are content to see Livingstone wielding his quite unprecedented powers for another four years?"
1) It's a good thing to have a Mayor, someone's got to wield the powers and I'd prefer it to be a genuine fairly elected heavyweight than some lowly minister in a deeply unrepresentative Westminster administration. That deals with the unprecedented powers part.
2) However, obviously unchecked power leads to abuses, so I'm certainly not going to vote Labour for the GLA, which holds him to account (last time I voted Lib Dem and Respect, tactically, for precisely this reason). I suspect the Tories will do well in the GLA elections, so Ken's going to have to sharpen up and fight (he's had to rely on the Greens to get his stuff through over the last four years, which suited me fine - I like consensus politics and forcing people to compromise, it leads to more creative thinking).
Lee Jasper - don't give a toss. As can be gathered from the original post, neither do my friends, the subject didn't come up in either conversation. Livingstone's taking a calculated gamble that people are more interested in crime, transport, general well-being and economic development, rather than where the tax goes, but his political instincts when it comes to Londoners are usually sharp.
Odd view, I'd have thought that political mendacity was always with us but the current levels of incompetence at national level are driven by ideologies shared by Boris Johnson but not Ken Livingstone. I'd rather see competence and accountability, hence my voting choice.
Your point 1 - Is that the
Your point 1 - Is that the choice facing the electorate then? So which Minister (junior or otherwise) has been put up as a candidate? My (clear) concern is that these draconian powers will continue unabated, unchecked. Has Livingstone suddenly decided to make himself more accountable, then? If so, how?
Point 2 - And the net outcome of this tactical voting was what?
Jasper - Well, OK, you don't give a toss. Logically this extends to acceptance of wholesale criminality. So the deplorable state of affairs is to be accepted as the norm? Actually amongst my friends the topic does come up in conversation.
Incompetence v Mendacity. Well Livingstone has shown himself to be almost entirely unaccountable. And you'd seriously say that he is competent? Not from where I'm standing. Worse, he's obviously not prepared to give a toss, either.
Maybe we should just agree to disagree, then.
Your friend loves Oyster
Your friend loves Oyster cards? So he likes having his movements tracked around London by the snoopy, trigger-happy Metropolitan police, does he...?
"For evil to triumph, it is necessary only that good men do nothing"--Edmund Burke